Stella’s Italian Bistro at 3375 Waterlevel Highway in Cleveland was recently recommended to us, so we made a special trip to try it out. This is a small restaurant, but has a big sign out front, so you won’t miss it as you drive by.
There were a few things that turned me off about this place. I noticed the guy making the pizza crusts appeared to be partially baking them, then stacking them in a box on the counter. Also, there were several pizza crusts in pans sitting on the counter right at eye level with two people sitting in the booth, just inches away from their faces (too close for sneezes, etc.). It might be OK, but that’s just my point of view. I also noticed at least two people in the kitchen chewing gum, which to me is a no-no around food.
The menu has a lot to offer and they also have daily specials (although our server didn’t mention them), which we read on the wallboard. I did ask about the soup of the day and was told, “there might be some wedding soup left”. That made me feel like it was the bottom of the pot from who knows when.
Wayne wanted an appetizer, but they do not offer appetizers. Menu items include Hot Sandwiches (Italian Sausage or Meatball Parmigiana, Eggplant Parmigiana, plus others) priced from $5.25 to $5.95, served with fries or pasta salad; Cold Sandwiches (Italian Classic Hoagie, Chicken Salad and Italian Caprese), $5.50 to $5.95); and Entree items (Vegetarian Pastas, Shrimp Pastas, Veal Pasta, Pizza, Chicken Pastas, Special Seafood Entrees, Classic Pastas and Baked Pastas). Entree prices range from $4.50 (Stella’s Sauce with ziti or linguini) to $11.95 for several different items.
Wayne decided to go with a personal pan pizza (8” X 8” square). The one topping price is $3.50, then $.50 for each additional topping. I ordered from the Special Seafoods – the Seafood Platter ($11.95). This dish included linguine with clams, mussels, shrimp, calamari and orange raffi.
Entrees are served with a small house salad and bread, and Wayne ordered a salad to go with his pizza. The salads were nothing special, rather disappointing in fact. They consisted of lettuce, a few cubes of tomato, a small bit of cheese, and packaged croutons (not an olive in sight, but that was certainly fine with Wayne). Stella’s only has one salad dressing. We were told when they ran out of the dressing left by the previous building occupant, they didn’t buy any more. Wayne felt like that meant they didn’t care about their customer’s preferences.
The bread (even though I don’t eat bread, I tried a few bites) was absolutely delicious! I would have enjoyed much more of it.
Wayne said the pizza was very good, and they are generous with the toppings. My seafood platter was wonderful. You could taste a very light hint of garlic along with plenty of seafood. There were, however, two dead mussels, which I set aside on another plate. I appreciated the fact that the shrimp tails had been removed. I would definitely order this dish again. The sauce was tomato-based, but not with an overwhelming tomato-flavor – it was perfect.
Other dishes (among many) offered at Stella’s are Clam & Shrimp Posillipo, Chicken Piccata, Cannelloni, and Spaghetti Carbonaro.
For dessert Wayne ordered the cheesecake – the choice was plain or chocolate. He ordered the plain, which he felt needed to be “dressed up” a bit. There was no sauce. I went with the chocolate cannoli; quite good but a bit difficult to cut. However, the taste was really good and the filling was rich, creamy, light and fluffy. Yes, I would definitely order that again.
All-in-all, I thought it was good, not great, and Wayne was disappointed. We both thought the prices were reasonable. It’s by far not a fancy place, but a nice place. I would go back; Wayne would not.
Hours for Stella’s Italian Bistro are Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m.; Saturday from 5 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.; and Sunday from noon until 9 p.m.
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cdojanet@chattanoogadineout.com