While saddened that downtown Sarasota lost Made Restaurant last month, I’m thrilled the city’s most famous dining district recently welcomed Trattoria Bella Napoli, just a half-mile stroll down Main Street.
For those not fluent in Italian, the restaurant’s name roughly translates to “Beautiful Naples Eatery,” and it’s the latest and greatest place to savor authentic Neapolitan dishes, including, yes, a masterful pizza margherita.
Located at 1551 Main St., Bella Napoli sits next door to the landmark French café and bakery C’est La Vie, replacing Ama La Vita, a fine-dining Italian restaurant.
Bella Napoli favors warmth over pretense, with its intimate dining room and open kitchen brimming with laughter and, yes, the dulcet tones of lively Italian voices that make the atmosphere as charming as the traditional cuisine of their homeland.
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What makes Trattoria Bella Napoli in Sarasota stand out
Trattoria Bella Napoli, at 1551 Main St. in downtown Sarasota, photographed Jan. 7, 2025.
The newly opened Bella Napoli is owned by Cesare Di Iorio and Maria Filomena Perrini, with Di Iorio’s résumé including his most recent role as pizza chef — or pizzaiolo — at Osteria 500. The waterfront Lakewood Ranch dining destination landed on my 2023 list of best new restaurants of the year, an honor Bella Napoli will likely be in contention for at the end of 2025.
In addition to the outstanding food and prime location, Bella Napoli offers a cozy, inviting setting. Beyond the dining room, there’s sidewalk seating with two-tops strategically placed under the eaves and four-tops accompanied by space heaters, offering extra comfort this winter for Floridians prone to chilliness like myself.
The most welcoming aspect of Bella Napoli, however, is the impeccable service that begins the moment you walk through the door and are greeted by Diana Mattera, the host and wife of Chef Di Iorio. With him running the back of the house and her overseeing the front, they’re a delightfully dynamic couple.
What to order at Trattoria Bella Napoli in downtown Sarasota
Pollo alla cacciatora at Trattoria Bella Napoli in downtown Sarasota, photographed Jan. 7, 2025.
The trattoria offers a thoughtful selection of Italian wines, available by the bottle and glass, as well as imported and domestic beers to pair with its homemade pasta and wood-fired oven pizzas. Bella Napoli also features an array of appetizers and presents its dessert menu at the end of the meal.
If you have ever even considered the merits of white bean soup, be sure to try their zuppa di fagioli ($8.90). For another comforting classic, go ahead and order the beef meatballs with tomato sauce and fresh basil ($16.90) from the antipasti section of the menu. Both dishes were excellent during my recent visit, but my favorite appetizer — and, honestly, it could have been an entire meal — was the crocchettone. This beloved Naples dish features a large potato croquette with a crispy, golden-brown exterior and a hot, gooey interior, topped with savory ham and melted white cheese, likely a mix of mozzarella and possibly provolone ($16.90).
The primi section of the menu features two gnocchi dishes I’m eager to try in the near future, especially the signature one with zucchini pesto, stracciata cheese, parmigiano, and speck, served in a pizza basket ($28.99). The short rib ravioli with a traditional pecorino and black pepper sauce ($26.99) is another primi item that caught my eye, along with the linguine alle vongole ($27.99). A classic Italian pasta dish that hails from Naples and is a staple of coastal Campanian cuisine, it features linguine pasta with clams and light cherry tomatoes.
There are four secondi selections, and while my next visit will likely involve trying the scaloppina ($31.99), it will be difficult not to return to the simple elegance of Bella Napoli’s pollo alla cacciatora ($29.99). The bone-in chicken thighs were bathed in a succulent broth and topped with a medley of cherry tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, and olives. A countryside meal made with accessible ingredients, their version of “hunter’s style chicken” is quintessential comfort food.
Margherita with fresh mozzarella at Trattoria Bella Napoli in downtown Sarasota, photographed Jan. 7, 2025.
No trip to Trattoria Bella Napoli is complete without trying one of Chef Di Iorio’s award-winning wood-fired oven pizzas, made with Italian imported 00 flour — an extremely fine, powdery flour typically crafted from high-quality, low-protein wheat. The margherita we ordered, topped with fresh mozzarella ($19.95), checked all the boxes for Neapolitan pizza perfection: a light and airy crust with a slightly chewy texture and a crispy, blistered exterior, vibrant tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and aromatic basil. Bella Napoli serves more than two dozen pizzas, both red and white, and if I have my way, I’ll try every single one of them.
Just when you think consuming one more morsel will be impossible, the server will ask if you’d like to see the dessert menu. And, if you’re like me and simply cannot resist, go ahead and treat yourself to a delectable tiramisu ($10.90) that nicely balances the creamy egg custard sweetness with the coffee bitterness. Next? Perhaps I’ll try the fried dough strips with Nutella topping ($11.90) or the lemon essence sponge cake ($11.90).
Did you know?
Trattoria Bella Napoli also offers a lunch menu featuring enticing sandwiches like the Pizza Roll Zingara with prosciutto, mozzarella, lettuce, tomato, and mayo ($14.50) and the Panuozzo Caprese with cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil ($15.50). Other options include the Focaccia Mortazza with mortadella, ricotta, and chopped pistachios ($16.50) and the Focaccia Carpaccio with beef carpaccio, arugula, walnuts, and lemon oil ($16.50).
If you go
Trattoria Bella Napoli is at 1551 Main St., Sarasota. For more information, call 941-330-9200 or visit trattoriabellanapoli.com.
Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram and X. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota’s best new restaurant serves delicious Italian food
