In Italian cuisine, the size of the portions are often as important as the flavor, but the flavor has to be great to justify eating such a large traditional portion. At Ciao Bella, the portions and the flavor satisfy, to say the least. If you can brave an entire plate of say, Siciliano, Cioppino, Fettuccini Alfredo, Veal Saltimbocca, Chicken Picatta, Eggplant Parmigiana, or your traditional lasagne, tortellini, spaghetti or raviolis, then you will look upon your empty plate amazed at how much you ate - probably without saying a word. And if you can't get through it all, you'll still wonder how you ate as much as you did, but you'll be happy the next day when you see that shimmering to-go box in your fridge!

All this tremendous cuisine, all these traditional Italian dishes, and it all started in a little place called...Zamora, Micoacan, Mexico?

That's right, Jose Vega moved from Zamora to California at the age of 14 where he learned the restaurant business, literally, from ground up. Jose started out as the low man on the totem pole in some high-end restaurants in Southern California and the Central Valley, and always found himself rapidly moving up the chain of command, gravitating more and more toward the kitchen. While working his way up, Jose learned the business side, the serving side, and especially the chef side. Jose gained mastery of Italian cuisine, being influenced by many great cooks, including his own brothers.

Rafael and Alberto, excellent chefs in their own right (you can sample their work at De Vega Brothers in Manteca and in Stockton), took Jose under their collective wing and taught him everything they knew, often while working together at the same restaurants. Rafael, Alberto and Jose all owned De Vega Brothers restaurant in Manteca until Jose decided, now that he had seen the restaurant business from just about every angle imaginable, he should go it alone and start his own place in stockton, taking his younger brother, Hector, and older sister, Mimi, with him to help run operations of Ciao Bella.

Together, Jose, Hector and Mimi pack full houses regularly, going through about 20-40 veal entrees a day, and an astounding 50 gallons of marinara, and 60 gallons of meat sauce every week - all made from scratch! They also stock about 70 diff rent wines, plenty to accompany and enhance any dish on the menu. In fact, this past September 14th, Ciao Bella hosted a charity, full house wine dinner that was a huge success. 100% of the proceeds of the event were donated to Saint Mary's Dining Hall for this upcoming Thanksgiving where Jose himself will be to help serve the needy.

it took a long time and a long journey for Jose Vega (and his siblings) to get where they are, but, fortunately for us, the wait is over. Now all that's left to do is to go to Ciao Bella and order up something proper. You can even have Ciao Bella cater an event, and they even do carry out tray for those in-between occasions. Take in the opera music, take in the food, take in some wine... some more food.. some more wine... you get the drill.

Email Us! info@ciaobellastockton.com