Trattoria Bella Cibo (Margate)
***** Trattoria Bella Cibo, 5801 Margate Boulevard, Margate, Florida 33063, (954) 969-1100.
Got an absolutely terrific Italian restaurant for you…Trattoria Bella Cibo, located in a “bombed-out” Margate shopping center. I ate dinner there last Saturday night and I am telling you, that you gotta try this casual–reasonably priced–red sauce joint. For what it’s worth, I am going to rank Trattoria Bella Cibo right up there with the best that I had over the past 19 years down here in old South Florida.
Trattoria Bella Cibo- seats maybe 165 inside and another 150 outside in a canopied patio. The joint looks like something right out of New York City’s Little Italy…loads of string-lights and the right amount of tackiness to make it really–cool. A full bar and a humongous flat screen television add to the decor.
Like I intimated before, Trattoria Bella Cibo’s food is outrageously good. Last night, I “did” meatball appetizer ($11), fried calamari ($11), caesar salad, house salad, veal parmigiana ($18), shrimp picatta ($21), tuscan swordfish ($23), eggplant rollatini ($16), baked lasagna ($16), penne ala vodka ($16), linguine white clam sauce ($17), cheese cake ($8)… I seriously doubt that your favorite “mom & pop–red sauce” joint can touch Trattoria’s food. The portions are enormous…all of the dishes were good for 2 maybe even 3 people. Nothing for nothing, but my money says that this joint bakes its own bread and cakes, mixes its own salad dressing—there is nothing “commerical” about Trattoria Bella Cibo. Just so you know, entrees come with soup/salad–pasta side–and loaves of hot fresh Italian bread that you can dip in a delicious garlic/olive oil.
For footnote purposes, other than a small ice cream display freezer—the joint doesn’t have another freezer. When I was there, owner/chef Tommy was all-over the floor– he seems to enjoy meeting-feeding his customers. On the service front, my party had an excellent waiter-Matt. The guy knew every dish cold and never let water or drink glasses “get” empty.
At this stage of the game, do yourself a favor and check Trattoria’s website www.trattoriabellacibo.com for menu/prices. By the way, the joint also has a real-nice entertainment schedule of singers, bands, poker, comedy acts—when I was there, Frank Wilson, the terrific lead singer of Motown Philly Express was entertaining the crowd with hits from 1950s-1970s.
Another beautiful thing about Trattoria Bella Cibo–your tee shirt/shorts ensemble works here.
You now know about a “must try” Italian joint that’s got you covered with pizzas, pastas, calzones, to gourmet-class— meat/seafood/chicken entrees.
Trattoria Bella Cibo is open, Sunday 4pm-9pm, Monday 11am-9pm, Tuesday-Thursday 11am-10pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm.
Jeff, I have eaten at Trattoria Bella Cibo. You are 100% correct the food is outstanding. Great pick.
Check http://www.southfloridadines.com and http://www.restaurant.com both have great discounts on this one.
Excellent food.
Jeff Eats: Long time reader. Have eaten in a number of your favorites and in general you are spot on. Just curious, I have eaten in Frankie & Johnny’s on Oakland Park Rd. Loved it. This new Trattoria one sounds very similar. Which one is better in your opinion?
RFD: Just had a chance to ready your post.
To answer your question, Trattoria Bella Cibo is better. That said, Franky & Johnny also has delicous foot and terrific ambiance. I enjoyed both joints.
Thanks for reading…
Jeff,
I have read in your blog that you are a big fan of italian ice. Have you tried the new Ice king of Welligton yet? It’s real authentic ice, the owners ship it in from the infamous Lemon Ice King of Corona in Queens NY. I have found myself to be a frequent reqular there.
Hi Jeff, I would love you to try Bella Vita Pizza at 11010 wiles road coral springs . I owned vita italian restaurant for 30 years in cooper city and we have now moved north to coral springs. Thanks . Joe
HI Jeff, I would love you to come and try out my 10 month old restaurant Bella via pizza @ 11010 wiles road coral springs. I was the owner of Vita’s in cooper city for many years and sold it 3 years ago and opened in coral springs. Hope to see you there soon. Regards. Joe
My husband and I have eaten in Trattoria Bella four times over the past 5 months. Each and every time we had terrific meals. What looks like an ordinary neighborhood pizza restaurant isn’t. The food is top quality and is as good as restaurants that get double and triple the price. We highly recommend this one. By the way, Jeff we are really glad that you found this one. This way others will hear about a terrific restaurant.
Jeff: You have had some really good calls over the years. I have enjoyed trying many of your finds. I am going to try Trattoria out this coming weekend. It sounds like it could be something special. I live close by but never heard of it until this morning. One of my favorites is GG’s Of New York which you wrote about in July 24, 2008. How do they stackup with each other? Thanks. Jim H.
How’s this joint’s pizza?
Everything they serve there is outstanding, not just good. What really impressed me, as someone who has owned more than a few restaurants, was that the owner/chef Thomas was out front the entire time I was there, and his staff was still able to crank out such incredible food. Thomas might be just as good in the front of the house as he obviously is in the kitchen. My daughter-in-law is pregnant and there was nothing on the menu she could or wanted to eat. Thomas came over to the table and asked her what she would like. He called out one of the cooks, told him what to make, and she ended up with something she absolutely loved. Believe me, after you eat there you will never trust a skinny chef again
Hands down one of the best around.
The food is delicious.
Makes the rest of the mom & pops look like amateurs.
Jeff not only are you right about this restaurant but when I went there with my family we also had Matt as our waiter and he just made our time even better. I recommend this place to everyone and you must ask for Matt as your waiter……you will have a GREAT time.
trattoria far superior to others. a must try.
Jeff, there is an old saying “IN A LEAGUE OF IT’S OWN.”
Well, Trattoria Bella Cibo is a league of it’s own.
Fantastic food and service.
Glad you are getting the word out.
Best meatball I’ve had, Mortarano’s in Ft Lauderdale. How’s this joint’s?
Jeff: Big fan of your site. Really enjoy your writing style. Something very Bugs Bunnish about it. Your picks are often right on the money. My wife and I and two other couples ate at Bella this past Saturday night. All I can say is that this has to be one of your best calls. The food was outstanding and the restaurant has a really easy going cool vibe to it. Thnaks for this one. We will definitely be back.
Really enjoyed this one.
Good food and a fun atmosphere.
Delicious food!!
Jeff, been reading you for years. You’ve got some real nice picks. Trattoria Bella Cibo is one of them. You hit the nail on the head on the ambiance and decor. I was born and raised in Brooklyn New York. This place reminds me of many of the restaurants that dotted the Bayridge neighborhood I grew up in the 50s-70s. On the food front the fried mozzeralla, meatballs, veal parm etc are delicious. The bread home baked has a forcacci flavor and once you eat a piece you can’t stop eating more. Great cheesecake.
What a great find.
Thanks,
Linda S.
Jeff Eats: Trattoria Bella Cibo is a rare find. That’s all there is to say. If you don’t try it at least once you won’t know what great food you are missing at pizza joint prices.
TERRIBLE…. I have to say, I was so excited to try an Italian restaurant close to my house with such good reviews. This place is terrible. The salad was so over dressed, the waitress brought my wife the wrong main course and when they did bring it the pasta was over cooked and mushy. I had the linguine and clams because you said they it was good… What are those “clam food” strips on the top? Is that even real clams? There were maybe 5 tiny clams in a white, creamy type of sauce. It was by far the worst wanna be clam sauce ever and it was also so bland. Someone who appeared to be the owner asked if we wanted a box for basically all of the food, as we ate very little and I declined. He looked a bit puzzled….Neither he nor anyone ever asked us how the food was. My wife wanted to tell them the food was not good and I told her if they don’t care enough to ask, I don’t care enough to tell them. No wonder the place was 20% full (at best) at 7:30-8:30 PM on a Sat night. I would not recommend this place if you want “real” Italian food. The hostess was very friendly, that was the best part of this place! If I did not have a restaurant.com cert I would have asked for my $$ back. I am not sure if I went on a bad night or the people who wrote good reviews know the owner and are trying to boost business or just don’t know good food.
hey rob, my wife and i ate there last week and found the food really good.
sorry rob you are wrong here. the food is excellent. you are probably use to the regular old mom & pop pizza joints’ food.
ROB: You must be kidding! My wife and I have eaten here 4 times and the food each and every time was delicious.
What an amazing restaurant. My wife and I have been there seven times since Jeff turned us on to the place. I have never eaten in a restaurant where everything is outstanding each time. The only complaint I ever have is that the pasta is overcooked so I make sure to tell the waitress that we like it al dente.
jeff, they got a great $10 dinner before 6pm deal. soup or salad and entree and pasta, dessert.
i had meatballs and they were excellent.
never would have found this one without you,
one of the best veal parm i’ve eaten.
Can’t believe that one or two who comment didn’t like this restaurant. My wife and I and two other couples had a great dinner and enjoyed some great background music the other night. The food is delicious. the service is as pleasant as can be. The prices are right.
Very good food and service. Like Jeff said, it looks like something right out of NYC’s Little Italy.
Jeff also had an amazing pick with Greek Food. Checkout Chri’s. It was awesome.
ate there the other night, food is delicious.
Jeff:
Trattoria Bella has to be one of your best calls.
Since your recommendation my wife and I have eaten there four times, twice alone and twice with our teenage kids. Let me tell you, our kids liked it, so Trattoria must be doing something right, because these three are the biggest pains in the ass when it comes to eating out. They raved about the meatballs, pizza, veal parm.
Thanks for this one.
Happy Holidays.
The Silvermans
over the holidays tried this recommendation.
one of your best calls.
delcious food.
This is a terrific restaurant. I’m originally from Queens and it reminds of many of the small Italian places on LI.
Wife and another couple tried last night.
Really enjoyed talking with Tommy the owner.
Very good food.
Will be back.
jeff, food was ok. nothing really great.
Sometimes good and sometimes not so good.
Great bread.
Service a bit sloppy.
Most of the time, a notch or two above a good neighborhood pizza joint.
really good.
loved the veal parm.
They make too many substitutions for ingredients that they run out of w/o asking…cherry tomatoes on pizza b/c they ran out of sun dried tomatoes…incorrect salad dressing, burnt garlic pieces on pizza instead of pressed garlic…and on other times, wonderful pizza. Some of the staff very under experienced. It could be great but they need to work at it!
Really enjoyed this one. Delicious veal parm.
Delicious pizza.
Never would hav ever found this one. Needed GPS to find this off the track shopping center.
You can’t beat their early bird specials. you get a whole meal for under 10 bucks.
delicious food.
Delicious food at the right price.
jeff, i got a sneaking suspicion that the “veal” used in the parmigiana dishes etc, isn’t really veal. i suspect that it’s either pounded pork or pounded beef. once you bread coated and fry it up it is very hard to tell the difference. that’s the way they save a ton of money not using the real thing and the customer is non the wiser.
love the food here.
love the ambiance.
tommy runs a great restaurant.
very inconsistent. sometimes good sometimes lousy. you just got to hope you catch a good night.
From: MARTIN RUDNICK
Subject: BELLA CIBO CHEF TOMMY
Message Body:
WOULD RECOMMEND RESTAURANT ABOVE IN MARGATE FOR THEIR WED LUNCH BUFFET . $6 INCLUDING ICE TEA FOR GOURMET FOOD
didnt care for the food.
From: kyle
Subject: bella chibo margate
Message Body:
Could I get you to review cafe vincenzo in the same spot where Bella Chibo use to be in Margate? The former owner of Bella chibo (Tommy) started getting cheap, using premade dishes that were just heated up at serving time and the food got so bad that no one went there any more. A new owner bought the restaurant after chibo shut down and the new chef is simply amazing. The food at cafe vincenzo puts chibo to shame and it should be reconized for such feats. It has stirred up some of its own business, but most people think it is tommys resturant with a new coat of paint. I live around the corner and I would hate to see the place close