So I got a marketing email from Bella Italia. Now my experience of Bella Italia is that this is a chain restaurant serving Italian food, in the main pizza and pasta.
So I was a little surprised to see these options promoted on their new menu.
Nachos, well not quite, but pretty much nachos and salsa.
BBQ ribs with fries, no attempt here to even Italianise the dish!
Hickory or Buffalo chicken wings, with pecorino cheese.
I kind of understand that they want to widen the appeal of the menu, but I personally don’t think this is the way. They already have burgers on the menu, so these add to the non-Italian choices available.
I guess they did some marketing, and people were saying (or complaining) about the limited menu choices for those that don’t like pizza or pasta. Though if I was going out to eat and I didn’t want pizza or pasta, I wouldn’t go to Bella Italia.
I also think there are lots of Italian dishes which aren’t pizza or pasta which could be on the menu. For example there is only one fish dish on the menu, there are lots of Italian fish dishes out there. I guess, knowing how these chains operate that cooking Italian dishes fresh to order isn’t how the kitchen process works.
I was just a little surprised to see American dishes such as wings and ribs on the new menu.