I ate lunch at this Italian restaurant in Lake Mary (where Mario's used to be) on Saturday. I had the Chicken Parm sandwich for $7. I know you are waiting for the pain to come (mid-price Italian), but, I actually found the sandwich to be among the best, if not the best, I've ever had (and I lived on them in my teens). So how can this be? It starts with the bread. A large, wide, flour dusted, artisinal loaf. Light and slightly crusty. The chicken was real in taste and form (not pounded flat chicken spam) and not drowned in sauce. The sauce was light and fresh. The chicken was not oily or over breaded. The mozzerella was pulled over the chicken like a thin bed sheet. The service was perfect (although it was sadly empty). They have redecorated the place with a rustic (autumn colors) sensibility. It still suffers from a hallway-like floor plan that looks out on the working elements of the restaurant (even the bathroom area is visible from most of the restaurant). They tried to break up the flow with half wall, but you can only do so much with what you're given. They seem to have a wide if not imaginative menu. They keep a fair selection of wine and beer (most on tap). It goes to show you that I'm right about shitty Italian frauds. The prices are the same as Marios, but the food and atmosphere are infinitely better. They said they have an outpost in Deltona too. Tip - slices only at lunch.
I would suggest that they figure out a way to make the open kitchen a curiosity instead of an eyesore. Maybe dress up the kitchen or frame it with some decoration. Same with the other exposed doors on the kitchen side. I would also try and hide (curtains) the rest room area. I might also trade in some of those grand ma, reproduction Italian type signs and decorations for some real Italian point of purchase collectibles. It would give it an edge and make it look less like an American chain's idea of what an Italian restaurant looks like. I would also push the contractor to get me my sign and figure out a way to draw people in (a pusher on the street, a placard, music). I would also contact the sheriff and start towing all the bike riders that steal my customers spaces on the weekend.
* I went back recently and the pizza was atrocious. Not baked long enough and too much flour in the dough. The cheese was also salty and didn't melt well.
9 comments:
I went to Bella Vita with 5 co-workers for lunch on Wednesday. We used to LOVE Marios pizza and wanted to check out the new place. The 6 of us were shown to a table by the window, gave our drink orders and decided to split 2 18" pizzas and chose garlic knots and chicken wings for appetizers. The place only had two other tables being served so it wasn't busy for lunch.
The waitress didn't come back once to refill our drinks or let us know about our order. After waiting 25 minutes one of us went to the open kitchen window to find out where our order was. The food still wasn't ready - ANY of it! The waitress then became very defensive and gave us a lot of attitude. She said they ran out of cheese (it's a PIZZA place!) and had to run to the store. When we asked why we hadn't been informed of this she huffed off waving and shaking her fists in the air and slammed through the kitchen swinging door.
When we finally got our garlic knots(40 minutes after we got there), we explained that we were going to be late, we needed our food to go, and expected some compensation for such poor service. With more attitude and theatrics she told us that she would have to check with the manager and stormed off again. She returned and said the comp was 10% off our tab. We replied that that was not even a good coupon, was not acceptable, and we asked to speak to the manager. He wasn't in. The cook came and offered another 5% off but that was all he could do.
We just wanted to leave, so we took it with promises to contact the owner/manager. The waitress then slammed a calculator on the table and recalculated our bills with much force, throwing each bill at each of us. When she rung up the tabs, she had rung up one of them at full price - no discount at all - and just shrugged saying that she figured we weren't going to leave her a tip anyway and started to walk away. The person then requested the difference in cash, which she got thrown in her face.
Once we got back to work - late - the pizza was cold and tasted like plastic cheese, the chicken wings were okay and NO ONE will EVER go back there.
We have repeatedly tried to contact the illusive manager, Gino Uli, but he never seems to be in any of his four locations. We'll keep trying, but I don't have much hope. I think he's hiding from dissatisfied customers.
This guy might know how to start a restaurant (he has several), but he sure can't run one or serve good food.
I was just reading the comment you had posted about my Lake Mary Restaurant. I allways read my costumers comments and really enjoy to hear that they're happy with what im doing in my Restaurants, so you can imagine how disappointed i was to read yours. First of all i want to tell you how truly sorry I am about your bad lunch experience at Bella Vita in Lake Mary. As you know, I was not here that day and wasn't informed by my staff on what had happened, therefore I'm glad you brought it to my attention. Moving foward on your comment, you say that you have been trying to get in touch with me, and I'm hiding from you. About a week ago, I placed a advertisment add on Clipper Magazine, which went out to 40,000 homes, and instead of putting the Restaurant phone number, i put my own cell number. I did that so I personally take my costumers calls. So you're telling me that on top of being at the Restaurant over 80 hours a week, and 40,000 people in Lake Mary having my cell number, I'm hiding from you! Well, if you're still having troble contacting me here's my cell phone number 407-272-0545, and you already know my name, Gino Uli. Call me and I'll give you another discount, on top of the 15% you've gottten by my staff when you were here, since it seems like thats the only thing that makes you happy. I have a question for you. You say that my staff made you late to return to work. How is it that you had time to demand a discount, going back and fowrth with my server and my cook, then making the server split your check in 6, giving everyone a 15% discount ? That must've taken a while i bet, but i guess being late at work didnt matter that much as long as you got a discount. And how does a 15% discount help you in any way, after receiving a bad service and bad food (so you say) ? I think you were just after getting a cheap meal. Further more you say my food is not good. I understand that you're allowed to have your own opinion but all i want you to do is google Bella Vita Debary and you'll see that your opinion stands alone against dozen other comments of people that used to drive to Debary from Lake Mary (prior to opening Lake Mary location) just to have my food. I don't just open Restaurants, I'm the Executive Chef of my Restaurants and this is the only thing I've been doing my whole life. I didnt just wake up one morning and decided I want to open a Restaurant, I was born and reised in my family's restaurants. In New York I own Giovani's Restaurant on Arthur Ave (Little Italy are of NY)and we've been there for over 30 years. With hundreds of Italian Restaurants in New York, my food won Best of NY two years in a row. In Florida I owned Anthony's Pizza Pasta which till this day wins food awards every year. Bella Vita in Lake Mary has only been opened for two months and has been featured with a great food review on My City Eats Magazine. Orlando Sentinel called my food " A better recipe for the future". So do you see how wrong it is for you to make up lies about me or my food? On the same page you wrote your comment theres a great food review of my restaurant. If you had bad service I understand that it's frustraitng and if that's what happened, again I'm truly sorry, but it doesnt give you the right to badmouth me or my Restaurant by making up lies.
Gino Uli (Owner, Bella Vita Restaurant)
I think they are out of business. I was going to order a pizza from them for pick up the other day, but when I called up, their phone was no longer in service.
I never got to try them, although I was a big fan of Mario's...
I was one of the 5 co-workers at the lunch that day. When we sat down at our table, there was only one other table in the restaurant. Our group has never asked for a discount at any other restaurant when out to lunch together. The staff that day was very rude to use and told us several reasons as to why the 7 tables that came in after us were served first. The waitress was very rude throughout our experience, including throwing one of our coworkers change at her.
Just because we do not like the food served at the restaurant, it does not make us liars. We all agree with the post the Sconess posted about the quality of the food and the details of the service. We asked for a discount because we had no other recourse at the time. Splitting a check 6 ways is a pretty standard request for a restaurant and should not be an issue. Also, this request and our conversations with the server and the cook took place while we were STILL WAITING ON OUR FOOD.
Most of the comments made in the Sconess’ post were a recitation of the facts of our experience with very few emotional attacks at the restaurant or the staff. However, the response from Gino was very nasty and heated. Had I have not been at the restaurant, but just read the post by the owner here, I would assume that he does not care about his customers or their feelings about their experiences in his restaurant. I would highly recommend going to TerraMia in or Giovanni’s (both in Lake Mary) before I tried Bella Vita.
Mr. Uli,
I have just read your response to my comment regarding our experience at your restaurant. (I don't use this email often and appologize for the delayed response.) My family and I have also been in the restaurant/service industry for many years. As an owner and as a customer I can understand both sides of the counter, so to speak. My objective was not to personally bash you, rather to bring to your attention a situation that sould be appalling to any business owner or manager.
Those who work in the service industry understand that anyone can go to any establishment to get a bite to eat or a cup of coffee or whatever. What really impresses customers is the service they receive. Studies have shown that people will pay up to 15% more for the same item with good service. Additionally, studies have also shown that in situations where a customer is dissatisfied and the company rectifies the situation to the customers satisfaction, the customer is left with a stronger positive impression of the company and is more likely to become a long-term customer.
My co-workers and I came to your establishment to enjoy a nice lunch together. Your staff had many opportunities to let us know there was a delay with our meal but chose not to. When asked what was the problem we got a variety of excuses served with an abundance of attitude. Had we been told from the beginning that there was a delivery problem, or that there was no cheese, or whatever, we would have been able to change our order or choose to come back another day and the whole scenario would have been avoided.
The majority of my customers love my food, but once every few months I get someone who doesn't. Even though that doesn't make me happy I understand that as a paying customer my job is to make the customer happy - not the other way around. In those situations I offer them something different that they might enjoy better and comp the whole charge. Did I lose some money on that customer? Yes, but they will know that I attempted to make things right for them. Even if they didn't like the food, I've never had a customer walk away not liking my service. I would NEVER call a customer a liar because they have different taste than me or my chef. I don't appreciate that and hope that you'll learn to control your emotions and temper when someone says they don't like your food.
My co-workers and I are happy to go to other restaurants and pay more for a relaxing and enjoyable dining experience. We were not looking for a cheap meal, as you said. We wanted to have the problem acknowledged, addressed respectfully and compensated - because that's what the customers deserve.
Rode by during a bike ride on the nearby trail. Bella Vita is indeed out of business...
Guess Gino's not as good a businessman as he thinks. Already closed and out of business at this location.
I have a better one than that, My Name is Eric owner of RYKA Builders, I did the complete build-out on his Debary location from design by my designer Rob Mariani off of HGTV's "Design star" to window furnishings, if you have never visited there you should at least take a look at the job that he did, it is perfection! Funny thing is--- I never received 1 penny from him. I was told that he had a balloon payment coming to him and so I never took a deposit from him. (this was a referral from a "friend" of mine. So now his business has been thriving and he has opened and closed businesses and is now in the process of opening a pub in Lake Mary with my designers complete design that he paid nothing for also. So dont feel so bad about your 15% discount He owes me $60,000 he is a crook and will always be. He will get his eventually.
Bella Vita is in business and at a location that better suits them. It's at 220 N. C R Beall Road by the library now. I love their pizza.
Post a Comment