Ristorante Bellissimo

Bellisimo is a place that shows promise, but is not quite there. I went there early on a Tuesday night, and it was fairly uncrowded.
The beginning was inauspicious; the bread was a plain not very good white bread and an oil & cheese dip, not even warm.
We then started with the Scampi Agli Asparagi and the Capesante e Carciofi. Both dishes were OK, not great. The shrimp was perfectly cooked, but the scallops were slightly undercooked. Both dishes seemed somewhat bland, both in presentation and taste, though the scallops were not bad if you got enough of the red peppers.
We then had the Menu Gastronomico.
It started with one of their specials for the day, a crabmeat ravioli and shrimp dish. The sauce on this was delicious, as was the ravioli. Unfortunately, one of the six ravioli on our dishes was undercooked, the pasta was actually still doughy. And I was again annoyed by the tailed shrimp as in the appetizer, although this is pretty standard; whatever esthetic appeal the tail has I think does not compensate for the annoyance of having to dispose of it.
The second dish was a delicious green bean salad with onions, walnuts, and cheese.
The third dish was the regular Tilapia Bel Mondo, sauteed tilapia with sliced almonds in a white wine sauce. The tilapia and sauce were quite tasty. The presentation again I think was lacking; the tilapia were flanked by a few green beans on one side and carrots on another. Both were good but uninspiring.
The final meat dish was one of their specials, filet mignon on a bed of polenta. It was very delicious, especially the heavy sauce. Unfortunately, one of the filets was overcooked, with the edges being medium or above.
For dessert we were presented with strawberries and cream and tiramisu. Both were good, and the cream was delicious, although I felt it was a little too sweet.
In addition to the undercooking and overcooking of a couple of the dishes, there are problems with the décor. The bamboo and other elements I can sort of see as being left over, but the (admittedly small) picture of George Bush on the wall sort of reduced my appetite. And for those of a different persuasion, I’m sure the pictures of Bill and Hillary had the same non-​salutary effect.
Also they had some sort of glitch with their wine delivery; most of the bottles in their wine rack were empties, and their wine selection was poor.
The service was good, with attentive but non-​intrusive servers.
I think if they get their glitches ironed out Bellisimo can be a very good restaurant; as it is, they don’t quite make the grade for an expensive fine dining establishment.

I first read about this restaurant in Austin Monthly and I thought it looked like a good place to check out. Both my date and myself found it to be a great place for a nice dinner. It was definitely nice and upscale, but not fancy. It has a great location, just off of Congress, where we went and took in a movie at the Paramount right after dinner. Their salad was delicious, crisp and cool and the food was great as well. I had chicken in a Gorgonzola sauce and it was quite delicious, while my date had the gnocchi in a tomato sauce, which was also delicious. Their house wine was very good as well and complemented our meals excellently.
Additionally, the owner of the restaurant, Giovanni, came out to talk to us and when he found out that I spoke Italian, he preceded to talk to me in Italian and told me to, when I came back, to ask for him and we could have a chat in Italian. The wait staff was very friendly and hospitable. We unfortunately did not get to partake in the dessert but I’m sure it was excellent as well. Because it’s so new, it was easy to get a reservation– we got a 7:30 reservation on a Friday night on Thursday. But it’s definitely a great place for Italian in Austin and, as it gets a little more established in the community, I look for it to become more prominent and well-​known.

My wife and I have been regulars at Andiamo. We found out that one of the owners had left to start his own place, Ristorante Bellissimo. We went there over the Memorial Day weekend and now have a new favorite Italian place.
The service was very attentive. The wait staff helped each other throughout our meal, and had thorough knowledge of the menu and specials. The décor still has a lot of the old Noodleism décor, but the staff told us that this would be a work in progress.
We had the calamari appetizer and started with a bottle of wine. For entrees, my wife had hand-​made lobster ravioli in a red sauce and I had venison scallopini in a Crème de Cassis and orange sauce. Both were simply amazing. We were floored with the quality of the food and the presentation.
For dessert, we had the ricotta cheesecake. Every other experience I had with ricotta cheesecake resulted in a very dry, unsatisfying piece of blah. Not so much with this one. This was incredibly moist with an incredibly good flavor. I recommend ordering a muscat wine with the dessert.
In short, we now have a new favorite Italian place in Austin. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I had a fantastic lunch at Bellissimo yesterday, one of the best lunches I’ve had for a while. I hadn’t been to Bellissimo since it opened, I suppose I was still mourning the closing of Noodleism :)
The service was very fast and attentive, and my waiter was extremely professional and knew the menu in and out. I was disappointed that they are not currently carrying the italian sausage appetizer, the waiter said they are trying to find a new sausage supplier.
I passed on an alternate appetizer, but the bread came out very hot and was excellent. At the waiter’s recommendation, I got the Pollo Gorgonzola. Holy smokes this is a great dish. I actually went home yesterday and tried to reproduce it for dinner. The chicken was perfectly cooked, and the sauce was amazing. If you like very rich sauces this is the dish for you. It has a very strong brown butter flavor, which complements the gorgonzola very well. I’m not usually a portobello mushroom fan but the mushrooms were perfect and a great addition. It’s the best $ 10 dish I’ve had since Reed’s stopped serving their awesome bacon-​wrapped filet in the bar.
I’m not sure this will be a regular lunch place for me. The décor is not really high-​end italian, so I’ll generally prefer nicer steakhouses or Louie’s 106 for nice high-​calorie business lunches. I really think that they should have invested more into renovation to make the place feel like a nicer Italian place. Whoever commented that it feels like Italy must have not noticed the massive fake bamboo that is still everywhere left over from Noodleism! The plates also had a bamboo motif.
So five thumbs up for Pollo Gorgonzola at lunch. I’d like to go back for dinner and see if this place makes a good dinner venue.
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[update 5/​9/​08]: went here for lunch again today and tried something else. I had the bacon-​wrapped shrimp and it was decent but quite salty for my taste. –1 for the shrimp, but +1 for the fact that Giovanni (owner, and previously owner of Andiamo) was there and gave me some pointers on how to cook the Pollo Gorgonzola. He also said they are in the process of removing the bamboo! Good move! My buddy had the Pollo Gorgonzola and it was as good as it was last week.
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[update 5/​22/​08]: went here for lunch today and tried the pollo portobello. Wow it was delicious — not quite as good as the pollo gorgonzola but really well done. The menu lists it as a white wine cream sauce, but it is much more like a dark marsala with lots of mushrooms and garlic. This place is moving up to challenge Louie’s 106 as my favorite nice business lunch place downtown. If only the décor were better!

I was shocked to see the score of this place. I had one of the best meals of my life here. The seafood pasta. Which is one of my favorites I have had it at a few dozen places and never as good as here. Give it a try I have recommended it to a few friends and they all agreed. This is my favorite Italian place in Austin and I have eaten at 3 others that are incredibly good. as good as they have in nyc.

A new voice on the local dining scene is always pleasant to hear about. Even though Austin already has an embarrassment of riches in this area you can never have too much of a good thing. One night late last year, on a drizzly, gloomy Monday night, I sampled the offerings at Ristorante Bellissimo. As it turns out it was the perfect antidote on a night when the loathsome weather wasn’t exactly a people magnet. In fact, if it’s intimacy you crave, Bellissimo is a sure-​fire place to get it. Only a smattering of tables fills the establishment. The décor makes you feel as if you are dining in a genuine Italian villa. Sinatra riffs mix with more traditional Italian music overhead. Suitably disarmed yet? Then you’re ready for the food itself which, from start to finish was marvelous.
For my salad course I selected the Pomodorini con Mozzarella Fresca. The cherry tomatoes blended sumptuously with the mozzarella. About that mozzarella. Molto bene. It’s the good stuff. Soft, melt-​in-​your mouth amazing. I’m sure I’d become somewhat of a cheesaholic if this level of quality were accessible to me more often.
For the main course I opted for the Ravioli Ripieni al Portobello. The tomato sauce was divine. Robust, filling and hard to resist. Personally I selected this dish because this was my first visit and experience has taught me that, when trying out new eateries, it’s best to stick to the familiar at first and then work up to more adventurous choices. The dish showed the chef knows how to get Italian fundamentals right. The smooth mouth feel of the mushrooms and ravioli complemented the sauce beautifully.
As for the dessert it was grand finish to a stellar meal. Chocolate fanatic that I am I tried the Chocolate Mousse Tripple. Good thing the portion size wasn’t all that large because a little goes a long way. The «way» was lined with dark, white, and milk chocolate layers with a artful strawberry drizzle beneath.
My waiter was delighted to observe the blissed out state his cuisine had brought me to. He had effusive praise for each selection and it was well-​deserved.
A relaxing evening out never goes out of style. For that reason this hedonist concludes that the sound of Ristorante Bellissimo’s chefs whipping up top-​notch grub is music to his ears.

Was I even at the same restaurant??? My boyfriend and I went there for New Year’s Eve and the experience was laughably bad. When we arrive the restaurant is practically empty but they sat us at a small table right between the doors to the bathroom and the kitchen. We asked if we could have one of the other tables that were empty (because only 2 or 3 other parties were in the whole restaurant) and we were told they were reserved. By the time we left those tables were still empty! In fact, a group walked in off the street and were given a table and so if the tables were reserved then how did they get a seat? (I only know all of this because our table was also right by the host’s stand so we could hear everything the host and the waiters bitched and joked about all night) One more thing about the atmosphere… have they finished decorating? I hope not. One wall still had wallpaper that appeared to be from the previous establishment, the lighting was too bright, and the wall hangings were cheap paintings. They had some nice large mirrors but they hung them almost at the ceiling so you wouldn’t even notice them.
Ok, so the food. First I am a sucker for a tomato and mozzeralla salad but was skeptical about it given that it was the middle of winter. I asked the waiter and he insisted it was wonderful. Not only were the tomatoes lacking flavor, as I was worried about, but even the mozzarella was tasteless. A waste of the $ 15 they were charging for it on NYE. So then the entrees. One of the specials for the night was a filet mignon with a sauteed mushroom sauce. When my boyfriend ordered this 5 minutes after the waiter listed the specials for us the waiter stuttered and said that he thought they were out of it. Huh? You just told us that was your special 5 minutes ago! And I know no one was eating it since their was next to no one in the restaurant! Anyway, and unfortunately, they did have it and I also ordered the lobster ravioli which was to come in a champagne cream sauce. The lobster must have been canned because it was stringy, not chunks, and had a seafood flavor, not a buttery flavor like good lobster should have. The sauce was thick and tasteless. Kind of like watered down glue. The best part (sarcasm) was the filet though. The filet was tiny and sliced in half lengthwise so that you got two pieces about 0.25″ thick. Sort of like a cheap steak used for chicken fried steak or something. Of course because it was cut so thin it was also way overdone. The chef insisted it was filet mignon though and although I am not doubting him, it couldn’t have been a good piece of meat to have to cut it up that way. And then to drown it in that sauce! The sauce was sort of like a thick stew sauce and the mushrooms were really chewy.
Needless to say we skipped desert and go out of there to laugh about it in the street. My boyfriend who couldn’t care less about food and would happily eat hamburger helper every night of the week even recognized how bad that meal was!

Okay, I am so in love with this place, that I have been there twice in about 2 weeks, which is a lot for me. I dont know how Chef Giovanni does it, but everything is so decadent, but yet so light. At our table, I think it was described as a «food orgasm.» It is a little hard to find vegetarian options, which I have come to expect, but when the artichokes literally melt in my mouth, I am willing to forgive. Everything is so personal too, when Chef Giovanni wasnt in the kitchen he was hanging out at our table, which was a nice touch. They do need to do something about the old noodelism décor, but nothing can distract from the food. I could probably be sitting in the alley next door, and still be happy. And we have never had to wait for a table, but unfortunately that will probably change now that they have their liquor license.

I went there because it’s a new restaurant in Austin. There wasn’t many people for Friday dinner. The chef explained because they haven’t got liqueur license yet. I think they have it by now.
The food wasn’t too impressive. But still good. A lot of dishes are tomato sauce based. So it seems every dish we had for appetizers and entrees are red.
We had sauteed calamari which is very good, and fried calamari, sorry hate anything fried and scallops. There are totally three scallops on the plate for $ 12. The size is not for adult, but a baby.
We had halibut and mixed seafood special for $ 26.99 each. They taste good. But somehow every dish tastes same there.
The chef was the chef from Andiamo a year ago. He is cooking, chit chatting with us, playing with baby and karaokeing all evening. Such a fun guy.

I’m excited about this solid new contender to the downtown restaurant scene. Housed in the old Noodle-​ism space (and still sporting the same bamboo room dividers), Ristorante Bellisimo has a hundred times more soul than all the Dallas-​swanky places that have been popping up around town, and the food is terrific and the service, outstanding.
We were here with two other couples and sampled two calamari appetizers — one was traditional fried calamari and the other was in some kind of light tomato sauce over a gentle sea of polenta. I wasn’t bowled over by the polenta version, but the fried version was cooked to perfection without a hint of toughness and the batter was light and flavorful. We also tried the scallops appetizer, which was probably the star of the evening — wonderfully flavorful and again, perfectly cooked. It was a little pricey for an appetizer ($ 12.95), but you got three very large sea scallops on the plate — not so bad when you consider the legendary $ 12 single scallop at Uchi.
For my entrée, I had another calamari dish (I was in a calamari mood) in some kind of tomato sauce. It was good, but I wouldn’t say it was quite as outstanding as the appetizers we’d tried. My hubby had a dish with chicken mixed with some kind of Italian sausage that was amazing — hearty and spicy and wonderful. I loved it, and he did, too.
For dessert, we split a piece of cheesecake, which was made with ricotta and very light. Because of the ricotta base, the texture was a little bit wet-​yet-​crumbly in a way that seemed slightly surprising to me, but I still liked it better than traditional cheesecake, which always makes me feel like I have a lead weight in my stomach afterwards.
The service was truly outstanding. The waitstaff was unfailingly attentive and charming. The head chef/​owner (?) (formerly the chef from Andiamo Ristorante) came and chatted with us a number of times, and his affable and friendly manner was fun to be around. He even engaged in a little Italian karaōke at one point (accompanied by the Italian singer/​guitarist who had provided the music for most of the evening), which was a bit goofy, but rather endearing.
Prices are on the high side, but not at all bad. We paid for ¹⁄₃ of three appetizers, all of two entrees and one dessert, and our total came to about $ 75 without gratuity. This did not include any alcohol because Bellisimo doesn’t have its liquor license quite yet, but it did include a portion of an $ 8 corkage fee (we brought our own). It’s my understanding that their liquor license may be in place as early as next week.
I’m looking forward to many more visits to Ristorante Bellisimo, and hope to check them out for lunch, as well. Viva! Bellisimo!

Very nice Italian restaurant with outstanding, friendly service and great food. We ordered the Halibut special and a mixed fish special served on pasta and a tomato sauce. Both dishes were very tasty. The chef came out and chatted with us frequently and even tried his hand at Karaōke while we dined. I have to say his cooking skill exceeded his singing ability. The place was not very crowded for a Friday night, but I am betting that is because it is new and the liqueur license isn’t ready yet.

This place is simply fantastic. I went last night with a group for business and started out with the truffle fennel salad that is hands down the best salad in Austin. We ordered several starters for the table and the scallops are to die for. I got the shrimp with cherry tomatoes and white wine sauce. Perfect. I had the home made lemon sorbet to finish the night.
It was so good that I went back again tonight and had the seafood linguine with saffron cream sauce. We also had the homemade tiramisu that is the best dessert I have had in years.
Hands down the best restaurant in Austin and I have pretty much eaten everywhere here. In fact, I specifically came on and got a Unilocal account just so that I could give Giovanni and his wife Miriam this review. This place will be around for a very very long time.

This little Italian place has great food! My wife and I went there the other night and were pleasantly surprised. It was a Monday night and the place was almost empty but the food was outstanding. It’s a quiet little place, the guy that appears to be the owner is in the kitchen and it has a lot of potential. The Gorgonzola Chicken is REALLY good. It’s gotta be terrible for you but man; it’s good.
I hope some other people find out about this place because I would love to see it in downtown for a long time to come.