Bella Fresco

Loved it… food was fresh atmosphere very low key… nice low playing music. …great homemade deserts including gelato! Our waitress Amanda was very helpful and accommodating. …Def on our go back to list… very reasonable too

Wow! First time at Bella Fresca. The appetizer sampler for $ 9.99 was excellent. My picky wife loved everything we ordered. Spinach and Artichoke dip was great as was the falafel. Highly recommend. Amanda did a great job. Ask for her by name.

Great visit!
Sat out on the back patio… gotta ask for it or you wouldn’t know. Couple ants but your outside!!!
Service was on point even though out there.
Had bruschetta app… tons of tomatoes, not too crunchy bread yum.
Mixed fajitas (shrimp, lamb, chicken) very tasty, cooked perfect. Warm soft pita bread. Salad was terrific and the dressing homemade.
Gyro was so big and cooked so perfectly. Great fries.
Lamb rice tasted like risotto with tender lamb.
Food was excellent!
Baklava was great and a huge piece. Gelato was smooth and so good.
Will come back !!

Tonight’s dinner 4÷29÷16 with friends was unfortunately the last we’ll spend at Bella Fresco. Service was extraordinarily slow, even for salads. Meals took a while to be delivered. 2 friends had comp tickets from the restaurant’s owner for 2 free meals based on the previous time’s bad food. Tonight’s on-​duty manager refused to honor them even though the comps were signed by the owner and shown to him. The restaurant business in Charlotte is highly competitive and every customer is valuable — especially repeat customers. Tonight was the last straw and no amounts of comps will get us back. Arrivaderci.

We stopped in for lunch and were delighted! The service was very friendly and food was so good! We started with a spinach artichoke dip which was good it had several large chunks of artichoke in it. For our meal we had a chicken philly (pretty good) and the Mediterranean fajitas (great! Yum). The rice side with the fajitas was great and the Greek salad was good as well. The tiramisu was delicious as well! I would definitely recommend anyone in the area to try it!
**This was our first visit and I’m sure there will be more to come!

After seeing the pictures on Unilocal,I thought I was going to a fancy place when my dinner group met here but it’s not fancy at all. Actually it’s quite casual. It had a café /​diner feel to it with booth seating, a gellato bar and food prep stations surrounding the back half of the restaurant.
The menu prices are decent. They have a good wine list and a small selection of craft beer. The food menu consists of Greek and Italian dishes. You can get an entrée for $ 10!
My friend and I shared the fallafel appetizer and a bottle of Chianti which were both delicious. We then couldn’t decide on an entrée so we shared the Lemon chicken and the Chicken Piccata. Both were good but the Lemon chicken was the star of this trip. Such wonderful flavor that danced in my mouth.
The entrée portion sizes are just enough — not huge like many places which make you think just one more bite and then you finish your meal eating enough for 2. But here it’s plenty of food for one person and doesn’t stuff you. Because you have to leave room for gellato.
They have several flavors for gellato from raspberry to peanut butter. My friend went with the Reeses and I went with the tiramisu. Both were delicious and creamy.
The worst thing about here is the service. There were a few flaws that made me consider dropping this to a 3-​star review. We wanted to share appetizers around the table but had to ask for plates to share. They should have come out with or before the appetizers arrived. 2^nd, we asked 3 times for refills on the water glasses but it never happened until our server was standing around staring like he needed to do something and saw water glasses were empty.

Had a hankering for Italian today and decided to pop into Bella Fresco… I was starving so I needed something quick and relatively inexpensive. I was greeted by Tanner and realized it was not a quick serve restaurant. I didn’t want to sit around & have a long meal as its only me and I wasn’t going to be spending much. Tanner said «it’s all good… I’ll seat you in my section».
Then I wanted to know if the food would arrive quickly because I was starving! He reassured me that the food would arrive quickly and it did! The eggplant parm was delicious!
All in all, a great experience due to the service that Tanner provided! I was so impressed by his genuineness.

I got the shrimp scampi, a dish I enjoy at most other restaurants, and it was drier than cardboard or the Sahara Desert. The gelato and desserts are the only thing worth spending more than one cent on. The restaurant is huge for a place with no business, now it is no surprise why they have no business. You can find a better Italian place on any other street corner in Charlotte. I’d advise that you go to the Malaya Kitchen next door instead

They have a good atmosphere and the Gelato is amazing but the lasagna did not have any flavor and we were charged $ 2.99 for 4 pieces of Yuca that wasn’t worth the price.

Seated quickly with fairly attentive service. Probably more like 3 ½ stars since pizza was a bit overdone. Food tastes ok overall. Open kitchen concept. Clean with nice selection of gelatos.

I had the gyro pita with sweet potato fries ($ 2 up charge) for lunch and it was exactly what I wanted in a gyro. It had the right amount of sauce and veggies with lots of lamb. The service was superb as my server, Leanne, was attentive and friendly. This is a nice, casual restaurant with excellent dessert options that I’ll be sure to try on my return.

I had a mix of marscapone and chocolate crunch Jellato. Both recommended by our server. Excellent.

Being a newbie pescatarian (vegetarian that will eat seafood!) I ordered their veggies-​extravaganza panini, and swapped out the side of kettle chips that came with it for the cucumber-​mint salad for an extra $ 1.99. Both were very good and I will def order them again! Likewise, they have plenty of other dishes to serve my diet needs, and even their unsweetened tea was good. Most restaurant unsweetened tea tastes like colored water, but their’s actually had flavor to it, and I definitely do NOT add sugar or sweeteners to my unsweetened tea.
My waiter, Christopher, was very attentive so therefore, their service score is very high in my book.

We’ve been to Bella Fresco twice now (in about a month’s time). It’s tucked back in the corner of the Arboretum shopping center. The first time, we sat outside on their secret back patio (it’s not actually «secret,» but we had no idea it was back there!). It’s situated on a deck patio with lights all around, and it’s pretty quiet back there amongst the trees and water, unless there’s a loud group nearby. The menu is pretty extensive and has a variety of options (I love variety!) so there’s surely something that will appeal to everyone in your party.
The first time, I ordered the Cobb salad with chicken shawarma. Where else can you find that? It was delicious, flavorful, and fresh. The second time, we went back to try their calzones. They were very big and good, too. We look forward to returning and trying one of their many other options: pita wraps, philly cheesesteaks, Italian entrees, burgers, etc. There’s so much to choose from. I just noticed they serve breakfast, too, so that’s something we’ll have to try as well. And I haven’t even talked about the fresh Italian gelato that they serve. We’ve always been too full to have any after our meals, so I think we’ll just have to stop by sometime for take-​out!

Came here for lunch one day on a saturday. We got sat right away but waited a while for someone to go up to us. Probably waited about 5 mins. I saw a couple of workers standing by the gelato area talking. I made eye contact with a few of them and they were still talking. Finally a server went up to us and asked what we wanted to drink. We gave her our order and ordered the trio dip. I got the bella pizza and my fiancé got a traditional sandwich. Dip was good. Pizza was ok and crispy. My fiancé wasn’t crazy about his sandwich. Service was slow and they weren’t even that busy. There wasn’t really anything memorable about it.

Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-​licious! Bella Fresco has done a complete 180 in terms of service, ambiance and, most importantly, food in the two years since I last visited.
The dining room has been completely revamped since 2013. On a Sunday night at 6:00, we were seated in a comfy booth. Service was very attentive, friendly and helpful (including an inordinate amount of drink refills for 2 thirsty people).
Though TV’s aren’t the main focus of the room, for an October visit, we were able to watch the Panthers pull one out against the Seahawks (YAHOOOOOOO!). 5 TV’s (one giant, 4 pretty big) are along one corner of one wall and were all tuned to football (YAY!). The TV’s are not loud or intrusive and they don’t give the space a bar feel, it was just nice to be able to enjoy the games during dinner. This would also be nice for those who enjoy dining alone.
Onto the food — holy smokes, the food. Someone had previously posted a photo of the Cubano panini. Changed my life. I have never had a cubano and I am sure this isn’t authentic because it is served on a pita, but holy crap was it mouthwateringly good. Tender, well flavored shredded pork with NO FAT pockets in it. The ham, pickles, cheese, dijon mustard and mayo were perfectly executed and balanced. I chose a side of mac and cheese, which was a $ 2 upcharge, but was well worth it. Cheesy, with a bit of a garlic taste to it. YUM! My girlfriend ordered the veggie panini, which she said was delicious, and a side of fries which were crunchy and delicious.
To finish off the meal, we both got gelato. Knowing how rich and creamy their gelato is, I got a small cup of the biscotti — YUM. Girlfriend, who had eyes bigger than her stomach capacity got a large with chocolate, pistachio and (I think marscapone?). She kept putting down the spoon, saying she was too full for anymore, but she worked hard and believed in herself and ate it all.
Amazing meal (I cannot wait to go back and get another cubano, I may go tonight!), excellent service, nice space. I will definitely be back to Bella Fresco ASAP!

We are here tonight for the first time and I was very impressed! They have a large dining area but the atmosphere was cozy and there was even live fault at music.
My boyfriend got the Alfredo and I did the pick 2 with Mac n cheese pizza and the chicken turkey and pesto panini. I loved both of my dishes and he said his easily topped any chain Italian restaurant.
We finished off with a 4oz scoop of peppermint patty gelato which was amazing! They had a big gelato selection to choose from.
The service was great and we will definitely be back!

Probably one of the most underrated restaurants in Charlotte. Their gelato is amazing, as are almost all of the entrees. My favorite is the Cubano panini. Great staff, kid friendly, great kids menu.

My husband and I went here tonight for dinner for the first time. We loved the variety of items they have on the menu. Our food was delicious too! I got a Greek salad and pizza and he got a gyro. We highly recommend sitting on the back deck!
The restaurant as a whole was very clean and the staff were very friendly and attentive. We will definitely be back!

This is the definition of a hidden gem. I LOVED Bella Fresco.
You feel like family when you walk in this place. Everything from the color-​changing backlighting on the sign to the people yelling out orders in Italian… reminds me of Italy.
Anyways, we were seated promptly by the gelato area (to the lady’s fortune and my wallet’s misfotune) and given menus. I ended up ordering the Shawarma Wrap while the lady ordered the Vegetable Extravaganza panini. Both were very good! Great price for a weeknight dinner as well!
The night ended with the lady going up to the gelato counter, and the guy manning it asked «What would you like to try?» and without skipping a beat, the lady answered «Everything!», to which he responded «Everything it is» and proceeded to give us small samples of his personal favorites.
Guys. This stuff is good. Real good. Fresh, homemade gelato, every bit as good as you get overseas. And pretty reasonably priced too, for that matter.
Anyways, we had a great experience there and will definitely be returning. Bella Fresco has won us over as a great, convenient, and cheap meal.

Dear Bella Fresca — I think we have a problem — you have so many delicious flavors of gelato I thought my head was going to explode. It’s a good thing the «molto amichevole» attendant allowed me to put three flavors in my cup. Your Hazelnut — reminiscent of Frangelico, plenty of body and flavor. Your Baklava — wow — honey and walnuts dancing on my tongue. The piece de resistance was your Mascarpone — amazing and simply delicious — creamy and subtle. I am writing this letter from my hospital room because the Mascarpone did in fact make my head explode. No hard feelings, it was worth it. Once I receive my cranial transplant, I’ll be back to try Pistachio and Salted Caramel…