Minding Your Business - La Bella Vita

La Bella Vita Kitchen and Bar

Italian - American - Seafood – Pizza

2 Academy Place

Orleans

774-316-4454

LaBellaVitaCapeCod.com

Open 7 Nights a Week at 4:30 p.m.

Michael DiSabato is living the good life, la bella vita. And he wants you to too! “We are entering our fifth summer,” said the La Bella Vita co-owner. “And it’s been fabulous!” DiSabato has been in the hospitality industry for decades; he spent 12 years in Chatham at Marley’s, and in Orleans, three years at the Academy Ocean Grille and eight years at the Rock Harbor Grill with his now partner, Chuck Konner. He and Konner share a great sense for what works in the crazy restaurant world. Chuck owns the Rock Harbor Grill also.

“We opened La Bella Vita in 2020,” during a tough time for restaurants because of the pandemic. But DiSabato and Konner agree that it was actually easy to open this restaurant, because they had a goal in mind. “We felt Orleans could use an Italian restaurant,” said Konner back then.

“Today we still feel that way,” said DiSabato. “Our menu is 75 percent Italian, but we’ve added burgers, wings and steaks plus a good number of appetizers and salads. Locals like a variety.”

Chef Terry Redlund has created a well-diversified menu made with local seafood and produce. The menu offers creative pasta dishes; Frutti di Mare (shrimp, scallops, littlenecks, mussels, cod and salmon in garlic and olive oil), Harvest Pasta (roasted butternut squash, mushrooms, radicchio, baby spinach, toasted pumpkin seeds in a lemon butter sauce), Clams and Linguine, Fettuccini Alfredo (with shrimp, chicken, salmon or scallops), and Bolognese sauce, or these classic entrees: Chicken or Eggplant Parmesan, Short Rib Risotto, Steak & Frites, Pork Tenderloin and Veal Saltimbocca. And there’s pizza! Eight kinds of pizza; try the Bee Sting (house red sauce, pepperoni, pepperoncini’s, rosemary, and a honey drizzle) or Clams Casino ones. They offer an incredible selection of appetizers (arancini balls, mozzarella triangles, wings, meatballs, fish chowder, calamari and more) and salads (antipasto, a Harvest Burrata, a strawberry pecan with goat cheese, wedge salad with gorgonzola, Caesar and more) too.

This winter they’re enticing you not only with those mouth-watering menu options but these specials; “Italian Trio Mondays” a garden salad with three samplings from a menu of six items for $24.95, or Lasagna Night Tuesdays for $19.95 (with salad or garlic bread), $22.95 Specials on Sunday – Wednesday (with a salad) and a 2 for $65 on Thursday (includes two appetizers and two dinner entrees).

A second goal along with the great food and specials was to create a welcoming atmosphere. Their charismatic bartenders (Jen Fellows, Dalton Griffin, Brynne Pennington to name a few) and half-price appetizers and pizza from 4:30 to 5:30 every night makes La Bella Vita a great after-work stop.

“We have a great staff,” said DiSabato. “And we are open on Mondays!”