Tried Bella Monica for the first time for date night. The only reservation option was outside which was okay, but on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. Overall, I would give the experience a 3 out of 5. Our server was friendly and we loved the family feel of the restaurant but the service from the kitchen was slow and the food wasn’t overly flavorful. Drinks came fast but we waited over 20 minutes for the brussel sprouts appetizer (good!) and then another 10 minutes or so for our main meals, shrimp scampi pasta (not very garlic-y with raw onions on the top) and the Manzo pizza (where we didn’t really taste any of the toppings). Might have just been an off night for us.

Service was very good. However, we were disappointed with the food and cocktails, and the prices seemed quite a bit higher than when we last visited several years ago.

Everyone enjoyed the meal! The Eggplant Parm and Chicken Parm were especially good.

So happy to return after 16 months of pandemic! Wonderful as always!

Went to Bella Monica to celebrate our sons birthday. The service was outstanding - from the server to the restaurant manager. They were attentive and extremely friendly. The food was excellent and the price was right.

I would highly recommend Bella Monica. Great restaurant especially for this area of Raleigh. Go try it. You will not be disappointed.

I love this place! The food is amazing and the staff is awesome. This is definitely my favorite Italian restaurant in NC. I come from an Italian family and their food rivals my own family's recipes. Highly recommend!

This is our favorite Italian restaurant! Always the best service and the food is amazing. We always take our guest here when we have visitors.

Bella Monica is great with Gluten Free.

Graduation

Great place for a very good Italian inspired meal.

Great food and ambience. We enjoyed Bella Monica! 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

Great service, friendly staff, food was delicious. Very friendly to our two kids.

Wonderful that you can reserve an outdoor table. Fantastic gluten-free menu. They accommodated so easily for dairy-free too. Food was delicious.

As usual…everything was fantastic! We shared the mushrooms, Brussels sprouts and got arugula salads with salmon. Perfection :-)

Dinner average. Friendly staff

They really take care of GF diners here. Special menu, really good GF focaccia bread, polenta appetizer is also quite good. I had the Gf penne Bolognese which was very tasty.

We visited Bella Monica for an anniversary dinner. Although it had rained earlier, the patio seating was covered and comfortable for an evening dinner. The food and service were both excellent. The staff were friendly and made our evening very enjoyable. One of us is gluten free, and Bella Monica makes it super easy to eat gluten free, including GF bread, chicken parm, and tiramisu.

Felt very rushed. Entree came before our appetizer was done. Lasagna wasn’t good. Very mushy and overcooked.
We were excited to come to Bella Monica as we had heard good things about it. We left very disappointed

Everything was awesome. The food was incredible and the service was just as good. Would definitely recommend!

Nice informal atmosphere- good Italian food!

Great wine and food - awesome gluten free menu

Love this place

Great food. It was good to be back, and Bella Monica has opened post-pandemic very nicely with both indoor and outdoor seating. All staff were masked, and patrons could choose whether to mask or not (presuming folks were honest about their vaccination status!). Large portions. Looking forward to more of the Bella Monica dinner tonight at home!

We just celebrated a birthday last Tuesday at Bella Monica, having never been there. It was exceptional from the call I got asking for the celebrant's name so they could acknowledge the occasion to the outstanding desserts we enjoyed - including a complimentary birthday cannoli! Everything was delicious and well prepared: the appetizers were creative, delicious and beautifully presented (not to mention HUGE); the dinner selections were equally diverse and every single dish we had was perfectly cooked, full of flavor and also large. I am always hesitant to order salmon as it is usually overcooked - but not at Bella Monica - it was juicy, tender and oh so tasty. The wine selection was also perfectly matched to the food and when we asked for a recommendation on the second bottle, our waiter's choice was thoughtful and spot-on!

The service was excellent. The entire waitstaff was attentive without hovering and gave us time to enjoy each course. Our main waiter was really (really - not just trained-to-be) knowledgeable about the food and the wine, and helped us to make tough choices that resulted in the perfect meal. The ambiance also had a really good vibe - energetic up front and a subdued enough by the tables to enjoy dinner conversation but without losing the great atmosphere. Phenomenal play list all night as well!

We found Bella Monica to be a great dining experience with exceptional food, great wine and superior service in a delightful ambiance. It was excellent value as well and we will make Bella Monica one of our go-to choices when we want to thoroughly enjoy a special dining experience.

Love Bella. Wonderful Gluten Free options. Excellent attention to detail in making our anniversary special

Never disappoints! I tried the Italian “shrimp and grits” and it was outstanding.

Bella Monica is always good! They consistently serve high quality and delicious food. We love the mussels crema, squid ink linguine, and tiramisu.

It was our first time there after great referral source from a co-worker. The food was great. I was a little disappointed that the server didn't share the special of the day until I later remembered & said I saw something on your website but isn't on the menu & he shared well you can get it next time. I shared that I was accustomed to wait service sharing the special especially after sharing the it was our very first visit. Moving forward the mussels were outstanding. We were a little concerned that the appetizer dishes were not removed from the table once they brought our main course to us. So we had to eat with a table full of mussel shells and the bowl they were in. Service was a 3 because of that because they removed main course dishes & still left the appetizer dishes on the table. They did remove them before us receiving our dessert. Because the food was delicious & the wine as well absolutely outstanding, we did leave a generous tip. I am so looking forward to going back.

Great food and service. Perfect venue for our group.

Relaxed attentive service

Great place!

Great Italian food with great service. The chicken parmigiana & pasta with meatballs were delicious. We will be going back.

Hidden gem with quality authentic Italian. We ordered the meatballs and shared the shrimp pasta. The drinks were really great and something you can’t find anywhere else. Loved it!

My visit was overall great. The food was amazing. Very classy and professional would definitely recommend.

Several interesting menu items in addition to the traditional Italian dishes. Blue berry cheesecake for dessert was fabulous.

My husband and I had a date night here and we sat at the bar. This place is small and tables are crammed in inside and outside but, the food was good and they have a great wine selection. The bartender was very helpful with our wine selections.

Love Bella Monica, and thoroughly enjoyed this time!

Bella is my favorite Raleigh restaurant. Food and service were exceptional and even the casa vino was quite acceptable.

Great Mother’s Day celebration! As always, the food, service and ambience were awesome! We always look forward to Bella Monica.

Food was mediocre at best. We've been coming here for 10 years and it's just not what it used to be.