Bona Roma Little Italian Eatery

Amazing place amazing people there amazing food I cannot say enough about this place small like a family and that's the way I think it is they treatly you like a family and cook the most amazing food

Great little place to have some pasta. Recommended by a friend and did not disappoint. Good food, service was excellent. We will return.

Spooktacular Pizza! Amazing Service.super quaint vibe. A Bowness treasure indeed. Thank you. #yycfoodie

Responding to owners response: unfortunately my review is based on the food. There was nothing to remake…. It wasn’t made incorrectly, it’s just how your restaurant makes it. We weren’t about to say “this is gross Italian food! ” So my review is based on the food and how it tasted. Hence the 3 stars.

Service was excellent. Our waitress was extremely friendly. Food was unfortunately sub-par. We started with the bruschetta, it was chopped up tomatoes soaked in vinegar. We ate the bread it came with, and left the 'bruschetta'. My husband got the calzone, and myself and my grandma got the chicken parm. The chicken parm was extremely dry, hiding under thick layers of cheese (hard to find the chicken). The lasagne and spaghetti we got on the side of the chicken parm, was bland, nothing special tomato sauce. Basically noodles in canned tomato sauce.

Service was great, food was horrible. Boston pizza type food. I would not recommend if you are looking for Italian food.

My girlfriend and I got two giant plates of pasta after a long day. Really hit the spot. Tasty and good quantity.

We had take-out from here our first night in town and it was very good so we came back two days later and ate in. Cute little joint with truly excellent food at more than affordable prices. The hostess/co-owner was super friendly and made sure we were looked after like we were family. Meanwhile her husband was in the kitchen making some seriously delicious food. Do yourself a favour and have the lemon chicken linguine and a Neapolitan pizza, you won't be disappointed.

What a fantastic gem! The food is great and very reasonably priced for the portion sizes. We had salads, pastas and pizzas but I would say my favourite was the Melinzano - fantastico! Although we didn't have any dessert, they gave our kids freezes on a hot July 1 and anyone who has kids will agree, that's something they will not soon forget. It's not a huge restaurant, our party of 8 was pretty much half the seats, so I would recommend a reservation with a larger group. But they were doing a decent amount of takeout and the location is ideal to slip in and out for that. Highly recommend for any occasion.

We haven't been treated so well in a restaurant in *such a long time. Wonderful family place, delicious food, very affordable. Gluten free pizza was absolutely delicious and they really wanted my friend, who has celiac, to follow up if she had any issues because they switched over crusts and they are dedicated to making sure this is something that works for folks who fight those battles. Definitely give these folks your business!

The reason it’s a one star was because I watched the Citynews on screen about your eatery tipping tonight January 30,2023
Using bare hands while making pizza (like grabbing a bunch of shredded cheese onto pizza) is unsanitary!
Wear deposable gloves in kitchen when handling food please!
Doesn’t matter if anyone says they washed their hands before handling food!
Copied:

It has been shown that washing with plain soap may actually increase the shedding of particles carrying bacteria from the hands by a factor of up to 17-fold (Meers and Yeo 1978). Bacteria and other types of microbe on the surface of our hands can be transferred to other surfaces that we touch.
I rest my case

Doesn't look like much to look at, but the food was AMAZING! The prices were also really great!
We live out of town but if we were ever in that area again we would definitely come back!

Just had another excellent dinner at Bona Roma. Pizza was fantastic and the service was perfect. Met the owners and had a nice chat and can see why they have a great business.

Hands down best service and food I’ve had in a long long time. You can truly taste the love that goes into the food and how much they care for their customers! As soon as we walked in to pick up our order my 10 year old daughter immediately says I like this place it has good vibes. We were greeted with friendly faces and beautiful smiles. Thank you for a delicious dinner!

I really enjoyed the cozy vibe here. The service was exceptional, as was the food. One of the best Ceasar salads I've ever had, in fact! The Hawaiian pizza was divine - the crust was. I'll definitely be back!

Wonderful local eatery. Dedicated fryer for celiac. Delicious gluten free pizza. Staff are wonderful. Good thing we don’t live closer or we’d never cook at home!

I always get the chicken fettuccine Alfredo and Caesar salad from here and it’s always delicious!

This is literally one of the best pizzas I've ever had! Got the vegetarian pan pizza and it was so delicious. Service was efficient and friendly. A great experience! We are sad we are only in town for the day and can't squeeze in another visit!

It's not bad but it is definitely not authentic. Margherita pizza used shredded mozza and beefsteak tomato slices instead of roma or san marzano tomatoes, basil was clearly there but not noticeable. Minimum tip selection was 15 percent too instead of 5 like most other places.

A staple go to place for a good non chain pizza! Prices are reasonable and the fact they keep a record of your order makes calling in to order a breeze. Staff have always been very helpful willing to explain any specials that they have and how long it will take to pick up.
Can recommend 14inch house special and 8inch special…good for the price.
Ordered some anchovies too and they gave us a couple on the house as they were running out….
Have not experienced dining in but always seems to be a steady supply of customers.

A cozy family restaurant specializing in Italian food. Great vibe, acceptable taste, and fast serve. The portion of pasta was ample, and they served all pasta dishes with garlic bread. There was a girl who worked there who was nice but she seemed in a hurry to end the service soon, making us uncomfortable.

I’ve had takeout here twice and it’s been really decent! Nice pizza and pasta at a reasonable price.

Had a pepperoni pizza and pizza fingers last week and it was delicious. The girl on the phone had a good laugh with me when I couldn’t figure out how to explain that I wanted “pizza fingers”. Will be returning soon!

Best Pizza in town! You need to check it out next time you are ordering your pizza night! Best staff, truly a great experience every single time!

We truly love Bona Roma. It is our go to pizzeria! Not only is the food amazing, but the owners and staff are lovely. We are pizza lovers, so we typically get pizza - and it never disappoints. Mhmmm, oh and did I mention the melinzano salata? Deeelish! I would highly recommend this wonderful family owned restaurant to anyone looking to order in. Bon appétit!

Bought the rocky pizza and a gluten free pizza for the Girlfriend and they were delightful.
Just ove $50 for both. A little on the high side i found but they were good eats.

Absolutely love Bona Roma! The food is always amazing and the staff is incredible. Family run business and you can tell they truly care about their customers and the community. Im rooting for you guys every step of the way through this pandemic as I know this has been incredibly challenging for the restaurant industry. Especially the local family run businesses. You have mine and my families support and we hope people realize how hard you’ve been working to make everyone happy through all of this! ️

One word! AMAZING! Definitely a must try! This small Italian restaurant is family run and owned. It’s adorable inside and out and serves up the most delicious pizza and pasta. Do yourselves and this family owned business a HUGE favour and go and try it out! They do pick and delivery as well and it’s been great through Covid! Go support them, you won’t regret it!

First time here, my son's 9th birthday and he wanted to try somewhere different. And everything were so delicious! Best calamari we had and their Rocky Pizza yummmm! The crust for a pan pizza is thin and crispy. Just delious! My son enjoyed his calzone. And the host, she is very sweet. She just left us enjoyed our dinnner. But she is always attentive to our needs. Must try if you are in the area. Or order delivery.

A very sad lasagna. Just over-cooked pasta, flavorless sauce, ground beef, smothered in cheese. No ricotta or spinach. Overpriced for what tasted like mall-foodcourt fare. I’m typically in favor of supporting family-owned local businesses, but when the quality is this mediocre and the price this high, why bother?

First time visiting this restaurant and was blown away by the quality! I can't believe I found a pizza place that actually has green olives! Super fresh and so obviously made by people who know what they're doing! We'll be back for sure!

Pasta was a soup. No lemon. Salad super under dressed. Tried to contact directly to no response owner more then made it up to me and was delicious. I offered to pay he said no and delivered himself. Gotta say best pasta ever.

Excellent pizza, we've tried countless places in the city, and this is top 5 for sure. Don't hesitate, give it a try, you won't regret it.

We ordered on-line a Hot One Pizza and the Tuscan Calzone.both were exceptional Delivered hot and delicious. Our food was well prepared and the ceasar salad was excellent. We will definitely be ordering again and recommend this Calgary classic.well worth it!

Ordered through Skip the Dishes. It was over an hour before the app said the restaurant needed more time. I finally called and they said it would be another 30-40 minutes as they hadn’t yet prepared our order AND they were out of one of things we ordered. They said they had turned their Skip The Dishes tablet off because they were so busy and the order shouldn’t have gone through. They also said they have their own delivery drivers and we should not bother with Skip the Dishes, next time.

My brother moved close to COP about a year ago. He tried this place and liked it. We both like good pizza so he suggested we order from here the next time I visit him. We did. Pizza was great and had a lot of toppings. The past few times we’ve ordered here I have noticed that they are putting on less and less toppings (especially the 3 topping meat pizza I ordered). My brother noticed this too. Plus the last time we ordered from here the pizza was overcooked. The dough was hard and the cheese was very thin and dry. I am always willing to pay more for quality pizza, but we have been disappointed the past few times ordering from here. We have some very good pizza places where I live (Atlas pizza, Dover pizza) and I will probably order from them next time and take it to my brother’s place. I tried to give Bona Roma my business but they can’t seem to deliver a consistently good pizza.

Ps. After reading a previous review about running out of toppings, I encountered the same issue. They ran out of ham.
I’m not sure how this happens but a manager/owner needs to take responsibility and not make excuses. Surely someone would check inventory in the morning before opening, no?

My husband ordered for us online and after an hour of us waiting for the food (the entire time it said prepping our order and that the deliver person was waiting), they decided to cancel the order then their phone continually went to user busy when we tried to call. Not only extremely frustrating as we waited for so long, thinking our food was coming, but disappointing as we wanted to support a local business but we won’t ever attempt to eat from here again.

They were really friendly and service was great. Our personal preference is for a different style of pizza and toppings. (Edited)

I read a lot of reviews about the pizza and ordered one (pan fried). I was blown away by how low the pizza’s quality can be. The dough is very dense and heavy. The pasta is just unflavourful. My expectation was that it should be better than dominos or papa John’s, but it is half as good as those, which is a shame. Not sure why it is this pricy if it can’t even match what others offer. In the menu card, the pizza is supposed to have 5 meats, but got only 2. Definitely do not recommend. I understand the establishment is a family run, but it doesn’t preclude them from putting out atleast a decent quality of food.

Small location, but awesome food! Ordered Chicken ceasar salad, another salad, 12 inch pepperoni and 8 inch cheese pizza. All of it, wonderful. Pizza was full of flavor. The kids loved the salads. Would definitely go back.

A group of us went for dinner recently. We had a great time. We started with some great appetizers and we also tried some of their new appetizers and they were delicious. Meatballs, chicken fingers, chips and bolognese dip, and pita with eggplant dip. We ordered a couple of pizzas which were the cherry on top. Great meal and great staff. Thanks for a wonderful meal.

The caesar salad and pasta dishes that we ordered were all amazing and the staff working were so friendly. Definitely will be going back!

So good! Good portion and really good deal with Groupon. Definitely hidden gem! Better than some Italian restaurants in downtown.

This is a cute little date spot off the highway and family run, there was no one else in the restaurant when we ate and the service was good! I give two stars because I wasn't in love with either of the dishes we had - margarita pizza and mushroom herb pasta. And they had run out of all but one dessert on the menu and one off menu.

Cannot say enough good things about this establishment! The only thing more incredible than the service and atmosphere is the FOOD! From start to finish everything was phenomenal! Their pizza was the best I have ever had, the appetizers were mouth watering, and the dessert is to die for! The staff are polite, efficient and hilarious! Cannot wait to come back here again! If you are looking for a down to earth, homemade, delicious and enjoyable dining experience you must eat here!

Food is great. Very cozy environment. Authentic Italian food. Good desert menu. Portion size is filling and ingredients were high quality. We didn’t get to try pizzas so that is for next time.

Fantastic place, definitely why we look for smaller family restaurants. Great food and fair prices. We loved chatting with the owner, she’s a fantastic lady.

Lived in Bowness for a little over a year and only just had a chance to try this little place out. Small little place that seems more popular for takeout than eat-in. Bonus for us as we had the restaurant to ourselves to enjoy a quiet meal. Food was good not great yet left feeling full and satisfied.

Chris and I went to this restaurant based on the reviews recorded. What a great place to eat. First class, friendly service and excellent food. Well done Bona Roma.

No detail is missed on this pizza pie. From the perfect sauce to the crunch of the crust with no shortage of toppings. The kids always ask to go back. Thankfully it is nice and close

Hands down best lasagna ive ever eaten.friendliest staff you can come across, the atmosphere was comfortable and cozy, great food for any age any taste bud.give them a try, you wont be dissapointed!

Fantastic little spot! I love a pie that is exactly what you wanted and the the price is great.
Staff was the best, my 82 year old grandma was so happy for their extra attention to her.
We’ll be back!