Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant

This location is the worst I’ve ever been to. I had made reservations for Father’s Day for 7 of us. We didn’t get seated until after 10 minutes of waiting. Our server also did not care to give us complementary bread like we always get (Claremont location). We got our drinks after that, she came back and asked if we wanted an entrée we did go with a salad. When we got it to our table, it did not have dressing, olives and peppers. My sister told our waitress who came back and then asked if we’d like to get garlic bread. We paid for that as we didn’t receive our complementary bread and the rest wanted bread.
Time to order our food! Which was not pleasing at all. Our Alfredo pasta with chicken dos not have flavor whatsoever. We also ordered a pizza with pepperoni, which happened to be so greasy. the only good were the stuffed shells. But holy crap these cooks and servers really suck! Save yourself a few hundred dollars and go to Magiannos Little Italy instead if you’re celebrating a birthday or special occasion.

My friends and I came here for a birthday lunch last Saturday. I haven’t been to a Buca’s in years because everything has to be ordered family style so you need a large group. We looked online and saw that they had a lunch menu on which you could order individual meals. Unfortunately, they do not have that on the weekends.
We made reservations and we were seated right away upon entering. Once we were informed that the lunch menu wasn’t available we were scrambling trying to figure out what to order… which means that we ended up ordering WAY TOO MUCH!!! For appetizers we got the calamari, mozzarella squares, garlic bread and two salads. Everything was good except I thought the calamari was too greasy.
For the main entrees we got Pepperoni Pizza, Margherita Pizza, Chicken Parmigiana, Chicken Limone and Chicken Carbonara (which was the best out of all the entrees). The pepperoni pizza was very greasy and I wouldn’t recommend that at all. Once you add the alcoholic beverages and two slices of cheesecake, the meal came to $ 450 for 9 people (not including tip). The food was just average at best… our server was OK (he dropped water and plates), poor thing. I certainly didn’t feel that lunch was worth almost $ 55. Even though we had leftovers, there wasn’t enough of everything for everyone to take something.
I’d be quick to suggest another place when looking for our next group outing.

Always super good, we went on a very busy day (the night befor a marathon). The service stepped up and took care of us even when we were just a Togo order. I would go back

A group of us ate here on a special night. We had ordered mixed salad, chicken supremo plate, and some drinks. The service were great, but the food were not too great. The food was overpriced for what we paid for at an Italian restaurant. To be honest, I can make an Italian plate that taste better that what the chef cook in the kitchen. The food is very plane and simple. Nothing tasty or special about. The spaghetti plate was warm and the chicken was very bland. I hope the chef can make the food up to bare-​satisfying and more enjoyable next time.

Came here with my family for our mothers birthday, and from the get go it was nothing but slow horrible service! Never coming here again! Very disappointed

So much «no» from our visit today. Our lunch got off to a so-​so start as soon as we walked in. We stood behind another family waiting at the host counter. I made a joke and told my daughter to go find the host when a person from the family in front of us overheard me. She told us they had been standing and waiting for somebody for five minutes already. Magically somebody appeared and thankfully we were seated immediately. We were given menus, but no kid menus even though we had two with us, so I had to ask. Got a kids menu, but no crayons for my kid to do the activities. We sat around waiting for our waitress to come and take our drink order. The restaurant was far from being busy and had a lot of empty tables;we were definitely waiting for longer than we should have. We were never offered complimentary bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar; Instead we were asked if we wanted garlic bread or cheese bread after we ordered. Somebody in our party that we were taking out for lunch asked for the garlic bread, so of course we happily obliged. But let me say, that basket is freakin $ 10!!!
Our food came out in a timely manner. But our drinks were never refilled. Our waitress was distant and did the bare minimum at best. I really took it in stride since we were taking family out to eat. I noticed that a lot of the waiters were confused in some of the tables they were serving. I overheard a conversation between our waitress and two others behind me. They were talking about how a table across from us had appetizers when they didn’t know who was covering the table. Really? Somebody then went to take their order. And then 5 minutes later another person did as well. So overall the food was good, service was not.

The chicken saltimbocca was excellent. The frutti di mare was pretty good, but the shrimp should have been larger prawns, and the dish needed more seafood given the price. The kids loved the meatballs (didn’t get a taste) but the spaghetti marinera was pedestrian and the fettuccine alfredo was aweful.
The real crime, aside from over priced pasta, was the nonsense of a candlestick to celebrate my wife’s birthday. I spent $ 100 on dinner (no drinks) and they can’t get it together to throw in a dessert?
I edited my original review: took an extra star off and my comment about good service after realizing they never brought bread to our table.

What a disappointing experience tonight was. When I made reservations I put it down for a birthday dinner which was completely ignored. I mentioned several times we were celebrating. The host was rude and rushed us to the table. The place was NOT busy at the time. There is more I can say. We will not return here again.

I’ve been to this location several times in the past 4 years and always have a great experience (consists with our «stay-​cations» when I’m running ½ marathons at the Disneyland Resort). I’m always jealous of the people sitting at the «Kitchen Table» when the host/​hostess walks us to our table and we pass through the kitchen area, so we called early in the week to reserve it on Saturday night (5÷7÷2016). *FYI: They generally require a minimum of 4 people to reserve the «Kitchen Table». It was such a fun experience to be able to watch all the food get prepared and plated. I highly recommend requesting the «Kitchen Table» if you have little kids (mine is 4 years old and he had a blast). It’s a bit louder than the rest of the restaurant because of all the hustle & bustle, but the kids can be as loud as they want and not bother anyone. The booth-​style table would probably fit about 5 adults comfortably, 6 or 7 uncomfortably (we had 3 adults and 1 toddler and we had plenty of room for sweaters/​purse to be stored on the seats & still had extra space to either side of each person).
All Buca di Beppo locations I’ve been to are all well run, and very family oriented. All employees are super nice and very attentive. This always rings true at this location as well. And keep in mind that Buca is «family style» dining, so ALL plates come in 2 sizes: Small (feeds 2 – 4) and Large (feeds 6 – 8). Our server this visit did say that the Lunch items are smaller, so that’s good to know — we’ve only ever eaten at Buca for dinner, though, so I’m not sure how much smaller they actually are.
This visit we had the Apple Gorgonzola Salad & Spicy Chicken Rigatoni (which is tasty spicy, not burn your taste buds off spicy). I don’t think I’ve had a better salad than the Apple Gorgonzola. SO GOOD!!! I’m definitely planning to go sometime for lunch and just eat a whole bowl of that!!! I’ll leave a follow-​up review based on the difference in size between the Lunch and Dinner servings.
FYI: The address shows Garden Grove, but the Buca di Beppo website lists it as the Anaheim location (with a Garden Grove address). It’s about a mile from Disneyland — perfect for tourist families to get a quality meal — and if you stay at a nearby timeshare like we do, the servings are large enough to take leftovers back for the next day (I ran a half marathon at Disneyland back in September, and took the leftover spaghetti back and ate it for a carb-​filled pre-​race breakfast the next morning, lol).

The food was good, but the service needs some work.
My boyfriend and I came in on a Saturday evening and we were told the wait was about 40 minutes. As we waited in the lobby, two waiters walked through with entrees and one of the waiters was spilling sauce from the entrée through the lobby without realizing it until I informed him. He came back quickly to clean it up and offered us napkins in case it had splashed on us. He was very polite, but at the same time did spill the sauce through the lobby.
We were seated ahead of the expected wait time and ordered right away. We ordered the Italian Cream soda, Sangria, Caesar salad, and the Spicy Chicken Rigatoni.
After we ordered, the waiter brought out our water, but no bread with it. When our Italian Cream Soda came out ¹⁄₃ of it was foam. A little while later, the waiter informed us the sangria we ordered was already out. It was only about 8PM and they had already run out. The waiter asked if I wanted a different drink, possibly the Cream Soda. I informed him I wasn’t interested in the Cream soda because the one we already received was ¹⁄₃ foam. He didn’t offer to give us a refill or a new Cream Soda.
A few minutes later the Caesar salad was served, but still no bread. Our waiter came to check on us about five minutes later and realized we didn’t have any plates or utensils to eat the salad with. He ran to grab the plates and utensils and I finally asked for some bread as well. Shortly after, our Spicy Chicken Rigatoni was served.
Both the salad and pasta were very good. The salad had just the right amount of dressing on it without overpowering your taste buds. The pasta had a nice kick to it and was certainly enough to feed 3 people. I definitely recommend this dish to someone that like spicy pasta.
So in summary, we really enjoyed the food, but the drinks were disappointing. Although the staff was friendly and polite, it doesn’t make up for the lack of service or attention to detail.

Come here on a Tuesday night and it was quite busy. We did not have reservation so had to wait for 15 – 20 minutes, no big deal. As other reviewers said the parking lot was shared with other hotels so it was quite crowded. The hotel also bring Buca more business. Service was alright but not very attentive. I could use more bread and water. He was busy anyway. We had ordered Linguine Frutti di Mare, Shrimp Florentine and Fried Calamari. It was good and quite expensive. Therefore, try to use their promotion offer such as reward club or coupon in the mail. Some section of the restaurant was not open to prevent overwork of their employee and provide better service.

I have only been to this Buca once, so this was my second time here. We forgot to make a reservation because we didn’t know that there were going to be so many people there. Fortunately, we only had 3 people and we were seated in 10 minutes. It was a little brighter inside than I expected/​remembered, which is good because I don’t like when the lights are dimmed.
It was my best friend’s birthday, so she got to choose everything. :) We ordered a carafe of the red Sangria. There was so much ice in it and the cups that they served us it in were so tiny! I wish the carafe was bigger so that it had more in it: P It was very good and not too strong or sweet. We also had the artichoke florentine dip. The spinach could’ve been chopped more and I didn’t like how it was served with crostini (baguette slices brushed with oil and baked).
We ordered the small lasagna, because the large would’ve been so huge for just the 3 of us. Twenty minutes after we ordered, the manager came out to tell us that they had ran out from the ones they made in the morning and that they were making a fresh one for us. He said it would be out in about 10 minutes. It was a pretty long 10 minutes. Our server, Brian, came to tell us that since we had been waiting so long for the lasagna, he told his manager to take it off of our bill. Sweet, free lasagna! It was so good and cheesy, holy mama.
The restaurant’s photographer came to our table to take pictures for us, I forgot what his name was. :(He was so nice and we ended up having a little chat with him. He came back a couple minutes later to give us our free photo and had the other pictures he took of us in a black paper frame and told us that we could purchase them. When he came back, I wanted to purchase one of the photos he took and took out my card for him to pay. He said that we were nice people so he would give the photo to me for free! And he gave my friend two free photos as well.
Since we got the free lasagna, we went all out and ordered the colossal brownie sundae. It was so big, we couldn’t even finish it. Although, the brownies were a little too sweet and chewy. All in all, it was a great night and dinner!

I haven’t been to a Buca di Beppo in years, but I decided to make a reservation here for Valentine’s Day with my boyfriend. Parking here is a disaster since the parking lot is shared with a couple hotels. We came across two available spots but the cars next to them were parked SO badly, the available spots weren’t even viable anymore. It took a few minutes for us to get seated and once we did, the waitress didn’t even tell us her name or inform us of the Valentine’s Day special. The couple at the table next to us arrived a couple minutes later and were treated much better. Service was not good overall; we waited about 15 minutes for the waitress to come back and take our order. The food took forever to come out and was mediocre at best.
The bread was cold and only one loaf was provided. The fried calamari was a bit too soggy and not crunchy enough to be enjoyable. The redeeming dish was the spicy chicken rigatoni, which was flavorful and saucy. The beppo bellini was also peachy and sweet, which I liked. If I ever come back to a Buca di Beppo, it’ll be a different location with a bigger party.

My family loves Buca di Beppo! (Even though my mom can’t pronounce it correctly with her accent, lol) They have HUGE portions fit for the whole family.
We usually get the baked ziti which is really good, and calamari for appetizer. As far as appetizers are concerned, I wouldn’t say there are any really good ones so far. Even the calamari which we always get is okay. Last time we also got the spicy Rigatoni and I really like it!
Buca is a great place to take you’re family. They do a walk through of the kitchen which is really cool as well.

This Bucca is definitely better than others I have been to.
Seated pretty quickly.
Jordy was our server. He was friendly, helpful and fast.
Food was super yummy, hot and fresh.
I will be back, when in town.

We’ve been to this B di B in the past. It was right next door to our hotel so we stopped here for a late dinner after a day at CA Adventure. With the exception of our waitress, Brittany, the rest of the staff at the front door were tepid. I even saw female employee just stare at us as if she didn’t want to help. The White guy who eventually seated us, sat us next to a large table of Korean-​speakers. There was an empty booth across the room and other empty tables but he just HAD to seat us with other Asians. We were too tired to protest but you had to wonder why he felt compelled to seat us next to them. They were loud and maybe it wouldn’t have been bad if I understood their conversations and could listen in. I told a LA friend about this and she told me, «That’s Orange County for you».
The food was worse than I remembered. We ordered a small calamari, $ 14. Crust was pale, not crispy like I remembered in the past, bland. The «create your own pasta» special $ 19 was worse. The pasta was overcooked, soggy, and there was a huge amount of watery sauce on the bottom. May as well call it a soup. We had marinara sauce in it with broccoli, mushrooms, artichoke and 2 huge meatballs. It was more than enough food for the 2 of us but disappointing.
Our waitress was the only salvation to the whole experience. She was very nice and checked in on us. Definitely gone downhill from our last trip.

I used to LOVE Buca di Beppo back in the days. The overly decorated walls and the huge mounds of food were intriguing. However when I returned recently, the walls were still overly decorated and the food was oversized, but also now overpriced and underwhelming. Came in a group of 5. We ordered a large spaghetti with meatballs and a large Supremo Italiano pizza (pepperoni, sausage, red and yellow peppers, yellow onions, mozzarella, provolone and meat sauce.
The complimentary bread with butter was the best part of our meal. The spaghetti with meatballs could easily serve 6 people. It was one of the worst spaghetti I’ve eaten at a restaurant. The noodles were severely overcooked and the tomato sauce was bland. The meatball was alright but this dish didn’t come together like a great pasta dish should. Even with a ton of added parmesan cheese didn’t help. The pizza was even worse. This was the saltiest pizza I’ve ever eaten period! It didn’t even taste like pizza! I barely finished one slice. I would like to see their sodium content for this pizza just out of curiosity.
I will give an extra star to our server who did her best to keep us content. She did her job well but the food failed to bring back the glory of yesteryear. Sorry, not recommended.

I never heard of Buca di Beppo until I was in college, where fatness reigned and just enjoying life (within reason) was a mantra. Although adult responsibilities have kind of butchered the enjoyment of life, fatness still reigns! Fatness sounds awesome.
Anyways, we’ve been to this Buca di Beppo several times. Great parking, as it’s situated next to a hotel. When you walk in, everything is decorated in a cluttered and cozy way, which is very similar to all of the other Buca di Beppo restaurants. This Buca is convenient because it’s next to Disneyland/​California Adventure, as well as the convention center. It’s definitely an option if you have large groups, though, if it’s only a party of 2, it’s pretty accommodating, as well. Truth be told, hubby and I basically only go as a couple when we go to Buca, or we just take items to go.
Service has always been courteous. Never a problem here.
Food is very good! For the price, though, eh, it’s a bit high, but the food is enjoyable. It is family-​style, so you will be given a huge plate/​bowl of food that you will dish out to your individual plates. I would always recommend looking for coupons, or signing up with the Buca Rewards, as you can get a $ 10 or $ 20 off coupon, or even some 10% or 20% off coupon. Plus, $ 20 off for your birthday! Even with a party of two, our bill comes out to almost $ 100 with tip, though we do have leftovers for at least 2 to 3 more meals.
Bread is soft and fresh. The gnocchi is great. Spaghetti is basic, but the sauce is good. Love any seafood pasta, especially with the spicy creamy vodka sauce (absolute fave!). Appetizers are very good: calamari is fresh, crispy, and not too-​breaded, clams (any style) are fresh and nicely seasoned, mozzarella sticks are piping hot and nice and cheesy (that’s how they should be!). For dessert, you can’t go wrong with the tiramisus, cannolis, or chocolate cakes. For the most part, this restaurant prides themselves in providing comfort foods and they do it expertly. Never had any bad food here at all
We’ll be back. No reason to not come back other than for our own personal health reasons; very easy to gain a few pounds from the food here, even if we visited only a handful amount of times in a given year.

Buca di Beppo is a great place to take the kids because a 16 year old boy sure can eat! This location is in a tourist heavy section of Garden Grove not far from Disneyland. The wait for dinner wasn’t too long and the seating hosts are pleasant. The walls are covered with random pics of Italian celebrities plus others of stuff such as pigeons, a man wearing a fig leaf and crazy dancing folk. The music is kitschy Dean Martin-​esque songs and the atmostphere is very casual.
Once we were seated our server did a great job of explaining that the food comes in ginormous portions and is served family style. You pick out a dish, for 2 persons or for 4, and in truth you get enough to feed a whole army! We shared the Garlic Bread, Chicken Parmesan and the Spicy Rigatoni and all were tasty and satisfying.
For dessert we had the Brownie Sundae and it was HUGE! And it was delicious, with a brownie that was surprisingly moist (you know, the brownie is usually dry on this dessert everywhere else we’ve ever had it!) and tasty.
We went home with leftovers for days!

«When the moon hits your eye,
like a big pizza pie,
that’s amore.» — «That’s Amore», Dean Martin
Free Colossal Sundae coupon
Happy 70^th Birthday, Mom!
With said coupon in my possession, I made the call to have our celebratory lunch at Buca di Beppo, most of us not having dined here before. Dishes are served either family-​style or in individual lunch specials.
Complimentary bread & butter w/​oil & vinegar started things off. We indulged ourselves so much, we had 2 refills of it ;p
Salmon Sorrento lunch special w/​Italian Broccoli Romano
Not a big pasta guy, I chose the salmon Sorrento. Crispy on the outside, yet moist & flaky underneath, the salmon was a healthy & delicious meal of omega-3’s. It was enhanced with a lemon butter sauce, along with roma tomatoes & capers. For my side, I chose the Italian broccoli romano. Crunchy broccoli florets kept things green & healthy for me, along with garlic, red pepper & parmesan cheese. Nice lunch choice!
Colossal Sundae
Okay, here’s why I kept my entrée healthy. Because of this bad boy! Consisting of 12 chunks of freshly baked brownies, layered with 6 scoops of vanilla & chocolate ice cream, topped with caramel & chocolate sauce & buried under mounds of whipped cream with a cherry on top, it’s the diabetic coma-​inducing colossal sundae. Enough for 4 and then some, it was all the more delicious because it was free with coupon. The brownies were moist, the ice cream cold & everything else proved magical. As if you didn’t know by now, I finished most of it because I’m a glutton & I don’t try to waste food. Hey, I go to the gym & line dance every week. That makes it okay to help myself to this monstrosity, doesn’t it? ;p
The décor is like Walt Disney meets Salvador Dali. The hostess led us through the kitchen, where I spied a table (which is I assume for VIP’s/special guests), and into one of the dining areas. Like a scene from Tim Burton’s imagination, it seemed like organized chaos. Like Alice in Wonderland with an Italian twist. Even the restroom’s kept with the theme of the décor. Speaking of which, as I went to use the restroom, my eyes spied the Pope Room–
A circular room with a corresponding round table, complete with a lazy Susan & a bust of Pope Francis, I must say, it was kinda creepy. Having a meal with a Pope Francis bust looking down on my antipasti seems rather awkward. But, to each their own, I suppose.
Service was great! The young lady attending our table didn’t bat an eyelash as we asked for more bread. She was quick with drink refills & extra plates. The staff sang a birthday song to my mom when they brought out the colossal sundae.
Parking is in a private lot. I actually passed by going north on Harbor, so keep your eyes peeled.
First time here & I had a great time. My salmon Sorrento lunch special hit the spot & the colossal sundae gives me the motivation to work out & dance even harder to burn it all off. To reiterate, the service we experienced was great & the décor was surprisingly visually appealing. I don’t foresee myself frequenting Buca di Beppo often, but if my inbox holds another complimentary offer, then I wouldn’t mind coming back and giving a fist bump to the Pope. That is, if his bust had hands ;p
Recommend!
NOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM

It’s just simply amazing. From entering the place to sitting and looking every detail they have on their wall. Food is great service is great oh and family style even better.