Ciao Bella Pizzeria and Wine Bar

The food is decent, but the customer treatment is actually offensive. If you don't mind being part of the owners' churn and burn strategy and you don't want to relax over dinner with any conversation, then go for it. We were a group of 7 bumping knees and elbows on a table designed for 4 that 'has served groups of 7 all summer'. Yeah right. I bet they're all on the waiting list for next week. After being made to feel like difficult customers, we were offered one of the multiple vacant tables on the terrace to be joined to ours to give us more space. My husband was polite and thankful for something that should be standard practice.

There is a hard 90 mins cutoff that was:

a) repeatedly referred to in the final 10 mins of our 90 min deadline in an attempt to finalise our dessert orders.b) referenced by the owner when we paid our bill 'clearly marked on the confirmation email'
c) not mentioned on the booking website or our confirmation email.

And even it if was. Honestly.who else on the peninsula holds you to 90 mins without reshuffling if they can? Especially when there are vacant tables? My husband politely told the owner that their food is great but we won't be returning because of the service and she then told him that she found him rude. Says it all really. Don't expect to be made to feel special here. In fact, don't waste your time. Life is too short.

Love this place. Have eaten here many times over the years and have never had a bad meal here. Always delicious!

The waitress was really kind to our toddler who was running around a lot. The pizza was fantastic, really yummy crust and toppings. Would love to come back.

Hidden Balnarring gem - great pizza and Italian comfort food. Good space out back front for kids to run around

Wow, what a disappointing evening. Having accidentally knocked over an empty wine glass whilst pouring wine for others (yes our fault), we were concerned that shards of glass may well have gone into a small entree side salad opposite. We asked the waitress if it might be possible to get another small salad rather than potentially ingest glass & we were advised that no it wasn't possible & that we had been the ones to break the glass! Gee thanks for the concern!
Then having ordered 2 entree servings of Calamari as well as 2 main course servings of Calamari we were surprised to find 4 serves gradually arrived all of the same size that we assumed were just entrees, as they weren't that large. No, they had mistakenly served 4 main serves but wouldn't charge us the extra. $35 per entree & $42.50 for a main? - these prices weren't apparent from the menu as they weren't listed - only MP.
To top it all off for our temerity in asking & being surprised at the answers to the above we were treated very poorly by our original waitress who practically threw the bill onto our table at the end. On complaining to the manager at her rudeness through much of our dinner he of course wouldn't hear of it.
We won't be back but wish others a better experience than we received

I had been here before and rated it very high. I booked again and had been telling my friends I had invited to dine with how great it was. Unfortunately I was embarrassed by the reception we got by who I believe is the owner. Quite unpersonable. Gave us nothing and was rushy. I get it’s holiday season, but It was a classic example of “eat quick because we need to book the table again”. The pizza’s we’re good but not great for the price. The ambience it’s fantastic. The other staff were very nice and not rushy. I would have been a lifelong customer but the vibe has gone for me.

Got in on short notice and found the attitude all wrong, we understood the current staff shortage but did not appreciate the reception plus the food was a little disappointing this time.

Amazing find! Beautiful, yummy authentic food. Reasonably priced and great service. We will definitely be back!

We had a couple of takeaway pizzas, very quick service but both were pretty doughy/quite undercooked. Might have just been that they were really busy and churning them out but not what we were expecting for the price. Lovely staff, would try again dine in next time.

Fantastic! Amazing food, very friendly and professional staff, real Italian pizza with top quality ingredient. My favourite pizzeria in Australia!

If you are going to this place, stay away from the sweet potato, walnut and pear pizza. (truly awefull) The anchovy pizza was subpar too. However, the Margherita pizza was acceptable, the San Marzano tomato sauce was quite nice. The base of the pizza had a decent undercarriage, however I was let down by a surprising softness in the crust. I must say though the staff were fantastic, they welcomed me at the door with smiles and enquiries about my day. Parking is available even on a busy Saturday night.

Food was average and drinks were flat. The blonde older lady was also extremely rude and unprofessional. Much better food and friendly staff at Fontalina down the road.

Poor poor pizza given the style!

Tried to call and spoke to the owner and got hung up on twice.

Very inconsistent given the price they choose to decide.

Disgusting if you ask me!

The type of restaurant all Italian food lovers should visit.
Just outstanding food, no matter what you order. Made of local and organic ingredients, by a very passionate chef who brings his Italian/Sicilian heritage through the beautiful food he creates.

Great restaurant with excellent food and atmosphere. The pizza is one of the best I've ever tasted. And I will definitely be back.

Fantastic night very busy, food came out in decent time. All the food was of a high standard and obviously local and home made. Yum Yum Yum.

Pizzas were great. I must admit I am not a huge fan of pizza, but.
We had the Margherita & the Ciao Bella pizzas.
The service was good too.
My sister & I decided on the Millie Foglie (spelling I am not sure of), it was very dry, the custard was so dry it crumbled. Luckily we had ice-cream to add some moisture to it!
Hence the 3 stars.

Ciao Bella was once one of the best pizza places around but in recent times the quality has been severely lacking.
Service is fine. But the pizzas are so hit and miss that it’s not even worth risking half the time.
There are better more traditional options nearby.

Had a lovely time with the misso for her birthday! The gin and tonic on the drink specials was a dream. Great setup, and staff were passionate and caring about giving a good experience!
Also Tommy Hannaford trains insane

Best pizza. Great service. Great fresh produce. Been coming here from Melb.for more than 12 years. Thanks Claudio and co. Kindest regards Alba & Lino.