Bella Cena

you can not miss this one. Dining out in the city has become so predictable that I have considered either polishing up my culinary skills, or foraging in the wilds of Jersey. Shock, but delight met me at the Bella Cena. They do not make food, they create an experience, in fact it is not even food at all, it is a poem.

My needs were filled, my wants satisfied and my faith restored,…

AWFUL EXPERIENCE. I have never had such a ridiculous and negative experience at a restaurant in my life. I went to Bella Cena for a friend's birthday with 15 people. It was during restaurant week and the manager told our party we could not order off the regular menu and we would all have to order 4 courses off of the restaurant week menu. The manager was our waiter and began to take our order. He said he would not walk around the table to take our orders because he had "other tables to wait on". He then called out each item on the menu and asked us to raise our hands for each course when he called out what we wanted. After doing this for the first course, he realized he only had 14 first courses written instead of 15. He yelled that this was taking to long and he could not waste his time. He placed a pen and a piece of paper on the table and told us to all write down what we would want. We expressed that it would just be easiest if he walked around the table and took our orders, but he said he would not. Instead, I walked around my table and took everyone's order, and gave to to the manager. Five minutes later he stormed out of the kitchen and shoved the paper and my face saying "count the second course, you only wrote 14 instead of 15." I apologized explaining i was not a waitress so it was an easy mistake to make, and he replied "its math a five year old could do this." We waited about 40 minutes between courses and the food was sub par. The manager added a 20% tip to our bill, of which he deserved zero. I will never return to this restaurant and do not believe they deserve the business of philadelphia patrons.…

What a Terrible Experience. We had eaten at Bella Cena twice and suggested that two other couples join us for dinner there. What a nightmare!! The service was beyond poor--it was almost scary. The waiter came up after our appitizers and asked if we wanted anything else or just the check--he thought we had already eaten. The entrees were so salty we sent one back and didn't finish the others. The manager gave us a lame excuse about being overbooked and understaffed--boiler plate excuses. Then, to top it off, the waiter told us upon paying that the credit card machine was down. We will never go back. There are too many other good Italian BYOs to have to deal with this amateur hour.,…

Bellisimo!. Best meal - and experience - I've had in years! Our waiter Jason did everything to make us feel like Italian royalty-including setting up an extra table outside, brewing fresh tea and comping the dessert when the other desserts ran out. And the food was phenomenal- you have to try the risotto! We'll be back.…