Cafe Bella

Café Bella has it all. Nice bar, attentive staff and owner, reasonable prices, excellent menu and food. We went Friday night were seated right away, had a glass of wine with an exceptional antipasto appetizer. An excellent Italian menu with upscale classics with a very reasonable price. Service and atmosphere was great, it is a cute small place, and has a nice bar with TV to watch the game. Did I mention excellent food!

DON’T ORDER THE MUSSELS!
I joined 4 of my book club friends for dinner at Café Bella. In general the food looked appetizing and the hummus was good. The wine list was adequate. When I asked the server for a reco between a Sauvignon Blanc and a Viognier, she offered to let me taste both and choose for myself. I thought that was nice. I think the dining room is pleasant and the menu interesting enough.
However, when time came to order dinner, I told the server that I was a «mussels snob» and told her that I would only order them if she told me they were «excellent» and that otherwise I would order something else. No she assured me, everyone thinks they are excellent! Not so. Half (yes half) of the mussels that arrived were not opened, the rest of them had hardly any meat in them (really, some stringy stuff and no «mussel»). The sauce was OK but tasted suspiciously like Sweet Chili Sauce out of a bottle. I can’t believe they were served. I would have rather had the Sweet Chili Sauce on some chicken nuggets.
Needless to say, Café Bella does not make it on my «places OK to order mussels» list. Too bad.

I went to Café’ Bella a few months back for lunch. It looked like it would be a great experience but quickly turned strange.
Atmosphere — Café style, clean, quiet, felt fancy
Service — Very odd… as it started with a nice greeting and immediately went downhill from there once I mentioned the Unilocal Check-​in offer for one free hummus platter. When I mentioned the offer while ordering the server looked strangely at me and sighed. He then proceeded to tell me that Unilocal was to have removed the check-​in offer several weeks ago. He then asked me if he could look at the offer on my phone. He then talked to a woman standing near the kitchen and made a few phone calls. I do not recall him saying to me that he was sorry for the inconvenience. I think he could have made the situation better by saying that while the offer was to be removed he would still honor it or maybe even take a few dollars off the normal price of the hummus platter as a goodwill gesture. How is it my fault that this happened? In addition, my service did not include any tea refills… not sure if it would have been extra… but it’s iced tea… per my Lipton box at home you can make like 192 servings for $ 3 — $ 4 a box.
Food — I ordered their Chicken Pesto sandwich w/​chips. It was decent, as the bread used for the sandwich tasted artisan made and chicken seemed fresh. The chips appeared to be average store bought chips… nothing special to me.
Overall — The food was good but the experience has made me hesitant to return if in the area. Like I mentioned earlier, they could have turned this uncomfortable situation into a positive customer experience. It was hummus… you know… chickpeas…not caviar.

I have plenty of good things to say about Café Bella. Their food is really tasty, I loved their menu options, and we had great service. The weirdest part of my visit was their Unilocal Check-​In Offer. They offered a free hummus to Unilocalers who checked in which I was quite excited about when I saw it. When I showed the server my phone, he seemed confused and asked if he could take my phone to the owner (who was sitting a few tables away) and ask her about it. She walked over a few moments later and said yes, she’d be willing to give me the free hummus, but only if I wrote a review. It was bizarre. I mean, I’m a Unilocaler so I try to write reviews for most of the new places I visit. But to post a check-​in offer and then say you’d only be willing to do it if I write a review??? Weird! I’ll pass on the strange threats with my check-​in offer.
But hey, the food was really good. And I enjoyed my free hummus… even if it did come with a side of awkwardness.

Last Saturday we went for dinner at seven pm. later we found they were short a cook and we waited an hour for our salads. We waited another hour for dinners that looked liked they had been TV dinners just dumped on our plates and heated slightly. No management came to check or apologize. I guess Bella was on vacation that night. A bad experience all around. Won’t go back again.

Café Bella is a pleasant experience. Parking is a snap! Entering the restaurant is easy too. The floor plan is a little odd, but easy to forget once you’re at a table.
The ambiance is pleasing. It is well lit with comfortable seating. The contemporary interior is current, not dated. Color, artwork, fixtures, etc. are well coordinated.
The menu is generous with something for everyone. We started with drinks and then ordered dinner.
Our waiter was presentable, knew the menu well, and was exceptional with his work. All in all, he was very pleasant and professional with a casual demeanor.
There were four in my party. We started with apps. Then we each ordered a different entrée. Following the apps, our dinners arrived quickly. The plating was exceptional. Each was picture perfect. Everyone wanted a taste of everything on the table. Each dinner was prepared to perfection and filled with flavor. Café Bella is a wonderful addition to our neighborhood.
Would I go back? You Betcha!

First impressions can kill an establishment. It sure did for Café Bella and my interest in ever coming back. 4 of us stopped in for lunch a couple months ago to try it out. I had read a few good reviews so lets give it a shot. The food was OK at best and the service was about a 1 star. The food that we received was not exactly what we ordered, albeit close. A chicken flatbread/​pizza came out instead of the chicken sandwich that was ordered. The food and ordering process took so long there was no chance of asking for the correct dish.
Now every time I drive by, I just keep on truckin.

Café Bella is always a nice treat for us because the food is fresh and the service is awesome. Prices are a little higher, but I do think we get what we pay for where I’d peg the quality to be much higher than a Bravo/​Maggiano. I had the house salad which I loved because the lettuce was fresh and the dressing tasted homemade — I’m also not a fan of a lot of toppings on my salad so it was just the right balance for me. The bread is served with an olive oil/​pepper blend and was warm when served. My main entrée was the veal bolognese and it was awesome! The meat was so tender and the sauce had just the right mix of spices for me. I ate half of it and then saved the rest for home where we extended the meal with a little more pasta to feed 2 at home. Dessert was the dulce de leche which was the low point for me because I do have high expectations for it. The cake was too thick, so it wasn’t moist enough at the top after the sweet milk settled. I’d definitely recommend Café Bella for another time!

We drove by Café Bella and just decided to try it. We love locally owned restaurants and finding one we hadn’t experienced was exciting. The servers greeting us were so polite and we were seated right away. The atmosphere was small, clean, and quiet, which we appreciate.
Started our courses with the tomato bisque soup and house salad. I would come any day for the soup, but the salad didn’t leave much to remember. Spring mix with a homemade vinaigrette but no toppings — no nuts, no cranberries, no cheese. I loved the dressing but I need a little something besides just lettuce in my salad.
I took a chance on the Sausage & Chicken Linguine special with marinara sauce while my boyfriend went with a standard menu item of Penne Shrimp Diablo. Portion size was perfect, but my marinara was a little plain. Fresh, but plain. We loved the spice of the diablo sauce but it was very skimpy on the shrimp, and the penne was not the right pasta for this dish in my opinion. I’m not hating on penne, I just think it would’ve worked better with linguine or angel hair since it had shrimp.
My wine was amazing, a Cabernet by Sean Minor (Napa Valley) and my boyfriend tried one of their signature drinks, the Perfect Heart which was actually fabulous. Not a huge selection, but great choices.
Overall we were ok with our experience, the dinner prices were a little higher than the quality, but I would go back, especially for lunch and try their pizzas, have more soup and maybe get my hands on their Crème Brulee one day!

We stopped there on Saturday evening with another couple. We had planned to go to the new pizza place across the street but it was packed. I have driven past Bella for two years since relocating. My husband and another friend had eaten lunch there and were not impressed. The restaurant was very cold inside and the diners were eating with coats on. I love it when there isn’t anyone there and they ask for reservations??? The waitress wasn’t interested in telling us anything about the menu, but another waiter was just going on about the menu to another table. So, I had Greek salad although the cheese wasn’t very high quality or any of the other ingredients. The lentil soup had too much curry. The group wasn’t impressed with the salmon. It looked kind of grey. My friend’s penne and sausage entrée looked like it was heated up in the microwave. The prices are kind of high for what you get. The bartender was friendly. Great location, but the owner needs to think about either putting some money into the restaurant to warm up the atmosphere and temperature or just stay open for lunch. The flatbreads should be offered for dinner and they are not. We won’t be back.

We went to Café Bella last weekend with another couple. The good news is… the food was wonderful! The bad news is… the service was horrible and it spoiled the evening for us.
The first clue was the ad on the table that offers you a free hummus appetizer if you post a good review on Unilocal from your smart phone right then. You have to wonder how many good reviews were posted before any food was tasted and any of their terrible service was experienced.
I’ll be as brief as I can be… we had to beg for water and drinks after we had been seated for about 15 minutes. We ordered our dinners and they came out timely and very good! After we were finished, the waitress decided it was time for us to go, so, she delivered the check to us. I don’t know if they have desserts because none were offered. We asked if we might get some coffee, and 3 of us ordered decaf. She said they just happened to have some brewed! Another red flag. It must have been brewed earlier that day… it was lukewarm and very strong, so we asked for cream, because, naturally none had been offered to us. She looked at us like we were out of our minds! She didn’t think they had cream, she never heard of half and half but they may have milk. Who knew cream/​half and half was such an outlandish request? So we paid $ 2.69 for awful coffee. Now we are ready for the check. We asked for it to be split out since we were in couples, so no great surprise that she brought us 1 check. We asked again for her to split it. She brought it out and announced that she had split it incorrectly. Now don’t you think this would have been a good opportunity for her to go back and do it right? Not so. We had to insist that she split it out correctly and the third time was a charm!
Then to top it off, a couple days later I receive an email from Open Table saying they were sorry that we missed our reservation at Café Bella. If only that were true… so she didn’t know how to check us in either.
I emailed the restaurant and told them that we loved the food but were disappointed that our evening was tarnished by a waitress who was clearly in the wrong line of work. A week later, I have had no acknowledgement from the management, so I decided I would write this review.
To summarize… great food, but keep your expectations low when it comes to their service!

I come to Café Bella about twice a year and have always had a pleasurable experience.
They serve primarily Italian food, however because the chef/​owner is Eritrean they also have a special Eritrean menu they serve only at certain times. We’ve never been for that but do really want to try it since we’ve had that cuisine elsewhere and loved it. I’d really love to try them for lunch too but have not yet had the opportunity.
Some of my favorite things to get at Café Bella are the tomato basil bisque, antipasto, greek salad, the fillet mignon and rack of lamb. The meat is always cooked perfectly — juicy, flavorful and never overcooked. Desserts change often but the crème brûlée and tres leches cake are amazing, and worth coming for those alone.
They also have a full bar, though we usually order a bottle of wine with our dinner. We’ve not yet been let down by their suggestions. In general the staff are always friendly and helpful.
One last thing I’d like to note too is that Café Bella has also participated in Greater Cincinnati Independent Restaurant Week, which I hope they continue doing.

First impression: A strip-​mall and next to a car wash — how good can it be? Step inside and it is really small, with the bar being pretty much right in the middle of the place and hard to escape the noise of the TV blasting some sporting event. But, I had been told the food was good, so I stuck with the plan and took my seat in the very back corner of the place (felt a little like I was being punished; however it did put me as far away from the TV as I could possibly be). I ordered a glass of wine, which was very good; although I don’t remember the name. Once I started reviewing the menu I began to feel a lot more enthusiastic about my dining choice; the options were great! Unique, gourmet, intriguing; I knew I wasn’t in a chain-​restaurant, and I was pleased. I ordered the specail, which was a lamb dish, and the rest of my party all ordered something different but I won’t list each item. What I can say is that not one of us was disappointed. Everything was fresh and flavorful. The server was attentive, but not overly friendly, and we didn’t mind that our meal took a while to be served because we had ordered a couple of appitizers and they came out in a reasonable amount of time.
This is the account of my first visit — I have been back twice since, once for lunch with friends, and once with two other couples. I have not been let down yet, nor have the the folks I’ve dined with. I will continue to visit Café Bella for special occassions and gatherings with friends.

Well… I had high hopes, but they were dashed. I had a lunch artisan style pizza here before, which I remember being good. But, this time I’m afraid my mind is made up. Both my husband’s dish and mine tasted bland. I had some fish with a barley risotto, I think he had short ribs or something of the like. Forgive me it was a few months back. I think one of the major causes of the lack of taste and blandness was that something must have been frozen and reheated because things were watery. Yuk. The service was ok. The tv at the bar was distracting, so we won’t be going again. Sorry to disappoint.

Food was good but poor customer service from the owner.

Really great food and the price isn’t that bad for the quality of the food. We sat by the bar which made for an interesting experience. The martinis are great too.

The Hoff and I went here the other night (Fri — second day of the US Open at Pebble Beach) on one of those spur of the moment decisions. I wanted Italian. He had signed the books at the Moose — yes, someday he will win the big money drawing, and the fact that he «signs the books at the Moose» should not disqualify us from assessing fine dining establishments.
The restaurant is in what I’d describe as a «strip mall» type of building, but the interior does its best to be inviting. The bar and seating area aren’t very well separated, and it’s a relatively small place to begin with, which means if you want a table, you might want to call ahead.
My first impression, well second — beyond the «strip mall» — impression was OUCH! this place is LOUD!!! I considered suggesting to the Hoff that we go someplace else. In fact, I asked him if he wanted to try somewhere else, but we had already been seated, so we stayed.
He ordered some sort of martini concoction — a lemony thing that wasn’t tart enough for his tastes. I ordered a glass of red wine, which was very good.
The waiter was pretty cool — a jolly, shaven-​head guy who reminded me of one of the Hoff’s colleagues (he prefers the term subordinates). We had to remind him to bring us some bread, which was ok. After tasting the bread, I thought that I could have done without it and been ok.
Our first big disappointment was that the thing we both wanted — Italian pot roast — was sold out. Boo! So, my second choice was a pasta dish, which was tasty and filling, but if I’m going to eat pasta, I might as well stay home. The Hoff ordered tortellini, which he said was ok, but not impressive.
After dinner, we vacillated on ordering dessert (I knew we had some coconut cream pie at home!), but since they had tiramisu, I insisted that the Hoff get dessert. You must understand that the Hoff absolutely LOVES tiramisu. Of course, the best tiramisu he’s ever eaten was at… sorry, I can’t reveal that location here.
After being encouraged to ALSO get dessert, I ordered some gelato, and BIG SURPRISE, they were out. So I ordered some crème brûlée, which wasn’t properly carmelized.
The coffee was good, so that pleased me. I would have had a second cup, but I was just glad to go.
So, overall, ok experience… our bill for the evening was about 75 dollars. I could find better ways to spend that money on eating out. I don’t feel the need to go there again.

Last week the Cincinnati TasteCasting Team had the wonderful privaledge of tasting the food at Café Bella in Mason, OH. I had definitely heard of them, but hadn’t been out there yet, until now, and boy am I glad I made it to this tasting. It was FABULOUS! Truly, every team member loved the food and we are all excited to go back very soon!
Café Bella is a unique restaurant that has been open since February of 2008. They serve Mediterranean food and even serve lunch now! Chef Ben, previously Encore and Trio, joined her recently and are just now introducing their best menu yet!
Our team sat in the private room which would be perfect for parties or events. Lots of room to move around and enjoy the people you are with. The table was set beautifully and the smells coming from the kitchen were making my stomach growl with hunger!
Our first dish was Bella’s Hummus (a special recipe) that was served with warm pita. Also on the same plate was a single, pan seared scallop with Sweet Corn Bisque, Braised Leeks and Shitake Mushrooms. This was an amazing way to start out the evening. The hummus was the best I have ever had! Truly delicious. The Scallop was slightly undercooked (in a good way) and nearly melted in my mouth. The Sweet Corn Bisque was not what I would expect with a Scallop, but now I am not sure I want to eat a Scallop any other way!
Next, our wonderful server, delivered a Baby Fennel Salad with Mushrooms and Parmesan. It was topped with a Lemon Basil Vinaigrette dressing. This was a small salad, but perfect for the second course. I am not a huge Fennel fan because I don’t like the taste of licorice, but this was great with the light Lemon Basil dressing. The Parmesan was very light and just added a touch of flavor.
The next serving was one of everyone’s favorites — the Pistachio Salmon with Mediterranean Couscous and an Orange Cumin Vinaigrette. The salmon was cooked perfectly. I love fish and this was absolutely one of the best pieces that I have had in the Cincinnati area. To my surprise, the Couscous was spicy and had Pinenuts, Spinach and Olives in it — and I liked it! The Vinaigrette was sweet and that helped even the tastes out.
On the fourth delivery of food to the table, we received the Caribbean Spiced Beef with New Potatoes and Roasted Red Pepper Coulis (pronounced coo-​lee). If I had to choose my least favorite thing we were served, this would be it, but please note that there was NOTHING bad about it at all! It really was great! The beef was seasoned beautifully and the Coulis was probably the best part of it — delicious!
For our final serving, we had a taste of the sweetness of Bella — House Made Tiramisu! WOW! This was served in a single serving clear dish and had ladyfingers in it that had been soaked in Rum. By the time I reached the bottom of this dish, I think I might have been a bit tipsy! Lovely! A perfect ending to a perfect meal from Café Bella!
You can check out their website at
. They are located at 5948 Snider Road in Mason — at the corner of Snider and Tylersville. Call them for reservations at 513−770−4141. You won’t be disappointed!
Also, if you are on Twitter — follow them @cafebellamason or become a fan of theirs on Facebook.

Really good freshly prepared food. 1 starter, 2 mains, dessert, and two iced teas $ 60.
After an oddly interesting asparagus starter ($ 10 for cold asparagus? hmm), I had a very tasty and well prepared pork tenderloin with pan fried red potatoes and green beans, and my wife had a huge slab of salmon (thick). The dessert was the apple pastry with gelato with good bold coffee. WOW.
They do need to work on their appetizer bread. It was obviously bought in and seemed rubbery (frozen? yuk). Buying from Jungle’s, Busken or Servatti’s would be a better option. Hey it was free, and warm, so who’s complaining. No star lost here.
I need to explain the starter appetizer. It was four stalks of nicely colored asparagus that had been chilled, arranged like you would splay your fingers. Drizzled over was a white sauce, my wife says it was mayo. On each side of the plate was a tiny pile of cheese and a tiny pile of prosciutto, maybe one ounce of each. It was good and interesting, but it wasn’t a $ 10 appetizer IMHO. Definitely left an impression. I would order it again if someone else buys, but I would probably get a different appetizer.
Let me sum up, go! Café Bella is good rustic Italian, cheap for the quality, small yet intimate, and friendly. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Went last night so I can review for my blog and it was a good experience. If you live in the Mason area — you should go. It’s a nice atmosphere with quality food.
They have a pasta special on some nights that is $ 11.95 for all-​you-​can-​eat pasta with salad and bread. There are 4 choices on pasta (fettucini alfredo, pasta with marinara, penne with chicken & zucchini & marinara and fettucini with marinara and meatballs). The salad is really good — a «fancy» salad.
I had the lentil soup — eh not that great.
My dinner was the pork — the sauce was really good.
For dessert we had the apple tart with vanilla gelato. I love gelato — the flavor is so much richer! It was really good. The tart — well i liked the edges and my friend liked the middle — so it was perfect to split.
The drinks are pricey ($ 9 for a martini?) but there are some decent prices on wine.