For context, I rate products and businesses on a simple scale: 5 stars means I love it, 4 stars…read moremeans I like it, 3 stars is okay, 2 stars means I didn't like it, and 1 star means I hated it or think it's unsafe.
We went to Bellini's in Latham as a party of six. Overall, the food wasn't bad, but it didn't really impress either.
Several of us ordered the chicken parm, and while it tasted good, it came with a bit of a surprise. I order chicken parm pretty much anytime it's on a menu, so I've had a lot of versions over the years, and this was the first time I've seen it paired with a cream marinara style sauce on the ziti. It had more of a vodka sauce consistency. On its own it was fine, but it felt a little odd paired with traditional chicken parm. We all agreed it seemed like an odd pairing.
Another issue was temperature. My chicken parm itself was hot, but the ziti was inconsistent, hot in the center and lukewarm, even a little cool, toward the edges of the plate. I asked the other people that had ordered it as well if it was just my plate and they said no theirs also was inconsistent.
Someone in our group got the stuffed shells and said they were okay, but would have preferred a red sauce instead of the white sauce. Another person agreed with that. The pizza, on the other hand, was a good size and pretty solid.
Service was a bit of a mixed bag. Our waiter was friendly and did check in, but the overall pace was slow. We were there for about two hours, and it wasn't particularly busy and we just ordered entrees and two deserts. I'd say it was more on the mild side as far as busyness. the waiter also either forgot or didn't realize that two of the entrees came with a dessert, which we had to ask about. To his credit, he apologized when it was pointed out.
Dessert ended up being cannolis and a slice of cheesecake, both of which were tasty.
When the bill came, we noticed the total didn't seem to add up. After asking, it turned out gratuity had been included for a party of six or more. That's on the menu in smaller print, we just missed it, so not a big deal, but something to be aware of.
The restaurant itself is nice inside, and the tables are roomy, which I liked. It is pretty noisy though, and it was hard to have a conversation with people at the other end of the table. The host staff were also very pleasant.
I'd probably come back and give it another shot, but this visit didn't really stand out. 3 stars earned on this particular visit.