Bellini Grill

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CLOSED NOW - Opens at 11:30am

I went here for a friend's birthday and it COULD have been a very nice time and by reading other reviews, I don’t stand alone. The food was good and the wait staff was friendly.

We had a reservation for 8 at 7pm. 4 of us showed up at 10 mins to 7, and we waited until 7:20pm to be seated.. This didn’t bother me so much, since we were a larger party, the restaurant was busy, and we were waiting on a few others to show. After we were seated, we ordered appetizers, entrees, as well as desserts. Our bill came to close to $400.

Literally within SECONDS of us handing the check over the waiter, the owner came over and told us we needed to leave. It took a few minutes to let these words soak in, as I have never experienced such rudeness in my life. We had been seated for just over an hour and a half and we still had wine left in the majority of our glasses. The waiter came over and told us not to worry about. About 3 mins later, the manager walked over to the waiter who was standing right by our table and said “You have my permission to clear this table and seat 6 others”. It then got heated.

I told him he was being rude, he told me he was being nice and having a private conversation with his waiter, I told him again he was being rude and it is not a private conversation, we are sitting right here for us to hear you, and you had just told us we had to leave no more than 5 mins ago. He told me he was trying to be nice and there are people waiting to be sat. He walked away, and not that it makes it right, but we had a clear view of the waiting area for the restaurant as well as outside and there was no more than 2 people waiting (if that’s what they were even doing). Another 2 mins after that, Just as I was finishing my last sip of wine, he came over to our table, raised his voice and told us to “Get up, up up! You need to leave! We have people waiting! You have been here long enough! Get off my property now!” It was appalling and embarrassing. In front of a packed restaurant, our group was being kicked out for NO reason. We had overstayed our hour and a half welcome. We were not loud, drunk, or rowdy. We tipped an additional 20% ON TOP of the 20% gratuity they automatically tacked on (Our waiter was extremely friendly, and this was BEFORE the owner decided we needed to leave). We were not there for hours, not even 2. And this whole situation went down in less than 10 mins.

This owner is nothing but a chauvinist, greedy, jerk and I will NEVER go back to this restaurant again and I hope others choose to not eat there either. There are plenty of other BYOB Italian restaurants that deserve your service.

Please read the reviews before making a reservation. If I could give it a half of star, I would.

Wife and I love to dine out in Phila. Come to the City for shows at Walnut and look for small restaurants in City dine after shows. Vast majority of Phila Italian restaurant are four and five star rated, but this one let us down, and it's not necessarily the food that was of poor quality. It was the service. We specifically request slow service and go out of our way to order appetizers and order main course when appetizers arrive. Waiter asked for both orders and assured service would not overlap. One other couple in restaurant (Sun afternoon) so we ordered both. Appetizer was very good, but we were just half way through and main course came out. Did not send back main course because I knew it would just sit under a heat lamp. Absolutely no reason for rushed service other than a wait staff that does not understand the dining experience. Very much turned off by service which is a shame because restaurant is in great location. Too many great restaurants in Phila to enjoy so we will not return. Food was good, restaurant well appointed and clean.

Jimmy and Julia will make you feel like family. The food is consistently excellent, the service attentive and friendly. Specials every day. Great fish dishes. Warm, upscale but casual and moderately priced BYOB. If you don't see something you want on the menu, ask for it and they will make it special if possible. We eat there at least once a week. Right near Kimmel Center, Academy of Music, theatre, Rittenhouse Sq.