Bella Rosa -- Closed

[schmooty]

I am not exactly sure of the connection between Tony and the restaurant. I will find out from my dad when he returns from Florida

[dbrociner]

Here today gone tomorrow. Bella Rosa in East Hanover has closed and a new restaurant, Ombra, has opened in its place. Its still Italian, ho hum. Different owners, different and larger menu. I'll report back when I go for lunch in the next week or so. Looking at the menu I can't say I was enthused. I'm sorry to see Bella Rosa go, it wasn't a great restaurant but the staff was always very accomodating and that can make up for a lot of short comings.

Edited June 18, 2004 by dbrociner (log)

[Lreda]

At least Macaroni Grill is still open.

[Rosie]

David--Did you get to Ombra?? Please give us a report.

[dbrociner]

I'm waiting another week so they can work out the kinks. I will report back.

[dbrociner]

I'm waiting another week so they can work out the kinks. I will report back.

Ok. I waited a week. Here's some preliminary thoughts on Ombra which has the same address and phone number as Bella Rosa.

Concern #1: the waitstaff is the same. I am happy about this as we were always treated well in Bella Rosa. The kitchen staff is new, this should prove to be a good thing as the food at Bella Rosa was very inconsistent.

Concern #2: the kinks have not yet been worked out. We went for lunch yesterday and we were given the lunch/dinner menu when seated. Only items under $10 were 2 salads and a few appetizers. No pasta dish available for under $10. This is fine for dinner but expensive for lunch, imo. The waiter then came over and told us that they have less expensive choices on the takeout menu but they are not handing that out because they need to have it reprinted to remove some items. For instance, pizza is listed on the takeout menu but the chef has had the pizza oven removed from the kitchen to make more room.

Ways Ombra is better than Bella Rosa: when seated we were presented with two different kinds of bruschetta. One was the traditional chopped tomato/onion mix, the other was a roasted pepper and black olive blend. Both were good, the tomato was better. We were also given a bread basket with rolls, sliced bread and packaged bread sticks and some nice compound butter. We both ordered off the takeout menu. I had a cajun chicken wrap, $5.99, which was excellent. Co-worker had a chicken parm sandwich, $7.99, standard Italian takeout fare, he was underwhelmed.

On the way out I did see other people eating off the regular menu and the dishes looked interesting. I'll go back for dinner and report again.

[bethb]

Went for a group dinner on Tueday that had originally been booked at Bella Rosa.

Here is the menu

Mixed Green or Caesar Salad

Rigatoni w/Vodka

Chicken Marsala

or

Salmon with green peppercorn in as sherry wine sauce

or

Tilapia with roasted garlic white wine sauce

Tiramisu

Service was excellent--I love it whe nmy water glass is refilled without having to hunt someone down! Special orders were handled well--dressing on the side, half portion of pasta instead of whole.

Food was just okay.

Most of these items don't seem to be on the regular menu, but they were trying to honor a deal made with Bella Rosa while not making the same dishes.