La Bella Vista in Hastings

The only downside to this restaurant, is that it is too small and noisy. It is right on the seafront and so is a great location. It is obviously such a popular place and the food is lovely. The desserts are beautifully presented and the service was top-notch. I think I would love to return at a less busy time - maybe midweek, or a lunch time - to be able to really appreciate the experience. I had the Carbonara and it was delicious (pancetta instead of pork cheek, so no fatty gristly pieces). My friend had Calf's Livers, which she said was very rich but lovely. We were there for four hours and not hurried along or anything, which was another sign of great service in my book.

First visit & can not rate it highly enough (I’m really fussy & have high standards). Everything was perfect. The atmosphere, service & amazing food. Loved, loved, loved it & already looking for an excuse to go back.

Used to adore this place and highly recommend it. But lately it's just not good enough. Constantly ordering from the menu and being told 5 minutes later "we have run out". We've had their classic Sunday lunch which looks nice, but arrives luke warm to cold. And the cut of beef they use is like shoe leather. There also seem to be new staff who don't seem to be able to answer basic questions about the food. I feel that in future we are going to stick to ordering pizza and pasta for a mid-week lunch. Though recently we had the Spaghetti Carbonara, and they used Penne and the carbonara sauce was lumpy and stuck to the roof of your mouth. I adore Cabonara, but this was one of the worst I've ever had.

Honestly one of the best lunches I’ve had in St Leonards. Varied menu and beautifully cooked. My mum really enjoyed her pina colada as well.

One of the best nights at La Bella Vista. Elvis tribute, terrific, food excellent all the staff great

We had a lovely evening, the food and service was great, thank you

Had a wonderful evening at the Elvis Tribute night. Fantastic food and a really lovely atmosphere

I had lunch there with 2 good friends who hadn’t been to La Bella Vista before. Their verdict was best food they have eaten for a while and great atmosphere. The staff are friendly and care too about their customers

We had an amazing dinner! The atmosphere were nice and peaceful even though the restaurant was packed!

Amazing top notch food,exceptional service always willing to go extra mile my go to place in hastings

Nice food and atmosphere. Reserving a table is a must as very busy even on a week day

I booked a table for Mother's Day, the staff coped extremely well as the restuarant was absolutely packed to the rafters. The food was sublime, service excellent. Have already booked a return visit.

Another wonderful lunch . Beautifully presented food , great quality and served by super staff. Definitely the best restaurant in the area. We will be back soon🤞

Attentive, friendly service. Gorgeous, tasty food. Relaxed, accommodating atmosphere.

Amazing Restaurant, Service and Food ,

I celebrated my 60th birthday here. With my family. The restaurant when above to accommodate us. The service was excellent and the food was outstanding. I can't thank you enough for making my birthday special.

We love this restaurant. Wish we lived in Hastings and would definitely come more often. We always recommend people to come here - amazing service/food

Authentic Italian gem. Delicious food, great atmosphere, lovely staff. Perfect zucchini fries.

Have Dined at Bella Vista on and off for many years always a pleasure to eat here Aldo and team have it spot on

Absolutely wonderful evening for my sons 18th birthday. Superb food cooked to perfection. Fantastic atmosphere. The lamb shank with lemon risotto was to die for

Probably the best meal I’ve ever had lol

Love it here. Made my 12 year olds birthday meal feel so special. Staff attentive, food delicious and atmosphere is great

Visited on Saturday 2/3. Changed so much since last visit. Menu very fancy. Food very overpriced. Crammed in like sardines. 1 x glass wine. 1 x G & T. 2 Pints Lager. 3 starters. 4 mains. 2 desserts. 2 coffees. £238!

We had a lovely meal. Great portion sizes and the food was very tasty and well presented. Service was great unlike many places they had plenty of staff to assist customers.

My wife and I came here for dinner with three friends, our friends had all been before. We were told it was one of the better restaurants in Hastings. The service was good, and the ambiance was not bad. However, the dishes themselves were not inspiring. I will describe one of them. I had the Scoglio Di Mare which is described as “Handmade fresh linguine pasta, Cornish mussels, clams, squid, king prawn, garlic, chilli, tomato and parsley”. The handmade fresh linguine was in fact normal dried pasta. Two or three of the mussels were plump and opaque as they should be, but the others were shrivelled and over cooked. All the clams were overcooked, tough and rubbery. The single prawn had been cooked to death and was as hard as a rock. The squid was conspicuous by its absence. However, the liquor with the garlic, chilli, tomato and parsley in the bottom of the bowl was passable. To be frank this dish should never have been allowed out of the kitchen. I did not complain as our friends were hosting us, but I have to say if the kitchen is happy serving this dish to customers then consider going elsewhere.

Lovely restaurant, friendly staff and great service. Menu varied and excellent food.

Lovely experience at La Bella Vista last night. We celebrated our anniversary and the restaurants’ staff made it very special for us. The food was absolutely delicious (caprino astruso is heaven!!) the music in the background gave a great vibe and was just the right volume. The staff also prepared a little surprise for our celebration which was really nice as they of course didn’t have to. I’ll definitely come back for a special occasion and will be recommending the place to everyone.

Great food , great service from a family run restaurant. The menu is a perfect selection, all food is fresh to order. We went out of season and it was 3/4 full on a Monday, so booking is essential. For us the starter we ordered was fantastic and would be enough for 3( the meat and cheese) Would be nice if they could do smaller portions for 1. The wife’s sea food tagliatelle was home made and so fresh and my Calzone was so big I couldn’t finish first try. It tasted even better for breakfast the next day. A gem I would say a must to visit if you like Italian.

Delicious food and outstanding service in a lovely restaurant - what more could you ask for?

It was a brilliant evening with great performances and lovely food

We had an excellent Sunday lunch. well cooked food with ample veggie choices and attentive service

Great food, great service and music on selected nights. The music nights are so so good.

Fabulous food as good as I have ever eaten in Italy . Fantastic service and such friendly staff . It was Saturday evening and it was very busy but everything was exceptional. If you are in Hasting be sure to go but do book well in advance. Ps I am half Italian and trust me this is sophisticated well cooked food . Thank you for a great evening

Excellent food and service. Nice atmosphere.

Lovely food best Italian in the area

Very nice atmosphere, good service. The food was excellent. Will definitely come again.

We had a fantastic meal and the staff were amazing Will definitely be back

A wonderful gem of a restaurant, the quality of food is above the average everytime. I personally recommend the fellitto rossini (worth every penny). Top notch service from friendly staff in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.

Lovely place. My partner and I always go on our yearly anniversary’s and the food is always lovely. The atmosphere is romantic and generally pleasant.

This is a little gem of a restaurant. We booked a table for my father in laws birthday, having never visited before. This place is amazing! Really beautiful restaurant, helpful and attentive staff, without feeling like they were hovering. They were dressed smartly too which added to the atmosphere. The food is DELICIOUS! Lots of choice and for children too. We will definitely be visiting again; highly recommend

Lovely birthday dinner with exceptional service. Very memorable for all the right reasons. Had trouble deciding which starter to have as I wanted them all!

Great find for dinner while taking a short break in Hastings. Food was excellent and the service is good. Only lost a mark for atmosphere as the lack of a draught excluder to the front door on a cold, windy, winter evening is a little unfortunate, although we realise that given the space there is probably no viable solution!

Fantastic food, great service and very friendly atmosphere.

Simply incredible. From the food to the service everything was perfect. Easily the best Italian restaurant I've been to in the UK. We will definitely be returning!.

Sublime food and wine. And fabulous ambience. The staff are amazing!

Beyond outstanding!! Phenomenal service. Great food. It doesn't get better than this!!

Perfect meal for our granddaughters birthday, staff fabulous, food excellent, would recommend to anyone.

Staff were extremely friendly and helpful, food was amazing. Great atmosphere.

Everything was amazing, thankyou 💝

A wonderful Valentine's Dat lunch. This restaurant is perfect for special occasions. We will be back! Thank you.

We couldn’t have loved this place more - the service and food was perfect. We had the ‘nduja pizza and goats cheese tagliatelle which were both absolutely delicious. I’ll be going back!

Quite simply the best restaurant in town. Family run and fantastic food and lovely atmosphere created by staff with a great attitude. You really feel like a visit to Bella Vista isva special occasion

Disappointed that a satisfactory table wasn’t available for 15 mins despite having booked in advance. Service very good , starters and pudding excellent. Main dishes fine but have had better seafood linguine. More our choice not being quite right than any problems with the dish itself. Perhaps also because the tuna dish is to die for! Recommended.

Cannot fault the food, the food was lovely. The service was great. Only had one problem we were packed in like sardines to the point of I had to leave,

Is our favorite spot in St. Leonards, the food is superb, we feel at home when we come from messy London!!! Thanks to all Bella Vista famiglia!

Is our little piece of heaven when we come from London, everything is good, my little family feels at home! Grazie!

Was so hungry didn't have time to take pictures but everything was amazing. Had the superba for my main was delicious, the white sauce was perfect. My partner had a pizza which was also cooked to perfection. Definitely recommend the venezia cocktail, absolutely delicious.

Catch-up with family (adults) they loved it. Thank you!

We visited for my daughters 18th birthday and we had a fantastic and memorable evening. Service and food were great and we were made to feel very welcome. They were very attentive to my daughter who loved it. Thank you so much to all the staff. Xx

Delicious food and great service. We will be back.

An amazing birthday lunch with fabulous service. Thank you 🤩

Delicious food, served speedily and with a smile.

Excellent food, delightful ambience, wonderful and attentive staff! Thank you!

First visit here as have always thought it was for the ex London set. However we were so welcomed- what a wonderful place, wonderful food, huge portions (the sharing platter starter was a feast in itself). We will return soon.

Faultless Italian restaurant. Gorgeous food and service. The wine we had was exceptional and such care taken to serve it.

The service, the atmosphere and the food were all just amazing. Definitely recommend and would love to revisit soon.

The dinner was of a high standard and good portion sizes! High end quality food The waiters and whole staff were polite and kind and very helpful overall a great dinner/evebing

Delicious Italian food, really recommend seafood linguine.

Perfect - as we’ve come to expect

Really lovely meal for my husband's birthday. Definitely the nicest restaurant in the area.

Great food and service, will definitely be back!

Wonderful late lunch at Bella Vista

Booked as was at a show nearby at the theatre. Food was absolutely immense. Can't fault it at all. Flavours were perfect and great portions. Quite reasonably priced as well. However, found the service very slow for a rather empty restaurant on a Monday evening and it was absolutely cold inside. Spent more time waiting for service than I did actually having my meal.

What a great meal, we all enjoyed it, empty plates said it all.

Excellent food and service, would definitely recommend.

The best restaurant in Hastings by far. Food always fantastic and the staff attentive.

Our first visit and we will defitnely be back. Staff, food and ambience absolutely lovely.

Visited the Bella Vista for a midweek lunch. We enjoyed it very much, the food was ample and the cooking of the dishes excellent. To cap it all the cost was good value for money.

Loverly restaurant, a real gem. Great food, great atmosphere and magical staff. We really enjoyed our evening.

Beautiful food, absolutely delicious. Staff were lovely and although the restaurant was busy it didn’t feel hectic. We had an Italian gentleman in our party and he said the food was very good. We will be coming back to La Bella Vista to try the dishes we didn’t have!

Relies more on it’s appearance than the choice of menu. The food is nothing special and has become the place to be seen in St Leonard’s. Consequently you pay top dollar for dishes that are perhaps fairly average for an Italian..

Hands down best Italian restaurant in East Sussex. Food amazing Service amazing Will continue to return again and again

A bit to salty seefood but otherwise everything is ok

Enjoyed a wonderful time with the family celebrating a birthday. Ten of us had incredible food delivered by friendly, polite staff in a lovely setting. The whole experience was fabulous! Will definitely be back and can thoroughly recommend.

We always love going to Bella Vista, the food is very well done - both the vegan and non-vegan is of great quality and taste. We had a voucher to use from Christmas, and had a wonderful evening. Thank you to all the staff, you are doing a fantastic job.

Fantastic as always… see you soon!

Yet again what a fabulous meal we had. Everything was up to West End standards. This is by far the best restaurant in the Hastings area and to have it on my doorstep is wonderful.

Could have been better but service was infuriatingly slow at times and the Caponata was bland and uninspiring. Campagna Stellata was exceptional and the Superba tasty but tired. My partner enjoyed the Angelo (lamb shank). Wine was superb but at £40 a bottle I thought a little overpriced.

I've been here a few times, never disappointed. If you want authentic Italian food and great customer service, look no further.

Enjoyed my meal here, good food , service and wine. Will be back

Really special place with beautifully cooked food, fresh, to order. Lovely staff, attentive and kind (well presented too). Authentic and delicious. It’s a little gem.

Great food, very attentive staff and really nice atmosphere.

Really nice and cozy restaurant, food is delicious, just little bit salty. Will go there again.

Arrived and was put in the corner in the basement,,, no atmosphere,,, ordered our food, they forgot side order,,, Ordered drinks they bought the wrong ones,,, To sum it up it was an expensive disappointment!! Won’t be returning,…….. Shame as it was a Christmas Eve meal out,,,, Too many tables in a small restaurant,,, Should be less to offer service,, etc Quality rather than quantity is my advice,,,

Aldo.... And the Team will be one of your favourite choice.. for your time out..and treat.

Excellent food, service and staff

Absolutely terrific! Highly recommend. Aldo is genuine. Food is magnificent!

As a last minute reservation, six of us arrived for a birthday dinner. The staff were professional and friendly. The kitchen came up trumps with an excellent range of food as well as wine. Happy to return. Thanks for a great evening A. E. Sharp

Great food and considering there were 15 of us brilliant service especially from Yulia. It was like herding cats. We were in the downstairs part but that was great as it was like we had the place to ourselves. Would recommend highly.

I wrote a review in June but I felt as though I needed to write another one. Like the last review I wrote, La Bella Vista's food and service is outstanding. The restaurant is very cosy, especially during a cold, dark winter's evening. We've been so many times before, since 2018, and we have never had a bad meal or poor service. If you're vegetarian or vegan, not that we are, then there's plenty for you to eat, too. Full marks again!