Hands down, best Italian in Utica, NY. The decor is campy and lighthearted. It’s nostalgia at it’s finest. The food is the same in that perspective. The ambiance captures the nostalgia of the food. It brings me back to Sunday dinners at my best friends house.The food is made to order and the owner, Regina, pours her heart into this food. If this is a lunch break situation, order your food the day before. This is not Olive Garden, where everything is frozen and reheated. This is made fresh, but the owner, herself.The portions are extremely generous and trust me you will have leftovers for days. The seafood and chicken rigs are exceptional and order the long hots and rice balls too!RJ, our server, was great at offering recommendations and being patient with my friend and I trying to decide what to order. He made the experience, he was friendly, professional, and engaging.If you are in Utica, do not miss this hidden gem!
This place is one of the best for a real dining experience. All the food is made to order by Regina, who is an absolute gem if you get to talk to her. The wait staff is also very chill and will guide you in the right direction on what to order. RJ was hands down a fantastic waiter and was very patient with us as we worked out what to get. The restaurant itself is one of a kind and I'd recommend it to anyone around. As a heads up though, the portions are huge so you will be bringing some home with you.
This was our first time here and the meal was excellent! We ordered the eggplant parm and chicken parm which were fantastic; and, the sauce was out of this world! Outstanding service! Will definitely return!!
Went for dinner. Rude Sue the waitress left a bad taste in my mouth. Attitude on that one was not that of the service industry. Food was good but took over 1hr to get to the table. Nothin wrong with the cook just with Sue.
Neat little restaurant. A lot of decor. They had small buffet. They are well known for the Chicken Riggis. Very good. They had greens also, very good.
Went for a lunch buffet. I don’t recommend it. The greens gets very soggy sitting in the catering trays. The entrance door advertises that’s lunch buffet is $9.99 but we were charged $14.99 a piece. The owner says the prices just changed and someone is coming to change the door tomorrow. In my opinion, if you have a price advertised -especially on a door to attract people passing by- you should honor that price. Very expensive for a plate of mush.
Awesome greens! Can’t wait to try their riggies next
Poor service and rude employees Make sure your employees are masked before you enforce it on others
I’ve been going to Bella Reginas for over 5 years now.The Chicken Riggies and Greens are the best dishes to get in my opinion, but tonight they aren’t.The lady who greeted me told me to go wait outside because I didn’t wear a mask.I apologized and asked if I could have one please**** and she told me “NO BUT YOU CAN GO WAIT OUTSIDE AND WE CAN CASH YOU OUT THERE TOO”I stepped outside and waited for her while it was February here in Upstate NY. She never came. Instead she sent someone else cause she didn’t want to face me from the anger she was in.I was offended of course, yet amused that she looked like librarian from Monsters Inc.She then proceeded to be as childish as she was and douse my takeout food with salt.Think twice before you upset an employee from there because they won’t care that you’re a customer.Instead they’ll decide to be immature and find a way to get even with you even if it means spitting in your food or tampering with it to make you sick.
Don't rush to this place, there are many other restaurants that will appreciate your business...after eating here several other times and enjoying it very much, I post this because I stopped in by myself on a Friday night at 8pm(Dec 10) after a long day on the road but was told they were closed by the waitress as I entered, even though the sign on the door says they are open till 9pm, many customers were seated and as I walked out sometime else walked in to p/u a order. I would have sat at the bar had a drink with one of their dishes and been out before you knew it . This is what I call a place that doesn't care about its customers, and I will think twice about returning. You should too.