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| - I LOVE Italian food. LOVE it. You can take me pretty much any Italian place and I'll be in heaven. So given this, the location of Cafe La Bella (about a 5 minute walk from my house), the reviews I've read on here, and the look of the place as we walked in the door, I was primed and ready to tell everyone about my new favorite place.
I had no problem with the small menu because everything on there was something I like. My decision was easy as could be; I love gnocchi above pretty much all else and was happy to see it. What a disappointment it was, though. It was extremely overcooked, and the red sauce that it was drowned in was sweet and seemed to have come straight out of a jar. Dave had a New York strip, and was very underwhelmed as well.
We also ordered creme brulee, another favorite of mine. It was cold and tasted pretty much like vanilla pudding with a torched coating of sugar on top.
I almost didn't write this review, as I hate to have any kind of negative effect on them. But the fact of the matter is, if you're going to run a restaurant, you need to have good food. Just being a locally owned CenPho business can only carry you so far. I'm also loathe to judge anyone based on one night (insert dirty joke here), so I wouldn't be averse to trying it again.
Our server was very friendly and chatty, which I completely enjoy. The place was cute and cozy with some neat artwork, and I have no problem with the idea of a corkage fee (it was $7 per person, and I have no idea if that's standard/low/high). All I can say is that I hope they put some consideration into what they're serving, and can stay successful.
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