Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant

Well, I had hopes for this meal, I really did. Let me dig out some positives… Got a parking spot right in front of the restaurant, which was packed. I made a reservation for 7:30. When we got there, we may have waited about 10 minutes to get a seat, which was very nice, and I thought to myself… maybe this will be a great experience.
When we sat down, the waiter, WESLEY, came over and took our drink order, but at that time we already knew what we wanted to eat as well, so he took our full order. He asked us since we got a small order of fried Mozzarella at $ 14.99, and a Large Supremo Italiano pizza at $ 26.99, if we wanted them both to come out at once, and we said yes.
When you’re waiting on your meal, no matter what you order, you should be given the complimentary bread, and that did not happen until WE had to ask for it! For the longest time, the waiter was nowhere to be found. There was another waiter who you couldn’t pull away from the other tables, and the waiter I had stayed clear from mine. This was a bit frustrating. I understand completely that people get busy, but you at least have the decency to check on your tables, every 10 minutes should not be a hard task. He was devoting his time to a larger table, but just because there is a table of 2, doesn’t make it right that you neglect them.
The fried Mozzarella was awful. It wasn’t hot and the cheese wasn’t even stringy anymore. The marinara sauce… omg…I ENCOURAGE you to change the recipe, add more garlic, herbs, and other spices… please!!! Your sauce is screaming for a foodie makeover!!! The sauce was so bland, and I’m sure came from a can, just like the roasted red peppers do, considering that our pizza sat on top of two Mancini Roasted Red Pepper cans. The pizza was crap, lacked flavor and had that same sauce on it. I know Italian food to have a lot of garlic. Why does this sauce lack the herbs and spices it needs? It’s almost like it was unfinished. As if someone started the base, but didn’t finish the product. To be honest I’ve had better frozen pizzas.
Ever since Planet Hollywood took over, this place has gone plum nasty! I remember it when they had fresh focaccia bread brought to the table, and it was hot, and you could see steam pouring from it. The sauce was better, just everything. A lot of people probably don’t mind the bland food, but I know a lot of people who can’t stand it anymore either, people I know, and a lot of people who review that I don’t know.
You have to listen to the people who voice their opinion, and not people who just want to complain about nonsense. I didn’t feel taken care of at this place. Wesley didn’t even fill my drink once which sat dry for 25 minutes and by that time we were ready to leave. I did add some balsamic to the pizza, and it helped it slightly, but it was still a very bland pizza. It’s like when someone doesn’t shower, but they spray cologne on, they are still funky!
I pray things change, and I hope it does for this restaurant. I have never felt so neglected in a restaurant, and for the waiter to come over after we were done to ask if we were full? You don’t want to know my real answer! He didn’t come over not one time to ask how we were doing, which is why he didn’t get a tip and I wrote that I felt neglected and not taken care of. I tip well… you take care of me, and you get a nice tip, but not when you neglect me for most of the time. Might I add, when we asked for some balsamic… I didn’t get the other name of the waiter, but he had high hair and glasses, who was in the same section as Wesley, when he actually was in the section… when we asked the other waiter, he seemed annoyed we asked.
A t least if the food isn’t good, the customer service and hospitality should be. I felt uncomfortable, and felt like I was a bother to even be taken care of, and all I was, was just another guest in your restaurant. I’m not happy at all about this experience, and I feel like I’m going to cut ties with Buca. The Supremo was crappo, and just simply all-​around a bad experience.
I don’t mean to be harsh, but then again, it’s bad to treat your guests this way. I hope for a better Buca. I do want to point out, the guy with the reddish beard, who I asked for the GM’s name that was in the bar as I was walking out, was very nice. I didn’t get his name, but he was very nice, and I appreciate that, so thank you.

Went for Sunday late lunch with my wife. Ordered frutti de mar (seafood) pasta linguini. Ordered it spicy and my wife and I split small order and still had plenty to carry home for a snack later. Love this entrée and will definitely order this again.

Great dining experience, the food came out super fast and was very fresh! Kayla gave great service!

So today we came to eat for my sisters Birthday and the waiter we had, «Josh «was not as great. We had to ask for bread, butter, water, and we had to clear our own table after we ate our appetizers. Since it was a party group we asked for our bills to be process separately and he stated that, «he was not a mind reader»… I’ve been coming here for eight years and never have been as disappointed like today, I come here with my family to eat and spend money to enjoy ourselves, not to get poor service and for someone to have a very bad attitude and have such un professionalism manners. I won’t say that I will be coming back anytime soon.

I’ve been here a few times, but my recent trip on a Friday at lunchtime had the nice surprise of having individual lunch portions to order. Because of this, I was finally able to try the Eggplant Parm and it was fantastic! Probably the best I’ve had. Thinly sliced and breaded. Yum! My husband got the manicotti which was delicious. Other meals I’ve had in the past were good, but this one took the cake!
Decent kid choices, but I’m surprised the kid drink wasn’t included in the meal price as most other restaurants do.
This place is family friendly, but the pace of the meal is always so slow. I don’t know if they do that on purpose, but a 2 hour meal with 2 kids is a little much (would even be a little long without the kids as we mostly are eating before other plans such as the movies, etc). My kids like coming here though and like the food.

Food is decent, but the wait is crazy. They need to stop over booking. Had a reservation for 6:45, still had to wait a half hour, and they were telling walk ins 20 minute wait. Why lie to people? I don’t understand it… all you do is make people mad. I would recommend they stop taking reservations. If everyone has a reservation, then no one does, it makes no sense.

Reservations here are just a suggestions. Why even bother going? This place is brutal, illogical and relentless. Reservation was at 6:45, ha! That was a joke!!. Front desk feeds you a line that your table is «being bussed»…35 minutes later you’re still waiting. While you wait, you just stare at a young girl who keeps taking reservations faster than you can say holly-​stretchy-​rubbery-​pasta.
One can’t help to ask the reservation gunslinger why keep taking reservations and no one can provide a logical answer other than «I don’t make the rules».
Bottomline is that the food is not worth the miserable experience of waiting in a crowed room and being lied to.

We celebrated my mom’s 86^th birthday here with 9 family members recently. I had previously called to say my nephew was surprising my mom from out of town and could they seat the 7 of us before the «surprise» came 15 minutes later. Their policy is not to seat the party unless the whole party is present and they were great about accommodating my request. I wanted my mom to be seated because I knew she should totally breakdown and she did! The staff was clueless, though, about not saying anything in front of my mom. It started at the hostess stand mentioning the surprise guest, then at the table our server twice mentioned who was getting the surprise and should we wait to order before the surprise guest came… right in front of my mom! Geez… way to ruin a surprise I was trying to pull off! The restaurant itself has many small rooms with tables, a table in the kitchen and the pope room which is a round table with a bust of the pope for a group of 10 – 12 people. The décor is great… pictures and statues everywhere invoking the Italian vibe. The food is served family style with a choice of large (serves 4 – 5) or small (serves 2 – 3) sizes. We had the fried calamari which had a spicy marinara sauce, the bruschetta which came in a large martini glass with grilled crostini on the rim, an antipasto salad, ravioli with meat sauce, veal saltimbucca, chicken stuffed with cheese and prosciutto and penne al la vodka. The food was fantastic and plentiful. The prices were fair, too. It’s a great place for a shared meal with family and friends. Just make sure if you plan a surprise to know the staff is clueless on how to keep their mouths shut in front of the group and not deal solely with the person who made the reservations. #Fail

I used to sort of like this location. A little too loud, room temperatures too chilly, nothing intolerable. Until tonight. We decided to get a glass of wine at the bar while waiting for our seats. For no discernible reason, the bartender completely missed my glass and spilled red wine all over the bar — and me. Okay, no worries, nice guy, these things happen. Then, when I did get my wiped-​out glass, it had someone’s lipstick stains all over it. I should have just left then.
We are seated. Shortly after, a couple of tables away from us, we watched one of the fine patrons lifting the bottom of his t-​shirt, revealing his fat, hairy belly. As if that wasn’t sufficiently beyond the pale of manners, HE THEN WHIPPED OUT A HYPODERMIC NEEDLE, AND INJECTED SAID FAT, HAIRY GUT WITH SOME KIND OF SUBSTANCE. AT THE TABLE.
Oh. My. God of Etiquette, banish this cretin from any public eating establishment forever. I mentioned the episode to our waiter, who offered a lame apology. And charged us for bread we thought came with the meal.
Also in the dining room were lots of young children whose clueless parents let them run around and scream. Usually, this alone annoys the hell out of me. I spent years gently educating my child to have good manners. It does work. But I would have tolerated the kids if the gut-​drug dude would have considered self-​medicating in the men’s room. Both: Toxic combination.
In other news, the tomatoes in the shared caprese salad looked like wagon wheels. For $ 15, I expected a much higher quality of vegetables, let alone five wimpy tomatoes barely covered with mozzarella. The salad is supposed to serve two to three people? No way.
In keeping with the faux-​vintage Italian décor: Add to the walls another Circle of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. I won’t be returning and I really, truly want my money back for the most disgusting restaurant experience I’ve ever had.

I haven’t been to a Buca di Beppo since… 2001 (eesh!) and it wasn’t this location. This ended up being our Pasta Plan B tonight. We were greeted warmly by the hostess and were seated immediately.
Our server was Kayla and she was great: personable, funny, attentive. She put in our salad and drink orders (hot tea, iced tea, water) while we were still deciding on entrees.
My friend and I ordered small sizes of:
Caesar Salad
Spaghetti w/​Meat sauce
Chicken Limone
Verdict:
Caesar Salad: 4
I mean. it’s salad; pretty hard to screw up! The lettuce was crisp and the cheese covering was adequate. I would have liked more croutons and dressing since it was kind of dry.
Spaghetti: 3
Meh. pretty plain/​basic. Again, I’d like more sauce, but I’m a saucy gal and am a fan of the stuff! The sauce had good flavor, but the sauceless noodles required a heavy dose of parm cheese and pepper for flavor. Good for kids though!
Chicken Limone: 4.5
This was my favorite; the chicken was tender and juicy (with a couple of coveted golden brown edges, yum)! The buttery lemon sauce with capers was a win.
Pre-​coupon total: $ 53. Like Barbra F. mentioned, they email coupons all the time! My friend had a $ 10 off and a 20% off birthday coupon.
Kayla encouraged us to hang around/​not rush, brought me a whole pot of hot water for my tea, and still checked on us after the bill was paid. That almost NEVER happens!
We left with full bellies and leftovers for 1 – 2 meals. So glad we ended up here after original plans were diverted.

Dinner for 9! Nice atmosphere, excellent meal. Price worked out to be roughly $ 31 plus tip per person. Very pleased!

I am a huge Italian food lover and I hear all the time that Buca is not good, but I have to disagree… My family has been coming here for as long as I can remember and every time I come here I leave happy. The chicken limon is fantastic and the rosa pasta… don’t even get me started. The only thing that stinks is that they don’t have a lunch menu and the portions are large which comes along with a large bill. I also really like the atmosphere there… its dark, cozy, and unique and the servers give you a hard time (in a funny way).
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I haven’t posted a Buca review… that feels hard to believe!?!
I love Buca. The hubs and I used to come here often before the Nugget was born all the time. This is a very casual Italian restaurant that serves enormous portions of food. Come hungry!
Food: Decent Italian food, not fancy, not gourmet, just good old fashioned food… the kind your Italian Grandma would make. (minus lime jello) I highly suggest you order a few entrees and share family style. Mangia mangia. My mouth waters thinking about Saltimbocca, Marsala, and linguini clam sauce. The green beans are surprisingly delicious and the salads are always delicious.
Décor: Again, think Italian Grandma. There is stuff all over the place. The women’s room even has old advertisements for undergarments and stuff… so funny. This place is like a museum of old stuff.
Seating: If you have a smaller group, reserve the kitchen table. There is a booth in the kitchen. The chefs come chat with you and sometimes give you a little extra. You also get to say hello to the people walking in, which is hilarious! (especially after a few bellinis or chiantis)
Cost: The entrée prices are high if you consider them single serve… but they aren’t. One small entrée easily serves 2 – 3 people. There will be leftovers, which you will enjoy the next day. Get on their email list, they send coupons all the time.
They even offer a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. We did that one year, it was awesome. My baby shower was here and it was super affordable and the staff was so friendly.
I have been gluten free for several years but that doesn’t stop me from coming. There are some dishes that are gluten free. Sadly, no gluten free pasta. While they cannot guarantee there is no cross contamination, I have never had an issue.
The next time the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, come to Buca!

I’m very surprised that other Unilocalers had a similar experience as I did. I wasn’t looking forward to writing a semi-​negative review. Now, that I see I’m not the only one– I don’t feel too bad.
Quite frankly, I had very high hopes of this place after all the pictures online… Unfortunately, the food was less than stellar and pretty bland. I was very disappointed with the food and service. The bread was cold and the Parmesan cheese wasn’t good Italian quality. The Cesar’s salad was nothing special at all… My clients weren’t impressed with the food either. Which was overall a disappointment, after I spoke highly about it (from other people over years).
Our main entrée’s: #1-​Chicken Marsala w/​fettucini Alfredo was just mehhhh. The sauce was watery, and lacked the creamy richness you expect in a delicious Alfredo sauce.
The food was also Luke warm… Which really upset me, because the waitress took forever to bring it out! I regret not complaining about the food NOT being hot. I could tell it had been sitting on the counter for at least 15 minutes. Especially, since the waitress took FOREVER in bringing our meal!
Entrée #2– Chicken Parmesan with Pasta. This was pretty much the star dish. The chicken and pasta tasted good. Again, nothing spectacular. I believe our experience would’ve been enhanced, had the food been served HOT not Luke warm. The chicken Parmesan was flavorful; in comparison, to the rest of our meal.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend coming here nor consider going back. My experience wasn’t pleasant. The food was on the bland side and service could’ve also been better.

We had booked the kitchen table back in November and it was reconfirmed two weeks ago. When we got there we were told that we couldn’t sit there because they were using the table for catering I told them that I had booked it back in November and I just got a phone call two weeks ago to reconfirm that the woman apologized and said they would comp us for our food unbelievable the best Christmas present we’ve ever had.
Thank you

Excellent food! The setting is a relaxed family dining experience. The seating is pleasant; the dining area was divided into separate rooms so that you are not in a giant room with many people rather smaller groups. The food is well prepared and has great flavor! Treat yourself!

Right away when you walk in you get this feeling… is this planet Hollywood… just in little Italy???
Wait! Buca Di Beppo is owned by Planet Hollywood and you get the feeling right away. Tons of pictures and kisch all over every inch of the walls and the areas are all set up like rooms with crazy things (like the popes head) in the middle of your table.
We had never had dinner here before and really didn’t get lots of help from our waiter even after telling him this. He said all the portions are big. and they are you get a TON of food for the two person size.
We had starter of a combo of stuffed mushrooms (really good) mozzarella fried and calamari. the last two were really greasy and both seamed to stay in the fryer a little too long. They were extra crispy and dark brown, I now wish we would have sent it back asking for another plate it was so dark.
We had shared the lasagna and it was only so-​so the meat inside was odd and it did not have enough sauce around it, and a really good lemon veal dish that had great flavor but almost tasted like the veal was reheated and a build your own pasta with things that I got to pick in it. The build your own was by far the best tasting item. The pasta was fresh and the veggies were cooked just right. It had lots of garlic that we love. We had tons of food for leftovers as well.
Our biggest problem was we were still eating and another waitress started to vacuum with a shop vac right next to us. It was so load that I was going to video tape it and our waiter came in and the other table next to us complained with us. he went over and she stopped but it was really unprofessional.
Would we go back… eh maybe if someone else wanted to but it will not be a first choice ever.

Went here tonight with my husband for a nice meal out. Placed in a booth in the bar area — first mistake. It was so loud we couldn’t hear each other.
Asked three times for water before we got it. Also, my silverware came wrapped in a soiled napkin. Took three reminders before I got a new napkin.
Did not like the menu in that it requires you to order for two or four. Told the waiter we did not like that and he supplied a lunch menu instead. Order from the lunch menu but meals came back huge as in the dinner menu. In the end, the server took care of this which we appreciated.
However, the food was sub par — chicken marsala was crunchy around the edges and chicken parmesan was over done.
On top of all that, bus loads of hockey players came in which elevated the level of noise in the restaurant.
All in all, a sub-​par experience and we will not be going back there.

I’ve only been here for parties, but have been satisfied every time. The décor is a little over the top Italian, but it does provide for some good visual interest while you eat.
We had a party room in the back for my latest excursion here, and thankfully, a server offered to walk with us back there– there are tons of curves to navigate and I doubt we would’ve ever found it on our own!
Food was pre-​selected for us on this occasion with chicken parm, rigatoni with sausage, Cesar salad, bruschetta, and plain spaghetti and bread. I was a little late to the event, and never knew there was spaghetti, but they were gracious in bringing out extra salad for me when I got there. The chicken was crispy and with good flavor, and I liked the rigatoni with sausage pieces in it too. The bruschetta didn’t hold up that well– it was getting pretty soggy and limp by the time I could take some, as it rests in a huge martini glass full of tomatoes, but the flavor was pretty great.
Everything I had was satisfying, but not mind blowing. I enjoy coming here, but honestly wouldn’t think of it on my own if I wanted a night out with Italian food.

My friend just mentioned about this franchise/​restaurant in Indiana, I wanted to try this place out since I found it in suburbs, so I go here with no expectations. The place seemed sorta small from outside but oh man — was I wrongg !! This place is massive and confusing on the inside: D. The staff are über friendly and they were really good with answering all my questions.
The décor in the place was beautiful (posted some pics too) — wine bottled ceilings with so many pictures on the wall. I really liked that. Hah — even the bathroom had a lot of funny elements to it. BLOODY BRILLIANT I say :).
We started off with Spinach and Artichoke Dip — this was really good with some nice thin bread (like crostini I think it’s called). Personally I really liked this dip — lot of spinach in this so got the flavors I was looking for — Believe me I have all spinach & artichoke dip in multiple places — this is one of the top for me :). My friend ordered some wine — G1 Reunit Lambrusco — this was pretty good (I am not a wine person — so you can probably assume it’s good). We then ordered a SMALL Spicy Chicken Rigatoni — which was amazingg. Ohhh I loveeedd the sauce they had — cheesy and it was HUGEEE. The server was like it’s good for 2 — 3 people and both of us gobbled the entire thing up. Though at this stage — I was finding it hard to move. ;)
We then got a Tiramisu TO-​GO which was pretty good too. I loved the other desserts on the menu BTW. I think this is an awesome place to go for ambience/​décor and eating in a group. I would highly suggest this when possibly there is a group of 6 or so you can possibly just order an appetizer and 2 entrees with one/​two desserts. It does seem really FANCY and it is expensive but hell. QUANTITY IS HUGE AND IT IS SOO WORTH ITT: D.