Bella Fortuna North

From the moment we walked in until we begrudgingly departed, the evening was fantastic!!! Brandy greeted us with the news that Chef had just taken delivery of fresh Morels. Sue was an absolute delight with her personality and top service. The house brand Pinot Grigio was a hit, especially on this warm evening. We ordered an app with the aforementioned Morels in a Risotto. Mere words cannot... Gazpacho was one of the soups and was magnificent! Some are heavy cucumber or heavy garlic. This was balanced perfectly. The four of us each tried something different. The Birthday Girl had the rigatoni with bacon and onion in a marinara. The smoke flavor from the bacon was throughout, making this combination even more enjoyable. You know, bacon with every meal. One had the risotto with shrimp and asparagus. The creaminess and full flavour of the sauce, while up front, did not overpower the delicacies mixed within. Another meal was the Veal Scallopini. As many know, medallions of veal can be under or over cooked in a flash. This was perfect and the accompanying truffle sauce complimented nicely. I had the fish special, because I can. A large filet of Whitefish, pan seared and covered with a sauce of tomato cream, sauteed onions, and olives. I need to recreate this on the walleye trip with the guys this summer. Hopefully Chef Mario will share the secret. We finished with one tiramisu and one flourless chocolate cake. Both were almost pudding-like in their texture, with rich flavour and the correct amount of sweet. Overall, not one weak link in the visit. We will indeed be back! Thank you for taking such good care of my wife the Birthday Girl.
7 years ago (30-05-2018)

White fish pate and salmon excellent. Great service.
7 years ago (05-06-2018)

When this place first opened up many years ago, it was a zoo. Back then, they tried to do too much, too soon, and we had a pretty bad dining experience. For that reason, we didn't give them another chance until now, and we are glad that we did. We read reviews before going to dinner, so we had some idea of what would be best to order. We had the meat and cheese plate, the gnocchi, the tenderloin, and the fish, which was salmon. Everything we had was delicious. Capped it off with espresso over gelato, yum. Dustin was our waiter, and he was very good. We also brought our 4 year old son, and he put up with that, including a spilled drink. If you are in the mood for Italian, and Bella is within your budget, go for it.
8 years ago (02-10-2017)

My fiance and I went here during our last trip to Lake Leelanau. The service was great and they had a great selection of food and drinks. The food itself was pretty good, but not for the price. For a 2 person meal it was over $100. Needs to come down in price to be worth it.
8 years ago (29-08-2017)

Gave them a second chance, and it didn't go well. This is a restaurant owned by a friend's family so we were certainly optimistic that it would be great. Our first experience several years ago was a disaster, but with a new chef and the promise that they had improved, we came back. The serving team seemed exhausted and the elderly manager was in different to the frustration amongst some of the tables. Bottom line is that the food is not inspiring for the price, and took forever to arrive. They are understaffed in the waitstaff department and ours seemed like she didn't want another table. They have location going for them and seem to be phoning in the rest.
8 years ago (03-09-2017)