Quick Take: Bella Cucina- Saint James, NY/ Overall Rating 2.75 Out of 5 Stars (CLOSED)

Mr. Guido Says: ***

Mrs. Guido Says: **1/2

Mrs. Guido's 2 Cents:

A few years back, Bella Vita built a humongous, beautiful, rumored $3 million building in the parking lot just next to their restaurant in the Colonial Shopping Center in St. James. We were extremely curious to see what it would be, as from the outside it appeared to be a beautiful 2 story Italian Restaurant. When it finally opened and we decided to try it, we were shocked at what it was inside. To our right was a tiny bar area. To our left was a gourmet italian market and bakery. Down the middle corridor to the back of the restaurant was a pizza counter. On a tiny elevated platform on the right was the "dining room", which had no more than 10 tables at best. What from the outside looked to be a beautiful restaurant, was on the inside a very confused establishment that did not know what it wanted to be. We were seated in the dining room and looked through the menu, which was limited at best. It also had a "sharring" charge printed on the menu, and the linguist in me cringed. We ordered a fried calamari appetizer, which was average, if not a bit crusty. For the main entree I ordered the chicken francese, which came with a side of pasta. I asked for penne, and if they could put the same francese sauce on it. The waitress curtly said no. Not skipping a beat, I then asked if they could put the chicken over the penne then. Once again, the waitress told me no. I asked why, and she said the cook would not do it. Frankly, this pissed me off. It was more the "because i said so" attitude than the actual answer. The francese sauce was sub par, with no lemon taste. I was horribly disappointed with the restaurant, and was sure I would not be back. Oh, but Mr. Guido received a gift certificate for Christmas later that year. We put off going back, but had the certificate, so figured might as well. That time we got mozzarella sticks, which were average, it's pretty hard to screw that up. I ordered the Chicken Bella Cucina, which had fresh mozzarella and tomato. It was better than the francese, but average compared to other local restaurants. The restaurant I found to be expensive, considering that it was ala carte, and we had to kick in extra besides the certificate. It's a good thing though that we went when we did; a few weeks later Bella Cucina, as I predicted, closed, and we would have lost out on the certificate. It remained vacant for about a year, and has now reopened as "Cambria", a more streamlined version of the restaurant. Cambria is an Italian Market, deli, and pizza counter, with no restaurant and bar, though it maintained it's slight air of confusion by adding a sushi chef station. I'm not sure if they've learned their lesson.