Many of the meat items will raise the cost of the meal into my next price category, but this is one place where vegetarians can have an excellent meal and save money as well. One example is the Manicotti that came with three pasta tubes filled with ricotta cheese and topped with mozzarella and red sauce (I hope I described it correctly since this came directly from the menu). What the menu does not describe is that this was a totally fresh ricotta cheese that certainly tasted home made, and made this one of the best manicotti dishes I have eaten. The red sauce was even more impressive, having a flavor I had previously experienced only on the east and west coast (although a couple of restaurants in Oklahoma come close). The chef's background from Italy was certainly evident here. If you think "red sauce" Italian restaurants have gotten somewhat of a bad name in the United States, Trattoria Bella Sera will go a long way to change that image.

Of course, this dish as well as many other meatless ones are made with cheese, so are not vegetarian as defined by some. I do not know if Bella Sera has any truly vegetarian dishes other than some of the salads, but the chef does some pretty good things with cheese at a level that I think few other Italian restaurants match. I would definitely suggest giving it a try.

Salmon and Shrimp Special

The restaurant offers daily specials that I think are repeated frequently. One was a Salmon and Shrimp plate that I sampled. Salmon is normally my favorite seafood but in El Paso shrimp is usually better, as it was here. Neither the shrimp nor the salmon particularly impressed me so that I would choose them over other dishes, but they were both about as fresh as can be found in the desert Southwest. Outside of eating it in Galveston I just have never been a really big fan of shrimp.

To me the best part of the plate was the Fettucini Primavera made with alfredo sauce and fresh asparagus (the fettucini on the menu has different vegetables than the one served as a side dish on the special). As good as the vegetables were, I thought the sauce was the main factor that made the pasta stand out from others I have tried. Alfredo sauce is usually my biggest disappointment at Italian restaurants, but I would not hesitate to order it as a dinner at Trattoria Bella Sera.

One of the many desserts at Trattoria Bella Sera

Quite a few desserts are offered, and I suspect they are all good. The restaurant has an espresso machine and offers various kinds of Italian style drinks.