Reno Restaurant Guide

Bella Italia is a great little Italian Restaurant and Store. There are a dozen tables for dining and Italian-made goods to take home.

They make all their own pasta and it shows in the quality of the food. Also, their desserts alone may be worth the trip.

I was able to get the Chef's Surprise Menu for $28. It included anti-pasta with some fantastic cold cuts. Next came three small servings of pasta. The mushroom ravioli was nice and the meat ravioli and the Pappardelle Porcini e Pomodoro (large fettuccine with mushrooms in tomato sauce) were both excellent and tied with the desserts for the highlights of the meal. The actual pasta was fresh and tasty and obviously hand made and I liked the sauces, too.

Next came two entrees. The Pollo alla Valdostana (chicken with prosciutto and fontina cheese) was nice. The Veal Scalopine al Porcini had nice flavor as well.

They have only two desserts on the menu and I got both. One was Panna Cotta with a fantastic mango sauce. If there had been no one else in the restaurant I would have had no problems licking the plate to get all the mango sauce. The other dessert was tiramisu and it was the best I've had in a restaurant, soft with all kinds of wonderful flavors.

Some of the other items looked interesting, including asparagus ravioli and the Italian-style pork chop.They open for dinner at 5 p.m. and they also offer lunch