Review: Bella Pizzeria
Author: indianapoliseater | Filed under: Food Reviews, Location: Carmel, IN, Location: Indianapolis, IN, Location: Noblesville, IN
Bella Pizzeria
3855 E. 96th Street
Indianapolis, Indiana
http://www.thebellapizza.com/
I’ve been on a big pizza by the slice kick recently and being that this place was close to my office, I decided to stop by for lunch one Friday. Bella Pizzeria is a New York-style pizzeria and has a variety of slices, breadsticks, calzones, etc. In addition to traditional New York-style thin crust, they also have thick crust pizza as well.
Anytime Special
What I Got: Anytime Special; one slice of pizza with two breadsticks $6.49 ($7.07 with tax)
As you can see above, I elected the sausage, mushroom and pepperoni combination (my favorite pizza combination, by the way). The toppings on the pizza were plentiful and tasty, although it did seem that the mushrooms were the canned variety which is a negative. Despite that, this was a decent tasting slice of pizza. The only issue with the slice was that the crust was not all that pliable, so when I tried to fold it in half like your customary New York-style pizza, it broke in half. A definite fail there.
The breadsticks I chose were pepperoni stuffed breadsticks (they also had regular and cheese stuffed) and they were very filling. Tastewise, they were only mediocre as they were overwhelmed with dough and did not have enough pepperoni and cheese stuffing. The marinara dipping sauce was also very runny, although it did have a very good and sweet taste. If it had been a little thicker, this would have been one of the best marinara sauces that I had ever had at a pizza joint.
Would I Buy It Again? I guess so, but only because it was filling, I like New York-style pizza and it is close to my office. The prices were a little high for my liking, but in terms of getting something like this for lunch, I guess this will do. That’s not a ringing endorsement, so if you have other alternatives nearby to where you are that would allow you to get New York-style pizza, I would recommend giving those a shot before you try this one.
FYI, they also have locations at Hamilton Town Center and Clay Terrace Mall.
-IndianapolisEater
Tags: bella pizzeria, breadsticks, Food, Pizza
Ya know, it just doesn’t look that good to me. The pepperoni looks like it was added after the fact and pretty sparse. The 4 little tiny pieces of canned mushrooms look pretty sad as well. I went there for lunch maybe 4 years ago and I haven’t been back. I would also agree that it is a few dollars more than the competition, the sad part is… there is very little competition for pizza by the slice around here. Bogus.
Stefano’s across from Target on 116th street in Fishers (now closed) had excellent New York style pizza (although it was very pricey – perhaps this contributed to their closing). It tasted as good to me as Pizzeria Regina, which is considered tops back in Boston. I’ve been searching for something equally good since then, but haven’t found it.
This place got a great review in the IBJ, but it’s a bit off the beaten path: http://www.ibj.com/dining-italia-mias-pie-has-strong-pedigree/PARAMS/article/15774
Best NY style is Brozini’s at County Line and Emerson on the Southside. It’s all about the crust! Well worth the trip and close to the I-65 exit at County line.
I would recommend you revisit and order a large pizza made fresh and baked right there. It’s around $20 but is very large and tastes fantastic.
I went to this place last year and took advantage of their buy 1 large get 1 free in the Entertainment coupon book. I got the Supreme and the Meatball pizza. Although the pizza was huge, i just was not impressed with any one part of the pizza. Crust was average and the toppings were not the best quality especially the meatballs. The meatballs tasted like they were from a frozen bag, heated and reheated. Then I saw them making another for another customer. They were taking meatballs sitting in the warming bin, running them through the microwave, then putting them on the pizza 5 minutes before it was done. Yuck! Pizza lacks good seasoning or anything interesting. Even at $10 a large with the coupon, I did not go back.
The “sausage” looks like something one would find on a frozen pizza – YUK!
Bah. New York and their stupid bendy/foldy pizza. Waste of money.
I’ve eaten at the one in Clay Terrace. Not the best, not the worst. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat there but if I’m shopping with the fam and I’m in the mood for a slice this will do. Why is it so hard to find a single slice NY style pizza joint? I don’t mind having the slice warmed up, that’s part of it I understand, but please make sure you use good ingredients. I’ve gotten so fed up with local pizza that I’ve gone to making my own at home. I found a great dough recipe and I think with a few more tweaks I won’t have to suffer through this type of pizza anymore.
I have to say, if you get a slice of ‘za fresh out of the oven, Bella is the absolute best NY-style pizza in town. I used to live in NY, so I can tell you it’s authentic. But, any pizza that sits around for a hour will taste blah. Try the shop at Clay Terrace.
I love New York style pizza, each time im in NYC I have to grab a slice of sbarro’s.
In all fairness, at the time of this posting, they did give another reputable food distributor a shot for a variety of reasons they were “sold” on. The sauce was not nearly as good as the original and some of the ingredients were lacking as well. I’m not going to make excuses for them, but they typically have great NY style Za and I’ve never been disappointed. If you’re a Za snob, this probably isn’t your joint.
Also, in response to some of the critics on here, you’d be absolutely floored to learn some of the practices for preparing food at some of your beloved eateries. It’s not nearly as special as one may think. Sorry for the bursting bubble. It’s the unfortunate part of my job being in the restaurant business (non-owner).
over priced greasy pizza with horrible customer service…new york style alright