Old-world Northern Italian cuisine is offered in a Victorian mansion with a homey interior.
P C
We really enjoyed our first time here. Very nice atmosphere. Nicely greeted. The food was delicious!!! I had the special….eggplant and veal parmesan with pasta and my husband had a pasta and sausage dish. Next time I will ask for less sauce but it was good. The calamari could have been crunchier but still had a good flavor. We will definitely be going back!!!
… moreDr Rad Dan
An old friend of mine invited me out with her husband while I was visiting Aiken. She recommended casa Bella as it was one of her husband’s favorites and since I had not had Italian for quite a while it was perfectly fine with me. Located in downtown Aiken Casa Bella is literally a repurposed house serving final Italian cuisine. The restaurant has a wonderful wine list and if you don’t know what to have with dinner, the server will be more than happy to provide a suggestion. We started dinner with calamari and mushroom fries, which are a large portobello mushroom 10 into strips lightly breaded and fried. Both excellently done. I ordered lasagna, my friend ordered veal Marsala, and her husband had a special of the day chicken with dehydrated tomatoes and peppers. The veal and chicken dishes were well received. I am the other hand was slightly disappointed with the lasagna. Although a very healthy portion with a lovely sauce and lots of meat, there’s an apparent lack of cheese. Look at the photograph and tell me you see any ricotta. I didn’t see any of the wait staff nor our waiter for quite some time after lasagna had been placed in front of me. So I continued on with eating and by time our waiter showed up I was well through halfway done and didn’t bring up the matter. Overall, dinner was well received by all and conversation catching up on old times and discussions of current affairs made up for lack of cheese. This is nothing to not recommend or find fault with the restaurant, and I would consider returning, if I get back to Aiken.
… moreJames Hendrickson
Would say it was a 5 star experience, I got something to try that was not to my taste, but it was me branching out. The risotto was phenomenal the veg of the day was green beans and they were well seasoned and crisp. The potato soup was good enough to be a stand alone meal, and the bread with the oil and roasted garlic paired well with everything. The show stopper was really the crème Brûlée, with a nice cappuccino to accompany. It had a excellent crust, and was simple and delicious. Want to comment on our server. He was also wonderful.
… moreCarlos C
Arrived at a Saturday night with no reservation so I’m taking that into consideration.
However, at the time we arrived, the restaurant was not busy and many tables were empty.
We were greeted at sat and told by the hostess that she would be back with menus.
It took about 15 minutes for her to return.
The entire service experience was mediocre at best.
Food: Chicken Marsala was very salty.
Chicken picotta was good.
Overall, environment was nice, lot of potential given the history but this particular experience left much to be desired.
… moreBernie Clark
What a great restaurant, I had spaghetti and meatballs and my wife have pasta primavera. Both were excellent. And dog friendly on the beautiful patio.
… moreBrian Kelly
First time here. Food and service were great. It wasn’t busy so I can’t really say if that would change if they were. Loved the quaintness of the restaurant that was a 1890s house.
… moreJeff Ford
Loved the steak. I had the Chicken Marsala, not as flavorful as I would have liked but still tasty. Service was good, and timely. We will go back.
… moreTastefully True
Maybe my expectations were too high? We typically go to another ‘nice-ish’ restaurant when in town but thought we’d try here. Our group of 8 put in a small room upstairs which was nice for privacy and ambiance but HOT. It was at least 10 degrees cooler when we left the room. Our server was patient and did well taking orders and getting checks right.
My Veal Marsala was room temperature even almost close to cool (as were most other dishes noted by my dinner mates). We had already waited so long for our food I didn’t want to complain or send back… I probably should have. It was not very flavorful (I’ve had at many restaurants so have a good palate to compare), a tad more chewy than tender and the pasta that came with it just plain noodles. The house salad was fine and bread was highlight of meal.
We came, we tried but alas we probably won’t return. I wish I had a picture of food but didn’t want to see rude in front of my dinner party. Perhaps it was an off night- ciao bella.
… moreLeah Gosline-Cook
The server was not very well versed in the knowledge of the menu but he was pleasant and attentive. I was pleased to see a Moscato available on the wine list and it was light and sweet. The bread was warm and served with butter and oil with roasted garlic. The Caesar was a fail as it was served with powdered Parm and for the price, real shaved Parm was expected. I asked for the tuna to be served at a medium temp and it came out well done. The risotto was cooked perfectly but lacked in flavor and the crispy greens were interesting but should’ve just been a garnish and not a side, in my opinion. The canoli was delish. I don’t plan on returning because it is over priced for the quality of the dishes available. My friend had the veal picatta and remarked that it was tough but loved her tiramisu.
… moreRamona Carter
I am actually combining my review for two visits that we have made in the last week. One was with my boyfriend and the food was excellent as well as the service. The second visit was with my children, and the service was excellent, but the food was super bland and did not have much flavor. The second visit was not typical of what we find at Casa Bella, so we were really disappointed. I’ll start by saying that the crab stuffed mushrooms are always great, and the crème brûlée was fabulous as well during the first visit. We enjoyed our seafood dishes and everything was fresh and hot. The service was not to be missed, and she did a great job of keeping our glasses full. On the second visit with my children we all three complained that our food was bland and it had no flavor. There was way too much water swimming around in the bowls of pasta, and adding Parmesan cheese did not help. We mentioned it to the waitress, but we still kept our entrées as she offered no solution. My son actually commented that the Parmesan chicken at O’Charleys was 10 times better. That should not be the case. We will definitely return again as this is a local establishment we have frequented over the years and hope this was a one-time thing.
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