Jul 31, 2022 3 min read

An Upper St. Clair restaurant steeped in tradition has a new name.

The former DeLallo’s at 91 Fort Couch Road is now known as Bella’s on Fort Couch.

Tony Ruozzi and John Mayerchak purchased the restaurant from Dave DeLallo almost four years ago. The DeLallo name was prevalent for many years, but the new owners only had the DeLallo naming rights until Oct. 10.

With that in mind, Ruozzi said the decision was made to get a jump on the name change.

“We decided to go gradual, introduce the new name, slowly putting it on menus, dropping it to our regulars, letting them know, just getting the word out there,” he said. “Come the busy time of October, November or December, it’s no longer a concern. It’s the new name and we’re moving through.”

Ruozzi, who lives in Belle Vernon, added he hopes new signage will appear on the restaurant by the end of August.

“We just want to let everyone know it’s the same owners as the last four years,” he said. “We’re keeping things the same. All we had to change on the menu was a few names. It’s still the same items. It’s still the same ingredients and the same staff. We’re very fortunate to have the staff stay with us. That’s going to be our tagline for a while – same staff, same owner, new name.”

That staff includes Reggie Taylor, a chef who has been with the restaurant for more than 30 years. 

The moniker for the new restaurant comes from the name of Tony’s only daughter Bella, who just completed her first year of college. 

“We thought that it fit well with the Italian food that we have,” Ruozzi said. 

The official name of Bella’s on Fort Couch was tabbed since there are a number of places that already sport the name Bella’s.

Recent times have been tough on the restaurant business, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Ruozzi said there is a lot of pride in the product that the restaurant now known as Bella’s on Fort Couch has provided and continues to provide.

“We take pride in our cooking and our ingredients,” he said. “With the current economic situation, we haven’t cut corners with our food. We haven’t reduced the sizes of our product. The same ingredients have been going in there for years. When our items go out, we not only want them to look and smell nice, but also taste the way they should.”

Ruozzi said the beverage selection has increased and new booths have been installed in the bar.

Bella’s on Fort Couch is open 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 4 to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. It’s closed on Mondays. 

“It’s a daily struggle, but we’re staying as price-conscious as we can,” he said. “It’s a little rough at the moment, but we’ll muddle through, and it will be fine. We’re definitely putting capital into the company. We’re staying for the long term. We made it through COVID. We survived and we thought we came out in good shape and are very, very grateful to our guests, clients and patrons over the last few years for helping us out, being understanding and knowing we’ll take the steps to give them a good product.”