Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant

The family style disgusts me. I have never been so embarrassed then when I found a hair in my noodle when I forced my boyfriend to eat it like lady and the tramp. I came another time and they gave us a 60 foot meatball to share as a family and there was a mini mouse inside and they said it’s their special surprise. I would not recommend unless you are a mouse lover. Also, they put creepy statues in the middle of the table and one of the statues almost gave the mouse a heart attack. They employees always want a group family picture, and then they want to photoshop in a picture of a meatball. Just no. I want my family only.

I took my family to celebrate Father’s Day and the food was great and the service was great too! Love the place

Last August i made reservations two weeks early, asking the manager for the best table available as it was my best friends birthday and i was taking him and 6 other close friends/​family out that night. The day of when the birthday was being celebrated i called back when they opened and was ensured by the manager that our table was secured and what time we should arrive to be seated. I came with my friend 30 minutes late to ensure the rest of the party would be seated and ready to surprise my friend on his big day.
The entire party was still waiting in the lobby, and we waited another 15 minutes once we got there. I wish that was the worst part. We got seated and were seated in the worst group table in the house, near the upstairs dish washing station and it was very cramped, our waiter would take our order and not come back for 20 – 30 minutes at a time. We wanted to have a few drinks so we resorted to walking downstairs to the bar, buy the drinks there and get back to our table. To do this every single time we wanted water, or an adult beverage is ridiculous. Once we were finished with our meal i had planned with the waiter for the big birthday cake to come to the table. We waited 30+ minutes for that after they cleared the table of our entrée. During that time waiting for the cake it smelled like the dishwasher broke and smelled horrible. Members of my party had to get up and walk around because the smell was intolerable. On top of that they messed up the bill and charged us for more than what we ordered, they charged us for some of what the table behind us ordered. This took another 15 – 20 minutes to correct.
Now that summer is here it reminded me to make this review. I used to come here almost weekly during high school and college but due to this experience i wont be coming back.

If I could give 0 stars I would! I have never in my life been treated poorly because I had a baby stroller! Obviously anyone with a baby walking around shopping is going to have a stroller and the woman at the front said we couldn’t bring it inside so I offered to leave it outside and she said we weren’t aloud! So seriously, your going to fucking discriminate against people with babies? More than half the customer’s that come here are probably mom’s with kids, not to mention there was nobody in the restaurant! This was a Thursday afternoon so not even a busy weekend lunch time. Then to make things worse she asks us if we want we can eat in the kitchen. Never have I ever seen such bad customer service. They lost what could have been a returning customer and we spent our money elsewhere at a very nice restaurant (that was way nicer) who completely bent over backwards for us.

Would have been great if they could cater my wedding but our location is a few miles away from their delivery range

I was excited to bring a newbie to Buca, but it has been at least ten years since I’ve been… and I should have checked it out first. Service has gone downhill since my last visit. The staff was slower than slow, from the absent hostess to the server who didn’t listen to our request for more bread, never offered drink refills, and checked on us once every 20 minutes or more. This caused looooong stretches with nothing to eat or drink. No one else was in our room, so it was pretty sad and depressing.
Food was just okay, too. Garlic mash was still super yummy but too small for our table. (Aren’t servers trained to recommend the right size? Or a second order?) Saltimbocca was oddly crunchy and saltier than I recall, no Spumoni (did I imagine that they had this in the past?), and what happened to the single-​portion servings they introduced a while back?
Sorry, Joe. Your basement has been removed from my «You’ve Never Eaten There?!!» list.

Not always great but pulled out an awesome meal for the family and our friends. The veal Marsala and the baked pasta were sensational

Was very impressed by the «family style» serving style here. The food was tasty, to me «Americanized-​Italian» food. The APPLE GORGONZALA salad was delicious, this dish stood out to me more than anything else. Service was slow, pretty busy night, but we didn’t want for anything. Over all, a good experience.

Needless to say this place is absolutely delicious. I ordered the pizza and Alfredo and everything was so good and I had a ton of left overs as the portions are huge and shareable. The service was fantastic!

I’ve been to a few different Buca di Beppo’s near my home (Pasadena and Universal City Walk). They are all the same. The only time I’ve been in the past was to meet with a large group, which these places lend themselves to.
We were staying in Encinitas and looking for a place to take the family for late dinner. Where this location sits, it was either Buca or Mexican. My wife had been eating Mexican for the last two days so the decision was easy.
Our family (2 adults, 2 childern) shared one 2 person dish including a house salad and garlic bread, plus 3 glasses of wine. $ 120 later…
I’m okay with spending $ 120 even if it’s just my wife and myself but I’ll probably be eating steak in a upscale setting.
I try to avoid Buca because they do not have single plate options. I have no real plans to go back unless we’re meeting up with a group and It’s been pre-​arranged.

Had a horrible experience yesterday. Came in on a Sunday night and they were telling people 20 – 30 minute wait. The place was barely half full. They claimed they didn’t have the staff to seat people but there were three people up front not doing anything. When I pointed this out, the manager started arguing with me and asked me to leave.
This place clearly has bad management if you look at the Unilocal reviews on service, food and some tacky lady that walks around taking pictures and then charging you for them.
Don’t bother to come here. There are plenty of other great places to eat and spend you hard earned money. That’s what we did. Glad we left and never coming back.

Was a little hard. after all it was Christmas as I expected more. They tried there best.

Went there for a team lunch today. There were five of us but it didn’t take long for us to figure out what we wanted because we were starving when we arrived. The restaurant was pretty empty. We sat upstairs and immediately ordered our drinks.
It took a lil while for our server to return so we could place our food order. Once we did we anxiously awaited for our meal. It’s a good thing they gave us bread because it took quite a while for it to arrive. As a matter of fact the people who arrived after us got their food first. No Bueno. Down one star.
With all of that said I ordered the Chicken Parmesan with Fettuccine Alfredo. It was delicious as was the Baked Ziti that I dipped my fork into that one of my coworkers ordered.
Bottom line is the food is great the service… although our server was very sweet… was a little lacking.
But you know I’ll be back!

Will be writing this review on my dining experience from yesterday ²⁄₁₄
Called to see if they were taking reservations since it was Valentine’s Day according to the man who answered no reservations needed said «come on in will take care of you right away «ok ! Got there checked in and waited for about 20 minutes to be seated
After we got seated the waiter didn’t seem too happy never once smiled was in a rush to take our order never came by to offer refills or if there was anything else we needed or how was the food tasting (these are questions I get asked at other restaurants I’ve been to) I needed clean utensils and the waiter was no where to be seen I had to get up myself and grab some from the nearest table
I will never again go to this place !

Always a family go to. I have never had a dish here I didn’t like, and I have never had bad service.
My biggest complaint is the wait. We stopped by for a late dinner Saturday night and the wait was still over and hour for just two.
We opted to sit at the bar and while the food was amazing we definitely noticed a difference in service.
The prices are a little high for what it is… I mean it’s pasta not prime rib eye. And $ 10 for garlic bread? But when it comes down to it you are getting almost 3 meals for the price.

BEWARE THE SHUTTERBUG… This place has been a tried and true decent place to take the family for some acceptable Italian fare a couple times a year for the last 6 years. But our most recent experience on 2.2.16 we were greeted by a leggy blond shutterbug.
She approaches our table to take a few photos, which itself was odd since there was no special occassion, just a regular old Tuesday night family dinner. But we were like, ok sure, no problem.
A little while later she reappears with a half dozen photos that she is selling for $ 15 a pop. You can expect this kind of thing on cruises, or Disneyland, but Buca? Not so much. She immediately sweet talks my brother into how great the pics are, what a great momento (of a Tuesday night) and she does not leave, to let us consider in private. As they do on the cruise ships, they leave the pics and if you want them, you keep what you want and they add it to the bill. No, she lords above us pressuring my poor brother.
Maybe it’s a tactic, make the guy feel like if he says no, he comes off as a cheapskate, I don’t know… but I would have been like, no thanks lady. We’re good. Guys try to be a little bit more kind I guess.
He chooses to buy 2 but after she finally leaves our side, immediately has buyers remorse. My dear sister in law convinced him that there was no reason to buy the pics and that she will happily return them, but the whole thing was just so damn ridiculous and manipulative we felt compelled to let the manager know. So, bottom line, food is fine, service great, but this new shtick they got going on is totally ridiculous.
If you’re not up for engaging in the whole ordeal I recommend you let the blond know, thanks but no thanks.

We must like Buca di Beppo, because we come here about 3 or 4 times a month. Their family style servings and excellent, authentic Italian food are great. Waiters are always very nice.

I got TERRIBLE service when I called in a to-​go order.
I called at 5:45 asking for lasagna. They disclosed they were very busy, so it would take about 45 minutes. I said that’s fine. Someone else called about a minute later and said they needed to make a new batch, so it was going to take 45 minutes. I thought this was weird, but no change in my ETA, so I said no problem.
At 6:30 I get a call, saying «unfortunately» no one was able to make the lasagna and they could not get someone to make it. I have no idea why making lasagna at this ITALIAN chain (a signature dish of theirs!) was an impossible task. My best guess is that they did make it, but they served it to dining customers – but the most baffling part that there was no apology!
They went on to ask if I wanted anything else. «Uhmm…sure…what’s available now?»
«Oh, anything else.»
I settled on the rigatoni.
«OK, that’s going to take about 45 minutes.»
«WHAT?! I thought it was available NOW?»
«Well, there’s a ticket to every order, and they make them in order – «
“So my ticket would be last?»
«Yes.»
By this point I was surprised I hadn’t cursed at the woman on the phone. «I’ve already waited 45 minutes, and you called at the last minute. You should have let me know from the get-​go so I can make alternate dinner plans. Why can’t my ticket go to the very front?»
«…I can ask if they can put you in front.»
«How long will that take?»
«Less than a minute.»
Miraculously they got back to me in about 15 seconds saying they would.
I picked up my new order in 15 minutes, and it was warm, not hot. No one ever apologized, or even offered a discount, or free garlic bread. Honestly, I don’t know the last time I got such bad customer service ANYWHERE.
I do NOT recommend this location.

Our family ate here for our Thanksgiving dinner. It was super busy, just slightly expected. Our experience was not perfect but not awful either.
Our waiter came by pretty quickly & took our drink order. As soon as he dropped off our drinks we placed our food order and within 20 mins we got our food!
Their basic dinner rolls/​bread was warm, soft & delicious!
The food was good not great but we overall enjoyed it! I think the prices are decent as for 6 people (2 kids) our bill came to about $ 75.
If there’s one thing I wish all Buca’s would do: get rid of the person taking the pics.

Typically, when you go out to eat, you’re lucky enough to settle on a place that excites you in some way. Rare times, you can convince the people you love to try some new spot that caught your eye and you’ve built yourself up to be really looking forward to. Most occasions, however, the choice is out of your hands and you get stuck with the ‘safe’ selection for the group, finding yourself at Chili’s, Chins, or here at Buca di Beppo. So often I groan at the prospect of going any place that seems to push a gimmick over their food.
«Look, a picture of Elvis in a Hawaiian shirt at Islands…»
«Hey, banners that say ‘Shrimp on the Barbie’ are all over here at Outback…»
«Gee, the shitty food is highly priced here at RImel’s, how original…»
The case is very similar at Beppo, with red plaid tablecloths, homey pictures all over the place, and massive portions because … Italians have large families with tons of kids that all shop from the same dining room store, I guess. And, they are massive portions (they have half pound meatballs, for god’s sake), with the smallest sizes feeding 2 people easily. But, of all the times I’ve been here, the food has rarely risen above the level of average. The marinara is never spicy or flavorful, just bland and kinda acidic. The alfredo can only really please after sprinkling a little salt and pepper across it. And the table bread is alright, but only if you have a healthy amount of oil and balsamic on hand.
Don’t get me wrong, every once in a while they come through with something impressive. But, for every Spicy Arrabbiata, there’s subpar Lasagna, Spaghetti, or Eggplant Parmigiana right behind it. I think my best advice is to not expect anything amazing and try something you’re not used to from the menu. It might be me, but I always kind of assumed that whenever you order something everyone orders (like the go-​to spaghetti), the chefs just roll their eyes and pull out another scoop of the ‘usual’ from the pot without much care. If you order a steak well-​done instead of rare, you’re going to get a lesser cut from the bin because the cooks know you don’t know any better; why wouldn’t ordering Italian be any different?
On the flip side of that, however, is my old adage, that if a place can’t even do the basics right, what can you really expect from other fare off the menu? I guess that’s why this place always just ends up being a weak 3-​stars from me.
On the positive side, though, the prices are actually kinda reasonable when you factor in how much you get with those massive portions. This is especially true considering the specials and coupons they always seem to be sporting through Unilocal,Facebook, and a variety of other sources, securing Buca di Beppo as a ‘safe’ selection for the group when there is a hankering for Italian.