Bella Trattoria - Frederick

We have eaten here numerous times and we actually discuss before going that you have great atmosphere and great food, but the service always lacks. We come with our patience hoping the service and food/beverage timing will be better than the last time we visited, but it hasn't seemed to improve over the last year. The servers we have experienced are not attentive at all. Our last visit, the food was dropped off and the server disappeared before we could even look at our plates. We all wanted Parmesan to top our pastas but after 10 minutes of the server not returning we sought them out to get the cheese for our now cold pasta and it took another 5 minutes for them to find the grater and return to the table. Almost comical... Also our appetizers were delivered at the same time as our entrees without explanation. Love the food, but not always a relaxing experience.

Bait and switch! Beautiful full menu on line but, when you get to this restaurant, the menu they give you is a quarter of what they show on line. When we asked the sever about this she said “yeah, they changed it a little while ago and have not updated it on line” I also though it was a “special” menu because it was the day before thanksgiving and it was a one sheet paper menu and the server confirmed it was the normal, entire menu. We were extremely disappointed and left and ended up eating next store at Firestone’s which was amazing.

This was our second visit. It did not disappoint either time. The food and service were both excellent.

We decided to try something new downtown we’ve lived in Frederick City for 25 years , as we usually stick with the same 6 7 places. Bella looks like a hole in the wall from the street but beyond the front tables a hallway takes you to a spacious dining area. We stuck with the daily specials ahi tuni with shrimp, calamari, etc; another with ahi tuna over tortellini with Gorgonzola and carrots. A weird combination but delicious. Orrichetti ? off the regular menu was fantastic as well. Portions were perfect. Appetizers ahi Tuna with Asian pears very good, and the chicken liver pate with figs amazing on the grilled bread it is served with and very filling. Cocktails featured McClintock and other local ingredients too. Great menu, a little slow getting the entrees, but it was all obviously made to order and worth the wait we didn’t really notice anyway since we had drinks and appetizers. Definitely going back as a new regular spot that doesn’t cost a fortune.

Great food, super friendly service, plenty of reasonably priced wine, and very nice decor. Thanks for a great night!