Bella Luna, San Diego, California Restaurant Details

Food:

Having lived in the area many years, then after moving about 250 miles north I have to admit, Bella Luna is one of the handful of places we truly miss. Every few months we return for a weekend and Bella's is first on our list. Sure, it's noisy and a bit cramped but the experience of sitting outdoors absorbing the city around you is a true Italian norm. The food and service has always been superb, can be a bit slow on busy nights or when large parties have been seated but we don't mind, and we love the ambiance too! A high recommendation here!!!

Food:

food was ok but this really was the worst service we experienced during our 3 weeks trip through CA.
there are much better italian restaurants around!

Food:

We went there on Sat. night because La Strada was having electrical problems, so they sent us to Bella Luna. We were a party of 17. I know this is a lot of people to accommodate and if the restaurant was really full I could understand the SLOW service, but there were maybe 10 other tables in there. It took atleast 45 minutes to get the appetizer which consisted of 2 triangles of cheese, 1/2 a piece of salami and a circle of toast with tomatoes on it. Very skimpy. The menu stated that the salmon came with spinach, but it came out with mashed potatoes and broccoli. About 4 of us received our food after most people were done with their dinner. We had to keep asking for our food. What they called desert was so small it only took 2 bites and it was gone.. We had to ask for the manager a few times, which he could see that the kitchen and his wait staff were having problems but did nothing about. He did not apologize once and to top it off, they tried to charge us more than what was originally quoted. It was a total disaster. With all the choices of restaurants to eat at Downtown, this would definitely not be one of them.

Food:

Our group has never been here before but we went for Restaurant Week. The evening started out okay, but the progressively got worse as the restaurant became busier. We had reservations for 4, our table was set for two. Our wine glasse were thick enough to stop a mugger and mine was chipped. We did order a bottle of wine, when it was brought over it was very warm, at least 78 degrees! But we persevered! Our food was pretty tasty, but the servings were very small. Especially the rack of lamb, more like an appetizer than entree!

So the crux of the issue starts as the restaurant becomes full, our dessert part of the evening from our fixed menu took nearly thirty minutes to bring and this after we are told they ran out of what we ordered. miraculously some how they bring what we ordered. Mean while our water glasses sit empty and our wine glasses as well. They had completely forgotton about our table. After dessert and conversation twenty minutes later, we are wondering where our bill is? We ask the the bartender if could get a hold of our waiter who is elusive to retrieve our bill. Another 15 minutes and still no bill, we inquire further and ask if we could just leave our adderess to have our bill forwarded to us? Then our check is suddenly brought out and while our waiter is swiping our C/C's the owner is asking to run the bill of another table and wondering why our waiter is helping us?? Curious way to run a restaurant, we leave with only giving a 5% tip and vowing to not return. Our other two guest with us are on a restaurant selection committee for a confrence coming to San Diego. It does not look like they will even merit consideration. My advice never dine at this establishment. There are way too many restaurants in San Diego to put up with lousy service.