Bella Italia - Reading Oracle Reading RG1 2AT

"We had a lovely family meal out here, there were 9 of us in total and we all thoroughly enjoyed our time. We had a range of starters, mains and desserts and we were impressed with every one of them. Our waitress Rachael was so lovely and provided us with the most amazing service. If you’re in Reading, I would definitely recommend eating out here."

"Oh dear. What on earth has happened to this place? Busy day of sales in town and this restaurant was unfortunately short staffed (or so it seemed). Maybe there was some staff sickness - but I hope they usually have more staff waiting on tables. In spite of this the waiting team really were working hard and doing their best. We had booked, but there were a surprising number of tables free. I can't help but wonder if this restaurant has fallen out of favour locally - it just felt a bit sad and sorry. The menu - was really quite uninspiring. The dough balls - were an unusual dough which felt like they'd been overdone? Or..... Can't quite put my finger on it - but they weren't great. Mains were fine - wife really enjoyed the Spicy prawns with spaghetti. My Calzone was fine. Their drinks menu is fairly decent from a selection point of view - but this was unfortunately where things went quite wrong. I asked for a Coke Zero (I have type 1 diabetes). I can only assume I was brought a full sugar coke - as before I had eaten anythingy blood sugar's skyrocketed very high soon after drinking it. Personal pet peeve of mine as it demonstrates lack of listening/and for me is the last thing I need or want. Then again - as I said earlier - they felt short staffed - mistakes happen - and even more so when struggling with capacity. Finally..... As you can see from the picture of the seat (which wasn't unusual, a lot of them were similar) - the decor is well due for a renovation..... Shame. Just a bit of a disappointing meal."

"It takes a lot for me to give a one star review... and that is primarily because I do sincerely believe that mistakes happen... But when things go consistently wrong, there is a fundamental problem that exists with the management, people and the processes ...and this is the challenge we have at Bella Italia at Oracle Reading. I have had food many times at Bella Italia and while I was in London, we have hosted parties there... I am very familiar with the menu, the food and that works just fine. Series of issues started to become visible perhaps 20 minutes after the order- when we started to get worried about where our food was. Just to check with someone on the status was a nightmare. In the meantime- I had gone to the app and added an extra dessert that got delivered to our table immediately, but our starters were not even there yet. Then comes a rude staff member with starters that did not look like it needed 45 minutes to prepare... Bruschetta very poorly done, Hummus with carrots not peeled properly and dough ball pieces that were chewy (Pictures attached). ...and we thought that was just it... until the main course came in! We had ordered Spaghetti, which never came in- instead we got Macaroni cheese. We requested a lady (who wasn't wearing a uniform- perhaps a manager) and she very swiftly got us a replacement. Even after the main course came in, there was no offer of sprinkling the cheese, no one came to ask how things are.... nothing... a plain old serviceless restaurant feeling! ...and when it came to dessert, my hypothesis of what the issue is got validated. We ordered two brownies. Our first brownie that came in was hard as a rock. We did highlight it to the staff who got us our second one- which was perfect by the way. They therefore took the first one back saying that they will get the replacement.... and 15 minutes later.... still nothing!!! We just got fed-up, paid through the app and left without the brownie and vowed to never visit this place again! Overall... worst service standard I have seen for a place where we end up paying £15-20 per person... Some of the staff are extremely rude... AND if this was an anomaly, then clearly the management did not do a good job of handling the situation!"

"As far as restaurants go, this place had its pros and cons. The service was great, despite us having to ask twice for a few things (not something that matters hugely). The man serving us was very polite and welcoming. The main meals were excellent quality and very nice! The starters (mostly the bruschetta) was not great at all. It was literally slightly toasted bread with halved tomatoes placed on top. The garlic bread had no complaints. The food was a bit pricey, but we had checked the menu before hand so knew what to expect."

"⭕️ It's the second time I choose to dine in this restaurant and I can say that I would do it whenever I want to really eat something very tasty, delicious and well cooked ... in a super nice environment and with very kind stuff!"