Bucceto’s Smiling Teeth

Aside from their brand name really creeping me out, I gave their pizza a shot because I was told they were really saucy and I enjoy saucy. Something about it just wasn’t cutting it like maybe I could have gotten it at the supermarket. They are fast and very friendly (all those smiles with their smiling teeth) so they are worth trying for their exceptional attitudes.

A friend turned me onto this place after I grew tired of other pizza joints in town (I eat a lot of pizza.). I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised!
The pizzas here are fantastic! The ingredients used are very fresh and they bake them just right. I recommend the campfire pizza and twice baked.
Try the non-​pizza items too, I loved the chicken picatta (spelling?) and the garlic cheese bread is divine.

My last two visits to Bloomington included a stop at this pizza joint. The crust is made in house and the toppings high quality and piled high. I am a meat lover so the Razorback is the way I went both times and I added spinach dip on one visit. Just a great specialty pizza shop that seems to do things the right way.

The food is decent for what you pay for. The service? The worst! Short haired, thick bodied server named Sarah, never stopped by to ask how our food was, or bothered to refill our waters. The worst service ever! It terrible that such a great food is ruined by terrible service. Will never come back if Im to be served by SARAH.

Excellent customer service. Friendly, fast, and good food for a decent price. Shout out to David and crew for gaining a Bucceto’s fan. Thank you.

Today I went here with a few friends. Even though there weren’t many people at the restaurant the server seemed a little rushed. After bringing out our drinks she came out with some bread. It tasted good, but wasn’t anything special. The first part of my meal was a Caesar salad. It was bigger then I expected, but the taste wasn’t out of this world. I ordered the chicken fettuccini alfredo, but instead was given plain fettuccini alfredo. I didn’t realize it until after leaving the restaurant otherwise I would have said something. Before leaving I was still a little hungry (probably because I didn’t eat any chicken…) so I ordered some bread. I was surprised to see I was charged for it when the initial bread was complimentary. Overall I’d rate this place as a middle of the road restaurant. It’s nothing special, and a little over priced, but will get the job done when you want an alternative to Olive Garden.

My wife and I were impressed by the extensive gluten-​free menu. We shared the gluten-​free artichoke spinach dip. It was very tasty. My wife’s meal came with a house salad which was easily large enough to split between the two of us. She had a low-​carb chicken dish which was also very good. We took half of her meal and half of the pizza home with us. I had the campfire pizza which might be the best pizza I’ve ever had. Food delivery was as expected. The only thing odd was that my wife ordered a glass of red wine and it was delivered chilled. The waitstaff was attentive and will definitely return.

My husband and I went into Bucceto’s last night for the first time and boy were we surprised!!! The food was amazing. I had the Rosemary Cream Chicken pasta dish. Not only was I served a large portion of pasta but also received a large fresh salad and garlic bread. My husband went a different route and got the Meatball Heaven Calzone and I swear it was as big as his head!!! The serving staff was incredibly helpful and knowledgable about the menu and were able to answer any and all questions we had!!! They were also very attentive! I don’t think our drinks were more than half empty. If you haven’t tried Bucceto’s yet then you definitely should.

The pizza is so good, the service is so bad! When it comes time for pizza, I always struggle with giving bucettos my business. On one hand, the food blows any other pizza in Bloomington out of the water. On the other hand, their employees are very short on the phone and often get my order wrong. I’ve even contacted management to let them know how consistently I have had problems with ordering. At the end of the day, I continue to order the Paparazzi pizza, because it is just so delicious, but I do so begrudgingly because Bucettos just can’t seem to get the service together.

I’m a fan of Bucceto’s Smiling Teeth. For months, when I moved to Bloomington, I drove by, confused by the neon «smiling» teeth lights in the window, assuming this (perhaps formerly) was a dentist’s office. It is not!
One night when Starbuck’s was too full, and a friend and I were hungry, we went next door to check out Bucceto’s. We were not disappointed. We both got calzones, with spicy sausage and mushrooms, I think. The calzones are gigantic and come with marinara sauce on the side. The meal was very good, and we each took some home. The waitress was friendly and let us stay there (using the Starbuck’s wifi) to study awhile longer after we finished our food.
Another time, some friends got the pizza catered for their graduation party, and, again, Bucceto’s did not disappoint! As others have mentioned, there are a variety of interesting toppings, including a BBQ one and another with goat cheese that I fondly remember.
Today I went back with some friends, and this visit was the topper that made me decide to write a review. We had emailed coupons — be sure to get on their email list when you visit — with a $ 3 off $ 10 in honor of Bucceto’s tenth anniversary. To get to $ 10, I ordered an appetizer in addition to the $ 7.40 lunch special that includes a slice of pizza, salad, and a soft drink. I got the bacon and cheese pizza option, which was very bacon-​y, very good. With the lunch special, I understand there is always a meat and veggie option that changes each day. The salad that came with it was good. The white cheese on it had more flavor than I expected, and the ranch dressing was a little peppery, which I enjoyed. The appetizer, however, I would not order again. It was the sun-​dried tomato bread, which had way too many sun-​dried tomatoes on it. I didn’t know that could be an issue, but it was. I took some home and hope to use it in some kind of leftovers. Both of my friends got calzones and appetizers too. Our favorite appetizer was the scamorza, which I highly recommend. It has smoke mozzarella and toasted bread to drip in the garlicky sauce with the tomato mixture. Yum.

Had an awesome lunch. Lots of options for vegetarians and really good topping choices for all Italian dishes.

Not sure what to say except that it’s not the most terrible food I ate.
The pizza was kind of doughy and tasted like something you would get at Domino’s.
Just an average to sub average restaurant. Not much of an atmosphere either or at all.

I have been to both locations and feel the same about both: AMAZING! great food, friendly, clean, very reasonably priced in my opinion, love their easy carry out! Obsessed with their bruschetta and goat cheese ap :)

Bucceto’s was some of the most disappointing pizza I have ever tried. It tasted like a frozen pie one could buy from the grocery. The sauce wasn’t flavorful, there was too much cheese and worst of all, the crust tasted like cardboard. Go elsewhere instead.

The food wasn’t their best, but what was the WORST was the waitress, Sarah!!! She needs to be retrained on how to serve WITHOUT her fingers in our food/​drinks or our to go containers. It will be a while before I’ll go back and will make sure NOT to get her.

This place deserves mad props for readily accommodating TWENTY ONE people in our group from Penn Running Club at 5:30pm on a Friday! The national intercollegiate running club track meet and half marathon championships have been in Bloomington the past two years, and both years we’ve come here the night before our races for awesome, affordable Italian food. Thanks again!

Went for lunch. The place was only maybe half full but the wait staff and kitchen were totally behind (not enough people working I guess?) Took over an hour for us to have lunch here.
The sausage and meatball I had with my lunch special spaghetti was great. I had it with angel hair though, which was probably a mistake. There was almost more tomato than noodles in the bowl. Couple teaspoons of crushed red pepper did wonders for this dish.

We had just dropped our son off at IU for summer swim camp, and discovered that Bucceto’s would be catering their dinner for the next week. We figured, what the heck, let’s see what his chow is going to be like for the next five days days. Well what a wonderful surprise! In a word, AWESOME!
We started our meal off with an order of Scamorza. I know, what in God’s name is Scamorza??? Well, this wonderful little appetizer consists of smoked mozzarella melted over tomatoes and herbs, and served on toast (with a dipping sauce). I was in the mood for something new/​different, and this came as a recommendation from our waiter. It was not a disappointment! One of those things I’d have to get on every visit!
My wife had the Spicy Diavolo… a linguine (in this case, served with shrimp), covered with a spicy sauce… very much resembling a vodka sauce. The waiter stated it was very spicy, and often, too hot for many of the patrons. Well that was all we needed to hear. Unfortunately, that aspect was a bit disappointing. Don’t know who those patrons are, but they are total wimps! So, even though the spiciness (or lack thereof), was not what we had expected (or hoped for), the dish was still quite excellent! The sauce had a (very) slight bite which complimented the shrimp nicely.
I had a «make your own» calzone and it was great! The dough/​crust was just right and the contents (sauce, cheese, toppings) were consistent throughout! Hey, this is a vitally important aspect to me when it comes to calzone! I absolutely hate cutting and eating through inches of dry crust just to reach a few forkfuls of sauce, cheese and toppings! Bucceto’s calzone did not leave me high and dry! The sauce was very nice and the price ($ 7.50 — as I recall), included up to three toppings. In my case, I had them plug this bad boy with hot Italian sausage, jalapeños, and mushrooms. Mmmmmm mmmmm good!
The ambiance leaves ALOT to be desired. Basically a big, open room with tables cluttered about. The lay-​out is basic and uninviting. But the staff was friendly and accommodating. We were heading back to St. Louis and needed to charge phones for the trip, while we ate. They gladly identified a both that had a nearby receptacle, and reseated us so we could have comm on our drive home!
They offer both low-​carb and gluten-​free menu options, if that’s your thing.
The next time I’m in Bloomington, I will definitely stop in for another calzone!

What do you expect? It’s alright Italian food from an alright chain.
The service was good, but the pizza I got was nothing special at all. There are better options in Bloomington.

Being Unilocal Elite does not mean I get Elite service everywhere. In fact, I don’t even tell restaurants that I’m Elite; that’s too tacky.
Perhaps this would have made service 100% better at Bucceto’s tonight, though. My sister and I came here, craving some pizza/​pasta. It was not busy at all when we arrived.
Somehow, our waitress «forgot about us,» even telling us to our face that she had forgotten. Oh yes, honesty is good, but how can you tell customers that you «forgot» about them? The whole night, the service was just terrible. We should have asked for the check after her comment, but we decided to stay and try the food still.
The food was only ok: the bruschetta appetizer & the complimentary garlic bread were paltry in portions. Five little pieces of bruschetta for $ 5? I’d say «that’s fine» if we had been at a more upscale place. But this just looked plain stingy.
The pasta primavera was tasteless and dry; the meatballs we got on the side were also too big (and slightly pink/​disgusting).
Only redeeming factor of the food? The pizza. We chose the small «Twice-​Baked» pizza, and it was fresh with dressing and potatoes on top. My sister said that it was one of the best pizzas she has had in Bloomington so far.
Summary:
Service = 1 star
Food = 2.5 stars
Average = 2 stars
I’d have given only 1 star, but part of me feels slight sympathy for the server (and she also comped most of our meal for us…). However, if given the chance, I would not come back here again with how poorly we were treated. I was still starving after we left the restaurant because I lost my appetite with the heartless service.