Bella Monte Restaurant & Enoteca

We have eaten at this restraint ⁵⁄₆ times and are always very pleased. We love the happy hour menu; small portions at a great price. I will say the small portion is a «big» portion. Only one time did we go in and the weight time was long; but it was a Friday night and the entire place was packed and people were waiting to be seated. It was only 7:30!
Highly recommend this place and will keep going back :) We always sit at the bar and the staff is awesome!

An outstanding dining experience. The wine shop and tasting area is unique, and far more interesting than just a «drink at the bar.» Had we not had reservations, we would have been tempted just to do a wine tasting and eat appetizers in comfortable chairs. Paying retail for an excellent bottle of wine meant we could drink something more expensive than if we had been paying a 300% markup, and the owner gave us a great recommendation without trying to upsell us. The next time we are in Virginia Beach, we will absolutely eat here again.

Sorry it did not work for me. Five guys visited for lunch. We ordered a variety of dishes. I had the salmon on cannelloni beans topped with sautéed spinach. Beans tasteless. Fish was very fishy. Spinach had good texture but poor or no seasoning. Others were not inspired with their selections. I don’t think our group will return. No one mentioned the idea of returning with their wives. My wife had already made one visit and said she would not return. Atmosphere was fresh, open, and airy.

Loved this pace! The food is excellent, the staff is amazing and the wine selection is very special. We ordered soft shell crab, a scallop dish and also shrimps and polenta dish. They were excellent… especially loved the meaty soft shell crab. The wine tasting system is also very fun. We were able to taste many excellent wines. The waitress and waiter did a fine job and were well informed about the menu. The owners/​managers were very helpful as well. I look forward to going back next time I am in Virginia Beach.

An amazing dinner! Service was fabulous! Waitress was attentive, knowledgeable and very helpful. We shared a lovely bottle of pino Grigio and then some apps. She had the mussels which were great and I tried the special app of the day: soft shell crab. Wonderful! Being from Michigan I had never eaten this before and was delighted to try it! We also shared a caprese salad which was delicious. For dinner I had the shrimp and corn risotto which was fantastic! We split a nice desert — the brownie sundae with gelato. Very tasty! Wait staff was exceptional. Piano guy was great. Food and wine superb! My only complaint is that they brought out the courses too quickly. We were not in a hurry but food kept arriving before we were finished with the last course.

This is a very nice place for an evening out. I would say not really a family place. We were greeted immediately upon arrival. They have nice Happy Hour specials. We sat at the bar first and ordered a drink after we perused the Enoteca. We just decided not to try any of the wines from the machine at first. Setting up a wine card was very simple once we decided to try some wine. Once our entire group arrived (8 total) we were seated at our table and the waitress brought out some delicious bread. Balsamic, oil and spices are at the table. We all ordered food. Everybody was pleased with their choices but I didn’t hear anybody raving necessarily. We were so busy enjoying the evening we weren’t necessarily critiquing our food but it was good. This is the only reason I give it a 4 star since nobody seemed to rave about their food. It is an enjoyable place and I will definitely go back.

We returned last night. There was a wine tasting going on. People everywhere having great fun. You could buy wine at the adjacent wine store and bring it to your table. There service was terrific and the food was very good this time. We had a pizza and a salad. Bartenders were very attentive and helpful. We bought 3 bottles of white wine for $ 26 before we left. The bartenders even gave us a taste and grabbed them for us. It might become my new favorite place!

New owners, new look, beautiful wine bar with lounge area and high table for twelve. Food is great… service was not the greatest. I highly recommend.

When we look to do Italian on spur of the moment timing, this is our go to place. So many people love certain Italian restaurants. My family? Any place that can out shine me when it comes to Italian.
This place is under new ownership. The food is the same, delish as always, the only thing different? The wine bar! Soooooo… awesomeeeeee!!! Our life style is spur of the moment, so having a date night with the hubster is almost down right out impossible. It’s a great type of place to dine for people that are the fly by the seat of our pants kind of family. We don’t we are always clueless to what we will be doing. If you find yourself being spontaneous, definitely give this place a look see into!

We came here on a Saturday evening on a whim and the hostess seated us immediately. There was a piano player there which set a relaxed and romantic setting, which I thought was great. The service was fantastic. We ordered a dozen oysters which I do not regret to say, I devoured within a few minutes (so FRESH!). Then we ordered the roasted garlic and goat cheese platter which was yummy too! Laaaaaaaast, (which I’m saving the best for last) was the meatball freaking pizza! It was so delicious! I’m salivating just thinking about it right now. I want to say I’m going to try something new next time but I’m probably not… Let’s be real. #teammeatballpizza

Went for Valentine’s Day with my wife. What a great experience. Food was great, many gluten free options and very knowledgeable. Waiter was outstanding. Great atmosphere with piano. Will absolutely be back. After dinner walked over to the wine lounge and that was eye opening in its self. You can purchase a
«Wine credit card «as I would say, then you can sample many different wines with this Wine CC. A great concept that my wife and I will be back to try out with friends.

Love the «new» Bella Monte! We have been long time fans of this restaurant, and came for a «kick off the holiday season» dinner out with the family. All I can say is WOW! The remodel is beautiful, the ambiance is definitely «special romantic, high class.» Our party of 9 was seated in the new «tasting room,» a newly designed wine tasting and sales room. What a great spot! Surrounded by beautiful wines and several «tasting dispensers,» where we could select 1oz, 4oz, or 6oz pours of some really nice wines (including Caymus and Silver Oak). In addition, we were able to peruse the wine store selections and order a bottle for the table. Our server as knowledgable and attentive, serving us very efficiently. We started with a shared roasted garlic and focaccia appetizer. Delicious and definitely shareable. I ordered the seafood risotto (excellent!) Others in the group ordered mushroom risotto, eggplant Parmesan, and penne a la vodka. No one was disappointed! Everything was well prepared and proportioned. We loved the dessert selections and especially enjoyed the espresso gelato, as well as the bread pudding, the flourless chocolate cake and the coconut cake. Service impeccable, pricing reasonable for a first class dining experience. You MUST try the new «Bella Monte.» Very special experience!

I love the new renovation and would have get five stars over the old clustered restaurant if not for the newness of the servers and not knowing some of the wines and menu items but overall an awesome experience you can grab a great bottle of wine in the store section where one of the owners usually is sampling and take it right to your table

On thursday my gang suggested we give the new bella monte another spin on friday, so i called and got us a reservation. we arrived on friday evening at 7PM and had our favor waiter «Pat» take care of us.
we had another great time and our dinners all were outstanding and we had our second try of a kinda new wine called «E» — wow. — Calamari, fried olives and foccacia bread, then two pizzas, 3 meatloaf dinner, shrimp diablo, shrimp and sausage dinner, one spag. dinner. …i was planning on nice steak on the NEW MENU, but then i saw the price and i had to look around to make sure i was not in ruth chris — no room for dessert this time.
busy — with large B and noisy like zia marias, but they told us they are working on some new sound proofing material and it will be installed soon… i like the sound of that.

I can’t believe this place has 4 stars. The service is slow even when the restaurant is half empty. The food is way too expensive and just mediocre. There’s also a woman that answers the phone there and she can barely understand English and she’s difficult to understand and sooo rude. I’ll never go back.

Absolutely stunning! Beautiful décor. Wine list was wonderful. Food was beautiful and very tasty. Loved that the food wasn’t just normal Americanized Italian.

We went to check out their new digs and they have done an awesome job with the renovations! We had items from their small plate menu: the chicken roulade, spaghetti with meatballs, and salmon with wilted spinach paired with a great bottle of wine we grabbed from their wine shop (with no corkage fees)! Finished with homemade tiramisu and espresso. Highlights included the service (shout out to Kim), chatting with the owners, amazing food, and a great date night ambiance. We will be back!

Excellent international cuisine, best pizza and pastas in Hampton Roads. Heard that Robin was selling. Hope new owners maintain same quality.

Interesting setup, good Italian food. It is a small market on one side and a small sit down restaurant on the other. Nice trinkets are lined up on the walls and ceilings, nice paintings to look at while you wait for your meal. Hubby and I visited yesterday for Valentine’s day (I’m pregnant and my desire to cook is less and less the bigger I get lol).
We had reservations but arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule (Traffic can be really unpredictable in these parts). We were seated within 5 minutes. It was another 10 minutes before our waitress took our orders. Normally I’d be a little miffed however it was pretty crowded in there and they were super busy so it’s alright, no big deal. They had a special Valentine’s day menu which I guess differs from their regular menu. We both ordered the same thing, a pasta dish that included Italian sausage, chicken as well as scallops. Additionally I ordered a Caesar salad.
The caesar salad was ok, nothing to really rave about. I tend to like a little more dressing on my salad but I’m not going to knock it on my personal preference. The pasta dish was flavorful, HOWEVER the only drawback is that the pasta itself was a little underdone. It would have been nearly perfect had the pasta been cooked a little longer. The type of pasta used was fettuccine. The other components of the dish were cooked well – especially the scallops. I cannot tell you how many times I go to restaurants – even high end ones where the scallops are rubbery.
So, overall, I give this place a solid three stars. I wasn’t completely blown away, but I was impressed that our drinks stayed filled and the bread kept coming despite how busy the restaurant was. Also, I forgot to mention, they have a piano player. He isn’t playing soft, romantic musical in the background just so you know. And he isn’t playing something loud either, more so something in the middle. The restaurant itself wasn’t quiet at all, so it’s not as though he was out of place. He was actually quite entertaining.
Would I come back? Eh. If I am ever near the oceanfront, sure. Unfortunately, it is about 30 minutes out of the way for me and unless I am in the area, it’s not something I would be breaking my neck to come back to.

Very nice and very fancy Italian restaurant complete with a live piano player (he was a bit was a bit loud at first and was the harmonica really needed?) and low lighting for atmosphere.
Food options included some great choices for the vegetarians and the carnivores, so my mom was able to enjoy her huge serving of eggplant parmesan and I was able to dig into a delicious linguine with walnut pesto and meatballs.
Service from Mary was top notch.
The restaurant also has a deli counter with many items available to go and a very cute shop selling kitchen and cooking things. (And they had some of the awesome Welsh cheese that I loved when I was out in Caerphilly!)