Buca di Beppo

Obnoxious shtick chain Italian restaurant. Low quality food for people who don’t know any better served «family style» so that, while dazzled at all of the kitsch on the walls, people think they’re at a good place because of the massive portions.
I don’t care if you think you had a great time because you got loaded on white zin in the «Pope Room» and had them crate up the remaining food. You got taken!
There are thousands of restaurants better than Buca Di Beppo and those like it. Don’t waste your money here (by the way: not cheap!). Search Unilocal,do a little research and go elsewhere.

Great place to bring a group of friends or with your family. The food was amazing and generous portions made it even more enjoyable. With the 6 of us, we purchased two apps and 3 entrees which was more than enough food to pack and give to a homeless woman once we were done. One thing, don’t get the sangria, possibly the worst tasting sangria I’ve ever had.
The waitress was phenomenal, funny, nice, interactive and gave a tour of the kitchen and took photos for us. She was very very enjoyable and waiters/​waitresses should be more like her. Makes your night a lot more memorable.

Seafood Trio appetizer was disappointing. Fried calamari was not good — soggy and unappetizing. Pieces of calamari were strangely small. It was surprisingly bad, even by Buca standards — why would they mess up deep-​frying some squid? — but it was not crispy at all. Mussels are okay. Out of the three things in the platter, the shrimp was the tastiest, but rather salty.

It’s Buca… they’re all the same. Over the top decorations, pictures of naked women in the bathroom, Italian music, a giant head of the pope, enormous meatballs…
Figured Buca would be a good place to go on the eve of the Broad Street 10 Miler. Between three of us we split the large spaghetti and meatballs and a large garlic bread. The bread is pretty much crappy. I did have the garlic bread with the cheese once which I remember being a lot better. The spaghetti and oversized meatballs did the job between us. No it wasn’t anywhere near the best pasta dish I’ve had. But we left there stuffed. We even got the rest to go in case we saw a homeless guy on the street. We’re thoughtful like that… ;-)
Anyway, it’s been 4 years since my previous visit to Buca di Beppo and will probably be another 4 years till my next one… like some sort of crappy presidential election.
Oh, but it was nice that the waiter was very good about bringing us water. We must have downed like 15 glasses between the 3 of us.

Very good family style Italian restaurant. I am not all that familiar with this kind of Italian, so it was interesting. Unfortunately, there are only two of us, so there is SO much food. The waiter seemed disappointed because we were not buying as much food as the families around us… but I refuse to buy more food than I’ll eat and we were already had that covered.
Truly good food. I just wish there was less of it, believe it or not. but that is just how the restaurant serves… so it’s my problem, not theirs. Overall, I’d go again and I’d enjoy it. Leftovers are never a bad thing, either.

I actually had never been to this place, a chain restaurant known for gaudy Italian American kitsch and party size platters of food. Well the Philly location was a pretty quiet place when the six of us marched in. I just can’t find anything worth jumping up and down about. I mean I get it –it’s loud with all the Sinatra and Pacino pics but the food just isn’t all that grand.
Sure, the bruschetta was fine, with the chopped tomatoes on top. But I can’t recommend ever ordering the rest of the entrees again: a exceedingly sweet chicken marsala, an Aunt-​someone-​or other chicken dish with sun dried tomatoes that congealed quickly and had little taste; also a rigatoni dish that got gummy and had little flavor. Even the calamari, well, I think it was that –well it was OK but not out of the park fantastic. The wine, a Cabernet, was much too steep ($ 39) for the low quality of the dishes we had. It’s not that we ended up hungry. We just didn’t find anything really exceptional. The server tried to make things enjoyable, but we really wouldn’t ever revisit this no matter what city we were stuck in across the country.

For some reason the minute you stick a chain restaurant into the middle of a city the quality seems to get worse than you’d even normally expect from a chain. The restaurant is cramped – not just how close you are to the people around you but given the low ceilings and narrow hallways – and somehow even more kitschy than Bucas usually are.
We got there toward the end of lunch so it wasn’t really that busy. It was slow enough that apparently neither manager was in the building so we couldn’t even complain if we wanted to. The waiter that served us tried his best but nothing went right with the kitchen throughout the course of this meal.
We got the fried moz for the appetizer that, aside from the tomato sauce, had ZERO taste. The cheese was completely flavorless and watery and the breading had no flavor except for whatever it soaked up from the canned marinara sauce.
My partner ordered a chicken caesar with the dressing on the side so naturally they served the thing drenched in dressing. I ordered the eggplant parm. The plate came out with a large puddle of red water on the bottom of the plate so that after about a minute the bottom layer of the once-​fried eggplant was soggy from soaking up all the watery sauce (which basically tasted like crushed tomatoes).
Since the managers weren’t around, the waiter gave us a $ 5 coupon (which compensated for about half the price of the appetizer) and said he would ask the managers to comp my meal once they got back since it was basically inedible.
Even when the kitchen actually knows wtf it’s doing, Buca’s food is mediocre at best so when they don’t even get the service right, there’s really no reason to go to this location at all.

I highly recommend Buca Di Beppo. I loved it! Although the décor was rather strange, with intensely Italian and Catholic themes. Besides the décor, I thoroughly enjoyed the food and the environment. It was busy and a little crowded which I like cause people don’t listen in on your conversations. The food is served in family style so the portions are huge. No joke. Plenty for everyone, seriously. I had appetizer and an entrée and didn’t have room for dessert, although I really wished I had room in my stomach.
Make sure you make reservations. It’s really crowded and busy.
Overall, I was satisfied completely.

I’ve been to Buca di Beppo previously and in both cases, I recall too much food. Anyway, this time around, it was my friend’s girlfriend’s birthday. He had made reservations for the pope table (I’ve dined at the pope table before and it really creeps me out). But he had made reservations for 7:45 pm and our party was almost all there. They told us that the table wasn’t ready yet so I was under the impression it was being cleaned. Little did we know, they had allowed a reservation at 7:15! We waited almost an hour AFTER our reservations for this table. And they acted like they were not at fault! Such BS!
Finally after being seated, we ordered. The server was nice, and it’s not his fault anyway. It’s the stupid host/​manager that booked the table.
The food was okay. There was just too much cheese in all of the dishes. Seriously, it makes you feel like a pig shoveling goop into your mouths. The only dish I really enjoyed was the Chicken Saltimbocca.
As for dessert, we brought in an ice cream cake and asked them to take it out to defrost. Apparently defrost to them meant giving us a ruined melted cake… awesome.
Nothing really was worthy of revisiting Buca. The décor will give you nightmares; it’s just that creepy.

We attended a 7 year old child’s birthday party here — 26 kids and about 20 grownups in 2 separate dining areas. Service was amazingly smooth for a party that large and chaotic. All had salad (caesar or classic), bread and baked rigatoni. Kids got to «make their own» pizza” in shifts at the chef’s table in the kitchen.
Bucca is not the greatest food — but for a 7 year old’s luncheon party it’s a neat choice. The kids had a ball. The adults took excedrin.
Sasa and Kyle and our other serves were amazingly patient. Thank you!

LOVE LOVE LOVE. I’ve been here numerous times and I was satisfied and happy every single time.
For appetizer, I’ve gotten lobster fondutta, cheesy bread florentine, and calamari. All are AMAZING. Entrée choices have been baked ziti, spicy chicken rigatoni, penne arrabbiata, and few others that I can’t remember but have all been amazing. Their tiramisu dessert isn’t bad, however not the best. Their small size feeds up to 3 and they’re not kidding. Do not attempt to eat it by yourself, last time I tried, I didn’t even make a dent on it. Their large feeds up to six people, but it’s best to order 2 different smalls rather than a large for variety.
If you mentioned that it was your first time, they will take you on a tour of their restaurant, including the kitchen! Pretty neat actually.
The service is phenomenal as well. The waiters I’ve had has been super nice and charming, not to mention cute! I hated an alcoholic drink that I ordered and barely touched it. The waiter noticed and offered to take it back with no charge!
Next time I need my Italian food fix, I’m coming back here. And that craving is just about every week. Definitely love the family/​group of friends atmosphere. Only downside? Certain areas of the restaurant has no service, but with good food and good company, who cares right?

The last time I went to Buca was in Pittsburgh in 2005. This time I went because it’s around the corner from my girlfriend’s apartment, and we were straight up starving. I had a decent experience — nothing special. The cheese garlic bread was yummy. For the entrée, we ordered the gnocchi al telefono which was bland, and only edible after I added some salt and crushed red pepper.
The waitress was really nice but we felt rushed and got many cues that we had overstayed our welcome. I understand if the place is really busy but honestly it wasn’t. We weren’t there for longer than an hour and half the wine room was empty. I’m not sure what that was all about.
I may go back for some cheese garlic bread only because of its proximity but probably not again for any of the pastas.

Went here for a party and the food was pre-​ordered, but still delicious. We were sat in the Pope Room, which if you’ve ever been here, is quite tchotchke and stereotypically Italian, with pictures of popes lining the walls and a giant bust of the pope in plexiglas right in the center of the table. Gaudy, but charming in a weird way. Also, we had to meander through the kitchen past the cooks to our table, which was surprising. It felt like a scene from Goodfellas.
The caesar salad was really good, the bread and oil were a nice touch, and the chicken parm, raviolis, and sausage penne were hearty, filling, and in big portions. Nothing spectacular, but still decent. Since it was paid for by the head of the party, I can’t comment on how good of a deal it was. I can imagine it’s a little more expensive than Oilve Garden.
My main qualm is with our waiter, who kept bugging us about exactly how many people were going to be coming. We kept trying to tell him that we were expecting one or two more, but we weren’t positive if they were coming. He didn’t seem happy. Maybe he needed the empty plates or something.
After the meal and the giant hunks of chocolate cake for dessert, we wanted to stay and drink some more wine and talk so we could digest the food before leaving. That’s when the manager visited us to see if our meal was good and after we told him it was delicious, he stood there awkwardly and said, «Well, there’s another party waiting.» He basically kicked us out. Can’t I sit and enjoy myself for a bit? Whatever.
Overall, food was decent and the décor was something to laugh about.

I’m not a fan of chain restaurants, especially, italian chain restaurants but this one is the exception. This is the second year in a row we’ve gone to Buca di Beppo after the Philadelphia University fashion show. At first, we were annoyed because there was a 40 minute wait. Several waiters apologized for the inconvenience and began serving appetizers to everyone waiting to be seated. I cannot begin to explain how quickly this act of kindness changed everyone’s mood. They didn’t give much food but just the fact that they thought of their customers waiting miserably for a table and tried to accomodate everyone made me and my friends very happy.
Once we were seated, our waitress arrived immediately and was very friendly. We ordered the walnut gorgonzola salad and fried calamari as appetizers. The salad served six but, honestly, I could have eaten the entire serving because it was good! We were so hungry, the appetizers were gone within ten minutes. Next, was the entrée and we decided to share a large pizza. Normally, I would have suggested the margherita pizza (my favorite) but my friend insisted we try something different. Ok… let’s try something different! So, we ordered the chicken pesto pizza. It wasn’t good… IT WAS GREAT!!! I loved it so much I ate 4 slices!
The evening was topped off with their newest dessert… Colossal Brownie Sundae. It was definitely large and very good but I was a little disappointed because I felt like it was mostly whipped cream and not enough brownies. No big deal because everything else exceeded my expectations!

I would have to say that Buca di Beppo has to be one of the best restaurant experiences that I have had in Philadelphia.
The food was served family style and I had the chicken parm… and it was delicious. The food was ready fast, the bread was wonderful, and the overall atmosphere was great.
Although i was reminded at some instances of Olive Garden, I still would have to recommend giving this place a try.
It’s great for bringing the kids or going on a romantic dinner date.

This has to be the worst Italian restaurant I ever been too. Its downright disgusting. I first went for a friends birthday in December 08. I ordered the sampler which was ok. Then I ordered a pasta with calamari in. Now I had calamari before but they serve the whole body head and all attached EKKK! so I sent it back and took home Lasagna. That was the worst lasagna I ever tasted in my whole entire life.
Then my job holiday party was there december 09. THE FOOD SUCKS PERIOD! Never ever going BACK!
The tiramisu had so much liquor in it YUCK!

Last time I came here I did the family thing, and it was fantastic, from our salad, entrée, dessert. Thank you for the experience, and the bread.
This time we did individual lunches. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find meatballs alone at a restaurant in this city? Well, Buca has a half pounder waiting for you in delicious marinara.
They also have fun drinks and great prices, and even better, get on their email list for promotions all the time, like 10 dollars off 20, free birthday cake, and world pasta day (where you get a free package of pasta and a 10 dollar off coupon for your next visit :))
It might be a chain, but they treat you well and have hearty food, and charming décor. (Just avoid using the bathroom, because you’ll never want to leave.) Also, when you come in, they ask if you’ve ever been to Buca before, and offer you a tour of the kitchen. Adorable.

I can’t believe I’m publicly admitting to having gone here.
I can’t believe I went here.
I can’t believe I’m giving it 4 stars.
Someone should probably punch me in the face.
For the record, I am very anti-​going-​to-​chain-​restaurants-​in-​the-​city. How many amazing Italian options do we have?! Enough that this should never have to happen, right?
WRONG. After many adult beverages at a nearby bar, I wanted pasta. But it was too late to go to a liquor store. So my date and I looked at each other, swore we’d never tell anyone, and ducked into Buca di Beppo. And then took buddy photos with the cardboard cutout Danny DeVito in the entrance way.
Anyways, we had some bread, cheapish house chianti, and some sort of delicious pasta dish with spicy Italian sausage and bitey sauce. That pasta was GOOD. I was floored. The amounts of everything were perfect. Especially the wine. The house wine jug had a lot of wine in it. Mmmhmm.
And then, I ate a mediocre cannoli. Regardless, the meal as a whole and the atmosphere, wait staff, wine, pasta, and general willingness to serve us booze without us having to go to the liquor store? I’d definitely go again if stuck in the area, craving noodles, without a liquor store hope.

This wasn’t so bad, in my opinion.
Large groups can come here and try to reserve ahead of time for busier days like Friday and Saturday. They have busts of various popes all over the place. We half-​jokingly expected a head like in Futurama or similar to crop up on the table, or some pope’s fingernail somewhere to show up.
There was a large group of us, about 15, and we chose the family portion meal — four entrees (2 pastas, eggplant parm, a chicken dish), a couple of appetizers, and a dessert. Plenty of pasta came out, and we had to reorder the chicken, but the dishes were generally hot, came out whenever they were done, and tasted pretty much like your average Italian food for the masses. There’s nothing special about the food, but you can eat all you want, and they’ll bring out more as you request it. A fun, loud restaurant to bring people if they’ve never been. House wines weren’t horrible, the red wasn’t too strong at all, and the waitstaff, though absent for notable chunks of time, pretty much were there whenever the food was being moved to or from the table.
There’s parking in a garage nearby but I don’t remember what that’s called…

Like Linda Blair in The Exorcist, the power of Christ compels me to write a review of this God-​awful place.
I’d passed by Buca di Beppo (both the location in Cherry Hill and the one in center city) several times. Always with a little shudder and the hope that I would never set foot in the restaurant. I can’t really explain it, but the tacky sign and other adornments gave me the creeps… and that was just the exterior of the building.
When a group of us decided to go out for a pasta dinner before several friends were set to run the Philly marathon, I thought we were all set for a night of Maggiano’s or some other reasonably priced chain with lots of carbs on the menu. Not so. Every Italian restaurant in the city was booked– with the exception of Buca.
While I can’t remember all the various items we ordered, I do remember that the portion sizes were gluttonous and I left feeling nauseous. If ever you find yourself wandering down 15^th street on a dark and hungry night, avert your eyes and continue on until you reach a safe haven!