Bella Italia

One of many restaurants around the world with the name “Bella Italia” – this one, in Kaunas, offers… surprise, surprise, pizzas and pastas. Each time I’ve been to Kaunas (that would be three times, as of the time of my writing this) I’ve eaten here. The pictures will be from the most recent time (January 2, 2008) but the most memorable time would have been my first time there in July 2006.

From my blog entry:
http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/11938/Kaunas-Lithuania-Kaunas-13

“the [pizza] I ordered was called "Mexicana". I about died when I first took a bite, it was SO spicy hot. Ieva smiled & told me that when Lithuanians want something hot, they like it HOT. I told her I was pretty well versed in spicy foods, but this pizza wasn't even really pleasurable to eat. She said she ordered the Mexicana many times, so we swapped a few slices. After her first bite, she started drinking some of the sauces on the table to cool her mouth down (oh, by the way, when you order pizza in central Europe, there will be extra sauces on the table to poor on top of it). Apparently the Mexicana was not made as normal that day & neither of us felt quite right for the rest of the night. Our theory ... Ukraine was in a very close match with Italy, probably one of the cooks was so enthralled with the match that he didn't notice what he was doing.”

…anyway, I didn’t let that experience deter me from trying it again, and it actually is a pretty good place to grab a pizza in Kaunas - I only mention this story for the anecdotal aspect of it, not to keep people from going there. They switched from offering Kalnapilis beer the first two times I was there, to Utenos beer now.