Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant

Decent food. Overly priced in my opinion. The taste is okay, but nothing special. We got a few pasta dishes. They sell themselves on the large family portions, but they don’t live up to the taste for the price.

Put order in a the day before when I went to pick it up was not ready had to wait so they could prepare the order

This location is good sometimes but there will be times the quality of food is sub par.

We ordered a large spicy arrabiata pizza which is $ 28, supposed to feed 4 or more and half the box was empty. When we called to tell them they said it was hand tossed? Ok. Not sure what this has to do with the fact that our pizza was very thin and definitely a small, not a large. We have ordered this pizza several times and it has always filled the box. They refunded us but we paid cash so we still had to go back to pick up our money. I just wish they would have been honest and admitted that they screwed up. The food is good here but the service is absolutely terrible. Not the first time we have had issues at this location.

This review gets five stars because of the excellent, friendly, helpful and professional server we had. If I recall correctly her name is Trish or maybe Trisha. I eat at a wide variety of restaurants and I find it rare to find exceptional servers. I wish I could make her my personal server, going with me and serving at whatever restaurant I happen to be eating at that night.
It might be odd to review a salad at an Italian restaurant with a wide variety of selections, but that is what I want to tell you about. I can’t remember its name but it had apples, walnuts, feta cheese, cranberries, etc. This is a pretty common salad at many restaurants. But most restaurants serve a lot of lettuce and anywhere from a scant to moderate amount of the goodies. This salad had a small amount of lettuce and was loaded with all the toppings I already listed. It was so satisfying and tasty I could not have asked for more. It was great.
I will definitely order it again. It came with bread and butter. The bread was good, not exceptional, but the butter was full of buttery flavor. I intend to find out the brand they use.
If I could rate the parking lot it would get one star. It is big enough, but it is riddled with huge pot holes. It is very dangerous and could cause some real damage to tires. Watch carefully when you enter their parking lot lest you drive into a hole. Message to management: Fix your parking lot before someone sues you for ruining their tires and alignment.
In conclusion, when you go to Bucca ask for Trish if you want a great dining experience.

Bucca is a great place to take the family or friends. The family style meals are filling and delicious. I love the atmosphere and pictures throughout the place. Even though it is a large, Bucca reminds me of some of my favorite quaint Italian places in Chicago and NYC. It is large and the maze like corridors getting to from place to place is interesting, incuding visiting the bathrooms, and back to your table can be challenging if you do pay attention which way you came from. (Which I did not).
I have been to other Bucca’s and this one seems to be a little better. The food quality is much better the the one on the west side of Columbus. Possibility because it is smaller than the other locations making it easier to produce consistant quality food.
Bucca is about as close to traditional Italian than any chain restaurant will ever come to be. Portions are large and so tasty.
We stared with bread with olive oil and balsamic. The bread was good however I would suggest just doing the oil without the balsamic and add Parmesan and fresh cracked pepper. The balsamic takes away the great bread flavor.
The Caprese — The salad shingled with basil, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella was drizzled with olive oil only. Needed a bit of cracked pepper since it was a bit bland. (The out of season tomatoes didn’t help).
I ordered a side of both hot and sweet sausage. They were great tasting not too salty like most sausages. I wasn’t a fan of the bland tomato sauce they were served in.
Spicy Chicken Rigatoni — Chicken breast, garlic, crushed red pepper and peas in spicy rosa sauce. I didn’t think it was hot or spicy, it did have a little bite the more you ate and man I love the heavy fresh garlic! This was so good.
Baked Rigatoni — Spicy Italian sausage and meat sauce tossed and topped with mozzarella, Parmesan and ricotta. This also was so good great flavor and the melted mozzaerlla finished it off perfectly.
The Chicken Parmigiana was good how ever I was shocked it didn’t include any pasta with it.
The wonderful thing is that all these items needed no salt and pepper or coated heavy with extra Parmesan cheese.
Bucca can be a bit expensive with À la carte items. So read the menu selections carefully.
Service was great, Jenny and Anna were fantastic servers. Very attentive and friendly. Their suggestions were spot on. You will not leave hungry and you will not go home empty handed. We had a meal in itself for the leftovers.

The outcome of my review: I received an email from the Vice President with apologies as well as a $ 50 gift certificate. It was very heartfelt and allowed me to give Buca another chance. My husband and I went there for Valentine’s Day. The server was very friendly as well as funny. The hostess station seemed to be well organized. We ordered the stuffed mushrooms and the chicken saltimbocca. Unfortunately the mushrooms were lukewarm and the chicken was dry. The saltimbocca sauce was delicious as was the flavor of the pesto cream sauce the mushrooms were served on. The execution of dinner was lacking but all in all we had a nice time.

The food and staff were amazing! I’m definitely coming here again. Our waitress Katie was very helpful in explaning everything. She took her time with us and did an amazing job.

I normally like Buca but this location was the worst! I was turned away @3:45 stating all the reservation guest will becoming coming in so we can’t serve you! No one even in the place!

The food is very good and a lot of it if you come make shore you order small if not bring a army of friend …but if you go make shore you have time the service is very slow and not friendly I got at restaurant at 6pm never got food until 7pm you will leave there full

I’ve been here many times since it opened. Typically the experience is top notch. Tonight, the food was average. Overly garlicky and drenched in olive oil.

This place is very unique and spectacular. The food is delicious. The drinks are a little over priced but very good. The tiramisu

Fail came in to grab food to go got off work late wanted to have a few beers while I waited for my food … Whelp bartender left after getting me one beer to come back 30 minutes later to give me my cold food.

Family style with food in large portion! So make sure that you come hungry or bring lots of people! We had Baked Ziti (wasn’t bad but wish there’s meat!), shrimp fra divavolo (very yummy, little spicy though), and tiramisu (above average) as dessert to conclude the meal. Overall, the ambience is fun with interesting decors. I’d like to highlight their pasta because I really like how it’s chewy! I would say though this place never surprises, it (almost) never disappoints. We had a pretty good time here for dinner.

Id prefer to give it 3 ½ stars, but 3 stars seems to harsh, and four stars is just too many. Being the friendly guy that I am, I’ll give them the latter. Here is my take on this massive entrée family style place.
The service has been good for the 6 or 7 times Ive been there over the years. I even had an issue with a coupon once, and while the waiter couldnt resolve, I asked the manager and he took care of it. So again, no issues with the service. Took a group of ten once, and they did just fine.
The décor will keep you busy for hours. Its a lot to soak in, so if your on a bad date or with a group of people that are boring, feast your eyes on the completely covered wall and travel in time, Italian style. Do make a note of how you got to your seat, its an adventure map. The rooms are often separated into smaller ones (I think its cool) so instead being in a giant mess hall with a bunch of strangers, your in a smaller room of strangers.
IMPORTANTÉ: The portions are set for 2 ½ people (small), and then 4 – 5 people (large). Its safe to say youll mess it up your first visit, and wind up with two full size meals because your ordered a large, because thats what America does. The ordering process is unique, and I like leftovers so this works for me.
Here is my rating issue. The food quality is good to ok BUT I cant stop thinking they could cut back on the pre-​processed items. I believe they could source more items locally, make them in house and not rely on Gordon’s or Sysco. Im sure Buca Corporate cut a deal and so the local Buca itself has little choice in where its food comes from. Call me Ramsay Jr. here, but when you source everything from a food service, your simply assembling food. Id prefer to know that a host of items were homemade since thats how they advertise it: Family style seating and rooms, family pictures on the wall, but processed assembled food coming out of the kitchen? Then we would see more 4 and 5 star ratings, because they have a great place otherwise.
So there it is folks, just another opinion for you to read about. Now Im off to eat my Buca leftovers.

I don’t know if I’ll actually go back to this Buca. I may have to try a different location instead. When I walked in, there was some putrid smell that reminded me of backed up pipes. It was weird, and definitely not appetizing. As we sat in the lobby and waited for the rest of our party, I became nose blind, thankfully.
I still have to rate up and give three stars for their amazing mashed potatoes and delicious eggplant parm. The service was also pretty good too. Sangria was very weak — next time I’ll order a real cocktail. Again, the experience was okay, but not wonderful.

I reserved the «Pope Room» for my birthday on a Saturday evening and brought 12 guests to celebrate «family style» and it was FABULOUS! With 12 people eating family style I took the liberty of picking the dishes ahead of time and having them written out for our server and we asked the only drink menus be brought to the table, that worked out wonderfully and I highly recommend it!
The menu serving sizes are generous but fairly correct as to how many people they will serve.
We went with 3 different large salads to share (ALL of them were awesome!)
for dinner we did the large platters of chicken cabonarra, chicken parm, lasagna, and a large dish of meatballs.
We also called ahead and requested the «Celebration cake» which was MASSIVE and delicious! It served 12 adults and we still had half the cake to take home.
With the food, drinks, cake, and a good tip it came out to about $ 25 dollars a person, so it is not cheap but it was delicious and a very special celebration where everyone left feeling pampered and special!
ALL of the food was delicious and our family just raved about what a great experience we had and how special they felt. The service was wonderful even for having a large group and in the «Pope Room» we felt like we had the place to ourselves even though the restaurant was quite busy.
The was the best birthday party at a restaurant that I have ever experienced!

Brought a party of 17 here for a birthday on a Friday night. We had an 8pm reservation and were seated promptly.
When our waitress arrived she had a really rough attitude. She wasn’t free flowing with the please and thank yous. She kept asking us to move all of our personal items and kept bumping into us HARD as she was maneuvering around the tables. It was honestly just weird. She also had a very rude attitude. At one point when my husband said «excuse me» to get her attention she didn’t even turn around she just put her finger behind her back and stick it directly in his face, as to say «wait». Again, just annoying and weird.
Our party ordered appetizers and drinks. Around 8:20 we were waiting on a couple who was running late and enjoying our appetizers and drinks. Suddenly she comes over, stands between the two tables and just YELLS «okay so what do we want to do!?» In a very annoyed tone. Then while we discussed if we should wait or not she just left.
Now is a good point to say we were never offered bread, we assumed they no longer served it. So we ordered several over priced loaves of garlic bread to share. It was dry and not good. After we spent nearly $ 30 in subpar bread she brought out the free stuff, which actually tastes good :/​
Eventually it became obvious that we did not like her attitude and she acted a little nicer, which is good because we were ready to find a manger before we even got our food. Still, couldn’t describe her as pleasant by any means, just tolerable.
The food is pricey, but not crazy high if it’s really good. But it’s not. It’s all kind of overly greased up. Would have rather eaten chain food from Olive Garden… But it was okay. Nothing terrible.
Décor is fun, atmosphere is good for groups.
Our group however, will not be returning. I don’t know if I’ll ever step foot in a Buca again. My last experience before this wasn’t so hot either.

My dad and I had just gotten off the plane, checked into our lodging (which happened to be sharing the same parking lot as Buca di Beppo), so I was like «what the heck, let’s not drive and just eat here.» Should have just driven somewhere else.
If you’ve been to a Buca di Beppo, you already know you’re going to get Italian food, stuff with cheese and magnified to feed your family & the table next to you. Family style is always HUGE here, so I ordered a baked pasta for my dad and I to share. We were stuffed after dinner and the next day. Honestly, ORDERING LESS = BEST here.
The waitress we had was super sociable, and I really appreciated that! She made great conversation with us!
The lot is big, so don’t worry about parking!

I am Charlie Brown. Bucco is the football. And the majority of various Columbus Best voters is Lucy.
Every year Bucco rank high in the surveys. Every year I think I must had missed something there that justifies its high status, as if the voter were saying, «we swear to the bottom of our hearts that we are telling the truth.» And every year I go there hoping that for once I will see what the hype is about; I will kick the ball balanced up by Lucy’s hand. And every year I take a run at it, come here for dinner, and be giddy that I will finally kick the ball, taste the goodness. And every year the ball is jerked away and I fall flat on my butt.
Bucco is simply not as good as its ranking, and I don’t know what the sam hell voters see in it, to justify its loft.
To be straight, it isn’t bad. The bar is just set to high for me to manage my expectations. I have a different dish every year– it’s fair, but I have yet to come upon something that blows me away. This year I had the fettuccine alfredo, small size shared with a date, and we both thought it a little weaker than you can get at other places. I think it ranks with Olive Garden, maybe a notch above. We also added calamari and caesar salad to round out the meal. As with the entrée, they too were decent but not great. Pretty much the experience I’ve had with other meals here.
Of course, a major annoyance they only serve family style servings. A design that makes Beppo better for large groups than an intimate twosome. If you take a date here, know before hand that you’ll agree on a dish, or someone will be eating something they don’t favor.
The service here is great though. The décor is nice– black-​in-​white photos cover the walks. It has a clean romantic feel – checkerboard table cloth line the booths. If you come at regular dinner times on the weekends– 6pm or later – you can wait awhile sans reservation. I do like this one over the Arena District store; you trade neighborhood scenery for a shorter wait and better parking.
Still, for the price of their family style set, there are better chain italian places in town, IMHO.