La Bella Napoli in Stoke-on-Trent

I've been here plenty of times before with work, beautiful food, lovely gentleman who prided the establishment for customer care. So I brought my husband here telling him how wonderful it was going to be. What happened?? We were pointed to a table, not seated. No water brought to the table. No coats hung for us. No welcome. No discussing the menu choices ... The steak was amazing but tiny, the roast veg I had wasn't pleasant. After the meal my husband who doesn't eat dessert said he was going to have to have dessert as he was still hungry. But alas we were not offered coffee or dessert, the plates were removed and no one came to us. Eventually we gave it up as a bad job and called to an all night supermarket for snacks. A really lack lustre evening, £27 for a steak and left feeling hungry, customer service? .... well I just felt we had interrupted someone's quiet night.

Booked a table, sat down to enjoy a very nice meal.food is excellent.never been given a time limit, after 40mins we were asked did we want anything else,because they wanted the table, we asked for two coffees, which was the worst coffee we have ever had.before we had drunk the coffee the bill Was put on the table, told so not to waste any time, I paid the bill and the receipt was literally thrown onto the table. Management is disgraceful.we will never return, and that’s a shame the food was lovely.

Arrived as a walk in with my 6 year old. Given a table for 2 downstairs, went upstairs to use the bathroom. Came back down ordered drinks and then a staff member came to ask us to move upstairs as someone who had booked was disabled and couldn't make it upstairs. Upstairs had no atmosphere was cold and dingy and I said, if possible I would prefer not to, at which point a really bossy member of staff came over and repeated the request and said the lady had forgotten to tell them when booking and so we needed to go upstairs, again I said I would prefer not to and pointed out that there is a free table down here. Had there been nowhere else for the lady to sit then to make it clear I would have moved but it was not nessecary. She then told me I hadn't booked and was lucky to get a table and even though another couple said they would move she then berated me and said look at the woman she is disabled and so I decided to leave. It was a pre theatre treat for me and my son and I just didn't feel like being shoved in a corner. I had been seated, it was not my fault but was treated like a leper and the staffs attitude was awful. When we went outside I was almost in tears and some outside guests asked me what was wrong and so I told them. The staff member in a blue jumper then came outside shouting at me saying 'oh are you still going on about this...' and started to have a go at me again. She barely let me get a word in edgeways. Her parting shot was ' you were lucky to get a table... go away we don't want you anyway'. How charming for my 6 year old to hear. I went back into the restaurant after she ignored me and tried to explain again the situation but she didn't want to listen and just shouted over me and may I say kept shouting about the lady saying.. look at her she is elderly, she is disabled. The lady must have felt so embarrassed. So word of warning if you go there without booking remember you are lucky to get a table and this clearly gives the staff carte blanche to treat you like dirt.

28 wedding anniversary..wonderful service. Lovely people .gorgeous meal. Everything very clean.have been before, will definitely go again

Have eaten here before for a pre theatre meal with the family and it was on a Sunday , it was a while ago and can remember that female manager being a bit off then but didn’t think anything of it , food was very mediocre at best , we visited last night which was a Saturday night and wow what an incredibly disappointing visit it turned out to be ! You have the best location and the best opportunity to be a brilliant restaurant but your greed to cram as many people in as you can ruins it completely , we didn’t book so that was fair enough that you were busy but were offered a table outside , weather was ok so decided to stay , brought menus and then left us for half an hour , no drinks order no nothing , I came in to ask for a couple of drinks to start us off and was frowned at and told “yes we are busy” takes 2 minutes to get drinks lady ! Anywho she asks what I want and one of the young waitresses who are all lovely by the way and obviously scared of the owner / manager / tyrant , brought our drinks out rather sharpish , another 20 minutes goes buy and one of the waitresses brings out the bill for the drinks ??? No “what food would you like to order” just the bill ? , I asked “could we not get food then” , to which she replied “so it’s not just drinks” ? Well judging by the menus you brought out that have been read 43 times back to front and now have dust on them eerrmmm nope , she then goes back in to send another scared minion out who I’m not going to give any grief to as it’s not their fault they’re poorly managed to take our order , order taken and asked if it’s a pre theatre meal so that they can ‘rush it through’ lol ! , starters arrived which consisted of store brought baguette which was stale , a handful of olives and some dipping oil , this was advertised as a ‘sharing dish’ let’s just say I couldn’t have shared this with a small child let alone 2 hungry ass adults ! The ‘home made pate’ was not home made and the side salad was laughable , how you cut cucumber that thinly is a skill to be fair so hats off to the chef for getting 1000 portions from 1 cucumber , again 2 bits of stale baguette to spread my poo pate on , again one of the scared minions came out and asked if we’d like deserts , no thanks but I’d like the mains we ordered , honestly couldn’t make it up , pizzas came and the ingredients on the chicken and bacon were like that of a microwaveable Chicago town pizza , horrendous ! Base was ok and admittedly would have been lovely if given the right toppings but here we are , finished the pizzas and were still waiting on fries , they’d been forgotten along with my large glass of house red , the small glass of house red turned up which by this point I just drank as couldn’t wait to leave and then we both inhaled the fries for dessert as were now late for the theatre , had to get ice cream from the theatre for our actual dessert . All jokes aside your service , food and pricing is pants . The end . No wait! I may also note that you need a grade 4 in mountain climbing and survival just to reach the toilets where here you can be seen having a poo from adjacent buildings .

We hadn't booked but they managed to squeeze us in for a pre-theatre dinner and it was excellent. We had the standard two course meal which was fast, hot, tasty and delicious - service was excellent. Would recommend.

Fantastic restaurant, amazing food and awesome atmosphere We recently celebrated my son’s graduation here and it was made extra special by the amazing staff and the fantastic food at this restaurant. I would highly recommend it to anybody who is in the area.

I visited here for pre theatre (it's opposite) three weeks ago with my adult sons. Had a good experience where service was good and food in the main was good Returned last night with my wife for her birthday, again pre theatre. Food was underwhelming Bruschetta was garlic and cheese baguette with chopped tomatoes My seafood linguine contained about 8 mussels but only two prawns (not king!) two pieces of calamari and that was about it. My wife's chicken stuffed with pesto and goats cheese was quite bland and dry (overcooked) and lacking goats cheese as a result. Accompanying veg consisted of two small half potato pieces and carrots carrots and carrots. At end of the meal we were asked if everything was ok with food and when I pointed out about the chicken being dry but could not wait for it to be replaced the elderly waiter (possibly owner) just walked off ignoring us completely Such a shame as setting and location is ideal for pre theatre. Be going else where in the future

I have visited Bella Napoli for over 20 years. I absolutely love it there tbh. I always try the Italian dishes, the linguine allo scoglio, spaghetti bolognaise and Lasagna being my favourites. The service is always spot on. Definitely try this hidden gem out if you’re going to the Regent theatre or just fancy a good Italian dish. The furnishings inside are very in keeping with an top restaurant.

The manager and staff here are lovely. the food is amazing and i will always be back. we always have the bread and olives and then a pasta dish. the chefs are truly amazing

Wish I had gone with my gut and walked out from start. We had to wait for the table. we had to keep asking for service. They had taken too many bookings to cope with. Meal ok but nothing to rave about. There was a party of approx 12 loud rowdy men next to us so much so that you couldn't have a conversation and hear what the staff were saying/asking. Another table either left or moved. I don't understand why the manager didn't just ask the rowdy party to just keep noise down. Yes enjoy yourselves but have a little consideration for others that are out also to enjoy. We won't be returning.

Fin plass for å spise lunsj på. God mat og god service. Artig kelner. Litt kaldt i lokalet gjorde at det ble en rask lunsj. Men en fin opplevelse var det.

Went in to eat, got a table and sat there totally ignored for over 20 minutes, not enough staff, didn't even get asked if I wanted a drink!!!Got up and left,,, never again !!!

Place was lovley food certainly wasn’t up to standard Fish Linguine had 4 mussels 1 prawn and 1 scallop 4 small rings of rubber toast was bland I usually go to Rebertoes and just thought I would give it a change ! Wish I hadn’t of bothered tbh everything tasted like a ton of tomatoes and basil? So mate but I’m not one to complain and I hate doing it , when I did complain it was shrugged .

Booked a table for 7.30, did not get any food for almost two hours as they had a large party in. They were clearly understaffed and could not cope and waitress kept touching face mask whilst talking to customers, this was off putting. The food was very disappointing, steaks not cooked as requested, very small portion of side vegetables offered which were pretty tasteless and boring, the steak sauce was also just a small amount and very bland. The final straw of the disappointing food was when they short changed us by a £5 note, which we had to ask for them to put right. A very disappointing and expensive night out, would not recommend. I used to frequently visit the old restaurant in Cheapside which was good, how standards have slipped.

Average. Very pleasant surrounding and decor. Nearly an hour wait for starters. Food is well cooked and tasty, but is very much home cooked food some seemingly from pre made packets or supplies. Service is friendly but average. Overall good. Price are ok, slightly above the standard for food akin to home cooked. If you like good tasty Italian home cooking then this is the place for you. Although falls short of fine dining or cuisine.

The best Italian in Stoke! We have visited this restaurant many times and we are never disappointed. We are always welcomed warmly with a smile and made to feel at home right away. The new place is simply stunning and has been done to a very high standard with no expense spared by the look of things! There’s even a real log burner upstairs on the second floor which was amazing when we went with the family at Christmas. The food is always fresh and tasty and very authentic. I can not recommend this place enough for a great atmosphere and lovely lunch or dinner. We have been for parties, with our little toddler and on a romantic meal and it’s always perfect for every occasion.

the pasta was very fresh and extremely tasty and the service was excellent, just the portion sizes for the pasta were not filling