Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant

There is much better Italian food out there, this place was ok. I was not impressed with the food. We have the baked ziti, which they gave to the wrong table and had to remake. So it took forever!

The chicken and sausage ziti is my favorite!
the service is a hit or miss, but the food is what you can expect from a chain Italian restaurant.
If you’ve never been here before, the small portion can serve 2 – 3 people, and the large can serve up to 5!
Buca makes much better food than Olive Garden so I definitely prefer this place.

I love this place and have always loved it! This food is absolutely amazing! And where else can you go and get such big portions of food??? There is no other place in this area like it.
So the parking is good because it has private parking so there were plenty of parking places. When coming in the hosts were so friendly. They quickly greeted us and we were able to sit down really fast.
The friendly waiter came and took our order immediately. We got a salad for an appetizer. If you are getting a salad I recommend just getting one and sharing it because it’s huge family style. We got the shrimp pasta large. It was so good and so huge. I love it! The pasta was not too spicy, it was the perfect amount of spice. There was plenty for me my husband and daughter to eat and still have a lot to take home.
The waiter was attentive the whole time and checked on us often and always refilled our water. I would definitely recommend coming here with your family. You can share food and still take some home. Plus it’s such a fun friendly atmosphere.

My family and I tried to go in for a late lunch early dinner yesterday. Yes it was a Friday but it was 4pm most of the store was empty. We asked for a table at hostess stand waited about ten minutes to be seated. I was carrying a car seat the lady was walking like she was running a marathon and kept Asking if I was coming. Which I was but your walking really fast and my car seat is heavy. She took us to a booth where I told her I asked the hostess for a table she rolled her eyes and said none were available. We were a Party of 3 and a baby not a big party and wouldn’t be there for long. I said the store is empty she said those tables are for tonight only. Which seemed weird because it was still super early. I asked for a manager which never came instead I listened to the lady seating me bad talk me to the servers right around the corner. My family and I frequent buca but after being treated with so much disrespect (what they were saying was harsh) I walked out. Never again

If you treat me like you want my business and you give me great service and great food you’ll have 5 Stars. Buca Italian Restaurant deserves 5 Stars for the service today. The restaurant had great ambience, great food, attentive staff and these folks were very friendly. The restaurant offers wifi and I never had to worry about the location of my server. She was checking on me every few minutes.
The portions were large, and the complimentary bread roll was homemade, right out the oven and very soft and tender. It went well with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. There was a slight sweetness to it.
To my understanding this is a family restaurant. It’s restaurants like these that Americans should support. Overall I enjoyed the meal and vibe. I will be returning.

I don’t really like italian food chains, but my wife had several gift cards to Buca di Beppo, so we decided to do a simple date night. I was once again reminded why I don’t go here. Let me say that our server was amazing. She was very attentive and helpful and we were more than happy with her service.
I will cover the drinks first. We had a glass of merlot with our appetizer and it was very watered down. My wine glass must have just come out of the washer, as it was too hot to even touch. We switched to a Sauvignon Blanc for dinner and it tasted equally watered down.
On to the food… the appetizer of Bruschetta was ok. There was way too much tomato and no seasoning. For dinner, we split the Chicken and Spicy Sausage Pasta. The taste was ok, but there were 23 slices of sausage and 4 chicken bites. It was mostly pasta and sauce. We hoped to salvage the night with the molten chocolate cake. This thing was massive, but the amount of molteness was the size of an ice cube. To top it off, it was so dry that it just crumbled onto the plate. We were very dissatisfied and will return to avoiding these chain disasters.

Chicken parm meh
Spaghetti great
Italian taco things with chicken great
Cheesecake terrible
Cannoli aight
Pepperoni pizza great

I love this place, I had my graduation dinner her, my birthday dinner here, and just dinner in general. The staff is super nice, and we’ll groomed, the kitchen is clean and you take a walk-​through it when you are being seated. They even have a table in the kitchen you can eat at. The food is good, and the atmosphere is friendly. I always order too much but that’s okay cause it’s good the next day!

This’s definitely the best Italian restaurant I know in town. The family style decoration is awesome. I love it!

My work had a lunch meeting here and made prior reservations. We placed our order and asked the food to be somewhat ready upon arrival. Food came out about almost an hour and half later. We ordered lasagna and they said they ran out because it was popular on demand during this time. I don’t understand why they couldn’t have called and let us know when we placed the ordered or when we arrived so we could have placed a different order.
The server smelled like cigarettes and not once asked if we needed any refills. Food was ok but for the price we paid for, it could have been a lot better. I wouldn’t recommend this place if it was my own personal choice. But to each their own.

We took our family here to celebrate the engagement of my son and his girlfriend. Party of six.
Walked in. One person in front of us. No hostess to greet us. She later showed up a few mins later and apologized. I called earlier in the day and was told that we did not need reservations since we were going to be there after 1PM.
Excellent service from our waiter, Omar. Can’t ask for better service. He gave us the history of the restaurant, the style of service, etc. He shared his experience of working with another
Italian Restaurant Chain that does not prepare and cook their own food.
First time there. Not accustomed to huge large portions. I thought the large family portions would feed about 4 people, but should be 4 – 6. We order two Large family portions of Penne al Forno and Chicken Carbonara. Unlike the other viewers, our portions were hot when they were brought to the table.
No problems with the salad and extra helpings of bread.
For dessert the portions are huge… should feed the entire table. We got a Colossal Brownie Sundae, Tiramisu, Chocolate Chip Cannoli and two Double Dark Chocolate Cake.
Had to get boxes for our entre and desserts to take home.
Omar was great. Only one small issue. Towards the end of the meal, I thought he was going to come back for water, which I did not get. Earlier I thought we were going to get some butter with the bread. We liked the olive oil and salt/​pepper but was told they were going to bring out butter.
I paid my bill, and when asked if I needed change, I said I did (I was expecting to get $ 103.63 back in change). I said I did, and then had to wait a bit longer to get my change. I left a big tip but noticed I was short $ 3.63. Not a big deal, but iit’s the Principal of the thing. I don’t know if someone miscalculated my payment towards the bill and thought that instead of getting back $ 103.63 I was getting back $ 3.63. Should not matter. Give the customer their change back. Let them decide if they want to leave a tip on the table or put it in the credit card bill holder.
I am concerned that if this happened every time someone processed an order, it is not fair. Someone needs to be held accountable towards your till and make sure you receive the amount of payment, apply the bill and count the correct change. How could someone make a mistake of not giving me my change of $ 103.63! Just enter it in your POS (Point of Sale) system of amount tendered and get the amount of change. If you don’t have that, write it on the receipt. My receipt only showed my total bill including tax. There was no place for amount paid or amount for tip.
Just some minor paying attention to details. I still fill like leaving 5 stars. I thought this was excellent value for your money for our table of 6 in our party.

I came in expecting Olive Garden. I know it’s a chain and we had a coupon deal so I had the proper expectations of getting chain Italian food. I usually don’t mind that as long as I’m expecting it.
What I got made Olive Garden seem like some little old grandma’s scratch made dinner in the north of Italy. It was atrocious.
Chicken Parm was luke warm, very little sauce, and somehow rubbery.
Even the bread had a weird aftertaste that made it inedible. How do you F up bread? Even Olive Garden makes good bread and salad.
I mean got dayum.
UPDATE: 12÷15÷15
I decided to go back and give it one more try after being contacted by a representative of the restaurant who seemed legitimately concerned about the bad experience we had. I didn’t let them know I would try it again and decided to just show up as I had the first time.
I’ll just lay it out: It was improved over the last time I was there. This time I got the spaghetti and meat sauce as I assume this is the most basic of Americanized Italian dishes so if they couldn’t get this right then it was a lost cause. This time the spaghetti was pretty decent and the bread didn’t have that weird aftertaste it did last time. It was pretty much on par with Olive Garden and my expectations from the first time I walked through the doors.
I don’t know if I just caught them on a bad night before or if they are inconsistent, but what I do know is this past Saturday night was definitely acceptable.

I agree with other reviewers that this certainly won’t be the best Italian food you’ve had. That being said, I’m actually a fan of Buca on occasion. My mom had her rehearsal dinner at this location (they are extremely group friendly with multiple rooms for large parties) and they took wonderful care of us. Granted that was nearly ten years ago, but still worth mentioning.
If you’ve never been before, their menu is family style which means you can’t order individual portions. A small portion will feed 2 – 4 people which is what we normally get and still leave with plenty of leftovers. That’s another reason this restaurant is ideal for gatherings such as corporate events.
They have a full bar, cocktail menu, beers on tap, and a lengthy list of wines which include a house white or red. I would have liked to see a house blush/​rose, but I ordered the red (Rosso-​$ 6.95 a glass) and it was decent.
For our meal we shared a small Cesar salad ($ 13) and a small penne alla vodka ($ 20). For only two people, I feel their prices are expensive given the quality of food. There are much better places to go for pasta, but Buca is more about convenience.
The salad was okay (drowning in dressing and some parts had brown lettuce) and the pasta was very spicy and way on the oily side. I first fell in love with vodka sauce at a phenomenal Italian restaurant in downtown Chicago. It’s a red sauce mixed with vodka and heavy cream that is both delicious and decadent. But here it simply tasted like a plain red sauce that someone went too crazy with the red chili flakes on.
With yesterday being Black Friday, I made reservations here because I knew my mom loved it and because they had plenty of seats still available. Their desserts are good too but I don’t suggest ordering one unless you have at least 4 people in your group because they are gigantic.
It’s cool that they walk you through their kitchen before seating you (there is even a table there you can reserve) and I love looking at all the pictures and tchotchkes on the walls. I forget what the name translates to, but I remember someone once saying that it’s meant to feel like a home basement which is why there are no windows throughout the restaurant.

We stopped in this place only because we hold great memories hanging out at a Buca Di Beppo in Michigan with our friends, but the food here is just OK, and the service could not be any slower.
This is an opinion from someone that always preffer eating at a local, more original place.

Honestly though, the best thing here was the coffee and the bread. Our cheesy bread took literally 25 minutes to come out. But it was really good. We ordered chicken Alfredo pasta with onions, broccoli and extra garlic. Simple pasta, right? No! It was atrocious! The most bland sauce. The chicken was nothing but fat. The best thing I can say about the dish is that the penne pasta itself was cooked very well. I really wish I had gone to Chili’s for their Cajun chicken pasta cuz that is sadly way better than this place was. This was just a huge waste of time and $ 40 I’m so so so very very disappointed. We won’t be going back.

I just ordered $ 30 worth of Cheese Manicotti. That’s 7 pieces of Pasta that is supposed to serve 4 people.
The food may be good, but if the pricing is ridiculous.
This is cheese, marinara and pasta for $ 30.

This was the first time for me here. I have some good and bad topics.
1– Service was good, but, the place was 98% «empty» and we needed to wait almost 7 min for a table. Really don’t know why. Other than that, the service was above average.
2– Taste was average-​good. Fried Mozzarellas were very good. Chicken and Pasta, good also. Dessert Tiramisu, meh I think it tastes cheap.
3– Sizes, I think the Fried Mozarella size was good for two, the chicken small (for two comes with 3 pieces of chicken) the side order of pasta is for at least 3 people. The Tiramisu? Maybe 6 people. I would really like if they told us that. We just want something sweet, but we ended having a big bowl of tiramisu. This also make it look «wrong».
4– Ambient was a little crazy, is a place with a lot of pictures in the wall, it’s ok for a lunch or something, but if you are looking for something fancy this is not the place.
I didn’t have any expectations maybe that’s why I didn’t have any big problem with it. I will not go again, is just not the place or taste I was looking for.

Ordered to-​go from this location when a friend had a coupon and the first thing I have to say is that the portions here are HUGE and meant for sharing. You’re looking at about a pound of food at the «small» and each entrée costs around $ 20, so if you’re looking to get a combination of foods you may be looking at an expensive price tag, but there’s so much food that you and a couple of friends could easily gorge yourselves on delicious italian and still have enough for plenty of leftovers.
Now we got the lemon caper chicken and an order of the cheese ravioli. The lemon caper chicken was delicious, tender flattened chicken breasts covered in a lemon wine sauce and capers. Fabulous, I promise! The cheese ravioli came with 10 big, square ravioli and we ordered it with alfredo sauce instead of marinara. These are SO good, the filling is creamy and delicious and their alfredo sauce is fantastic too because it actually has flavor.
Honestly, if I was meeting a group of people this would be a genius place to go because you can just share everything family style. Also great for to-​go orders if you’re trying to feed a group back home!
The to-​go staff was really friendly as well and so I’m sure the service is great!

The service is not magnificent by any means, and would not suit a Mob Boss.
The scenery and atmosphere would definitely suit a Mob Boss.
The food is delicious but severely overpriced.
For a chain restaurant, not too shabby baby.

Buca di Beppo is an Italian restaurant with a heavy emphasis on its family theme. You’ll find family style entrees, a family friendly staff, you’ll even feel like you’re dining in one of your family member’s basement. It’s a great place for groups and those who like lots of garlic & red sauce.
My Overall Rating — 3 Stars (Atmosphere, Service, Food, Return)
Atmosphere — The setting at Buca di Beppo gives you a feeling like you’re at one of your super Catholic relative’s house. The walls are lined wall to wall with tons of pictures & photos. There are a number of random statues & nick-​knacks, just like at someone’s home. There’s even a room dedicated to the Pope. The ceiling is low too so everything is in your face. As for me, I like it. I did what type of setting they’re creating, but some people may not. 1 Star.
Service — What I like is if it’s your first time, the staff will take you on a detour through the kitchen to your table. There’s also a table in the kitchen you can book. It gives a transparent view to Buca di Beppo and is welcoming. We had no issues with the service. Everything was great, from ordering, getting our food, to having left overs boxed up. 1 Star.
Food — The reason there were leftovers were the portions were big (family style) but also just ok in taste. Many of our dishes were marinara based dishes. If you like this type of Italian food it’s right up your alley, but for me it’s a bit much. The only dish I truly liked was the Shrimp Florentine. It’s was a thing linguine tossed in butter/​garlic sauce. The shrimp were on the small side, and I think it was my favorite dish because there was no red sauce. Their ricotta cheese stuffed mushrooms were the best appetizer, but in the end no other dishes were standouts. Our dishes also included baked ziti, chicken parm, rigatoni, ravioli, & a caprese salad. It was by no means a bad meal, just too much on the reliance on red sauce. ½ Star.
Will I Return? — If I’m in the mood for the atmosphere. I’ll admit, I really like the setting. But it says a lot when the restaurant setting is more memorable than the food. If I were in the mood for restaurant chain Italian food (Buca/​Maggianos/​Olive Garden), I would choose Maggianos for the food, Buca di Beppo for the setting, & Olive Garden for the unlimited salad & breadsticks. ½ Star.
My Unilocal Rating Scale (Sum of all parts):
1 Star — Atmosphere — Is it a cool dive? Perhaps an upscale place? No matter the type, atmosphere plays a big part and I’ll give a star if I like it or thinks it has great charm.
1 Star — Service — You can have a great meal with bad service. But that’s also what can make a five star joint drop to four. It’s important to the dining experience that service is great and on point.
2 Stars — Food — I’ll award up to two stars for the food, since this is the main reason we dine out. Sometimes the extra star is given for value, but it’s really all about the food.
1 Star — Will I come back? — If I know for a fact I’ll return, I’ll give this a star. A place has to make an impression for me to return.
Each Category can be given up to 1 star except food (2 stars) because I consider all these categories important to the overall dining experience. I will sum them up to provide my final Unilocal score.