Buca di Beppo

10/10/06

What a dissapointment.

by venuzomega at Citysearch

Went on a Thursday night as a party of 3. It was busy even on a weeknight, so I figured that was a good sign. After about a 15 minute wait, we were seated. We ordered our food, and then were asked by 4 other waiters if we had ordered. There seems to be a sort of chaos to this process. Our drinks came out quickly, as did 2 of the three dishes ordered. My spicy penne was served on a hot plate...but the pasta was at room temperature, and tasted rather mediocre. So was my friend's lasagna. We waited an extra 30 minutes for my other friend's calzone to arrive. When it did arrive, it was hot, but extremely greasy and salty. We asked to send it all back, but the million servers first looked at us like we were crazy, so we asked for the manager. The manager came by and then asked why we hadn't sent it back. By this point, we just wanted to pay the bill and get out.

Don't believe the hype for the 'great food'. If you're interested in huge portions of poor quality 'Italian' and hurried service, this is your place. I'm fine with regular portions of great Italian and servers who care whether or not you had a great meal.

• Pros: the decor was cool
• Cons: everything else.

07/21/06

tastiest lemon chicken ever

by rachel1215 at Citysearch

I love going here with my family-weve been coming since it use to be a bank. The servers working here have been here for a long time too and it shows--they really know their stuff and what to recommend. Very attentive and helpful.

Dont shy away from the garlic bread--its worth it. They also serve REAL Caesar salads with the anchovies on top. The lemon chicken is so tender and flavorful--pair this with any pasta followed by their spumoni (dont forget the chocolate sauce on top) and youre set.

I read the other review and from what friends have told me in the past, they also had a negative experience when they dined out with a big group (e.g. student organizations). As a server myself, it is extremely hard to handle big groups when you have 7 other tables. Plus, at a busy place like this, food quality can go down with big groups/holidays--but this is typical of any restaurant unless they have the money to hire enough help. Buca is just not one of those places.

• Pros: cute atmosphere, attentive servers, the food and portions
• Cons: watch out when you dine with a big group--try to go when its not typically busy

08/11/04

The customer is always right.

by rcktfire at Citysearch

We had family visiting from out of town. We thought this would be the perfect place to take them being that we had such a large party. The service was horrible. The portions are huge but the waitress kept trying to sell us more items than what was necessary. Then she charged us for something we didn't order. All 15 of us sitting at the table, including my visiting grandparents were trying to tell her we didn't order this ONE particular item but she insisted on arguing with everyone. It was embarassing and a horrible experience. Will never eat there again.