Bella Bacino’s

AVOID – Gets 1 star only because Unilocal requires at least one. Hard to believe this place exists in such a foodie town as Chicago. Utterly tasteless Caesar salad w/​chix that came pre-​cooked to the restaurant, lettuce right out of a bag and MIA dressing. Worse: cracker crust pizza – «crust» right out of cellophane, topped w/​bottle BBQ sauce and more of the peculiar chix, all warmed in 750 watt microwave. Watered down martini came w/​ice in the glass! Sincere but ineffectual waitress who FORGOT to put in the appetizer order, never filled H2O, or ever got on top of her job. Blame goes to the hotel concierge who recommended the place. What was he thinking? What was I thinking to stay put after eye-​balling such a trite and then poorly executed menu??? Run.

I walked by earlier in the day and the place looked good and decent. Later in the evening I called the first time and was put on hold for ten minutes. I called two times after and was put on hold again. I called a forth time and was treated rudely. Based off this experience I think they really need to improve their phone etiquette if they want any business.

Best Bruschetta I have ever had! We came back here multiple times just for the Bruschetta, but the pizza’s are excellent too! It had a nice atmosphere, great view of Trump Tower from outside patio, and an overall awesome experience! Will definitely be back!

The concierge at our hotel recommended Bella Bacino’s, touting the food as «wonderful!»
Well… I don’t know about that, but we had a pleasant, if not average Italian meal. I went with the chicken parm with the cutlets pounded thin — I like that! — but a tad burnt. I think the winning dish at the table was T’s fruiti di mare: a lovely combination of mussels, clams, & calamari in a red sauce. Our friends were pleased with their choices: lasagna (the special of the night), and shrimp with linguini.
Our server was very friendly, food was brought out quickly, and we ate our dinner in a relaxed setting, over glasses of wine.

Nice ambience, attentive service, good food. The sun-​dried tomato foccacia with olive oil and balsamic, is wonderful. Though the foccacia is more fine grained than I’m used to, the flavor, especially when dipped in the olive oil and balsamic, is stupendous. Green salads looked lovely, and the pizzas going to other tablespoons excellent. I tried the day’s ravioli, spinach and ricotta — large round raviolis, al dente in a fresh tomato marinara. Yum yum yum yum. I’d definitely eat there again.

Probably one of the worst italians I had. Too pricy and ordered three appetizers which had nothing but toasted white bread. The mussels were smelling horrible.

Just had a terrible experience at Bella Bucino’s. I am a guest in the adjacent Club Quarters. Decided to have breakfast at Bella. Ordered two eggs, turkey sausage and toast. When I ate a piece of turkey sausage, something tasted funny, like it might be bad. I told my server. He offered a new plate of food. I agreed but opted for bacon instead of sausage. When the new plate arrived I noticed the toast had green mold on the edges. I showed my server the moldy toast and told him I would be leaving.
Just want to say that my server was very apologetic and accomodative. No problem with his professional attitude. However, the kitchen obviously has some issues. I filed a complaint with the Chicago Department of Health.

Amazing night because of the manager Brian. From helping us get drinks at the bar, to seating and serving our large party, he was so kind and attentive. He made great recommendations. We loved the meat and cheese app platter and the spinach pie with mushrooms is a must! We will definitely be back!

We went her for lunch because we were starving and it was close; we didn’t know anything about it. What a happy surprise! The food was great and our waiter, Kenneth, was terrific. I was getting «hangry» when we went in and he brought drinks and warm focaccia right away. Two of us had the penne with wild mushroom ragu and another had the portobello mushroom with fresh mozzarella over risotto. She said it was one of the best meals she’s ever had. We all had cannoli for dessert, which were fresh and creamy and didn’t taste like they had previously been frozen. There were a lot of things on the menu that sounded delicious and I would definitely go back.

I’ve only had the chance to go here once, the food was 4 stars, pretty good, but I’m giving them 5 stars for the way I was treated by the owner. I made an order based off the menu that Unilocal provided, which until I got to the restaurant to pick up my order, isn’t always accurate. Ordered an Italian style pizza and some pasta dishes. When I got to the restaurant to pick up my order, was met by the owner. He explained to me that the type of pizza I ordered wasn’t on the menu anymore bc he likes to rotate the menu. He told me how he then had a pizza specialty made me for me, closest to what I ordered and also threw in some free zucchini bread and chocolate chip cookies. Seriously what owner would do that and go out of the way like that. The pizza btw, great, pasta, epic portions. Next time I’m in the loop and around here, I will be back without a doubt.

Good food and nice atmosphere. We went there without making a reservation and there was no wait time. Overall, the food and service were great.

Disappointing overall. Food was mediocre. Service was very good and prompt. Seasonal Bruschetta was good — fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, prosciutto and arugula on toast points. Goat cheese salad was ok, not imaginative — also with arugula and toast points. Main course we shared was Fish in Crazy Water. They could have done more with the tomato broth which was bland, the fish was nothing special, and the mussels that were part of the dish were awful. The color, taste and texture were not right. The waiter kindly brought us a new batch of mussels, but unfortunately they were tasteless.

Staying at the Club Quarters hotel (by the way, don’t do that) this restaurant sits next to the lobby. Needed a quick bite for breakfast so dropped in. Ambience just ok so wasn’t expecting much.
I was pleasantly surprised to receive a tasty dish. I ordered the Bella Basil scramble which was scrambled eggs with sun-​dried tomatoes, ricotta, onions, applewood smoked bacon and of course basil. Very rich, creamy and satisfying. Came with sliced tomatoes. Anything else would be extra.
Staff was big city friendly and looked like they would rather be somewhere else.
If you are staying at this hotel and don’t have time to find a better city experience this one will be adequate.

To begin our evening, it took just over 10 minutes for a valet to park our car, tremendous service for their 16 dollar valet rate. Once we were finally seated, the atmosphere was okay. The décor was mediocre and they played top 40 radio — which I consider distasteful.
When it came time to order, we discovered that several of the items on the menu and even from the bar were unavailable, which was severely disappointing, especially considering that we were eating at 4 pm before a matinée show. The food we were able to get turned out to be mediocre, and seriously subpar for an Italian restaurant in Chicago.
All in all, I would be hard pressed to find anything positive to say about this place and I certainly would never recommend it to anyone or return here myself. I suppose if you’re out and don’t have reservations and this is you’re only option it would be moderately serviceable, but beyond that stay away from here if you have taste.

Stayed upstairs and checked this place out for dinner.
Despite the weak reviews on Unilocal,we decided to give it a try, and maybe we got lucky, the food was great as advertised and the service was almost better than the food.
Sitting in the patio section watching he sunset was pretty nice, and we were able to watch the city turn from late afternoon to night while sipping decent wine.
In short, we were delighted by the food and the service was much better than the few reviews on Unilocal

My favorite part of dining here was the exquisitely delicious chocolate cake. It was out of this world. If it wasn’t for Unilocal,I wouldn’t have known about it.
First, we had a taste for some unique pizza not just any pizza. I checked Unilocal and that’s how we ended up here.
The service wasn’t that great. As soon as we walked in, we asked to sit outside. Most of the time when I go to most restaurants, I get walked by the hostess to where ever I will be sitting at. This time the guy just point out to the area, so I could just walk by my self. I don’t care about this things, especially if the place is busy. This was not the case and was not that easy. I felt rushed and almost if they didn’t even want us there.
We order a thin margarita pizza with half of it with pepperoni. Very delicious and a bit thinner than what I’m used to but very good. While I checking in on Unilocal I noticed a picture of a chocolate cake. So, I asked for one. By the waiter’s attitude I don’t think he would have sugested anything else. Well, the chocolate cake was Amazing! It made my day.
The price was not bad for what we got.
I’ll definitely be coming here again to have that chocolate cake.

Worst service I’ve encountered.
We came in late (9:40pm) after flying to chicago — craving deep dish pizza ( Unilocal has the wrong times, maybe?!), so when we walked in the server warned us that last call for dinner was in a few minutes. We agreed and quickly started perusing the pizza menu. A few minutes later, a waiter walked over to tell us that deep dish was not available. :(
We then wait another 10 minutes for one of the 5 waiters to come by and check on us — they were all drinking at the bar jamming to Mariah Carrey and Alanis Morrisette on full volume (god).
We finally put in our order and after a while, my pizza comes out, but not my friend’s chicken. Odd. I start munching but a waiter NEVER checks on us, even though we are about 4 feet around a corner from their party. We actually see the chefs leave the kitchen to go home. We finally flag down the EXCELLENT bus boy (the only courteous person in the entire experience — he should get promoted), and he grabs a waiter. I can see one of the possibly tipsy waiters looking shocked at the busboy’s question — but it still takes another couple of minutes before one of them works up enough nerve to come around the corner to tell us he forgot to order the chicken and the kitchen is already closed.
My friend and I split my now-​cold pizza (poor guy), and we wait ANOTHER 15 minutes longer than we should have for me to catch someones eye to get the check. We walk payment up to the waiter party at the bar and finally get out of there. No apologies for the missing food or lack of service. We were never once checked on by anyone other than the busboy.
Absolutely terrible. #NeverAgain

The best pizza in Chicago, bar none. Stuffed is the only way to go. So good, that I take two par-​baked frozen home every time I visit & my uncle takes one or two back to California too.
Spicy, not sweet, sauce on the pizzas.
Outdoor dining available. Classy place. Great servers every time.
This is a «Do Not Miss» if you are in Chicago.

No spoons no Splenda coffee is awful. To pushy service. At least let me read the menu. Tables have no covering and they put silverware on dirty tables. The music is like awful for dining. And it changed five times since I’ve sat here for five minutes. Can’t wait to see the food. The restaurant is in great disrepair. Food is not good at all. They need more practice.
Beautiful antique windows but the old tables and
chairs are awful. Obvious to anyone at least try to cover it up. I don’t know if I should eat here. Beware.

Our friends brought us here for brunch and everything was fantastic, especially the bloody marys.
We stopped in for lunch today and I asked if they could make a vegan variation of the mixed mushroom rigatoni. Absolutely no issues at all and it was delicious!
Everyone at BB’s is friendly and knowledgable. This is solidly our go-​to place and is definitely where we will be bringing our friends and out of town folks.