By Baylee Pulliam
“Bella trattoria” roughly translated into English is something akin to “beautiful restaurant.” For the Bella Trattoria restaurant in the Westside Dining complex, the name is all but fitting.
Once inside Westside Dining, students will swipe their student ID cards at the door, deducting funds from their meal card, and will then be welcome to eat as much as they like at dining stations such as Bella Trattoria.
While the Bella Trattoria is, through no fault of its own, of a grudgingly impersonal cafeteria motif, the food is by comparison moderately attractive.
The penne marinara, which comes in its own dish, sprinkled with oregano and parmesan cheese, is almost a mirror image of the same dish served by Olive Garden. The pizza, complete with spiraled golden crust and gooey browned cheese, is in itself a work of visual art. And words don’t even begin to describe the flaky, buttery, oh so wonderful way the breadsticks peek out from their basket on top of the counter.
The taste, however, falls somewhat short.
The marinara sauce at Bella Trattoria can be very spicy and is not for the faint of heart.
At first taste, garlic and oregano seem to dominate the sauce, but it’s the parsley that has the last word. It quickly overpowers the other two, leaving a more mellow taste.
Unfortunately, the combination of the three in this dish is less than pleasant. That mellow taste is laced with a flavor closely resembling plastic.
The bread, however, makes amends for the sauce. The way it looks is exactly as it tastes: flaky, buttery and delicious. It is only a shame that, when a pizza, it is by default covered by their less-than-tasty marinara.
To end their buffet, Bella Trattoria offers a playful throwback to childhood summers with their blue Jell-O parfait. The squares of fruit-flavored blue gelatin layered with light whipped cream serve perfectly as an end-of-meal palate cleanser, while it infuses your meal with a little bit of fun.
Overall, the Bella Trattoria dining experience is an adequate one. It provides a much-needed alternative to the usual dining options on campus, with the fresh variety of Italian cuisine. Although it can’t compete in the mainstream restaurant world, it certainly deserves its place on the U of L menu. Molto bene!
