Bellini’s Counter

Awesome take out from Bellini counter. Grandson picked pasta Alfredo (you choose your choice of pasta, sauce and topping like chix etc) says it’s delicious (HUGE enough to feed family of 4). I got Mediterranean salad w salmon they grill to order excellent $ 9.95 each but worth it & big servings. Staff is very pleasant & efficient.

Let’s put it this way, I would find it very hard to leave here hungry. A very good option for lunch. If you have never been there, picture an Italian version of Chipotle or Subway. I had a pasta bowl and it was very filling. I had their marinara and vodka sauce with onions, sun dried tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese on top. The thing that I like is that they are not shy with the sauce. I hate it when you order a pasta dish and you are scraping for sauce; not here!
Note: That there is a difference between Bellini’s (sit down restaurant) and Bellini’s Counter.

I’ve been here a number of times now and I cannot rave enough about this place. 5 stars all day long.
Originally I was told this place was a kind of «take-​out» version of the main Bellinis restaurant. But oh no… This is it’s own food destination totally worth visiting.
This reminds me of the same feel as a chipotle or moes experience where the food is right out in front of you, and they prepare it while you queue down the line. It’s very quick and super easy to get in and out if you want. They also have plenty of seating if you want to hang out inside too.
Now for the food.
Excellent.
They all fresh ingredients from the same foods served at their Bellinis restaurant but what I love most were their portions for the price. They make these «bowls» which you can make up on your own or choose from some great prenamed combos. they are massive. I typically eat half a bowl for lunch then the rest before I leave work. It is seriously a lot of food. This coming from a guy who regularly eats a five guys double bacon cheeseburger with fries for lunch… And half a bowl fills me right up!
The bowls are like $ 8 – 11 but man are they every bit worth it. The food itself is very tasty and well prepared.
I love this place and highly recommend it! *they also do a «protein pack bowl» for those of you hitting the gym hard. Sooo good.

Tried some of my husband’s wrap stuffed meatballs and sausage today. I had previously ranted about how bad the wraps are it I have to give them credit. They have changed the wrap recipe so that it is lighter, thinner and better seasoned. It was excellent and will satisfy any carbohydrate lover’s craving for bread.

I tried Bellini’s counter months ago and felt I overpaid for what I got, but today they were offering $ 5 bowls so I figured I’d give it another shot. The bowl comes with a choice of linguine, rigatoni, or whole wheat pasta, followed by your choice of sauce, protein, and a variety of extras consisting mostly of veggies and cheese.
I went with linguine, vodka sauce, sweet sausage, artichokes, olives, peppadew peppers, and shaved parmesan. You get what you’d expect from a place offering Italian food in a chipotle «build your own» style. The pasta was fine, the sauce and sausage provided most of the flavor, and the veggies added a little bit of bite and acidity.
Chances are you won’t regret coming here (maybe if you pay full price), but you won’t be blown away either. I’d come back the next time they offer $ 5 bowls, but Bellini’s Counter won’t be working itself into my rotation of regular lunch spots.

I used to go to a place in GA that had 8 – 10 options for pasta and 6 – 7 options for sauces, in addition to the specialty dishes. I *really* wanted something like that after moving to the area. After hearing the descriptions before opening, I hoped Bellini’s Counter would be the same type of place. Sadly, I was disappointed.
Do you really like filled pastas? Or maybe rotini or the more obscure fancy pastas — like strozzapretti — are your thing? Too bad. At Bellini’s Counter, you get rigatoni or linguine. That’s OK, I guess, but the pasta is all pre-​made and — if I’m being really honest — overcooked.
Do you really like oil-​based or lemon sauces? How about a meaty bolognese? Too bad. At Bellini’s Counter, you get marinara, vodka sauce, or alfredo. At least the vodka sauce tastes pretty good, because I can’t stand alfredo sauce and get bored with marinara.
I’ve had the pasta tossed with their pesto and that was pretty solid, but the chicken was fairly dry.
The meatballs aren’t bad and the breaded chicken cutlets were decent, though.
Feeling disappointed with pastas, I turned to the salad. I got a solid salad with the spinach base, some artichoke hearts, olives (only green??? no kalamata or even black olives???), tomato, shaved parm, and a citrus vinaigrette. I topped it with some grilled-​to-​order salmon. The salad was solid, but the options are limited. I got sick not long after eating the salad, but I can’t point to the salad as the culprit. Regardless, it was the last thing I ate before feeling sick — anyone who’s been through a similar experience realizes that I probably don’t want to order a salmon salad again.
I then tried the wraps. The 1959 is essentially a chicken parmesan wrap, with something called Italian rice added in. It’s like Mexican rice, but with a marinara base. The wrap itself was an odd bread that was slightly brittle. The marinara is just OK, the cutlet was solid, and the rice was completely unnecessary. If I got it again, I’d avoid the rice. I also tried the «Wise Guy,» which is like a Philly cheesesteak with alfredo sauce. I don’t really like alfredo sauce in pasta, but figured it’d be OK in this context. I was wrong, but I can see others liking it. Either way, the peppers and onions were undercooked. Raw peppers and onions overpowered everything else. Oh, and the bread was still brittle.
On our first trip, we also ordered bread. They stuck it in the oven and said they’d bring it out when it was ready. Ten minutes later, no bread. Turns out they forgot. We had gone not long after opening, so I just figured it was growing pains. They fired up another batch and brought it out to us. It was dense and not particularly good.
The folks working the counter have always been incredibly nice and efficient. I can’t blame any of my experiences (except for the delayed bread) on the servers.
The lack of options and subpar execution of the limited options they have earn Bellini’s Counter two stars in my book. There’s still time for them to improve — I’m hoping they’ll start by focusing on improving the options they have, then expanding and offering new sauces and pastas. I think there’s potential, but none of my experiences thus far have really impressed me.

Service was fast, friendly and very welcoming. The food was amazing a little pricy but you definitely get what you pay for. Especially the Cannoli Chips.

I went to Columbus, Ohio a few years back and went to a place called Piada that specialized in a design your own sandwich wrap, pasta or salad with an assortment of meats, sauces and toppings– the place was fantastic and I so wanted this area to have a place like that. I was thrilled when Bellinis counter opened because it was what I had been waiting for for so long!
I ordered a pasta and a salad that I customized. The pasta I got with a cold sauce to make it a pasta salad type dish– I got the garlic parm sauce– pretty tasty– and added sausage, shaved parm, sundried tomatoes and artichokes. Overall the pasta was decent and ingredients all fresh– the only downfall (which was my mistake not theirs) I thought the sausage would be plain grilled sausage — but it was sausage in marinara already which I don’t prefer but not their fault– mine for not noticing.
The salad I ordered balsamic vinagrette, grilled chicken, sundried tomatoes, peppers, artichoke hearts– nice and fresh– but the meat could have been a bit more tender and more flavorful.
Overall– you have so many options you can do here so if you didn’t like your first dish– try a different combo.
Staff that was on the night I went seemed a bit unsure of menu ingredients when I asked but were able to get information I asked for– I went a week or two after the opening so maybe they were still in the learning process– but at least they were able to find out what I needed to know and were friendly.

I heard a few radio ads and got really excited about this place. «Grab what you want and take it home» was the main message. So i was thinking more along the lines of an a la carte Italian Deli’sh place with a seating area. Was totally psyched! Well guess what — It’s like Moe’s but Italian and extremely sub par…
On the lunch menu you have a build your own adventure kind of thing — You pick a wrap, a pasta bowl or a salad, then add proteins and toppings from there. Got it. I ordered a wrap with Prosciutto a and Salami.
I’m expecting that there would be appropriate Italian toppings with that, like maybe some nice roasted red peppers or some nice cured black olives or maybe even a fancy marinated mushroom thing. WRONG. What kind of decent Italian joint doesn’t have those things? That’s basic. No black olives? No roasted reds? huh??? The wrap was like eating SKIN. It was absolutely one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever eaten. The dressing was Cisco quality but hey what more could you want for $ 9.98… Well just a little in my book.
The kids at the counter were nice, the atmosphere was nice. The newly built restaurant looked good. Maybe I got the wrong thing, I don’t know. What I do know is that I will never go there again. I am picky about food, especially Italian food and if you want to start a new a bistro-​ish place at least serve a frikin decent sandwich. It’s not that hard to build a decent Italian Menu especially in Upstate NY.
–No Dice.

Great food for a great price. Kind of an Italian version of chipotle, one of my top favorite places to get food to go.

As others have noted, BC uses the same formula as Chipotle, Moe’s, etc. where you participate in an assembly line process to custom define your food. The same set of base ingredients are used to form wraps and bowls as the form factor, but BC is based on Italian-​style items rather than Mex-​Amer.
We both tried the wraps — one custom with salmon and the other (mine) was the «Wise Guy» which is an Italian version of a beef fajita wrap. Both required the meat/​fish to be grilled so the final item is delivered to your table. This is certainly a step up in freshness from what you would get at Chipotle which is all pre-​cooked. Overall the food was very fresh and pretty tasty.
We were there with a large group on a Friday night and the service was very good. Very friendly.
Pricing is on the high side for a ‘quick bite’ kind of place. The location is a bit difficult to navigate depending on the time of day, and parking appears limited.

First, lets make sure we understand what Bellini’s Counter really is. It is not «Italian Street Food» as they claim. No, it’s a Chipotle clone, with an Italian theme.
All three menu options align exactly with Chipotle’s offerings. The «Italian flat bread» wrap to Chipotle’s burrito, the pasta bowl to Chipotle’s rice bowl, and Bellini’s serves a salad bowl too.
And, the ordering process matches Chipotle’s as well.
So, is the «Italian Chipotle» any good?
I got a wrap with grilled chicken, marinara and various veggie fillings. The wrap is pretty thick and heavy, and the whole thing didn’t stay wrapped for me. I had to hang onto it for dear life to keep it together. And there was just too much wrap for my tastes. I ended up letting it lay flat, grabbed a fork, and just ate the fillings.
The fillings were all good, but nothing special, and the whole meal just left me unimpressed. It was ok, but certainly not something I would go out of my way for, especially with the real Chipotle not far away and so many other excellent lunch choices in the immediate area.
I was there on a Saturday at 12:45, and it was dead. There were two other customers eating when I arrived, and not a single person walked in the entire time I was there eating my wrap. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bellini’s abandons the Italian Chipotle concept soon.

I like this place, but I am concerned. I have been here often enough to know that Bellini’s Counter is not pulling in the number of customers it needs to succeed. Why? At least twice I have seen someone come in, stare at the menu, then walk out.
The food is good. It always seems fresh and you get your meal quickly. I feel that the prices are slightly high, but I feel that way about everything these days. Whenever I eat here I leave feeling full and happy that I ate something delicious and (reasonably) healthy. All as quickly as if I ate in a greasy fast food joint.
I think the problem may be their «pick-​your-​own combo» approach. With the sauces, flatbreads, rice, pasta, meats, all the extras — both hot and cold — my sense is that people don’t quite know what to pick. Some of the combos can seem unusual. My advice to Bellini’s is to retain the pick-​your-​own approach, but offer a few «signature» combos that would work as suggestions. Then give the sandwich, or pasta bowl, or salad, a mildly cute name. Introduce new customers to the tasty possibilities.

I just had chicken bowl I went for double meat because the default scoop is very very little it’s like cheese bites. So they charged me $ 3.00 for that and it went up to 12.90 I would rather for chipotle now. I don’t wanna pay for something it’s not worth it. I know you guys wanna make money but don’t just steal money from customers. I hope this review is really helpful for every one. TOO PRICEY.

The previous negative review seems crazy now that I have been here and gotten a wrap as big as my head — I’m talking Chipotle burrito sized big. The concept is actually a lot like Chipotle, just with Italian flavors. You can get any meat, sauce, base, and toppings you want in a wrap, a bowl, or on a salad. The meatballs and spaghetti on my wrap (a unique idea) were tasty and filling (see pic) but I do think the food is a bit over-​priced.

So I purposely made a Unilocal account just to rate this place because I was so disappointed in my first and probably last visit. We went on a Friday at 6pm. We walked in and there was one group of four sitting down and two women deciding what they wanted so we went ahead to order. Also at this moment in time there were 5 people who were working and 4 not doing anything, huddled around the cash register. Me and my boyfriend both ordered the Italian wraps, mine with pesto grilled chicken and my boyfriend was doing a sausage and pepper wrap. The guy started making my wrap and I was kind of shocked at how LITTLE chicken he put on there. I would say there was 8 cube sized chunks of grilled chicken. I didn’t say anything because I knew I was going to get veggies and thought maybe the wraps were really big. (by the way, the guy used the last of the grilled chicken that was in the area to construct the wraps, so I also thought he was just lazy to go and get more) So in a «subway» like fashion another girl started putting veggies on mine and finally my boyfriend’s wrap caught up to the veggie station and again I was stunned, THERE WAS NOTHING on it. There was about 6 small pieces of sausage and a handful of sautéed onions. We paid and left to take it back to our house that is close. During the car ride, my boyfriend said the same thing; that the guy making the wraps used up the last of the sausage and he didn’t go to get any more and that he was really in awe in how little they gave him. We got back to the house and opened up the wraps in anticipation to see will these really be worth the $ 20. And not to our surprise, it was not. First off they weren’t even cut nor really wrapped. I felt horrible for my boyfriend because his wrap was just like eating bread. It was so tiny and nothing to it. Same with mine except at least there was lettuce to bulk it up. There was SO much wrap and not enough contents that we just ended up opening it up and eating what little was in there and throwing the rest away. I am a huge fan of Bellini’s, I always get their takeout dinners and love going to the restaurant as well, but this is nothing like it! I know they are advertising it as a great place to go for a $ 8-​$ 10 lunch or dinner and by that I think they mean it’s a great place for an appetizer before you actually go out to your real meal. Next time I want to go to an Italian Sandwich shop, I will just take the extra minutes and go to Genoa or up to Halfmoon Sandwich Shoppe. Also Unilocal wants to know if it’s great for kids and I say yes because that’s the portions they serve. p. s– since this review, I have seen some reviews that state how wonderful this place is while sounding like a commercial. And these people have reviewed no other places. Very suspicious.