Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant

What a disappointment! My husband and I live a half mile away from this restaurant and I have been telling him how good Buca is and that we needed to eat there. Finally last night, my husband agreed to have dinner there. We were promptly seated in the bar area, initially they were going to seat us in a small two top, the place was virtually empty so we asked if we could please have a booth. Which the hostess grudgingly allowed us. Our waiter, Adam stopped by and asked us if we wanted to order drinks and an appetizer. So we said yes, we ordered a glass of wine each and the small caprese which was 15.00 for five slices! What? We also ordered a small salad and the chicken rigatoni Nero style. Our waiter acted like he was too busy to pay attention to our table. We snagged him and asked for bread, which he said he would bring later because it was in the oven. It’s dinner time, why wasn’t the bread ready? When he finally brought the bread he left it at the edge of the large table and left a small bowl with merely a splash of olive oil and balsamic. And also left it on the edge of the table where we couldn’t reach it. We had to go around to the other side to bring the bread and balsamic in front of us. We had to chuckle because there was only enough olive oil and balsamic for each of us to dip once. Our waiter was MIA so my husband got up to go get more. The bartender saw him and kindly said that he would get more for us, which he did. We only received one plate each that was to accommodate our appetizer, our bread and our salad. We were surprised that we had to use the same plate for all three. Our waiter made cursory walk bys without stopping to check on us. When our entrée arrived, we were presented with clean plates. Items were dropped at the table without even an acknowledgement of our existence. The Chicken Rigatoni had good flavor only because we asked for it extra spicy, but the pasta was not done and there was so little chicken included in the dish. We literally had one or two bites if chicken each on our 23.00 chicken rigatoni entrée. When our bill was presented to us, and when I say presented, I mean dropped on the table, we were shocked. We each had
of wine and they were 15.00 each; we did not expect that. This meal totaled out at 91.85, not including tip. We decided even if we didn’t eat the leftovers that we sure in the heck were taking them with us. We asked for ‘to go’ containers and they were literally thrown on the table. I had to laugh because I was so shocked that our server couldn’t be bothered to plate our leftovers in the containers. We still each had wine in our glass, so again we weren’t going to leave that liquid gold behind, so we sat and finished it. I have been to a couple of different Buca Di Beppo’s before and had good experiences, however this location was horrible and I will never ever return here or to any other location. Way overrated when food is not the quality of the price charged and when the service is so bad that you actually have to laugh and not get mad. The only light was that the bartender, Jason was helpful and friendly. Perhaps he could give Adam a few tips in service.

I’ve been here quite a few times and the service has been fun — but today, the hostess was very un inviting. I waited up front longer than usual, was never greeted with a smile, then was expected (rather asked) to follow her through the kitchen as she walked (quickly) and pointed at things and mumbled whatever they were. The actual lunch service and waitress was fine — but, if it was based on first impressions — I would have walked out.

This place has really decent food for a chain, and is very nicely decorated. Its fun to look at the funny pictures and figurines– you never know what will be next to the table where you’ll end up sitting. It’s really more for families or groups than for couples. Portions are huge, the cocktails I’ve had were good, the dessert I tried was only ok.

Celebrated Mother’s Day and the food was good but as you know for the money you have to pay for large portion and know you will take some home. Very disappointed that when we got home we realized we left our food on the table. They through it out $ 45 worth, but would not offer to replace it. It’s spaghetti Really. Makes me sad.

Came in at 7:30p. Ordered a bottle of wine. Then he took our order, which was a small order of lasagna. But also ordered mozzarella and tomato basil crap, which was $ 15.00 for 5 slices of each. With no balsamic vinegar to put on it. Waiter comes back and said they are out of lasagna. Really! It’s a Italian restaurant, for God, help them. So our bill was $ 58.68 for just a bottle of wine and appetizer. We left no tip, for what? We didn’t get silverware to eat our appetizers. Or napkins. Never again even with a Groupon. I tore that shit up. Cause not going back. I left the half bottle of wine behind cause I was so pissed. Bar service not even better. Waiting for a table.

Food is a little too salty overall. Waiter service is just ok. I usually tip well, but with my server I almost wanted to leave zero because they kept trying to get me order more food than I actually needed and barely checked on my table, and I ended up getting no refills. I will probably come back for the food. surely not to this location though.

We used Buca di Beppo for 2 big swim team dinners during a team travel trip to Chandler, AZ. They were awesome! We ordered food for about 45 people for 2 nights.
Lori is the sales manager, and she was extremely helpful. After we placed the order online back in September, she called and emailed to introduce herself and to make sure I had her contact incase we needed it closer to the trip. Then, she reviewed all of the dishes to make sure that they would be okay for the 3 swimmers on our team who have severe nut allergies.
The order was delivered on time, with the plates and serving-​ware that we requested. Everything ran smoothly, the food was great, and the service was better than most of my catering experiences.
I have used this business in Chandler in years past and the service was nowhere near as good as it was this year. I believe that Lori is new and she made all the difference in making sure that we had a great experience.

Way over-​priced! The food is pretty good, but no better than some of the other Italian places in town. We ordered a large Cesar Salad and paid $ 25. We could have gotten the same amount at Oreganos for $ 11. Our total bill was $ 162 for 6 adults and 3 small kids. I would have paid $ 100 — $ 120 at Rigatonys for the same meal.
DO NOT BRING KIDS, for all the nudity on display. I enjoy full frontal nudity, like everyone else; but, not when I have my grand kids in tow, and certainly when I am trying to enjoy a meal. I was hoping that everyone else, at our table, wouldn’t notice the 8×10 painting of a women leaving nothing to the imagination. But, after a while, they did! I would’ve switched tables or left the restaurant; but, we were into the first course before I noticed, plus, it was too late having kids there that night.
It’s no wonder that the place was practically empty on a Thursday night, when other places are so busy.

I haven’t been here in a while. Been trying other places. But I was pleased to see that despite they being a chain that the food is still good.
The ambiance is unchanged. Very cluttered. It’s supposed to feel like a basement, and it does.
Service was good. We built our own pasta dish, which was a nice option. Their meatballs are enormous. Nice seasoning, good sauce. We also had an order of calamari, and they still cook that perfectly. It’s always tender, never chewy.
If you want Italian food Buca continues to be a good option.

I went to Buca for the first time with my boyfriend last night and I loved it, it was so good! We had an amazing server named Peter and he was such a great help for recommending good dishes to us! We started off with the garlic cheesy bread and it was so good, and had he delicious chopped antipasto salad, than went into our fettuccini Alfredo with chicken and that was so good, and of course we had to finish up with the cannoli for dessert which was amazing! Definitely very large portions but that makes it all the better because you get leftovers! Can’t wait to go back again!

This place is always a hit with friends. Warm atmosphere with stereotypical Italian pictures of mobsters and celebrities. Service is always good and food portions are plentiful. Have yet the have anything on the menu that I didn’t like. Great fun place to eat!

We decided that this year, we would go out for Thanksgiving dinner instead of the usual. Made reservations for 9 @ 4:00. Got there about 15 minutes early, so expected to wait. We waited till about 4:20. We were seated next to the rear door, so there was a cold breeze every time he door was opened (they were using the outdoor patio to increase seating capacity).
We finally ordered our meal. After a fairly long wait, our food was delivered. What a disappointment. Turkey was dry as a bone. One tiny dish of cranberry dressing, and a small serving of potatoes. There was stuffing under the turkey that was terrible. Who thought that anise would be a good seasoning for turkey stuffing?
The only thing that I would call «good» was the potatoes.
I have spent Thanksgiving on a destroyer off the coast of Beirut, and that dinner was far and away better than this mess was.
The cost for this «culinary adventure»? $ 295 for 9 people.
Never again !
Buca is passable for their Italian food, and I mean just passable. I grew up in an Italian house, in an Italian neighborhood, speaking Italian. I’ve owned and run Italian restaurants. I’m still the partial owner of one of the largest private Italian restaurants and clubs in the world (over 35,000 members). It’s hard to impress me when it comes to Italian fare. There are very few that I would call good Italian food, Buca is not one of them.
BUT, stay away from these people for Thanksgiving dinner. I made the mistake, don’t do the same.

Not big on reviewing chains, but I really like this place. The atmosphere and staff are what did it for me; I like the deep Italian American feel of this place, with the pictures on the wall depicting the feel of the old country with the garnish of Americana (pics of Sinatra, Hepburn, stuff like that). Staff is ultra-​nice and they give you a tour of the kitchen so you can inspect its cleanliness before you even eat; impressive, to me.
The food’s not the best Italian I’ve ever had, and the price is kinda high, but it’s definitely passable in the taste dept. Plus, like I said: The atmosphere makes it.

We went in on a Sunday evening for a huge business dinner. We probably had 15 – 20 people. All of the staff was very helpful. The food was good and the cheesecake was to die for! But one server in particular stood out. Christina was helping us during the dinner and afterwards when a few of us stayed at the bar. She was fun, friendly and Knowledgeable!!! She was very attentive and made us feel at home. Often when receiving service in a restaurant you will feel like the server is only there to do their job (because that’s all that is required) but Christina went above and beyond and made us feel like she enjoyed being there and that our company was not only welcome but appreciated! We will come back just for Christina!
P. S. I think the staff should get to wear costumes on Halloween because they are awesome and it would be fun!

Large crowds can be confusing but the food was great and our large crowd enjoyed the evening. They did a good job keeping our orders straight for about 25 people. I enjoyed my dinner very much I thought it was the best food in a long time. Only thing was they could have brought out some butter for the bread, but they did so when we asked.
Great job to the servers here! We are repeat customers and come here for after Taekwondo Tournamemt dinners as a large group. We keep coming back for a reason!

Christina is a gem! From the moment I locked eyes with her when she greeted us at the table. She was attentive, kind, generous and most of all patient. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was fun and casual. We will be back 100 more times.

I have been to many locations in various states, it used to be a favorite restaurant but this is the last visit. It has changed since being sold and in my opinion, not for the better!
The garlic bread was a half of a round loaf with slices of garlic on it cut into wedges, now it is just slices of bread with garlic butter.
Our evening started off fine, we sat in the bar in hopes of watching the Cardinals game, it wasn’t on but we asked a manager and he changed it.
Our server, Helena was attentive, but a bit too familiar, calling everyone Loves, Honey etc I feel this is unprofessional and it is uncomfortable. She wss bringing our carafe of red sangria which was full of ice, too sour from the citrus and knowing how much I can drink and feel it-​1 glass of wine, i assume it was not much alcohol! We had 2 cups of minestrone and the packages of saltiness stunk horribly! We gave them to the server, she never brought more!
The two managers, bartenders and some servers decided to loudly argue about shifts and performance in the bar, in front of everyone at this time! Very unprofessional!
We were still eating our soup, which was hot but average, when the pepperoni pizza and baked rigatoni arrived. The pizza was very greasy. The rigatoni could have had more cheese and sausage for the price!
At this point we were eating, a couple tables got up and left, including the one next to us who ordered a salad and green beans only, then complained that their salad was too small to be a large and they would only pay for a small, so the manager fawned all over them! Helena was AWOL! The bartender was sloping buckets of water from the mop bucket onto the floor with the sanibucket, a bit nasty! We stopped eating and still no Helena, a minimum of 15 minutes, I think more, we were done, needing our food wrapped and our check! She seemed to be very grumpy, maybe the manager yelled at her about the salad! She took the pizza to wtap, didn’t come back, didn’t come back… we were going to get dessert but decided not to! She finally came back, packaged the rigatoni and brought the check.
Neither manager EVER said Hello, mentioned the horrible, stinky crackers, etc! As we left, the bartender seemed frustrated. I think the earlier conversation and whatever went on in the kitchen rolled over into the dining room, spoiling our experience, which is very bad management!
The food is not as good as it used to be and with the change in the garlic bread and getting rid of the Sambuca chocolate sauce, there is no reason to go back!

Unique and cool Ambiance. A bit corky, but great seating that gives you room. I recommend that you sit in the kitchen at least once. There pastas are okay, calamari is good. Their stuffed shells are very good. Service is slow, but it is meant to be a place where you can sit, talk and relax. It is suppose to be a bit slow.
Overall, good. Above average food, great ambiance and descent service.

UPDATE: After posting my review I was contacted by someone from Buca di Beppo corporate who asked for my contact information to discuss my visit. I promptly replied and never heard anything again. Apparently they really don’t care and just like to waste my time pretending. For that I change the 2 stars to 1 star, just horrible through and through!!!

this is the worst experience I’ve ever had at this restaurant. I am BEYOND disappointed and just plain hungry.
whenever we come to town, we like to come here because we don’t have one at home. I made a reservation and got here about 5 minutes early.
the first thing we smelled was an amazing garlic smell in the parking lot. unfortunately the closer we got to the front doors of the restaurant, the more it smelled like raw sewage. then we found out that we would have to wait because our table wasn’t ready. and they don’t have pagers so you HAVE to wait by the front door or you can’t hear the girl with the tiny voice call your name. so we had to stand in that smell for 45 MINUTES.
despite our reservation we waited almost an hour. we watched other people get tables and come out already fed in the time we waited. then when we finally got a table, they couldn’t accommodate our party of 7 so we had to split up just so we could eat. what was supposed to be a nice welcome meal to celebrate a friend coming to arizona for the first time has turned into «let’s eat and get the hell outta here.»
our appetizers were cold and our entrees were alright. when we ordered drinks there weren’t any clean glasses so we had to wait again. then we got nothing but a quick «uh sorry» about the entire thing from our hostess.
the one shining star in all this was out server, Christina. she was awesome.
but NEVER AGAIN. the star is for Christina. if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t give any stars at all. the manager needs to be retrained, the hostesses need a class on customer service and even that might not help.