Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant

The food is decent, however one of our dishes came to the table fairly cold. The other two dishes were nice and hot. The server was horrible. She simply stood there and asked if we were ready yet. No suggestions, even when asked. The sangria tasted like koolaid, and the bar drinks were so weak and watered down that my drink was sent back and I couldn’t even drink the final version. I just gave up. It was a two ingredient drink, not something complicated. Anyway, I had a person who appeared to be the manager argue with me about my drink. I will not be going back and will tell my friends not to bother. Oh, and the server had to add our bill up twice and it took at least 20 minutes to charge us. We could see her from our table and she was truly clueless as to how to put the amount on the cards.

We had reservations on Christmas Day and when we arrived were told they were running behind 40mins. Why even take reservations? Service was lacking and had to wait another 20 mins to get our drinks. When we asked for balsamic vinegar we were told he could not leave it at the table, we had to use it right away and give it back to him. Very strange. Food is deceit but way over priced.

Great food, awful server. We waited over an hour between placing our entrée order to finding out it was never put in. We only finally found out and were then attended to because I politely went and asked someone to check if our food was actually coming.
The server didn’t offer ANY comps for his mistake or even apologize or take accountability. He just said «Oh well I was trying to time your order.»
What made it especially sour was that TWO guys waited on the 3 – 4 tables in our dining room but neither of them checked on us in any regular fashion. We had to be somewhere at 7 and barely made it on time after taking a couple bites of hot food before boxing everything up.
Over $ 120.00 total for 2 people who sat there from 430 to 630 with no entrees is freakin insane. Also the mule I ordered tasted like watered down soda.
I guess it pays to be dickish. We probably would’ve had a whole free meal if we weren’t so understanding. Or if we had had enough time to discuss issues with management. One of the tables by us (which both men were attending-(why?) got free salad because it didn’t come out at exactly the right time. Guess we should be grumpy like that next time.
Oh well, we’re not coming back.

This place is horribly managed. Reservations mean nothing! We arrived 10 minutes before our reservations only to be told it would be another 40min. to an hour for our table to be ready. We left. I will not wait an hour for average Italian food!

Two is being generous.
5 stars for the server with the longer hair and beard who really did his best with what he was given.
Food is expensive, and coming from the N. E part of the country with a great Italian food scene: this food is crap.
–generous portions of cold bread and cold food
–brought my pizza out 25 min before my other parties food. Literally 25 min. (1) dish out of a party of 7.
–bartender screwed up a light margarita for a reg. one. Seemingly no big unless you are a diabetic, which someone in our party was. The server (who was great) and the manager were very apologetic and concerned.
I doubt this location will be here in 10 years. I’m sad to relay this: Olive Garden is better. Ouch, that really hurt to type.
If your in Scottsdale just follow the other Unilocal reviews to a better Italian restaurant.

We went back again for turkey day and the food was once again pretty stellar. The turkey was great and we also had a delicous pizza and pasta dish. The main problem as I indicated in a letter to corporate was on Thanksgiving that they have no pager or text system in place to seat the guests on the busiest day of the year. This led to someone actually answering to my name and stealing our table reservation. We had to wait another 20 minutes for another table. The manager was semi-​nice, but I would have evicted the people who stole the reservation. He did not have enough balls to attempt that manuever. They need to change the way they call people because this is a big chain and it’s just a shame they are too dumb to install a sytaem that would avoid this mess in the future.

After a long hard week that included an almost 2000 mile cross country drive to Phoenix, I was in need of hospitality and comfort food. I love Bucca’s in Minneapolis, and have usually had to wait quite a while for table there, but in Scottsdale I was seated immediately and waited on by a waitress who said she was brand new. She did a phenomenal job as she was kind, welcoming, friendly and helpful. Spaghetti with meatballs and order of garlic bread was my choice. Had enough leftovers for two large meals at home the next 2 days. While I like the concept of family style eating it has problems for the lone diner, and I wish I would have had the option for normal portion size that came with a salad or veggies instead.

This is the third year in a row we have come for Thanksgiving. This is also the third year in a row we have had to wait EVEN THOUGH we had reservations. We will go elsewhere next year.
The food is okay but the fact that we have reservations but don’t get seated at the reserved time is ridiculous. Three years in a row. Nope. Not again.

Live buca in Seattle… figured same service. Receptionist very friendly. …From Tacoma of course! Our waiter seemed totally disinterested in us. Had to ask for refills of drinks… everytime. food was good… as usual… til I saw a small roach on my table. I jumped up… killed it. He came to table asked if all was ok. I pointed to animal I squished on floor. His response. …oh yeah. Ignored. Brought us take home Containers. …set them on table. Never picked up dirty plates or offered to box our meal… that came to 70 for is. Disappointed and last time at this Buca… too bad.

Have went 3 times since review for take out. All 3 were great. Requested extra sauce and was explained it would cost more on the chicken Marcella since I had mushrooms in it. I asked if I could have extra sauce without the extra mushrooms and was told yes at no charge. Also no charge for the extra alfredo sauce. All I want are options and not be nickeled and dimed on every item. Food has been 5 star and has the customer service. The hostess every time has been so sweet.

Great waitress but horrible food… I love Italian but this falls short of ‘true Italian ‘. The décor of the place is a mixture of a bad TGI Fridays crossed with a veteran of foreign war hall with elements of a crumbling prison. If you eat in the bar area, bring an umbrella as the plaster from the ceiling is falling down, exposing a huge hole in which a few roof rats can make their way in or plaster will end in your food. Seriously, avoid this place at all cost… there are way too many nice places in walking distance from here.

We’ve gone here for many special occasions over the years. The service is not bad and there’s a variety of Italian food to appeal to most everyone.
As cool as the family style can be, it really seems like it’s never easy to decide with everyone or do the math on the appropriate amount of food. I’ve never left there without multiple extra boxes. Perhaps I just need to go more to adjust my models for Bucca di Beppo ordering? Haha. I suspect this is just built into their business model.
Their food is good, but not amazing. I don’t know why I always think it’s going to be better than it is. My favorite is the margherita pizza, but you can certainly get better pizza lots of other places in town. In terms of any of the other dishes, same deal.
If you have a big party, Bucca di Beppo is perfectly pleasant place to go.

The food is possibly good. Because it smells great. It took an hour to get our food. We couldn’t eat. There were maybe two other tables there at the same time. They didn’t offer any comps … We were so upset and rushed to get back to work that we didn’t say anything about it. Horrible service. They didn’t bring any bread during the wait. I’m leaving a restaurant that I sat in for an hour, HANGRY.
Jack in the box would have been more satisfying.

Oh man. Came here on a Saturday night with 7 coworkers on a work trip. We waited in the lobby, for lack of a better term, for literally 10 minutes before a hostess came. There was another party sitting down that looked like they were waiting for the rest of their group to join them — they weren’t. They’d literally taken a seat because they’d been there waiting to be seated even longer than us! That’s completely unacceptable. From that moment on, I knew this was going to be a shit-​show of a dinning experience so I started a timer to record just how awful it really was. It took over 10 minutes for a waitress to greet us and take our drink orders. Amazing! We put in our food orders and almost 46 minutes later got our dinner. The food was decent. Nothing to write home about or return for. All in all, our experience was over an hour and a half. Our drinks were never refilled and the entire customer service experience in that restaurant is deplorable at best. They also walk you through the kitchen on the way to your table. There was shit everywhere and it was filthy to say the least. See my attached picture of the floor.

We have come here several times in past years and had enjoyable dining experiences. It’s been a few months since the last visit, though, and there sure have been changes. New menus, new prices (which are significantly higher), and some old favorites are no longer available — in particular the 1893 Salad. The veal parmesan was tough, chewy, almost rubbery — and expensive. Standard salad and cheese bread were fine.
Dinner for two of us, with small salad, small entrée, small pasta, bread, no drinks, was nearly $ 80, before tip.
And, the restaurant is showing quite a bit of wear and tear. The ceiling in the room where we were seated had a gaping hole in it. Benches were lumpy.
Overall a big disappointment. We aren’t very excited about coming back.

The okay:
The food was decent, albeit extremely overpriced. EXTREMELY. $ 24 for a 2-​person portion of chicken, with nothing on the side? Seriously? Ridiculous.
The good:
Our server (bigger guy with long hair) was awesome and very good at dealing with 10 people who needed to eat and be out in 1 hour. He gets ⁵⁄₅.
The manager I spoke to today was pleasant. Gave me the impression that he is used to handling Snottsdale people with kid gloves.
The reasons we will not return:
I would advise the owner to check out their booking practices, and perhaps do some drug testing on their employees.
1) My friend made a reservation and we were supposed to have the pope room.
My boyfriend and I arrived first and were at the bar when a manager (who skeeved me OUT) came up to tell us that they had «accidentally» double booked the room and we were being bumped to a table in the regular dining room. My friend was NOT pleased but we rolled with it.
I then Unilocaled the place, and discovered multiple other reviews of people being ‘double booked’ out of the pope room. I think they are intentionally doing this bait-​and-​switch ‘double booking’ thing, because by the time you get there and they tell you the mistake, no way are you going to take your entire party of 10+ people and try to find another restaurant at 6pm on a Friday. They can smash as many large parties in as possible that way. Clever, clever.
2) We tried to cash out, and the bartender had disappeared. When he returned, his face was bright red and he was sniffling. Boyfriend and I exchanged one look and simultaneously muttered «Cokehead». This was confirmed when he ran our card for $ 147 instead of just our 2 drinks. He reversed it, but the charge still went through to the bank… because we got hit with multiple overdraft fees today, as we had used the card for several other transactions that night. Now we have to argue with Wells Fargo about this. I know, people make mistakes, yada yada, but had this guy not just obviously done a line in the back, he likely would not have made that mistake.

Buca is good, just not great. Came in for a large party and they «accidentally double booked» the pope room. Reservations were made a month and a half in advance, yet we were the ones to lose the room. We ended up smashed in the center of one of their dining rooms and it took 20 minutes to get checks figured out after we took them back and did all the work for our server.
I love the food, drinks are a little expensive and the service is always friendly. Again, I like the place. Just don’t love it.

Writing this review only because I care about Buca and this last visit (Yesterday 03.29.2015) was awful.
The Good:
1– I made a reservation on open table and we got in 15 minutes early yet we got seated right away.
2– Were greeted by a hostess and she was very welcoming
3– The food as always is good
4– Our server Paulo was good as he was doing EVERYTHING, literally, everything and see the BAD section for more details.
The Bad:
1– Service was VERY SLOW, and that is not because Paulo, it is because Paulo was doing EVERYTHING. From clearing tables, then cleaning them, getting the food out, checking on everyone to make sure they have everything.
2– Service was very slow
3– Service was very slow
The management at this restaurant seems that they did not care yesterday. As there were no buss staff, clearing tables or food runners to get t he food out. They did not care to at least pick up the pace and come over an ask at least how things were, knowing that the section the server was serving at is short staffed. I felt so bad for the server, that i really wanted to get up and do something.
A party of 5 or 6 showed up after us an the hostess brought them to the same section we were seated, and Paulo the server was making sure we were taken care of but at the same time he asked that group to wait for a few minutes while he cleaned the table they were being seated at. The Hostess did not even bother to help clear the table. Overall it was bad and we have been to too many different Buca locations and this is the first time i see such a mess.
So Paulo gets 5 stars, the restaurant however gets 3 or less.

We came here for my birthday while visiting Scottsdale. We hadn’t been to this restaurant chain before, so we weren’t sure what to expect.
Interestingly, they start you off for a walk through the kitchen. There’s even a booth in the kitchen (by reservation for you foodies out there!) if you want to watch them cook.
My husband is Italian, and he enjoyed the meal, so it must be good. We had an appetizer platter with mozzarella sticks, calamari and stuffed mushrooms, and a special gnocchi with pancetta (I’m pescatarian so I had to pick around a bit). The food is delicious and served family style. We had enough food for lunch the next day!

It’s Olive Garden with a personality. Buca di Beppo, though a chain, has more than a few things going for it.
The Scottsdale location can easily accommodate large groups. Family style servings contribute to great interaction with friends and family. The décor is gaudy and creative, with an emphasis on Italian heritage and a touch of humor here and there. Gene Simmons on the celebrity wall? Generally friendly staff. Kid friendly (triangular crayons!). And the food is decent.
Any negatives? The entrees, while solid, don’t have the impact of a true fine Italian restaurant. On this visit we ordered the Apple Gorgonzola Salad. It was enjoyed by all. The Chicken Cannelloni and the Chicken Marsala were great. The Baked Ziti, however, was dry and far from flavorful. Three out of four isn’t bad I suppose. And a single mistake is less catastrophic since everything is being shared family style anyway.
We had two children in our group and felt pressured to pop for the $ 4.99 kid’s Cioccolata and Pisa Punch served in glasses with flashing lights in their base. The lids were poorly designed, subject to spillage around the straw, but the kids did enjoy the beverages. $ 10 of enjoyment? Well. At least refills were free.
Ordering the right amount of food from the family style menu can be tricky. The portions are generous, so it’s easy to order too much. For example, our server’s recommendation to share a small salad for four adults was perfect, even though the written menu would have suggested the larger size. I’d recommend getting some friends together and ordering several small entrees for variety,
I’d also recommend just letting kids share the adult family style entrees rather than ordering from the children’s menu (unless they just have to have macaroni and cheese). The four and five year olds in our party were fine with it and it helped them feel fully part of the group. They weren’t quite as supportive, however, when we refused to order the giant brownie sundae. I was willing, but…