Bella Villa

On March 24 my friend and myself were originally going to go to Bucca de Beppo in downtown Indianapolis, however there was an 3hr wait as we had gone during the dinner rush. We walked around and had decided to go to PF Chang's when we came across an apparently new restaurant- Bella Vita.

The restaurant has its menu posted outside, and has many of the dishes that Bucca offers. We decided to try it out. The interior is wonderfully designed and darkly lit, has mural painted on its walls, a waterfall cooling system for the wine, a wooden stove and open kitchen. It had a wonderfully traditional feel for an Italian restaurant. I plan on returning for more food, if not to get more pictures of the interior. 

I ordered Sweet tea, Frutti de Mare (fruit of the sea) and my dish came with either a side salad or soup. I chose the soup (which was the soup of the day) a beef vegetable. My companion order a 4 cheese bow-tie pasta dish.
You of course received bread with dipping oil as part of your meal.

The bread was wonderful. Crunchy and well seasoned on the outside, soft and melting on the inside. The oil was fresh with light seasoning that made for a wonderful tease and a good pallet cleanser.

When the soup came out, I was at first disappointed. It looked very small but I was surprised when my spoon nearly sunk to the bottom.

It tasted fantastic. The beef was tender and nearly melted in my mouth, and seemed as if it had been cooking all day long. It was pleasantly spicy which made it an interesting meal and had enough to it that I had something besides broth on every spoonful.
The portion was perfect, enough to be filling but not to the point were I wasn't going to be able to eat my main dish.

My main dish was wonderfully presented.

(You can see the dipping oil in the corner of both pictures)

The photo is after I stirred it up. It was again wonderfully spicy without being over whelming, blended well and the flavors complemented each other well. It was colorful and pleasing to all the senses. The meal was very filling and I could of went home with left overs but just couldn't leave the dish!

My friend was equally pleased with his meal. He took his meal home, and for once the cheese was almost too much for him! A miracle to be sure.

Our waiter (Mark) was perfect-friendly without being over whelming and was wonderful in his suggestions. I never saw the bottom of my glass and he knew what questions to ask and when. This is a skill hard to acquire.

My ticket came out to $24, not bad for pasta, bread, soup and drinks. (I paid $30 with the tip, he was worth it!)

This a great place to go for a date, dinner with friends and family or just to enjoy the food. A wonderful stumble!

Location of Bella Vita:

Bottom level of Circle Center Mall

49 W Maryland, Indianapolis, IN, 46204

Phone: 317-822-9840

site: http://www.bellavitaatthemarina.com/home.htm   the pictures here are not of the facility at the mall
mall: http://www.simon.com/mall/tenantdetail.aspx?id=163&tid=71764&cid=4853   just general info