Bella Pizza Brings Mediterranean Fare to Rosemount

A new restaurant in Rosemount offers a solution to the common lunch and dinnertime dilemma of what to eat.  Its multi-ethnic menu boasts such a variety of favorites that it keeps customers coming back to try more.

Bella Pizza and Mediterranean Cuisine, which offers an extensive selection of popular Italian, Moroccan and American cuisine, opened in August at the downtown Rosemount location formerly occupied by Big Daddy’s Diner.

Owners Karimi Abdelmajid and Khalid Benlamlih have been friends for seven years – and since both are originally from Morocco, they offer plenty of what’s deliciously new and ethnically different, alongside old familiar favorites like hoagies, cheeseburgers, pastas and pizzas.

Abdelmajid, the former owner of Dominick’s Pizza in Inver Grove Heights, moved to Minnesota from Philadelphia six years ago, bringing a well-rounded Italian restaurant background. His business partner Benlamlih formerly owned the Casablanca restaurant in Savage.

The new restaurant offers pizza with an authentically chewy New York style crust – the result of Abdelmajid’s years of experience working with Italian chefs from various regions of Italy. He said he also enjoys reading the latest culinary books and watching the Food Network, constantly researching and learning new ideas.

Rosemount Patch sat down with Karimi Abdelmajid to learn more about what makes his new restaurant unique.

Rosemount Patch:  How has business been, these first few months?

Karimi Abdelmajid:  It’s been going good – everybody [comes in to] try it, and they come back… For me, when you give good food, good service to the customer, that’s what’s important.

Rosemount Patch:  There are lots of pizzerias in the surrounding area. What makes Bella different from the competition around here?

Abdelmajid:  Seventy percent of our food here is made [fresh] every day. There are two [most important] things – good quality for food and service. Always, I like to do business for [a] small community [and] give them a family atmosphere. A lot of places nearby have liquor stores; for me, I prefer not to carry liquor. I want to give customers something different…I prefer family restaurants. Always I say to customers, support small businesses. They are always clean…and we eat here [ourselves]. Sometimes my wife stops by and we have a meal together, so we eat the same food that we serve to our customers.

Rosemount Patch:  You’re not just a pizzeria; you offer Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. How did you think of that?

Abdelmajid: For us, [we] always [like to try] something different – good to try [new foods]. There was no pizza in Morocco [before], and now there is a Pizza Hut. When I see a new [type of] food, I like to try it. I didn’t see any Mediterranean food anywhere in Rosemount. In downtown Minneapolis, you could find [strictly] Moroccan [restaurants]...  [but] here, it’s hard to focus on one food specialty. So, we have Italian, Moroccan and American.

Rosemount Patch:  So what are some of your most popular items on the menu?

Abdelmajid:  They like the stromboli, the Philly Cheese Steak, the gyros – people love them here –and the Bastille [Moroccan apptetizer] and couscous.

Rosemount Patch:  It looks like you have some authentic cultural décor here – can you tell us about some of them? about the decorative small table [in the dining area]?

Abdelmajid: A Moroccan traditional table – a small folding table that always stays in one corner, and it’s used for entertaining family or close friends - [has been placed in the dining area.] [A] plate with [a] cover is often used to serve cookies to family with green tea and fresh mint (on the menu). For women, this tea has been found to help prevent breast cancer; they drink it a lot in China and have much lower numbers [of the disease]. The bowls are used to serve soup (such as Lentil or Harira, a classic Mediterranean soup, both on Bella’s menu).  Harira is a classic Mediterannean soup with beef, lentils, rice and chick peas in a spicy tomato base. Those seats on the wall are actually for the table – they are soft, pillow-like, filled with cotton.

Rosemount Patch:  What are some future goals that you have?

Abdelmajid:  We want to add a patio and tables outside… maybe open another location – possibly in Farmington, and I like Lakeville, too.

Rosemount Patch:  Is there anything else you’d like to add or say to the Rosemount community?

Abdelmajid:  People really should support small businesses – [they are] not like a big chain. For us, it’s hard to compete [with them]. You take care of yourself and your family and serve the same food as to the customers. We take good care of our place and our staff; we have four or five staff, [and] almost all of them live in Rosemount.