Tutta Bella

They do takeout! Phone it in, get there in 15 minutes just as it is coming out of the oven, drive it home and enjoy. Split a salad and still have enough to take for lunch the next day. The gelato probably wouldn’t travel well, but the lemon flavor is so intense and perfect on a summer day.

And great location.

Good things about Tutta Bella: Their salads are very tasty and a goodly size. I think the large is perfect for two people (or one very hungry one) but perhaps I always go with people who eat a lot of salad. They have wines by the glass and beer by the pitcher. I love ending a meal there with a scoop of gelato and a double espresso.

Bad: Their service can be erratic. Their pizza does not do it for me. Usually they torch it too much (i.e. top and bottom is way too carbonized), although the last time I was there the pizzas were too cold (perhaps not delivered to us promptly?) but not overly burnt. Unfortunate, really. For nearby (to me) pizza, I prefer Mioposto , but I may be in the minority.

Other random notes: It gets really loud on their second floor, so I would advise sitting downstairs. I know the design on their metal fences is supposed to be a tomato, but it always looks like an upsidedown calamari to me.

Overall, Tutta Bella is a good place in spite of my ragging on the pizza. It’s too bad it and Mioposto cannot be combined into one place.

I finally went here this past weekend. I got the flatbread and the queen margherita pizza. Absolutely amazing, and not too heavy at all.

Granted, I didn’t get the zeppelin sized salad, although the idea of a salad that large sounds great to me.

And I can slightly sympathize with the overbearing service comment. But it’s better than laissez-service.

Main point: I can’t stop thinking about the pizza even now. That’s usually a good sign. I’m counting the hours, days, etc. to come back.

Don’t order a large salad unless there are at least six people. unless all you are eating is salad, then it’s enough for probably just three or four. The large salad is HUGE. and all are delicious. yum.

Yum! Great food, overbearing service. The waiter bothered us twice after delivering the salad, saying “Salad still OK with you?” He must have made 10 needless visits to our table over the course of the meal.

Don’t get the “large” salad if there are less than 4 people at your table. It’s served on a plate the size of a cafeteria tray!

I just went to Tutta Bella this evening. My wife and I had some Italian ice cream for dessert. I also have enjoyed dinners there. In the winter the warmth from the wood fired, is most welcome, and the pizza is really the best I have ever had.

In general, Seattle Pizza is lousy. This is a well-established fact, at least to residents transplanted from pizza-rich zones. However, a few good places do exist: the pizza at Cafe Lago, Mio Posto in Mt Baker, Via Tribunali on Capitol Hill and Tutta Bella in Columbia City (and elsewhere).

Tribunali has slightly better pizza i think, but is cramped and not very good with the kid. Tutta Bella has very good thin crust Neopolitan pizza, good gelato, and a good list of reasonably-priced wines. The pizza Prosciutto e Rucola (Italian Ham and Arugula) is a particular favorite.

Sit downstairs by the pizza ovens if you can—the second floor gets quite noisy and there isn’t as much fun stuff to see.

...the only thing that makes me not want to go back regularly (Wallingford location) is the loud cafeteria like atmosphere.

Could’ve been the night, so I still recommend trying it out, or at least getting pizza to go because it was quite delicious. If the service blows, you were warned. ;)