Bistro Bella Cucina & Catering

Everything on the menu is fabulous. Fresh soups and salads.
This is one of the best places to eat in Amador County.
Highly Recommend !

Had a wonderful dinner last night. Outdoor seating was spectacular. The food was phenomenal. Everything was so fresh and flavorful. The staff is very attentive. The owner is very humble. Can’t wait to go back again.

We decided to spend New Year’s Eve in the Sutter Creek/​Jackson area and relied on Unilocal to find us a great place for dinner.
Bistro Bella did not disappoint. It was just like the reviews: tasty, fresh, great service! The holiday salad was extraordinary with a perfectly blended white balsamic dressing. Our entrees were superb — the Risotto was perfect — not too hard, not too soft, and the mushrooms and prawns were flavorful and grilled to perfection. The chicken schnitzel was lightly breaded with a well paired sauce. And then dessert: we chose the Crème Brulee — rich and creamy yet light with a tasty crust.
We will be back!

I was in town for a wedding which had its rehearsal dinner and event catered by Bistro Bella Cucina. It was, in a word, incredible, despite it’s very unassuming exterior. From appetizers to dessert the food was amazing, flavorful and fresh. In fact, I don’t think I’ve tasted better food for quite some time. The food was out of control awesome but so was the service. SUPER sweet owner and they have very attentive servers. If you’re going to choose one place to visit while in town, this HAS to be it!

If you’re in Jackson this is the place to eat. I have eaten here many times before and each time it gets better. The prices are reasonable and the menu has lots of choices but not to many. Living in the area I have seen many places where that restaurant sits but this one I hope will be the last.

We rarely eat out, owning a restaurant ourselves, and we are incredibly picky. Having organic, hand made foods, that taste amazing– with GREAT service, is hard to come by. Server (forgetting her name) — she was incredibly knowledgable about the local wineries, where else we «foodies’ could visit, and just a lovely person. We had the asparagus, mushroom risotto, organic spinach dinner salad (they made for me as a special dietary request) and bolognese. Solid dishes– flavorful, super fresh ingredients. They are also a Local, family owned– small business, which we love!

Good food. Place has potential with some minor modifications. Took 40 minutes for soup and chopped Bella Salad. They should offer bread in a basket before the meal to buy some time if it is going to take do long. I would rather eat the bread as an appetizer with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil than wait 40 minutes to have it with my salad and soup. Salad needed some ground parmesan cheese and cracked pepper to take it to the next level. Tomato soup was good. Service was delightful and I really hope Ownership listens to them and gives them more to work with in the way of faster cook times and a working cappuccino machine because your missing out on easy sales and you have to be able to get lunch out faster.

Still there, still great, still not open on the weekends due to their catering then. The move they were contemplating is not going to happen, which is certainly good for us Jacksonians. Lately it’s been very busy, with all this great weather, in February, so it’s a good idea to go early. I’ve tried most of what’s on the old menu and it’s all good. The menu has changed a bit and the only thing I don’t like much is the bacon and tomato sandwich because the bread is soggy, not toasted.
Aside from that they seem to maintain the excellent level of quality and fresh ingredients as when they started… not always the case of course. Good news is that they’re planning to open for weekday dinners, in the not too distant future.

I love this place, the only reason I gave four stars is because they are not open for dinner. FRESH is the word I would use to describe Bella Cucina. I love their salads, soups, and sandwiches. Since it’s not on Hwy 49, it’s too easy to miss! The service is excellent and everything I have tried here has been great.
Now serving dinner, but no hours have been posted.

Nom nom nom!
We had the black forest ham and brie melt on molasses bread, oozy gooey yumminess! And the soup of the day– spinach and 4 cheese.
All exceptionally good! Even the piece of homemade foccasia was delicious! Very clean, and very friendly staff. We will be back!

While dining is a bit small, and super busy at lunch, the restaurant has great food by comparison to its local competition.

This is by far the best food I’ve had I awhile!!! It’s a small out of the way spot that’s well worth finding! They have small indoor and outdoor dinning. The staff was very very friendly. I cannot wait to go back I’ve dreamed about eating there twice since my last visit.

I have been here twice and it has been great both times. The outdoor dining is nice and the salads (wedge salad and panzanella salad) were fresh and tasty both times. The service was friendly and efficient, yet not rushed. Will return here for sure.

I’ve gone to this restaurant about 5 times, and each time I go I say to myself, «must write review for these folks», but then I think it may be a fluke, just how scrumptious that meal was… so I go again when we’re on that side of Jackson (just past the shopping center). Turns out the foods no fluke, it’s been reliably delicious. That little hillside slice of elegance itself, however, may be. Why? Just because of the unlikely location for purveyors such fine yummage with a very nice wine menu that I’m sure is impressive. I just enjoyed their house chardonnay with my «Bistro Burger» and it was, in a word, superb. There are 3 burgers and 5 or 6 sandwiches, salads and pasta dishes as well on the menu plus specials, but those burgers…
I was there with 6 friends/​family so I did get to sample other dishes of abundant proportion. Their turkey sandwich, for example, just phenomenal with truly stunning gourmet flavors flowing and popping your taste buds into self-​awareness. The prices for all this perfection were sweet as well at about $ 10 per person for lunch. There was among the six of us unanimous approval except for one… she ordered tea and when she got her bill, she asked about the price of the tea. Apparently, their herbal tea costs 25 cents more than the regular tea, and although she was, in fact, served the higher quality tea, she disputed the bill for this 25 cents… the waitress was just gracious as can be about it, took the bill in the back and adjusted the bill with a smile. Who knows where waitresses like these (attractive, patient, and professional) find the inner kindness to not go sideways with a fuss budget like that? I was amazed as I glared across the table hating my lunch companion for a moment as I put a 25% tip together…
Anyways, you get the picture about the good food and service — but as in all things, there is a «BUT»… it’s a small one, but one that, I fear, must be stated. The burgers are stellar, but there is no fryer at Bella Cucina for die-​hard burger/​fries combination fanatics. I was delighted with my side pasta salad, and admittedly some ordinary fries may have brought down the burger to a somehow more pedestrian level… so I «get it». Something tells me somehow that if this restaurant ever does get a fryer, the pomme frites (fries) that they would serve would be something special too.
Observed: I’ve no idea if the groceries there are shipped from afar or picked out back. This factor simply never crossed my mind until reading other reviews. It’s what is done WITH those groceries that ultimately counts, and with prices like that, there are but two likely possibilities: They are losing money for certain… OR they are taking ordinary ingredients and producing extraordinary results, in my humble opinion, as well as all my friends I was with (even the quarter pincher). Here’s hoping it’s the latter of the two, because I love it there and fully intend to have lunch there more often.

Me and my son ate there today. I had the Bistro Burger which was the best hamburger I’ve ever had. Great flavor with caramelized onions and peppers. My son had the Tableau Salad which is also my wife’s favorite. The Caprese flat bread pizza is my usual go to, but I’m glad that I found a new favorite.
The staff are great, but if your in a hurry, you will probably need to say something.

The food was OK… My husband had the Italian Tri Tip and it was OK. Certainly «nothing to write home about». We could have made the Tri Tip better at home. When you spend that much for lunch or any meal, you expect more.
I have food allergies and had asked if I could have the Franazire Chicken with extra lettuce instead of the bread and no cheese (none of the salads sounded good). It tasted alright-​I know I changed the flavors by omitting items, but I do have to say that the chicken was not that great–
There wasn’t any extra lettuce and they charged me about $ 2.00 extra for the change. How do you charge extra for less food? I can see if they just charged the same price, but more?
Small family owned business’ need every referral they can get. They need to make some changes, or they will not be there very long.

Chris catered our wedding on 9÷14÷13. She was a delight to work with throughout the entire process. We had a bit of a fiasco with the first catering company 1.5 years before the date, but when we contacted Chris about 1 year before the date, she was nothing but professional, gracious, and amazing to deal with.
She has so many options for us to choose from. When we did our tasting everything was great, and we were able to make tweaks and changes for our big day.
Chris was great to work with in the weeks before the wedding. She kept checking in, and made sure that all of our plans and our set-​up were exactly how we wanted — even if we didn’t know exactly what we wanted :)
The day of, Chris and her staff were amazing! Everyone was so pleasant, friendly, and approachable. All of the staff even knew our names as bride and groom. The food was amazing. It was all better than we tried at the tasting dinner!!! Everyone at the wedding said the food was delicious — some of the best they had had at a wedding. Chris and her staff made sure that my groom and I were well fed, and I can confirm that the wedding food was better than I had remembered, and tasted so fresh!
We had Chris do our desserts as well — she has a dedicated pastry chef. We had cupcakes, meringues, a peanut-​butter/​chocolate cake, cheesecake bites, devils food whoopie pies, caramel nut brownies. Absolutely everything was to die for! I made sure that I tasted a little of each — our guests loved it all too!
I cannot say enough good about Chris and her staff. They made sure our wonderful day was perfect. I would easily recommend her to anyone — she will make your day as wonderful as ours was.

Bella Cucina catered our wedding a couple weeks ago and we wanted to let everyone know how wonderful it was! First off, the food was AMAZING. So many of our guests raved about their dinner and how everything tasted so good. Several people stated how they never really cared for the food served at other weddings they have attended but that this food was something to remember. Hearing that made me so happy. I can also safely say that even though brides don’t usually get to eat their food, I made SURE to make time and eat my dinner and was SO GLAD I DID! It was DELICIOUS! I have to hand it to Christine French. She and her staff were SO GREAT! They went far above and beyond to offer us the best service possible. They were so thoughtful and pleasant every time I came in contact with them that day. I’m really glad to see that Christine was so present during it all. It made me feel like she really cared about the presentation of her food and service from her staff. Which by the way, her staff were top notch! I never felt more «taken care of» as a customer. They know their industry and I would recommend them to anyone needing a dependable caterer! 5 star service ALL THE WAY. They truly helped make my wedding go amazingly smooth and for that I will always be grateful. Thank you Bella Cucina!

Very good food and service. Great salads, (beet salad is outstanding) as well as many other creative choices. I go there whenever I can.

This place is a FRAUD!
I stopped in before lunch service had started to ask about some food allergy issues I have to see if I would be able to eat there later in the day. I was told emphatically that ALL their food was «prepared fresh, on-​site, especially their salad dressings and bread», which were «their own recipes.» The woman with whom I spoke even pointed out a man in a chef uniform and identified him a their own in-​house baker who made the bread! LIE.
Eagerly anticipating a terrific lunch led to a horrific disappointment 1 hour later when I actually went to place my order WITH THE SAME PERSON that assured me they were a safe place for me to eat. She was near panicked when I asked a simple question about the bread roll and after consulting with the kitchen she returned and told me they had no idea about the bread ingredients because «it all comes pre-​packaged.» So much for that in-​house baker! Maybe he was a fancy custodian…
Then when I selected a 2^nd choice and asked about the salad dressing she launched into a clearly panicked rant to me about how should they know this information and what did I expect of them, to which I replied how I had just been in a conversation with HER an hour earlier with the EXACT same questions and she had given me a completely different impression of their food.
As she approached the kitchen with my salad dressing question I heard the «chef» burst out into incredulous laughter that I needed to know such information and she did not want to answer. At that last insult we got up to leave and we let them know how idiotic it was to have told blatant lies to us just an hour earlier because when we attempted to order food, in good faith on their word, nothing she claimed turned out to be the truth.
Don’t people value honesty in business anymore? The poor attitude and downright RUDENESS of the staff here is appalling.
THIS PLACE SERVES PRE-​PACKAGED SYSCO GARBAGE! There is nothing fresh or Italian about this bistro. (This building will soon be vacant yet again, as countless other businesses have failed there as well.)