Biella, where art thou?
I went to Biella at Marina crescent today for lunch when to my surprise I found it had closed. According to a Krispy Kreme employee, Biella closed down and will open up again in two months time under new management. I didn’t think there were any problems with the place while it was open. I was frequenting it on a weekly basis and its one of my favorite restaurants in Kuwait, their seafood dishes are extremely good and they aren’t stingy with their portions at all. Anyone know what went wrong?
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May 31, 2007
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36 Comments, add your own...
1. extinct dodo | May 31st, 2007 at 7:17 pm
i strongly strongly strongly disagree with you. biella is most probably the crappiest italian restaurant to ever open in kuwait
2. Purgatory | May 31st, 2007 at 7:26 pm
I went once and hated it, crappy food and service.
3. abdulaziz | May 31st, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Their food wasn’t bad, especially if you order the fresh pastas with cream. But i once took my sisters in law there who ordered some escalop with pasta recommended by one of their friends, and according to them it was YUCKY…. once my mother in law ordered a minestrone yet said it was v. bad??? Although my wife and i think the place is fine. Not bad, yet not earth shockingly yummy and the best italian food! When we were in Biella dubai in the Emirates mall, we had so much fun and the food tasted really good. So yeah i think its only a management problem ,,, there is somehting about its atmosphere or about the fact that when you go to marina cresent, you will find people spread everywhere except there… ALthough its outside terrace has the best view?
ALso it could be a matter of… hmmm how do i say thing in english? I dunno but when they say “arzag?” its just god’s will that they are not successful. At least they are waaaaaaaaaay bettter than prego which lasted for what a decade? Finally we got rid of it
4. abdulaziz | May 31st, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Finally we got rid of it goes to Prego not biella by the way…. Yet biella isnt as yummy as nino or lapiazza … they have some serious catching up to do with those two…
5. Mark | May 31st, 2007 at 7:44 pm
well i haven’t tried their pastas. i just tried all their seafood, appetizer i have the muscles, then for main course i just flip between all the seafood dishes. some really good stuff.
6. Adam | May 31st, 2007 at 9:18 pm
pomodoros…
7. Marzouq | May 31st, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Hopefully they will fix all the problems soon!
8. Delicately Realistic | June 1st, 2007 at 2:14 am
yeah its not bad…
oh well…
9. s | June 1st, 2007 at 3:40 am
what the hell !?
i love that rest.. i hope nothing changes cuz its seriously a nice place to sit and eat gooood foood !!
10. Frankom | June 1st, 2007 at 10:38 am
:: I was at mall of the Emirates and i tried it there and its not too bad at all. Few days ago i went my with wife to try it in Kuwait and i found they closed it without posting a letter !
11. dogbert | June 1st, 2007 at 11:44 am
I was once a mystery shopper at Biella’s and I remember giving them a thumbs down because of their quality:price ratio. (Food wasn’t all that great compared to what I was paying for it)
12. Frankom | June 1st, 2007 at 12:46 pm
:: Mark … check this out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvQTTPr9Rw
13. A1 | June 1st, 2007 at 1:07 pm
I heard Kharafi and Al Shaya were competing for the location, but that was months ago
14. tat | June 1st, 2007 at 2:34 pm
They’re closed for good.High rent,high overheads and too few sales - they’ve been in the red for a long time.They sold the space to Homaizi.
15. equalizer | June 1st, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I heard the place was for sale for some time. I guess the key money they demanded was very high so they hung on to it for a while. The food is not that bad but its nothing special either. I would preffer it over any other restaurant in the crecent if I’m looking for something light and fresh. I hope whoever took it will bring in something different, trendsetter and not a follower or a cheap franchise!
16. STING | June 1st, 2007 at 4:06 pm
they closed because they selling cat meat :p
17. some1 | June 1st, 2007 at 4:11 pm
the owner sold it to some1 else, not closing
18. Intlxpatr | June 1st, 2007 at 5:40 pm
The cook told me that the outside space was full during the good months of the year, but they didn’t have enough room inside for the hotter months. The cook is moving up to the Biella management team, and Biella’s is looking for a location with a higher indoor/outdoor ratio. I love Biella’s salmon, and their covered seafood pasta. They always used the best quality parmesan and olive oil. The cook would make spinach for me, the way I like it, as a side dish, even though it wasn’t on the menu.
19. shoosha | June 1st, 2007 at 7:26 pm
their staff sucks!!! i visited it 5 times probably and the waitresses suck!! they have a bad attitude! their not helpful in selecting good dishes from the menu and they always have an angry face !
20. Mark | June 1st, 2007 at 7:32 pm
wow, shoosha thats really the exact opposite of my experience with them. The staff were always very friendly and helpful with us.
Intlxpatr, yeah I loved their salmon, their covered seafood linguine, this other pesto pasta with this spicy red sauce and shrimps, their hamour with the calamari hmmm, it was all really good.
21. Mark | June 1st, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Btw, the biggest problem I had with the place was the seating section right when you walked in. Its ALWAYS bloody hot there in the summer, their AC was barely doing anything. I sat there only twice and hated the experience. Only when I started sitting inside on the blue sofas did my experience with Biella get better. Actually now that I think of it, the service in the inside blue sofa area was much better then the entrance seating staff. I guess the heat must have been getting to them lol.
22. Mark | June 1st, 2007 at 7:37 pm
I don’t like Nino that much. They have a really good hamour dish but the problem with Nino is all their dishes are very heavy. I always have a hard time digesting them..
23. Mark | June 1st, 2007 at 7:38 pm
here is a picture of the covered seafood linguine
http://www.248am.com/images/covereddish.jpg
24. s-star | June 1st, 2007 at 11:48 pm
I totally disagree with most of you, the place is great you just have to know what to order, their ravioli with cream sauce is amazing, and their calamari rocks, not chewy at all. the prices are worth it, but as for the service…meh…
25. Jafar | June 2nd, 2007 at 12:56 am
I know all the Owners ! Great guys & the manager a top Hotels consultant.The chef was great.food was not bad but it was not on the Cresent on the ground foor where people go actually to be “seen” Tat has the fact.It was too expensive to run ( the housing for the staff even included TV room,Gym,etc etc with all the benefits that usually not available to most workers in Kuwait.Not enough people considered it a fation to eat there like it is with Lorenzo !
Al-Humaizi Foods Co. purchased the location & the owners are happy to get out of it.Too bad
26. abdulaziz | June 2nd, 2007 at 1:50 am
Thats so sad… they treated their employees nicely with TV and gym and now those employees will have to look for somewhere else to work at with less benefits :( They were pampering their employees and all they got was bye bye biella and their employees thrown into the street… Maybe because they were good guys they didnt have luck on their sides…life acts up like that sometimes :(
27. zaydoun | June 2nd, 2007 at 11:58 am
Extinct Dodo… the prize for crappiest Italian surely must go to Johnny Carino’s. Or are we not even considering it Italian? Cos it really isn’t… it’s Italian via Texas, and yes every bit as awful as that sounds!
Biella… loved their outdoor terrace on a nice day. Pizzas were OK. Carpaccio was good.
As for the new tenants at the location… If that great Noodle place (Noodasia?) died to make room for bloody TGI Fridays… then I’m not very optimistic
28. Intlxpatr | June 2nd, 2007 at 2:46 pm
When we go to Doha, we hit all the Italian restaurants - no matter how good it is, it is all even better with a glass of red wine ;-)
29. george the 5th | June 3rd, 2007 at 10:34 am
the shop has been sold to a food company that will change it and add 2 new concepts (not now to kuwait ) but new to marina ,sad cause i used to love biela two (calamari and fresh pasta’s where one of the best in kuwait )
cheers ,u could still enjoy biella in dubai .
30. the real | June 3rd, 2007 at 12:41 pm
And I’m sick of hearing of Khrafi and Ghanim. As if the world will not revolve if they didn’t exist. Kuwait is sad and thats comming from a Q80.
31. Jafar | June 3rd, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Last night I attended the Italian National day celebration . Speaking about pastas wow !!! whoever the chef was he put all other Italian restaurants in Kuwait to shame !!
I still feel the taste !!!
32. the real | June 3rd, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Why do you all hold Kuwait to such a high standard? Kuwaiti is nothing more than another 3rd world backwards country with Oil, like Nigeria. Nothing special about Kuwait my friends. Its on par with most of Africa…….
33. thet | June 3rd, 2007 at 6:55 pm
i guess you have not been to africa lately….
34. ok go | June 4th, 2007 at 12:16 am
man biella had yummy mussels!
and the salmon was great too..
35. Dana | June 4th, 2007 at 3:01 am
Actually I heard the shop was sold to a member of the ruling family, and she also owns the chocolate bar. She’s going to open a new Italian restaurant. I don’t know if it’s the same..?
Anyway, I never liked it. I just ate there once, and never came back. The food and service were terrible. Oh, and the location… Where do I begin. I haven’t been to that Marina Crescent thing for like 3 years. TOO crowded.
36. Zack | June 12th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I don’t know what all the negative reviewers above are smoking, but Biella was the best restaurant in Kuwait! By far the best food, the atmosphere great and mellow….and a terrace that can’t be beaten…
Shame its closing…I’ll miss it for sure. This was one place in Kuwait which showed others the way it should be done, especially in terms of quality and freshness of food. Ciao Biella :(
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