Buca Di Beppo
Reviews
The food is truly decent. Some dishes are thoroughly enjoyable, others just so so. The way this place is ran, from the ground up just makes no sense. Its like they TRY to discourage you from coming there again. The place is kinda grungy, table clothes often nasty. The portions are retarded, so you better have 12 people or everyone is eating the same thing. Like it or not. Just a horrible business model. A few tweaks would really turn this place around.
Ordered the simplest item on the menu, Fetuchini Alfredo with chicken, and they managed to completely screw it up. The Alfredo sauce was diluted to the point where I was only tasting the pasta and the chicken tasted like it was boiled, with one piece partially covered in some sort of red substance. The waiter gave terrible service; even the appetizer (which used to consist of many slices of fresh hot bread and a big plate of vinegar and olive oil) was reduced to a small cold partially sliced bread loaf and a tiny plate of vinegar and olive oil. Never coming here again.
We won't be going back again. This is our second visit and while the first was not amazing, this time was truly horrible. We ordered a salad to start. 3 bites into the salad and the entrees show up... so much for our salad. One bite of the chicken saltimbocca proved that it was made ahead or purchased and then frozen and reheated. The artichoke hearts were obviously canned and tough. It was awful and it was promptly returned. The spaghetti and meat sauce was passable but I did not try the meatballs my daughter ordered. The were so huge and dense, I can't imagine they tasted good, let alone the texture. We ordered the chocolate "lava" cake and it came so dry that all we ate was the middle and the ice cream on top.. microwaved for sure! When I confronted the manager and said that I thought he overused "chef mike" he knew EXACTLY what I meant and smiled, but did not deny it. Chef mike in the land of chefs is the mircowave... a HUGE no no in any professional kitchen that cares at all about the quality of their food... the biggest waste of $75 in recent memory... stay away!!! Chef Jill Miranda, Ames to Please Private Cheffing.
Food is always great. That's the only reason that keeps me coming back. For the last 5 years the service has been horrible. I still encourage all to go just for the food, but keep in mind that the service will be bad and don't expect anything different.
Decent Italian. Fresh. A little over priced compared to other Italian with more flavor.