Bello’s

i am not too crazy about this place, came here at a REALLY REALLY COLD NIGHT where there was nobody here. it’s nice to get all the attention but I didn’t think they prepared any food, because we waited forever. The portion was decent but I had to wait so long. That’s a bad start already.
It’s definitely old fashion Italian style food with homemade taste. like I said I’m not too crazy about this place. it’s just ok to my taste.

Great sauce — robust and smokey. More American Italian than anything I ever had in Italy, but yummy!

This is where I dined for my 22^nd birthday and I was not disappointed! Since I was born on Halloween (spooky, I know) my boyfriend and I decided to venture to St. Mark’s to see what was happening. It’s always fun to scope out other people’s costumes and to our delight there were even darling little Manhattanite trick or treaters about!
Initially I was looking to eat at Paprika, but after the hostess forgot about us I decided the décor was a little too sparse and we decided to go for a walk and see what else was around. Bello’s immediately stood out because of it’s teeny tiny size and romantic lighting. Not to mention I’m a sucker for white table cloths and Frank Sinatra while I chow down. The bread basket promised good things, it was crunchy, chewy and served warm with oil and garlic! Luckily this wasn’t a first date because we both ate about three cloves of it in one sitting… could have been awkward if we weren’t on 2 years and counting.
The owner was at the itty bitty bar as we ate at one of the 6 tables (seriously, this joint is LITTLE!) and chatted with us periodically, there was a Yankee game about to start and he was abuzz with excitement (though I hate sports, it was cute). There is also a TV nestled in the back of the restaurant which usually turns me way off but I wasn’t facing it so I wasn’t bothered.
We ordered fried calamari to start and it was crispy but not too chewy and just had the right amount of breading. The sauce was super yum, you could tell it was fresh and had some red pepper flakes for a little kick. Next up were our entrees, I had penne a la vodka and boyfriend enjoyed very crispy, juicy chicken parmigiana. Chicken parm is usually a good barometer for how well the restaurant can do, if you’ve ever had a think cutlet smothered in rubbery cheese and too much sauce you know what I’m saying. My penne was perfectly al dente and the sauce was creamy and fresh. I also ordered a meatball on the side because I LOVE THEM and what the hey it was my birthday! Let me mix and match ok… It was well seasoned and moist and not ridiculously huge which are always good things, it also had it’s own well of marinara sauce so I definitely had my lycopene fill for the day in one meal.
Bello’s was a great dining experience and a fun cultural one too, the owner is sweet and you can tell he’s very proud of this place. Our waitress was attentive albeit a little green, but we enjoyed ourselves and hope to visit again someday!

I’m a fan of happy accidents. Sometimes the best restaurants are the ones you simply fall over, and that was the case with Bello’s. My friends and I had thought about Crif Dogs, but finding that place packed, we looked across the street, and spotted Bellos.
I can’t explain it. I’ve been to that part of St. Mark’s a million times, and never noticed this little gem — it’s almost as though it sprang up out of nowhere, like some kind of red-​sauce Brigadoon.
We were greeted warmly and seated promptly. The place was empty-​ish when we got there (at 7:30 on a Friday), but before we finished our entrees, the small place was packed.
The food was great, too. I had a fantastic vegetable lasagne, my friends raved about their penne vodka and home-​made spinach ravioli. Since I’m half-​Italian, I judge harshly on sauce, but Bello’s was good, if a tiny bit heavy on the garlic. It was fresh, and not oily — very important things.
It’s an adorable, romantic place — the «Live entertainment» on Friday nights is some dude singing karaōke Sinatra, but it fits in a place with framed posters of Fellini and The Pope of Greenwich Village on the wall, and an autographed photo of Sinatra behind the bar. It’s very much worth checking out, and I look forward to going back.

This place was mighty fine! So, my sister and I eat in the EV all of the time, sans-​reservations. Never a big deal. So we’d found several spots we thought we’d try to take an out of town visitor. What happened? Denied! Denied! Denied! Think we *finally* found that magic line-​up of reservation ONLY places (if one really seeks that?!?).
Anyhow, we’d tried another Italian place (yeah, you guessed it, one of those DENIEDs) and had Italian on the brain. Like a beacon in the distance, we saw Bello’s. Knew nothing about it other than it proclaimed it’s Italian cuisine, and that was for the moment magical enough for us to bite.
It looked non-​pretentious and like we could get in, and we were frustrated to find that we almost couldn’t get in here either! The owner was absolutely fabulous. He custom clustered up the tables to accommodate our crew of five and he tag-​teamed with the server to help tend to our table.
My sister loved her penne a la vodka. The vegetable lasagna I had was excellent. Hollie’s wine (don’t remember the name — red wine by the class, and was a long name beginning in «m» haha) had a fabulous flavor to it. Loved the super attentive service and I’m sure we’ll be back ;-)

Great, great food! We just happened to stumble upon it.
The Cesar Salad was delicious, fresh and had lots of
anchovy kick to it. Ordered a salmon pasta (after asking
for a suggestion from the waitress) — super tasty!
The night we went they had run out of pizza dough and
we were really aiming to have some pizza, but they offered
to get it from somewhere else to accomodate us.
This place feels straight out of a mobster movie — guys in
suits eating, talking business and cursing every other word.
Charming as a novelty — again, great food!

a really nice little italian fare restaurant. the owner joe is super sweet, he actually gave me his cheesecake recipe.