Bella Union Restaurant and Saloon is locally owned and operated and open daily for lunch and dinner.  We were there to meet a friend from college for lunch which goes back even further than the restaurant’s 37 years.  Offering a full bar they are also known for their live music events.  The diverse menu had a number of Italian (including pizza) options and was supplemented by a large list of daily specials, which included local fish.  The large place was spread over many rooms and a large, very popular covered patio.  Some of the rooms were smaller which probably can be secured for small parties.  Service was helpful and efficient and most importantly, left us alone so we could catch up.  For such a large place I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food.  My husband really liked his fish and my sandwich was scrumptious.  Color my opinion only slightly by the joy of spending time with a long time dear friend.  It was a great lunch and one I’d recommend when and if you find yourself in historic Jacksonville.

Set-Up

Food

We started with Garlic Knots which are oven-baked pizza dough with olive oil, garlic, herbs and cheese served with marinara sauce.  The shredded cheese on top was waxy but the 6 balls of dough underneath were quite tasty.  The garlic topping was undercooked and had a bit of bitterness to it but that was easily rubbed off.  The marinara was good but covered the taste of the nice dough too much for me.  These were fine but not over the top and I suspect they’d make a good crust for a pizza.

The Butternut Ravioli were 5 ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese and herbs topped with a pesto parmesan cheese sauce and served with sautéed vegetables.  I got to taste one and the pasta was good but I didn’t care for the sauce.  There were a lot of nice fresh vegetables on the plate.

The fresh Oregon Rockfish was seasoned, floured and grilled with mini prawns and wilted spinach over Bella zoodles with sauce bearnaise.  The large piece of fish was nicely cooked with a tasty sauce.  The shrimp were also quite tasty.  It was a fine plate.

The Classic Reuben contained corned beef, sauerkraut, 1,000 island dressing, Swiss cheese on grilled rye bread.  It came with your choice of soup, salad or potato salad and I chose the clam chowder.  The large sandwich was well balanced and perfectly distributed.  Plenty of dressing coated the tender meat and sauerkraut.  It was one of the best versions of this sandwich I’ve had in some time.  The chowder was thick and creamy and filled with chewy clams and tender potato chunks.  It was also delicious.