Bella Via Restaurant

If you want burnt pizza this is where you go. Don’t go during the day because they have a limited menu, and the limited menu is awful. There are barely any options, and the service is slow.
If you do however decide to go, go at night because then the menu is bigger. This place is that in the neighborhood forever and it has character, but even though it’s been in the neighborhood for ever it is not fixed many of its flaws. Like the fact that every salad is soggy. Also if you want to go to an Italian restaurant there’s about 100 better ones around.

I really like this restaurant. Always a stop when in LIC. The service and food are excellent.

Do not order from here! We have been before to eat in and the food is pretty good but both times we have ordered it has taken 90 minutes plus to get a pizza. Every time you call they say «we for slammed tonight» and from when they packed it supposedly to even when it got to us was more than 45 minutes!

I took my parents out for dinner tonight and wanted to try something new and had noticed this place several times so we gave it a shot. BIG MISTAKE! First it took over 10 min for us to be greeted and offered beverages, then a french martini came out as vodka with cranberry juice in a martini glass, bread came out about 20 minutes later which I don’t understand what took so long to serve Cold bread. Our server, Ignasio (prob spelt wrong) was great! BUT he was completely in the weeds which I get Bc that happens when you only have one server, a bartender who can’t make a simple martini and a manager who I’ll get to later.
Two cold appetizers took a little over 30 minutes to be served from when order was taken, probably because our server didn’t have the Chance to be observant when serving about 10 tables. Food was good I’ll give them that!
Now for Salvatore the «manager», how did you get this position? It might be time for you to work as a server so you can learn to help your team. All this man did was hang out! Help your server take drink orders, greet a table, ask tables how their food came out. The table next to me ordered a bottle of wine in which the first glass was poured for them and then they had to pour it themselves because when they looked around nobody was there to help! The drink I sent back, I also watched your staff pour into a cup and walk into the kitchen to drink. Their fault? NOT AT ALL! because if a guest can notice it you 100% should have!
This restaurant is in great location, with good food, nicely decorated, staff that seems like they want to make money but needs a manager who will guide them, lend a helping hand, make sure your line is putting out tickets…

Really good ambiance. The restaurant is neither too darkly lit nor too bright. There is also no annoying music playing. Even with a full dining room of people talking it wasn’t too loud. I was in town for work and sat at the bar as I just wanted to eat and have some alone time. Staff noticed this and was attentive but not intrusive at all. They’re known for their brick oven pizza; however, I got pollo piccata. Very good dish which came out quickly! At one point, the oven filled the room with smoke which ended up where I was sitting. Manager apologized twice and opened doors. Not a big problem for me. I’ll gladly return!

Pretty accessible when the 7 train is working. If not the G train can get you. There is outside seating and inside seating. I personally like to be indoors.
Pizza is delicious and worth it. They do thin sliced pizza and wow, just wow. It comes on this elevated tray which makes you feel like royalty. Its the way grandma pies are made.
If you don’t feel making the trip and live close by order. The delivery is always under 40mins and the pizza is fresh. The woman who picks up the phone is friendly. But you may never know this because no one calls to order anymore… hello eat24.

We had an excellent Brunch at Bella Via Restaurant. There’s nothing like a Coal Oven to make real pizza.
We had a Margherita Pizza with Prosciutto and Mushrooms. Perfectly made pizza as good as I’ve had in the famous Brooklyn Margherita.
We had the Schiacciata Con Robiola which was something I’ve never had. It’s a crunchy calzone stuffed with a creamy and flaky slightly bitter cheese. We ordered it with Broccoli Rabe and the contrast in taste was very delicate. Unlike any run of the mill Italian food I’ve had.
Great place for Brunch near LIC.

Bella Via is a solid family-​run Italian restaurant in LIC.
Perfect for those chilly winter afternoons when you are craving a crispy margherita pie.
And for those you who live the Northeast, which are Vitamin D deprived, the floor to ceiling windows lets in sweet sunshine and warmth.
The company was so fun!
We laughed, sat, made inside jokes and ate for two hours.
The margherita pie had a crispy thin crust, basil and fresh mozzarella. Plenty of prosciutto and browned button mushrooms.
Delicious.
We also ordered Schiacciata con robiola e olio di tartufo, which was thin crunchy calzone stuffed with creamy robiola cheese, broccoli rabe and topped with truffle oil.
Very good but too creamy and filling for me. I could only eat 1.5 slices.
I prefer more meat than creamy buttery cheese.
More prosciutto please!
And that chocolate soufflé was more like a chocolate lava cake.
A Very chocolately creamy cake.
Good times.
Definitely will be back.

Nothing tops a great Saturday night like a great dinner and a bottle of wine.
My wife and I went there and had it all. Thanks to Sal and Carmine.
A great food, casual atmosphere and awesome host.
Highly recommend it.

Bella Via is a solid 4, if not a 4.5.
My hubby and I visited Bella Via tonight for dinner. We were looking to try something new in our neighborhood and fancied Italian food. We were very pleasantly surprised, don’t let the appearance fool you.
We shared a pasta dish and a large pizza. We saw a couple next to us sharing a pizza and assumed that was the large size– nope, they had ordered the small. So when our pizza came out it was HUGE! The pizza was pretty good, the base was slightly burnt for my taste, but it was to my husbands liking. The pasta dish (spinach pasta with ragu sauce and mushrooms) was so good, it was delicious. The clear winner for us– ⁵⁄₅!
We didn’t think much to the complimentary bread. We were given olive oil & balsamic vinegar, but no side plates to poor it out onto to dip, nor were we given butter.
As our pizza was so big we were too full to eat dessert but if they are as good as the pasta then I have no doubt they would be amazing. We plan to return to try the dessert.
Other reviews state they had bad service, but we didn’t experience that, our server (middle aged female) was really nice.

Service: The wait staff really needs to set up their game, many times there were unattended tables, water glasses emptied waiting to be filled, unaware of certain parts of the menu and order.
The bill was also quite a long wait, I’m not sure if they were trying to follow a more European take or just another example of sloppy service.
Ambiance: Was this an original Italian eatery? It reminds me a lot of an American Gastropub, either way, it has a lovely brick oven pizza oven.
Food: I really wanted to love the food here, because it would be such a great neighbourhood restaurant, but meh… everything was lackluster and lacked an authenticity and pomp that I imagined it could be.
Good for: Dates, Quick bite.

Waiters and waitresses here need to step up their game. On the other hand, the busboy is a total sweetheart. Our waitress finally stopped by our table to take our order after we sat down for 5 – 10 minutes (with no water) AND asked the busboy if he could take our order. She also walked away with our small plates that were set on the table and for a good minute I thought we weren’t going to receive a complimentary bread basket. The busboy then appears with our bread but we had no plates! He immediately went to get us some. He was there for us again when we asked for cheese. The waitress dropped off our fettuccine plate but never offered us cheese or pepper. We did, however, receive a nice metal stand for our upcoming small pizza pie, which hovered above our fettuccine dish. The table isn’t that large and the pizza wasn’t ready until we were more than halfway through with the fettuccine. The stand was a complete and unnecessary nuisance for the time being. When our pizza did arrive, we had to rearrange the table ourselves so we could eat. Even then, I was cutting my pizza (yeah i like to eat my pizza like a classy lady) at an angle. The worst part was, they didn’t even notice our empty fettuccine plate that occupied the center of our table for the rest of our meal. This happened last year as well when I came here with my family (see previous review from ⁸⁄₂₀₁₄) and I had to stack the plates for them YET they STILL didn’t take them away until the end of the meal. It’s been an entire YEAR and service has NOT improved. They also did not clear our empty plates until we were finished with all our food! What poor service. Our two waitresses also had cold, unwelcoming facial expressions whenever they walked by or dropped off our food. Learn to smile!
In summary:
Service ¹⁄₅ (would have been 0 if it wasn’t for the busboy)
Food ⁴⁄₅
Décor ⁵⁄₅
Despite the consistent quality of their food, I’m sad to say that I will NOT be coming back here. Their service is severely lacking.

Absolute best pizza in NY!
I recommend the white ham pizza. YUM!!!
The grilled octopus, fried calamari and mussels are good, too.
The owner is a nice man. Very friendly and hospitable.
A place you cannot miss in LIC

I know what you are thinking– it’s just pizza, but this is New York & it just ain’t any pizza — excellent dough & stellar NYC ambiance — try the grilled Calamari for starters & work your way up from there!
We sat outside (highly recommended) cause hey, it’s New York & you are here to see the sights.
I love this place on location alone but it truly is well worth a visit — prices were excellent on both food and drinks.
I will definitely return.

Been here bunch of times.
Its not the best pizza in town but I just love taking my friends and family here, so comfortable and casual.

The food and restaurant is aesthetically appealing. The make up and all the pieces are there for it to be an amazing restaurant. I ordered a large pie (half arugula/​prosciutto and the other half sausage and rabe). The fresh toppings were amazing. I highly recommend the arugula/​prosciutto if you are going to eat here. The crust is thin which i enjoyed. Unfortunately, I felt the pizza was a little bit flat. You could almost taste the amazingness and I was waiting for the wow factor after each bite of the pizza but it never arrived. The pizza was made very quickly. Maybe too quickly and shortcuts were taken? I felt the pizza could be a bit hotter– as it was close to room temperature when it arrived at the table. I wouldn’t mind the extra wait if the pizza came out hotter. The base marghertia pizza tasted dry once you distinguish the freshness of the toppings and the rest of the pizza.
TIP: After seeing the bill from doing half and half of a large pizza ($ 27ish), I think it’s more cost effective to order a large ($ 20 – 21) and then get a small ($ 12). The menu state that it’s the same price for toppings if you do a half or a whole pizza. Considering, the price of toppings, just get another pie. It’s more value for the money and the meal. It’s overall a decent meal and place to grab some food.

Very pretty location with nice calm interior design. Unfortunately, the pasta bolognese and margherita pizza was not good. My crème brûlée was yummy though. That’s as good as it got since the cup I drank in smelled dirty as if they used a dirty greasy sponge to clean it.

Came here for lunch with a coworker. We were greeted and seated right away, although we noticed other tables got a bread basket and we did not (boo).
We split a small Quattro Formaggi pie: we got half with sauce half without, and added spinach and artichokes. This was definitely enough food for the 2 of us. We both preferred the half without the sauce, so I would recommend getting it that way.
The price was pretty reasonable, about $ 13 each with tip. The pizza was delicious and I’ll definitely be back!

I was hoping for a memorable dining experience and Wow a family member who was visiting from out of town. She proclaimed how delicious the pizza was back home in Singapore.
Now Singapore from my last visit 2 years ago was not known for world class pizza. I figured Bella Via with their coal fired brick oven should be sufficient «ammo» to squash her thought of «Singaporean Pizza dominance!»
My strategy failed! What a big let down! Our large Margherita pie was as fellow Unilocaler Tom K. put it «the crust resembled the Indian naan» I was not impressed. The crust was too chewy and the sauce was a little under seasoned and flat tasting.
When we sat down and finished ordering our appetizers and entrees the bread arrived at our table cold. Now the outside temperature was hovering around the 30 degree mark that night. It would’ve been nice to have warm bread served.
For an appetizer we ordered the fried calamari, which was quite good, but the entrees fell short. The veal scaloppini, spinach fettuccine with pesto and shrimp and the chicken special was average at best. I felt the portion sizes could have been bigger for the price you paid.
Desert was pretty good. The homemade bread pudding and tiramisu was delicious. The ricotta cheesecake was a little on the dry side and the chocolate soufflé cake was overcooked and dry in the center. The cappuccino was delish.
I must say the service staff was very friendly and attentive. Oscar our server was pleasant to deal with and very knowledgeable on the menu items.
There is no private parking lot for the restaurant. After 7pm you don’t need to feed the parking meters, these are 2 hour meters when they are in effect.
Sadly, my relative is going back to claim «Singaporean Pizza Dominance!» Nice Job TC!!!

We like this little piece of Italy in LIC.
We came here for a coffee and dessert after our dinner and as always it didn’t disappoint us. Their cappuccino and espresso are really good!
For dessert we had the ricotta cheese cake which was fresh, right size and tasteful.
It’s a great place for dinner or just coffee and dessert