Bella Viva

Driving through Gilroy from LA to SF, surprised to come across this gem. Canaloni and pear pastas were excellent. Service was attentive and friendly. Highly recommend this spot.

What a nice setting for a paint night party. That was a gas… painting like Picasso!
The owner is awesome and very polite and endearing. The Grand piano and the guy playing makes for such a nice atmosphere for romance with a little wine and great conversation.
Gilroy is now enhanced with a quality place to entertain friends and lovers.
Almost deducted a star because they do not have a sign to find the place at night… or in the day.
Tell the owner He needs a nice SIGN!

First of all, Kellen is my favorite person ever! I am beyond obsessed with this place. My boyfriend and I are always here and we have never had a bad experience. I admire the owner Kellen along with his staff for their awesome job of making everyone feel at home. It’s one of the few places in Gilroy that is a go to place for my boyfriend and I to stop by regularly to get a drink, or to just say hello. We love the atmosphere including the games that you can bring to play. Kellen and I are very competitive when it comes to Chinese Checkers. We have lots of fun at the Wine Bar! Come check it out. Trust me you won’t be disappointed!!!

To my mind the best place for a cocktail and a meal in downtown Gilroy. Food comes from Garlic City Café just down the street. (so a little weird with 2 bills, one for booze and one for food)
Then why not eat at Garlic City instead you ask? well because they do not serve alcohol and will not allow you to bring it in. So why not get the best of both worlds, same food, in a nicer venue with a cocktail or a bottle of wine?

I can’t speak for the wine unfortunately, but I absolutely adore the ambiance of Bella Viva.
I participated in a Paint Nite event which was hosted at Bella Viva. They had a small room in the back and that’s where we were for the night.
When trying to find the establishment, there’s no sign outside (unless I blindly missed it), so the place can be missed. That is why I took a picture of their lovely door; hopefully it will be helpful.
During our break I took the time to wander around. They have a very classic and simple décor. Some seating inside with tables and chairs. Very cozy seating outside as well with small throw pillows. I could definitely imagine myself coming back and snuggling up to my boyfriend with a glass of wine in hand.
Staff members were friendly. Offering us a menu and consistently making sure we were well taken care of.
Looking forward to coming back and trying their sparkling wine sampler.
I highly suggest this place for a first date or maybe an after-​dinner spot. Very romantic!

We attended a special Valentine’s Day dinner event here tonight. We arrived with high expectations, hoping for a great night and a great meal. We were not let down. Kellen, Chef and the crew delivered in all areas. The food was perfect, tastefully prepared dishes from start to finish, with perfect wine pairings… We’ve been fans of this place and Kellen since he opened, and we continue to be… Congratulations on a great event!

Very nice atmosphere and very friendly staff! Great service, will definitely be back here!!!

My husband and I love this place! Lovely ambiance, tasty wine, and a great barkeep. Bella Viva has become our favorite spot.

The owner has done a stunning job using his own two hands to renovate this building. It has by far the best ambiance of any restaurant in town. Even better is that he is a pleasure to talk to. He is the perfect barkeep with all of the local news and your favorites stored away in memory.
While he is working on his kitchen he has some cooks come in off and on and also has an arrangement with two nearby restaurants to provide food depending on the day: Garlic City and Milias.

Wednesday November 2015
Nice wine bar.
Great service, good selection of wines, nice «feel» and a piano player tonight.
They have an arrangement to have dinners brought by Garlic City and it worked well as our experience overall was very nice.

Had an amazing brisket hash for brunch today. That’s right Bella Viva is serving mimosas and brunch now! It’s every other Sunday from 10pm-​3pm. Don’t miss out!

Great spot ensconced in downtown Gilroy. My friend and I set out to meet up in Gilroy as it serves as a nice central meeting spot for us both.
Bella Viva has a lovely ambiance with lots of Italian charm. There’s a beautiful bar set in marble, a shiny black piano, arched doorways and an inviting patio with a warm fireplace (perfect space for drinking wines on a warm day or evening).
They have several featured wine flights, wines by the glass and wines by the bottle. You can choose from a selection of local, California, Oregon and international wines.
I had the Pinot Noir flight and my friend had the Cabernet Sauvignon flight. For $ 24 you get three generous pours. I loved all my pinots as did my friend but we were a little mystified that the wines they served us didn’t match the wines on the flight menu. I was okay with it since all the pinots were very nice. I really liked the pinot from Gilroy’s own Sarah’s Vineyard. I’m a new fan and will try to seek out more bottles.
Bella Viva partners with one of the neighboring restaurants, Milias, to bring together great food and wine. The housemade chips are a must. You get a mound of crispy seasoned chips with a zesty housemade onion dip. The grilled cheese sliders were tasty; can’t tell you what cheese they use but a good blend of cheese it is. The prosciutto-​wrapped goat cheese with crostini and pesto lent an inviting creamy herbaceousness to the meal. The gyro platter with roasted lamb, tzatziki sauce and grilled pita bread delivers a nice punch of protein and invigorating flavors.
We sat out on the beautiful patio near the fireplace and enjoyed delicious food and wine and a nice catch-​up session. Bella Viva is a wonderful meeting spot in Gilroy to linger over delicious wines and food (catch a paint and wine event and channel your inning Picasso if you’re so inclined).

Great service, great wine, great ambience. We had food from Milia’s (the restaurant that serves the food changes based on the day) which came fast and was easy to pay for, but on a separate check. Overall, we had a really good experience with both the wine and the owner (Kellen) who was both knowledgeable and not pretentious, killer combination when it comes to wine!

We had a great time sitting up at the bar. Flights are very generous, and are pours of excellent wine, and not the stuff you would commonly find elsewhere. We were also treated to a taste of a Rhone varietal we had never tried, based on the flavor profile had told the owner we were looking for, and it was SPOT ON. Needless to say, I was thrilled by the wine selection as well as their ability to make recommendations based on what I was craving. We will definitely be back next time we drive down to Gilroy from the peninsula.
Pricing is extremely reasonable as well. I wish they were closer so I could go back all the time!

This wine bar has a really nice, outdoor patio. The wine was very good, as well as the service. They serve fights, glasses & bottles of wine. Expansive variety.
I did like that they partnered with a restaurant to serve food instead of not having food at all, but because of that the service was a little slow. The food from the garlic city café was excellent.
I would most definitely return.

I wanted to thank Kellen for such a wonderful venue at the bridal shower we had there this last weekend. My future daughter in law was so happy and had a great time! Kellen knows his wines and is has great recommendations with pairings. He is such a pleasure to talk to and was extremely helpful the entire time we were there!
If you get a chance go to the wine bar and spend some time there! His staff is extremely helpful as well! Have some wine and order a meal from Garlic City– you won’t be disappointed !!!
Thanks again Kellen!!!

I’m so happy that my husband & I found this gem of a wine bar in Gilroy. After wine tasting at Sarah’s Vineyards we wanted to have a bite to eat at a nearby spot. Bella Viva popped up on Unilocal with great reviews. Upon arrival we were promptly greeted by the owner Kellen which we came to learn is following his passion for wine. The ambiance of Bella was lovely with glorious walls of wine & they have a nice patio to enjoy on warm days. We decided to sit at the bar and enjoy the ghost piano that was playing.
The wine list was quite extensive offering flights, bottles, or by the glass options. I went with the sparkling flight. My husband was really happy with the large variety of beer options as well. On the food side, they bring in food from the next door restaurant. My husband had the stuffed cannelloni & I went with the chicken marsala. Let’s just say YUM. Nice flavors & not overly salted.
We wrapped up our evening totally satisfied & very happy to support a local businessman who is passionate about what he does. If you’re in the downtown Gilroy area, pay Kellen a visit.

I don’t drink so I was not able to try the variety of wines they had available. My co-​workers enjoyed it though. I wanted to try their café latte, but unfortunately they ran out of milk :(
The guy there was super nice though. He apologized. He did a great job assisting my coworkers so even though I didn’t get to try the wine or café latte, I still give this place 4 stars for the guy.

Excellent spot for a nice selection of wines. Owner was extremely friendly and made excellent recommendations. Higher end atmosphere than the traditional Gilroy spots.
Food comes from Garlic City café and was good. I’d refer to Garlic City reviews if you’re thinking of food.
Really enjoyed a Saturday evening tasting and talking

Eh. The boy wanted to come here and was excited because he feels Downtown Gilroy needs a lift and this place was going to help it. I’m not so sure it does the job.
Heads up to the owner: I called a few days prior to coming to get some information on the Ristorante part of your wine bar and because this is still a fairly new place, I suggest you tell people who they’ve called instead of just saying hello. Maybe a «Bella Viva Ristorante» would help. Just a suggestion.
We went in on a Friday night at about 7 and there were maybe 15 people there. You walk in and you have the bar to the left and a few tables to the right. The boy and I opted to sit at a table… you seat yourself. A menu gets brought to you for the wines and the food. We got two flights: Tre Fantastico and Its a Jam-​boree! I’m more of a white wine kind of girl and thought the white wine would be a little sweet… nope. So we asked our guy which was the sweetest flight and although I would think it would be the Sparking Wine flight, he suggested the Jam-boree…nope., not sweet. They were generous with their pours though.
I didn’t know this because this was my first time ordering a flight, but all three glasses get brought to you at the same time and your wine guy tells you what it is and where it comes from. I don’t feel like they get personal with you so I prefer wine tasting over that (you get one glass at a time, they teach you how to drink it, etc). Not sure if they do this at the bar though? Maybe it’s because we sat at a table.
They also partner with a local café (Gilroy City Café) where you can place your order while at Bella Viva and they run back and forth to place your order, pick it up, and bring it to you. We waited 45 minutes for our appetizers that never came so we ended up getting our food to go instead. Our food came to us in to-​go form within 5 minutes so I’m assuming it was already ready. Not good. My review for the food is on Garlic City Café’s Unilocal site.