Pizzabella Italian Bistro

Pizza Bella used to be a good place to eat. The food is awful now. We had order delivered… and was not pleased with any of it.

I’ve been coming to Pizzabella since they’ve opened and they have always done an excellent job with everything they make. First off, the pizza is great. The crust is pretty thin and a good compliment to the sauce and toppings, especially the sliced italian sausage. Ive tried many varieties of the pizzas over the years and love them all. In addition to the pizza, they have great hot subs, chicken parmasean, a type of calzone called «the italian job», and even burgers.
Just about everytime i’m there, either Lisa or Baron (the owners), are there to oversee operations and help out which eflects on the high level of service you get.
Finally, the beer and wine selection is far better than one could expect. They have somethong for everyone and when i feel a little adveturous, there is always something new to try.
Pizzabella is definitely a «go-​to» for me not just for the close proximity to my house but mainly for the terrific food and drinks

Pizza Bella, awesome pizza, had better salad bars for sure, but 18 beers to choose from on tap, and a pizza Bella pizza, along with a cheese one for the kids. Awesome. Always a safe bet.

It really doesn’t look like much from the outside, but when you walk in, you are greeted with a pretty cool place with a bar and lounge area as you enter.
Inside are tables and a salad bar. We just went for beer, drinks and pizza. The four of us ordered the Giant 20″ Pizzabella pizza with pepperoni, sausage, bell peppers, olives and onions. The thin crust was delicious and the flavor was really good. We also had their garlic bread and we couldn’t finish the pizza.
Definitely would come back if we have a pizza craving in San Antonio.

So, looking for a pizza place on Unilocal,the wife and I find this one. We decide to order two medium pizzas (one Mucho Meats the other Buffalo Chicken), 2 pieces of cheese pizza, and an order of garlic cheese bread for takeout.
So, we drive over, get the pizza and head back home. It smells delicious. I try the Mucho Meats, while the wife tries her Buffalo chicken. The wifes pizza was actually pretty good, but was covered in red onions, and all of the toppings were crammed right into the middle of the pizza, instead of being evenly spread out.
The Mucho Meats was downright BAD. From the crust, to the pizza, it was just terrible. Not enough sauce, poor quality of meats, and a chewy, unoriginal crust… I was just not impressed.
The daughters two pieces of cheese pizza looked, and tasted like something I’d get from Chucky Cheese or the frozen section of the store.
Now, I may be a transplant to SA from the Northeast, and pampered on NY Style pizza… but this place is a no-​go for me. Never again.

Great place! Looks dumpy on the outside, but quite chic and cute on the inside. They have a couch/​chill area, a bar, bar tables, then regular tables.
We sat at the bar and service was top notch. Our server was Delaney and she was very attentive and fun to talk with. No happy hour, though… they need to fix that!
We had the cheesy garlic bread to start… delicious and VERY generiously portioned. It was basically the size of a thin crust small pizza.
Next, we had the antipasto salad… salami, provolone, ham, pepperoni, olives, peppercinis, and roasted peppers on top of a huge bed of lettuce (they could’ve kept the lettuce… we ate all the good stuff on top!)
We also had the spaghetti and meatballs… I was sold when they said they make their meatballs from scratch. I didn’t care for the pasta/​marinara sauce… it just tasted, off… but the two meatballs were great!
For dessert, we had to cram in a cannoli since they make those, too. Pretty good! I’ve had better in Italy and Northeast US, but, not bad for SA! We also had some fried dough rolled in powdered sugar… forgot what it was called… kinda doughnut-​y. I didn’t care for it (I’m not a doughnut person), but my friend loved it.
Tip: We noticed that they had a salad buffet at dinner for an added cost or as a meal. Delaney said they also have a huge, delicious lunch buffet during the week.

I don’t like pizza that much. So it’s a double compliment to say that I LOVED the pizza with sausage, mushrooms, sweet peppers, olives, and pepperoni that I got here. I ate a bunch at the restaurant, and couldn’t wait to reheat the rest at home the next day.
The waitress was also extremely nice and attentive, and even talked to me and my partner about other cool things to do in San Antonio (we’re new in town).
This was a great restaurant and a great experience!

Ciao Bella!
Located just north of O’Connor on Nacodoches the Pizzabella proudly displays their Lyle and Hahn award for best stoner pizza. Er, I mean best pizza in 2008, I think. Well I didn’t get to try the pie but I did have some lasagna for lunch and it was pretty tasty. Nice velvety pastas layers smothered in a rich tomato sauce with plenty of savory beef and ricotta all topped with a gooey mozzarella.
«That’s a spicy meatball!»
The lounge area at the doorway sports a trendy chic little sitting area replete with baby grand, hip cozy chairs and impressive wine and draft beer display. This caught me completely off guard as at first I thought it might actually be a speakeasy or beatnik bar. The draft selection is very good and someday I shall return to sit and have a few with a slice of pie. Monday’s they offer a buffet for $ 5 at lunch and $ 6 at dinner. Nice homegrown choice for the Naco-​Oconnor area.

This place is just down the street from us. I drive past it all the time thinking we should try it. Last night, the DH and I were both too lazy to cook, so we walked down for dinner. It was great!
Being a Wednesday night, it was a little slow inside. Our server was friendly and quick. Our food came out fast. Beer menu was much better than we were expecting. We ordered fried mushrooms as an appetizer, expecting like 6 – 8 to come out. Instead it was a whole basket of the juicy things! We also got a Pesto Chicken Pizza. Very delicious! Crusty was crispy, but not burnt and didn’t taste like crackers like some NY style thiner crusts taste like.

I am sitting here eating a cold leftover slice of Pizzabella’s Greek pizza. Just as yummy now as it was last night. Not that you can really go wrong with pizza… how does that saying go, even bad pizza is still pretty good? Something like that. Anyhow, I digress. Pizzabella has a really unassuming façade, doesn’t look like it would be much on the inside, BUT it’s actually pretty nice. You walk into a cool lounge area with a piano and sofas and a little bar and go into the restaurant area where you are supposed to seat yourself (I wish I knew that coming in, we stood there awkwardly for a bit). So, my date and I ordered the medium sized pizza and salad bar from a super cheerful waitress. The salad bar was fresh and nicely stocked, had everything you could possibly want on your salad, including two different pasta salads. They even had these amazing blueberry and chocolate muffins. When we sat down from the salad bar, we noticed our waitress had brought us these bread sticks with pizza sauce for dipping. Very good, a nice compliment to the salad. When our pizza got there, we were already kinda full, but ate some of it anyway. The toppings were crazy! There was so much on the pizza that they kept falling off. When we couldn’t eat another bite, our waitress actually boxed up our leftovers right there at the table. Not too many places will do that. Anyway, I liked the place, the service, and the atmosphere, but the pizza wasn’t my favorite. I will try a different kind next time.

I grabbed some take out from Pizzabella, so I can’t really speak to the atmosphere or service of the restaurant, though for the time I was there, it looked pretty nice. Reading about the wide variety of beers on tap makes me think that they might be offering more than I was expecting.
I grabbed a white pizza for dinner, consisting of olive oil, tomatoes, romano cheese, onions, and garlic. The toppings portion of the pie was fine and dandy, but I disagree with the assertion that the pizza is New York style. I consider NY style pizza to have a thinner, crispier crust than what my pizza featured. It’s not to say it wasn’t good, but just not NY style.
I don’t know if I would go here for a pizza any day of the week, but the killer aspect of Pizzabella would be the buffet. To have this pizza in an AYCE buffet blows the competition out of the water, especially considering that most other pizza buffets of which I know are also big chains like Pizza Hut or Mr. Gatti’s.

This pizza was delicious! I tried it for the first time and I was definitely impressed. The crust, the sauce, the cheese — it all works together as a tasty party in your mouth. The best part is — their slices are HUGE! I was munching down on my slice thinking that I loved it so much I wanted another one — but I couldn’t fit it in my tiny tummy! And I did hear about the new lounge area they opened so I will definitely have to take some co-​workers for a happy hour there soon. Good thing this place is so close to work, I will surely be going there for lunch more often!

I haven’t been since it first opened, but it was decent from what I remember. I’d go again if it was a group of friends decision, but never on my own terms.
edit (2010) i returned to pizzabella and it wasn’t bad, I only had a cheese pizza though.