Mercato Stellina

Overall - Awesome

10000 Main Street Bellevue WA 98004
425-732-6611
Tues-Sat 4:30PM-6PM
bellevue.mercatostellina.com

Menu Variety - Awesome

Mercato Stellina offers four of their eight appetizers on happy hour. They also offer all 11 of their pizzas in a personal size for $10. Unique food offerings. Only two beer choices in bottle, no beer tap.

Food Quality - Awesome

We ordered:

• Polpette Meatballs - $10
• Prosciutto Di Parma Pizza - $10
• Salsiccia Pizza - $10
• House Red - $6

The best pizza we've had in Bellevue. Delicious meatballs with a generous amount of great-tasting marinara sauce and three pieces of toasted bread for dipping. Thin, Neapolitan-like pizza sans the soggy crust. We've been here both by ourselves and with guests. It's fun to get different types of pizza and share. We've been here many times and had other pizza offerings, all great.

Service Quality/ Friendliness - Awesome

Very friendly service. The co-owner, Drew, always greets us and makes us feel special, even if he sees us walking by the restaurant on our nightly walk. Servers are attentive and responsive and open to conversation.

Noise Level/ Ambience - Good

Noise level registered between 68 and 75 decibels. Background music played 60's and 70's music, could have been a bit softer. One TV played with no sound. The restaurant is very small, with a total interior seating capacity of 35 including seats at the bar. Outside seating during warm weather adds another 28. It's cozy with an authentic Italian feel and decor with lots of wood and candlelight. The full bank of windows faces Main street, adding to the fun vibe. When we got there at 5PM we were the only ones there. By 6PM every table was full. Make a reservation for the best chance at getting a table. They're only open Tuesday-Thursday 4:30-9PM and Friday-Saturday 4:30-10PM. There is a parking garage near the restaurant, otherwise there is parking on Main Street, which is usually a challenge; there are other retail parking lots around or you could park at the Downtown Park and walk to Main Street.

Value - Good

The personal sized pizzas are $4 less on happy hour, the meatballs $5 less. The bill comes with an automatic 20% service charge included. We talked with Drew about the reason. He told us that for him to split tips across all service staff Washington state law requires that he tax the service charge. He also indicated there is a way to opt out of the service charge and leave a traditional tip. We understand the rationale for doing but prefer to determine a tip amount on our own.