I was craving Italian food and Ciao Bella came up as a highly rated spot in the area. There's a lot in the back and I'm not sure if you're supposed to use the back entrance, but I did and I ended up walking through the kitchen which put a smile on my face. I felt a little like Ray Liotta in "Goodfellas". The service was excellent and our waiter rattled off an extensive list of daily specials and they all sounded wonderful. We settled on burrata and a fried vegetable appetizer. The burrata was good but the fried thing was even better. I wish I could remember what it was because it was so good. I guess that's what I get for writing my reviews 2 months later. It was some kind of vegetable stuffed with cheese, battered and fried. It wasn't too oily and all the flavors and textures went well together. For our entrees we went with linguini in clam sauce and cavatelli, broccoli rabe, & sausage. The linguini was a solid plate of pasta. Linguini, clams, sauce. It tasted exactly how you expect it would and the pasta was cooked well. The cavatelli was much more interesting to me. The different textures and flavors really made it a joy to eat. The pasta was al dente while some of the sausage had some crispy bits to it. And the broccoli rabe kind of made me feeling like I was eating somewhat healthy The ambiance was nice if not a little dated. Not bad though, it was cozy. I'd come back, but not too often. It's pricey. read more

See all

Ciao Bella Italian Bistro 690 River Road New Milford, NJ 07646 Caesar Salad Hot Italian Sausage & Broccoli Rabe Chicken Parmesan Chicken Ciao Bella Tiramisu Appearance: 1/2 Taste: This locally owned Italian restaurant serves a decent selection of Italian dishes. The dining area is one room adorned with attractive art decor and a glass wall overlooking the main road. The Caesar salad was a light, yet satisfying starter. The romaine lettuce, croutons and house made dressing blended the perfect trio! If you are looking for an appetizer with a touch of sweet and spice, the sausage & broccoli rabe will do the trick. The protein and vegetable blended well together with some diced tomatoes thrown on top. As always, I can never visit any Italian establishment without trying the Chicken Parmesan. For the most part, it did not disappoint. My sole critique is the excess amount of moisture beneath the linguini. I also used any extra mozzarella cheese as a topping for the pasta and table bread. Named after its restaurant, the chicken ciao bella was breaded and pan fried. The lemon butter sauce definitely added flavor to the cutlets and the side vegetables were just as "bella" as the main entree. The coffee flavored dessert was paradise. The taste as so rich and pure in flavor, you definitely didn't need coffee either this final course. I highly recommend this location if you want a decent meal at reasonable price. Thank you, Omar and the culinary artists for your pristine service with a smile. #ciaobella #italianbistro #newmilfordnj #caesarsalad #broccoliarabe #italiansausage #chickenparmesan #chickenciaobella #tiramisu #njeats #localspots #foodstagram #njfoodie read more

See all

Great service! Just the right amount of attention given. Nice ambiance. Went with three other friends and we all ended up getting the Chicken Ciao Bella lol! It was delicious! Would have liked a little more asparagus and potato with the dish. We all enjoyed our time there and will definitely be returning. Hope to try something different but that Chicken Ciao Bella was really good! Parking is a little tricky though. read more

Came for the first time and we had a great meal! The service was great and our waiter was absolutely awesome. We had the clams in white wine sauce as an appetizer and would highly recommend that. Then for my main I had the chicken caio bella and it was very nice a crispy chicken cutlet with a nice light lemon butter sauce. The bread pudding dessert was also good and we would definitely come back! read more

Ciao Bella Cucina - Chicken Caio Bella - Italian Near Me - New Milford, New Jersey

Food was so so waitress did not know the menu told a a dish was not breaded but was heavily breaded they would not take it back read more

Our waiter Leo was fantastic. Our party enjoyed the appetizers of calamari, mussels and clams . My veal was great. BYOB. Parking in rear of building. Nice atmosphere and fair prices. read more

See all

Great food and service in a welcoming environment, and you can bring your own beer and wine; Five star dining at a reasonable price read more

recently attended a repass and was very impressed with Ciao Bella. service was excellent, food was delicious and hot when served. their bread was very hot and crusty (good italian bread) . also very clean all around. theres parking in back so no issues there. penne vodka was very tasty as was the chicken parm. nice spin on the sides with that, half a roasted potato and sauteed green beans and carrots. all delicious. big bonus= its a BYOB read more

Excellent fresh seafood and pasta dishes. Service is friendly and efficient, nice ambience and a BYOB which is always a plus. While the food is highly rated, the portions seemed a bit small, more seafood in pasta dishes would be great as well. Highly recommended this establishment!!! read more

Ordered two chicken parms to go, authentic tomato sauce, perfectly cooked pasta, perfectly cooked chicken. I have an issue with a lot of restaurants that serve extremely thick chicken but these were the perfect cutlets. Friendly staff. Will def go back to try the other dishes. read more

Great BYOB restaurant for Excellent fish or pasta with very friendly efficient service. I highly recommend Ciao Bella.

If you're looking for a somewhat upscale but casual Italian restaurant that is a BYOB, this would be your place. The tables are nicely set with white linens, red napkins, water glasses, and utensils. The decor is beautiful. The restaurant is on the smaller side and a bit of a walk for those that may be handicapped. Parking is in the back of the building, and you must walk up front to access Ciao Bella. However, the walk is worth it. We came a day before Mother's Day. I took mom out this time with my partner, and she always raves about this place. Now I understand why. The table was greeted with a delicious loaf of bread. We started with the calamari with mild sauce. The calamari was perfectly coated and perfectly cooked. The sauce was delicious, even for mild. Usually, I would opt for spicy, but since I had mom, I didn't want to kill her. That's okay. I'll come back to try it myself. Both mom and my partner opted for the NY strip steak special with au poire sauce, and I ordered the mussel special with spicy sausage. We wound up sharing. Both entrees were out of this world. We didn't get dessert because we were so full, but I did order a latte, which was delicious. The service was excellent. But do you want to know what's better? This business is a family owned business, including the chef in the kitchen! read more

Ciao Bella Cucina - NY Strip special with au poire - Italian Near Me - New Milford, New Jersey

See all

Local Italian restaurant with BYOB. Great service and good food. Menu is very well priced and the place has nice Italian feel to it.

We love this restaurant. My wife and I go out to dinner to many restaurants and this is one of our favorites. Chicken Parm is outstanding. Diana the owner is very nice and so is Leo our waiter. Highly recommend this place. read more

Food was excellent. Very flavorful. Service just ok...seemed to be more interested in the phone than the customers. We will return because of the food. read more

Ciao Bella Cucina - Pasta Mari- shrimp with pink sauce. - Italian Near Me - New Milford, New Jersey

See all

Small byob Italian restaurant. Food was good but nothing we ordered was outstanding. With so many great BYOB Italian restaurants in the area it is a very difficult market. portions were average and very reasonable priced food. We will go back and and order different menu items with an updated review. read more

In my opinion there are three types of Italian restaurants: 1. The very fancy ones where you need a reservation month's in advance, everything is crazy expensive, but the food has great quality and flavor. 2. The family style, down to earth Italian restaurants where the food is homey and comfortable even if it is lower quality. 3. The perfect middle Italian restaurants. These are few and far in between, but they combine the best of both worlds. You get the high quality without the price tag, the homey, and the night out. Ciao Bella is without a doubt in this third category. This BYOB semi-formal, locals' favorite Italian spot is a wonderful gem of the New Milford community. It is not a big opulent venue, it is elegant in its simplicity while still feeling homey. The staff, although not big in numbers, is attentive, kind, and extremely helpful. We were greeted right away and given a choice of our preferred table location. Although the staff was evidently busy, our wait time was not displeasing, and the time we did wait was worth it once the food came out. First we had warm and perfectly crunchy bread at the table which lots of places do not do anymore and I highly appreciate that Ciao Bella does. Then we ordered stuffed zucchini flowers from the specials menu as well as calamari for our appetizers. Both the dishes were delicious and hit the right spot. For entrees we ordered the ossobucco ravioli and the frutti di mari capellini. Again, both dishes were formidable. My only regret was that because of the time, we were not able to order dessert, but since we will most definitely be going back soon, I have a tartufo that I have my sights on! read more

great place to have a private party. we had our daughters baby shower here and it was wonderful The staff was so nice and took care of everything we needed and like always the food was great Thanks for making our daughters day so special read more

Excellent food, beautiful atmosphere and great service. A very enjoyable experience. Great for a meal with family or an event. read more

See all

Appetizers and desserts are all very good to delicious, however among our entire party pretty much none of us loved our entrees. They were generally under seasoned and "fine" to "good I guess". read more

Really happy we tried this new restaurant nearby. We got takeout and food was ready relatively quick. We ordered the Cavatelli, Broccoli Rabe, and Sausage as well as the Penne Mare e Monti (shrimp with artichokes, mushrooms, asparagus and artichokes over penne). Portions were large and the food was delicious. My husband and I are already planning when we will go to the restaurant as the food was amazing and we love a good BYOB spot! read more

Ciao Bella Cucina - Cavatelli, Broccoli Rabe and Sausage & Penne Mare e Monti - Italian Near Me - New Milford, New Jersey

I was out and about filling my tank with gas near this location on River Road in new Milford and I glanced across the street and saw this restaurant and realized that this was the place that my mom and dad had gone to years ago and certainly it had changed since then but it's under a new name with new owners, and we met there with two other couples, and all the food and appetizers were extremely good as well as the staff that served us. And this place has good food and is a BYOB, which makes it good because you can pick your alcoholic beverages and bring them with you. I would suggest if you would like me and you like something along with your after dinner coffee you bring either you or Anisette or Romana Sambucca. read more

The food was excellent. Service was prompt and friendly. Just be prepared that it is a BYOB.

We went for dinner. The food was very good. Everyone enjoyed there entrees. It's a small place which is also a byob. The service was attentive and our server was very helpful. We will definitely be back again. read more

Service and food excellent I look Italian food eat a lot of Roman's but this is my NEW Dinner place love the food Can order and pick up . Have been open 7 months and I didn't know about it just happened to pass by So happy I saw it .thank you emily for your great service. read more

I recently needed early lunch reservations for a family gathering on a Saturday afternoon. Although the restaurant doesn't open until 4 PM, the owner was kind enough to open early to accommodate my family for a birthday celebration. This was our first time visiting Ciao Bella. It's a very quaint BYOB Italian bistro. The food was phenomenal, the service excellent and the experience delightful. Thank you to the owner for allowing us to come in early. Thank you to Emily our server who attended to our every need. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals and highly recommend your excellent food and atmosphere. :-) read more

We hosted my sons baptism luncheon here and cannot say enough good things. The food was top notch. EVERYONE was raving about the dishes, fried calamari was definitely a crowd favorite. And the chicken Marsala was 10/10 and the salmon portions were delicious and generous. But the most impressive part was the service. The lovely ladies who helped us to host were attentive without being intrusive. They allowed us to bring our own decor and are quite competitive in their pricing. Can't wait to go back for dinner. We had a lovely time. Thank you all for helping us with a really special day. read more

Ciao Bella Cucina - a long table set with place settings - Italian Near Me - New Milford, New Jersey

Food was excellent. Service they just don't have enough personnel. Only one poor waitress on a Friday night doing everything there was another young man there but just seating by other greeting people only. The food is so wonderful but having to wait for everything is stressful‼ read more

This review is an update on a review I wrote last February. Back then, we were a bit disappointed. We thought we would try it again, and the food was fabulous. I had a beet salad with a very light dressing that was excellent. My wife had the minestrone that she loved. I had fettuccine with crumbled sausage, broccoli, and a light sauce for an entree. My wife had the chicken marsala. Both were excellent. Significant improvement and I have no problem giving it a 5-star review. read more

Best chicken parm ever! Literally amazing. Mozzarella sticks are fire too. Def 5 stars!

Hidden gem owned and operated by a very nice family. Oh, food and service is great too.

Nice friendly attentive staff. Food excellent. A little loud during peak hours and the air needs to be circulated, it gets stuffy.

We saw a review on this new local restaurant and decided to give it a try and so glad we did! The food was absolutely delicious, the staff was friendly and accommodating and the atmosphere was lovely. The portions were nice sized, for appetizers we had the grilled calamari which was a unique presentation and very tender, and the eggplant rollatini. For entrees we had chicken francaise and veal saltimbocca which were both excellent. We will definitely be going back! read more

We hosted our son's first communion party at CiaoBella and everything was absolutely perfect from beginning to end !! The restaurant accommodated 40 adults plus 10 children very well even with extra room for karaoke for the kids! The staff was very friendly and attentive !! The food was delicious !! All of our guests could not stop talking about how the food was so fresh and delicious !! I highly recommend visiting Ciao Bella in New Milford for the best Italian food!! read more

See all

So happy to have this new BYOB in town . I have been 3 times and the food is consistently delicious. The calamari is so tender , the mussels in white wine were perfect with extra bread to dip. Penne with vodka sauce is not on the menu but made upon request. The Spaghetti Genovese is one of our favorites. We recently had the Lobster Ravioli in Vodka Sauce , which was a special. My daughter and I loved it. I can't say enough about how wonderful the owners and staff. This is truly a great little gem of a place. read more

Good food, friendly service too. The owner was very attentive and made sure we were pleased with everything. I would recommend the restaurant . read more

In August we booked a party of 20 for a Saturday holiday dinner in December. Spoke to a woman, Emily, several times on the phone and through email about the menu. We were offered a limited menu because of party size, with added veal and steak for an upcharge, added family style appetizers for the table - reservation was set. We then had to change from a Saturday to a Friday because people were flying in. All was still ok - No problem with reservation. Today, a person in our party called to get the time and location and was told the reservation was cancelled. This was at 4:30 pm today - the day of the reservation - reservation was for 7pm. I called and they said we never confirmed. 1000% BS. We were never told to confirm 2 days earlier, plus we moved the date and spoke of the menu several times, which is more then a confirmation! In speaking with Emily, she admitted they booked another reservation to a large party for a 5:30 pm sit down. She then offered to ask the 5:30 to try and be finished by 7:15 - that's a joke. She said they can try and accommodate us at 8:30 / 9:30 pm - no thanks, no-one wants to eat dinner at 10 pm and then be rushed out. Emily went as far as to say that large parties typically stay 3-4 hours, which confirms our suspicions that they blew off this 20 person reservation, and took 5:30 pm reservation and an additional one after that to make more money. So now we have a party of 20 with no dinner reservation after being screwed over by Ciao Bella. Merry Christmas Ciao Bella style - thanks but no thanks. We had been there several times, and while the food was good, we will never return. This was totally unprofessional and stinks of poor management. DO NOT TAKE YOUR CHANCES TO BOOK A PARTY AT THIS UNRELIABLE RESTAURANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can only imagine what else goes on there. read more

Went for my husband's birthday and we both enjoyed our meals. Service was first rate and we look forward to returning.

My wife and I have been looking for a great old-school, no-frills, Italian spot near our home. Well we found it in Ciao Bella. The food was amazing. The chicken parm and chicken ciao Bella were cooked to perfection...thin, crispy and tender. And this was from take out. Can't wait to try it in person. read more

Love this place. Great food, friendly service. We've been here often since it opened.