Cha-Bella

I have wanted to come to this restaurant for several years. We decided to order takeaway this evening, and I could not have been more disappointed. We ordered the shrimp risotto ($ 28) and caprese salad ($ 10). My husband walked in the door with our food and said the restaurant was the smelliest place he has ever been that serves food. The risotto just plain stunk. It had rotten leaves on top of it. The shrimp were small, had not been deveined, and would have bounced if dropped on the floor, they were so rubbery. I actually tried to bite one. Serious regret. We called, the manager was kind and offered a refund. My husband went back to get it, and the manager tried to act like it was okay and ate one. It was awful. Then he said he hoped it wouldn’t affect our likelihood of a future visit. We did get a refund.

Was here two years ago when it was great, came back for the first time since on a visit down… not the same restaurant. With a nearly empty restaurant, it still took an extremely long time to get our food… about fifteen minutes for the apps and then and additional half hour until we received our entrees.
The clam + lamb sausage scampi was very bbq-​y, not very appetizing for a pasta entrée. Additionally the ricotta gnocchi was sub-​par. The gnocchi were fried, squishy balls of potato dough… absolutely terrible. The crab it came with must have been defrosted since the time of my order.
On the other hand the service friendly, but again slow. Would not recommend this restaurant.

My husband and I initially came here because we thought the outside was so pretty but it ended up being too cold to sit outside. This place was amazing anyways and I’m so glad we went! All foods are local or from their own farm. The service was great! The ambience inside was so pretty and relaxing. The appetizer, fried goat cheese with honey, was divine! My husband had the pulled pork pasta and I had the shrimp risotto, neither of us had one complaint and loved our dishes! We will def. be coming back soon. I might try something else but if that risotto is still on the menu. I’m getting that! Soooo amazingly delicious!

We have been twice and the food, and service has been great. First time I had their snapper special and my wife had the risotto. This time we both had the risotto and it was very, very tasty. Having said that there is one very odd thing about Cha-​Bella, the first time we ate there it was only us and 1 other couple… felt a bit odd. The next time we went we made reservations and notice that the list only had us and one other couple on it. A few walks in did bring the total number of people up to 10 or so… but…I only saw 1 waiter and although he was great I cannot imagine what would have happened if more people came. So, although our experience has been good I do wonder what they deal is.

New Year’s Eve Disaster
I witnessed a complete service collapse on New Year’s Eve which resulted in leaving before we would ever see the food we ordered. We were seated at shortly after 9PM. We left a quarter after 10. Here’s what I observed:
a. The restaurant commands a menu of about 21 items. They couldn’t produce at least 2 of their dishes due to lack of ingredients. We were told they didn’t have cream in the kitchen for one of their dishes.
b. It took over a half an hour to get bread at the table. They would’ve been better off not bringing it. For a restaurant that charges up to $ 38 dollars for a dish, you would expect better than sub par bread and tasteless butter. The italian bread at Publix is tastier. For a party of 4, we received 6 pieces, it was all the food we ate that evening.
c. After a while, we were expecting an appetizer dish. We had not seen our waitress since ordering. She was found at the bar serving up drinks to other customers. When confronted, she had no status update on the food.
d. Over an hour passed by and we saw our waitress address the table. Sweaty and disheveled, she prefaced her statement with «I know you’re pissed…»
It was full realization by the table that this staff had lost control of their restaurant.
Whoever was acting General Manager of the establishment clearly exhibited lack of control and handling of the customers. From a business standpoint, s/​he should’ve entered the kitchen, took control of the situation and delivered our dishes. Instead, they avoided addressing the table and let us walk out disgruntled, never to return.
What to expect:
Dining Area: There’s an upper and lower tier with a bar area to the right of the establishment as you walk in. The building appears to be very old. The table clothes, napkins and silverware are nice. It’s not quiet as noise carries heavily and it’s difficult to hear the rest of your party.
Bathroom: The men’s bathroom is disgusting. The urinal hosts murky water with a thick coating of a residue– suggesting it hasn’t been cleaned in years. I was surprised there was soap, towels and a garbage. For a high end establishment, that bathroom is in desperate need of a remodel.
This is the first time I’ve ever left a restaurant. I’m sure this is not their normal business practice and that my party and I fell victim to a rare, complete meltdown. I’m surprised the GM didn’t try to salvage the table to generate any kind of revenue. If you believe that your service is inadequate, do yourself a favor and leave immediately.

Nice staff and location, horrible food.
Took my Norwegian family here during our stay in Savannah. Called ahead to make a reservation. The person I talked to was very pleasant. When we arrived we were seated outside according to our wishes. The restaurant was very cosy and they played nice music. The bottle of Argentinian malbec that we ordered was very good. So far so good.
This is when we started to get disappointed. We had to wait 1 hour for the food. We had 4 different entrées, all of them quite pricey and none of them worth even half the price. None of our dishes looked especially tempting, I’d say most people make a better job on their dinner plates at home. The catch of the day was a pan seared snapper. The snapper itself was decent but the cabbage it came with tasted like it had been boiled for too long and seasoned with charcoal lighter fluid. The fettuccine pasta had an overwhelming smoked flavor and was barely touched. The vegetarian farm vegetables and risotto was basically rice and veggies with no flavor whatsoever. The short ribs were just average, and should have been way more tender.
In total, the food was flavorless, poorly presented and just sad. And extremely overpriced. This is a shame because the restaurant is gorgeous and very cosy.

What a rip off.
Spent $ 96 (after tip) and got. 2 beers, 1 cocktail, 1 entrée, 2 apps (2 people).
$ 10 for a CORONA and $ 10 for a SWEET WATER 420.
We asked to sit outside for dinner. The waiter tried to convince us to sit inside because it was cold and he kept tucking his arms in acting like it was freezing. It was 60 degrees when we got there and 56 when we left and there was a fire! Give me a break!
I would be HAPPY to pay a lot for a good entrée but the food wasn’t even impressive at all. Don’t go here. I had the ship risotto which was just some shrimp, goopy grains and shriveled green beans. Tasted like cream of chicken soup poured onto rice for $ 28.

My husband and I went for dinner a couple weeks ago and loved our meal. We had the specials and the food was outstanding. The service was decent and the crowd seemed to be on the elderly side, but overall great experience. Will definitely be back.

Ok. But goat cheese seems to dominate the menu. The atmosphere is great; the food is marginal.

One of our favorite restaurants in savannah. It’s consistently good and the pureed cocktails are amazing. Wonderful staff and outside seating is a lot of fun. Nothing like it in savannah!

Order a steak. My husband who gets steak everywhere and was once a cook said it was the best he’s had.
I ordered the shrimp and yum!
A little pricey to eat there every week but a nice treat.
Service is great!
Update: we used to go to dinner here often and after multiple visits I can say that while the food is generally good it can be a little inconsistent. The service and ambiance is always good though.

Very friendly and awesome service. I had a wonderful meal when I sat at the bar. Lizzy was extremely welcoming and friendly. I appreciated her suggestions and service. I have been several times in the past week and have not been disappointed by the food. It’s moderately priced for the quality and portion size. This is my kinda place.

Very friendly service and cute décor stood out at our dinner at Cha Bella. The menu was creative and is what drew us in — very vegetarian friendly. A knowledgable and bubbly server brought us everything quickly and most of the food was very delicious.
Some of the items (Caesar salad and peach cobbler) lacked an outstanding flavor, but I can appreciate their process of farm-​to-​table and understand that sometimes comes at a cost.
We’d be back.

Outstanding classy restaurant in the outskirts of downtown. We had the linguini served with vegetables and the shrimp risotto. The linguini is homemade with fresh vegetables that tasted like they were just picked from a garden. The risotto was perfectly cooked with fresh local shrimp. The service was excellent especially with entertaining our toddler.

Ate here for a rehearsal dinner recently. We had good service considering the number of people that we had in the room. I had two different drinks snd tried another while there. The Lavender Lemonade was the first, and it was fantastic — not too sweet. The next was the Tea Thyme, and that was definitely not lacking in alcohol. It was good and strong, but I liked the lemonade better. A couple of people around me had the Bourbon Street with fresh strawberries, and it was also delicious and refreshing!
We started with a salad, which was your standard side salad with balsamic. the bread and oil for dipping was good. We asked for more since we didn’t get enough bread for everyone, and they never brought more out. I ordered the pork chop with Gouda grits and peaches. The pork had a nice flavor, but the grits were very dry. Being in the south, especially Savannah, your grits game better be on point! We finished with the key lime pie for dessert, and it was your average key lime dessert. Overall, pretty good service for our large group and average food.

What a disappointing experience! We are in town celebrating a birthday and wanted a farm to table place. Cha Bella came up as highly rated. I made a reservation for 7:30 this evening.
We waited at the host stand for 5 minutes before anyone acknowledged us. We were seated. It was 10 minutes before they came to take a drink order. I asked about specials before the waiter walked away, sensing that he might not be back for a while. It took 20 minutes for our drinks to arrive. Then one of the drink orders was incorrect.
At 8:15, our dinner order had not been taken. Finally at 8:20 the waiter came back to take our order. At 8:45 we ordered more drinks. Then at 9, after asking, our food came out, but had clearly been sitting in the back for a while. The shrimp on the risotto was terribly overcooked. Two identical orders looked vastly distant.
The pork belly was ice cold and came out on a small plate, with the sweet potato purée looking like baby food. We decided that we weren’t going to eat the food because it was such a poor experience. We spoke to a manager, who we thought was a waiter.
He apologized and told us we didn’t need to pay for anything including the drinks. We left $$ on the table and left.
Highly disappointing. We will not return.

You have got to be kidding me! Not one human in the entire place could figure out how to turn off the wind vortex (fan), which caused a pleasant spring evening to feel like Antarctica! The general manager was supposedly called, but to no avail.
We expected silverware and napkins but had to ask for them after our food arrived. If you are looking for a fine dining experience look elsewhere.
In fairness the food was very good, but at these prices we expect a meal and service without major issues!

An ABSOLUTELY Delightful evening ! We greatly enjoyed our recent dinner (as part of a large group) at Cha Bella. In the first place, they managed our group perfectly. Service was spot on and felt quite individualized and personal rather than as a large group. Following cocktails in the bar — a beautifully designed space filled with warmth and tradition, we were seated on a balcony overlooking the main dining room, which allowed us to mix and talk among our group, while not feeling isolated from the general atmosphere and energy of the restaurant as a whole.
Now to discuss the meal. It was really wonderful. To skip to the chase, the next day, and even a week later, those present that night were still talking about favorites of the night. That’s about as good as it gets.
To begin, I should say that the wine list was to be commended. Beautifully considered and selected to compliment the menu — of course with our group, several selections were chosen according to meals ordered — and compliments were shared across tables. Everyone was impressed with what they were drinking — and this extended as courses were served.
The meal began with a salad, soup or appetizer and all were terrific. The salads featured the freshest of organic seasonal produce with just the right amount of dressing. The soups were striking in flavor and complexity — spoons were being passed to those who hadn’t ordered soup and the other appetizers brought similar reactions and shared bites. Not a miss in the offerings.
The main courses brought similar delight. I ordered the shrimp risotto and am still thinking about it weeks later as I write this. It had a completely different flavor and texture, being quite light for a risotto, than I expected. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and just slightly sweet — allowing the shrimp and the risotto — each with different flavor components and texture, to «marry» beautifully. My husband ordered the swordfish served with beautiful, and again, perfectly cooked organic spring vegetables and enjoyed every bite. I must say that several in the group ordered this dish and it perhaps received the most conversation later (in raves) .
We shared a chocolate mouse cake dessert — scraping the plate clean — and while it was delightful, it did not outshine the main course — which is the mark, I believe, of a truly wise and skilled chef with no need to try to end with something to send you home smiling… you should be smiling throughout the experience in his/​her restaurant.
This evening, combined with our stay at The President’s Quarters — just down the street and a long time favorite — was delightful in every way. Cha Bella is definitely our favorite restaurant in Savannah now.

First time here. Visited this past Monday Sat at the bar. Will definitely be back. Had the shrimp and grits & spinach $ berry salad with feta & candied walnuts. All very fresh and flavorful. Bartender Thomas was courteous & attentive.

Got here early for a date and ordered a Sazerac. The bartender was happy to make it, as he never made one before. Friendly service. We sat outside and ordered Shrimp Risotto and Perc Coffee braised short ribs. Both dishes were ok. I thought they lacked the punch that I was expecting for the price that I paid. Triple chocolate mousse cake for dessert and same thing; just kind of bland. The service was good and menu creative, but just lacking flavor.
Also odd… we called for a reservation around 8 but were denied, so we settled for a early 6 o’clock. However, as we ate our courses we noticed that as we were leaving we were still the only people in the place. Not sure what the lady answering the phone was thinking.
Anyways, nice atmosphere, but for the price we were not satisfied. Recommend Pink House or Elizabeth on 37 if you want a good upscale «local food» meal.