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    Bella Luce Restaurant and Bar

    4.0 (212 reviews)
    ModerateItalian, Bars

    Bella Luce Restaurant and Bar Photos

    BELLA LUCE RESTAURANT AND BAR ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Classy
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Bella Luce Restaurant and Bar

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    Rigatoni with meatballs! Delicious!

    Great place! Classic authentic Italian restaurant. Love the crowd. Music was a bit loud tho couldn't communicate much at the table. Food was great!

    The left dining room and bar
    Eloy Y.

    Translated from the Italian meaning Beautiful Light, this establishment opened in March 2015 and is located on a busy Franklin Avenue in Nutley. Bella Luce has a trendy yet casual vibe and serves authentic Italian cuisine. My partner, our friends and I came as first-timers for dinner tonight. Reservations were easily made via Open Table. Upon entering, we had to wait a few minutes for the host and got to look around the dark and classy interior, with a well-arranged bar area in the middle dividing the two dining rooms. We were promptly seated on the quieter side to the right and could hear the upbeat music playing throughout the restaurant. The menu comprised all of your typical Italian dishes along with several tasty daily specials. As starters, we opted for the Crispy Calamari and their special, the Bruschetta. For our main meal, we decided on Short Rib Pappardelle, Grilled Pork Chop, Chicken Oreganata, and Rigatoni Bolognese. Complimentary warm bread with softened butter started our meal. The food was fresh, delicious, and well seasoned. The short-rib pappardelle pasta, which I had, was outstanding. Cooked al dente, just like it has to be, is served at the perfect temperature with an excellent ratio of pasta, sauce, and meat. The portion was perfect. During our meal, the owner, Joe, walked to all the tables to greet everyone, making sure everything was to our liking. The service was perfect, not overbearing but always there and our server was Cali. We had a great dinner, which we can recommend.

    Dinner
    Donna V.

    Friends of our recommended this restaurant to us. So we decided to give it a try. The restaurant itself is very nice inside. Love the glass front. Staff and service was excellent. Very attentive. The basket of bread.... Um.... Not sure about this one. The bread was hard and very difficult to pull apart. Maybe they should warm it up first or something. We ordered the meatball appetizer, which was really good. Sauce was excellent!! Minestrone soup was delicious. Had the blank ink linguine with shrimp and octopus. Absolutely delicious. An abundance of shrimp and octopus pieces. Flavor was excellent. Grilled pork chop was fantastic. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. Nice size pork chop also. Pasta with garlic and oil was ok. Didn't use enough oil. Very bland taste and pasta was sticky. Apple crumb dessert was awesome. Very different flavor. Would definitely go back.

    Short Ribs Pappardelle
    Adalise M.

    Food tasted very good! We had calamari, burrata and the meatballs for appetizers. And for dinner I got the Short Ribs Pappardelle which was delicious! We also had the sangria and it was very large and were each able to get about 2-3 cups from it. The waitress and staff were extremely kind and accommodating to the 3 children that were present.

    Octopus salad
    Steph C.

    The staff is very attentive. Complimentary bread & eggplant dip. We Ordered for appetizers the meatballs & octopus salad. For dinner the Fettucine Norcia & Short Ribs Pappardelle. The food was great. I would definitely recommend this place. Food: 5/5 Service: 5/5 Decor: 5/5

    Charcuterie - don't pass up the Gorgonzola!
    Heather L.

    Kudos to the chef! Everything sounded so delish I couldn't wrap my brain around what I even wanted to try for my first visit here! It didn't help seeing everything being brought to its respective tables as everything was screaming CHOOSE ME! NO CHOOSE ME! Lol I probably could have just ate a huge bowl of the complimentary eggplant caponata and bread. I would have licked the plate if it was socially acceptable. We started with a charcuterie which was great! I have to say though I was more of a fan of the cheeses versus the meats, but we could see the meats being freshly sliced through the open kitchen window. That little cup of candied fruits perfectly complimented the cheeses especially the Gorgonzola. For dinner we chose Fettuccine Norcia, Pasta Braids and the Paccheri Bolognese. Everything was so yummy and fresh, but we could only finish a third of the fettuccine and braids because we kind of got tired of the flavor. However no discredit to these dishes! I normally don't go with creamy sauces so that was on me, not the Chef! For dessert we had to try the modern cannoli. Well well well....good thing I saved room for this! The caramel almond tuile alone was pure bliss! Finished the night off with a coconut mojito! Such a happy drink! Parking on street, but I think there is a municipal lot nearby. Make a reservation because this place gets popping fast. All staff was on point, friendly and nothing sat at that open kitchen window for longer than a minute! Well done Bella Luce! We will definitely be back!

    Eggplant served with their bread

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    3 years ago

    Food, service and ambiance. I love the family oriented service. Everything I tried was amazing.

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    Food was very good - not too much BUT as a lot of people have mentioned, the service is slow.

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    Page 1 of 6

    Bella Luce Restaurant and Bar Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Bella Luce Restaurant and Bar

    Do you have a kids menu or serve pizza? I Want to have a dinner party but will have children with us?

    Can you please contact the restaurant and 973-661-4300 and ask to speak with Joe. He will be able to discuss.

    Would I be allowed to play a gig here?

    Hi Tiffany, please send more information including any demo reel/video etc to customer.service@bellalucenj.com for our review. Thanks.

    View All 6 Questions

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    I came here on taco Tuesday and had a great time! Lucy & Tanisha took care of me and I've been…read morecoming here ever since, also they always have a raspberry surfside ready for me.

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    We hosted our wedding reception in the speak easy and was perfect for our 50 guests to enjoy…read morethemselves with ample space. The managers (Ale & Ceci) were fantastic and extremely helpful throughout the process and planning. Keith, the owner, was the first person we met and was a pleasure and easy person to work with from start to finish. Highly recommend!!

    Got there about 20 minutes after opening and sat at the bar. On Sundays they have happy hour all…read moreday. It's a very nice place. Very spacious and has dedicated parking. We ordered a few things. Spicy Tuna Tartare: wasn't spicy, didn't taste fresh which wasn't a deterrent to me as this isn't a seafood restaurant or fine dining. Next time I'd pass on that. Bavarian Pretzel: amazing. Very tasty. Came out nice and hot. That rarebit cheese sauce? Oh honey that can come home with me anytime. Absolutely delicious. And this is coming from someone who hates that fake cheese, cheese whiz type taste. Margherita Pizza: didn't come out hot which is probably why I wasn't a fan of it. It was pretty mediocre for such a basic pizza. And the food didn't come out all together, so not sure why that didn't come out hot. Wings and waffles: Tasty buffalo wings. The waffles actually taste like funnel cake which was a nice surprise. THEN. The burger came out and that is why this review dropped. It had a small hair on the side of the plate and a closer look at the rest of the plate, you'll see a long hair on the pickle. That was disappointing but happy to have tried the place nonetheless.

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    Project 584 Bar & Grill  - Project 584 Staff

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    We love this place. We recently found out about it because we saw a few social media videos talking…read moreabout their daily specials and new management which enticed us because we didn't know much about what they offered before. They have great happy hour specials and staff who are there to honor the deals and give you a fun experience. Nothing worse than walking into a bar because of an advertised deal and the bartender charging you full price because they didn't know anything about the deal. That doesn't happen here which is huge!!! They have multiple TVs and seating areas, which make it perfect for watching sports. Drinks are great and food is delicious. We love the chicken quesadilla and wings. The espresso martini was surprisingly good. We love their drink pitchers as well. Overall you can tell they care about the community, and want to offer a reliable and fun experience in an area that doesn't have too many bars like this. We have returned multiple times since the first time because we love the consistency, fun events, and friendly staff. The only thing they could improve on is the music. When there's a DJ, it's a great night, but when it's up to Touch Tunes there's room for improvement. We still will return whenever we are looking for a good time!

    Food & drinks was good when me and my friends went on the weekdays. We tried to go on UFC night…read morebut the experience was meh. They had a DJ play music the whole fight card except for the last main match. I mean, they should just have him play between rounds or something. The pork sliders were cold too but the server was good and consistent throughout the night with cold beers.

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    Bella Luce Restaurant and Bar - italian - Updated May 2026

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