BAD, BAD, BAD and BAD!!! Had not been to Buca di Beppo in years, my cousin had a taste for chicken saltimbocca and wanted to go. Horrible in every way. The service was excruciatingly slow and the waiter could have cared less about us. He even called us "sir" twice (a table of two women?) The chicken saltimbocca was very dried out, I ordered the stuffed shells which were described as filled with spicy Italian sausage...spicy dog vomit maybe, sent those back. Tried the chicken limone, better but really not good. If the chef would like cooking lessons, I make a mean chicken piccata, I would be glad to show him how it's done. And the lighting... if you like being interrogated in a police lockup, maybe you'll feel comfortable with those glaring overhead track lights. Stay away from this place.
(1)
Ron G.
We went here to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday. It was a great time. I'm glad I made a reservation because it was full at 6:30 Saturday night. The green Apple Gorgonzola salad was terrific, filled with candied walnuts. The eggplant parmesan was good too - we ate every bite. Their smaller portions are just right for two hungry people. We had two glasses of Chianti (very good) and a bottle of mineral water (a bit overpriced at $5.75). For dessert, their double dark chocolate cake was moist and delicious and ample enough to take home for a second serving. I used a $10 off coupon that's readily available around here so I was very happy when the bill arrived. The service was exceptional - friendly but discreet and professional. My only concern about the restaurant is that the tables are a little too close together. You have to turn sideways in some spots to navigate to your table. On the other hand, my girlfriend was wished happy birthday by diners in the two nearby tables after the birthday cheer was performed by the staff.
(4)
Derek C.
I don't know why they need to put red pepper flakes into all of the food here. it's in the pasta and the marinara sauce for the calamari. I'm good at things being spicy, and I can hold my own, but I think this is quite unnecessary. leave it at the table for people to put it on themselves. Service is also horrible here. our waitress went on break without letting us or any of her fellow servers know. so we sat there like idiots for 20 min after our meal waiting for her to come by to clean up and give us the bill. we asked another server cleaning a nearby table to find our waitress and a different server came back to help us. she dropped off the check but then she disappeared for quite some time as well. she also almost spilled pasta sauce on me after recklessly packing some leftovers for us. the one saving grace here was that the Chicken Saltimboca was awesome (no red pepper flakes in this dish!) and probably the only dish I will eat from here again.
It's super kitschy, the portions are ridiculously large, and the cuisine is what some members of my family would call "eye"-talian... but Buca di Beppo really hit the spot for me this week. It was exactly what I wanted (a crazy large serving of spaghetti with some red sauce) and I got to sit at a booth next to a picture of a ginormous fat little boy stuffing his face with a giant donut. When I was leaving, I saw a picture of a cat with spaghetti on its head. Funny. Our server was terrific and friendly. And their spicy chicken rigatoni is DELICIOUS. I had seen someone pin "Buca di Beppo's spicy chicken rigatoni" recipe on Pinterest the other day and was curious. I'll be ordering this again. And, those half pound meatballs totally hit the spot. Who doesn't like a big meaty ball? I only managed to take down half of one. Sad!
(4)
Gerry T.
Both Buca's locations in Chicago closed which speaks to what I feel is due to consistent 3 star experiences. We've had the fried calamari, egg plant parmigiana, chicken limone, chicken fettuccine and braised beef. It's all fine however, in comparison to Maggiano's, their meals don't quite compare. Perhaps it's the quantity and/or quality. I just don't get that same feeling when I dine at Maggiano's. Now, will I come back? Probably...but Wheeling is not that close and if I travel that far, I might be tempted to go to Bob Chinn's, Pete Miller's or Super Dawg's instead. Hang in there Buca, I do like your music and pics of Sinatra and Dean.
(3)
Jessica Y.
I have dined here countless amounts of time. It's not so much that the food is amazing every single time as much as the memories I have had here. I am a fan because when I come here it reminds me of past great times - father's 50th birthday gathering, my sweet 16, and other birthdays and holidays. In some ways that in itself is a success. Don't get me wrong...the food is delicious. Big portions/family style, pictures covering every spot on the wall, and great atmosphere.Dishes range from $11 for a small salad to $33 for specialty pasta. We always order the linguine frutti di mare, and tiramisu (best ever).. caesar salad. calamari, pizzas, chicken marsala, spicy chicken rigatoni, meatballs, ravioli, stuffed shells, green beans, broccoli, mashed potatoes - all good!
(4)
Dan C.
When you walk into this place, you will know right away... that you are in for something special. The aroma of some of the best food you will ever eat is going to send your appetite into overdrive. This is my #1 Favorite Restaurant ever!
(5)
Debbie M.
Placed an order to pick up. Told them I had a $10.00 off $30.00 coupon. Coupon literally blew out of my hands so I didn't have it when I went to pick up my order. I explained my situation and also pulled up several other coupons from several other sites. One was for 2 pastas and I ordered a pasta and a salad so they wouldn't take it. I showed them all sorts of coupons from all sorts of sites and they wouldn't take it. Mgr., Matt finally came out and said there was nothing he could do. I asked him if it was worth it to lose a customer, get bad press and toss out my order. He said there was nothing he could do. Terrible customer service and unprofessional attitude. Not to mention the last 2 times I ordered from them, they messed up those orders. Won't be back.
(1)
David Y.
Though the host said the wait would be 30 minutes, they sat us in 5 minutes. The server seemed new and took a long time to bring bread over. All the other food came out quick, almost too quick. We ordered the di beppo salad, lasagna, and penne alla vodka. Salad was really tasty with pepperoni and salami. Lasagna was ok. Penne has some spice to it and was pretty good. Overall, portions were generous and a good family style meal.
(4)
Susan S.
the decor is great. the food is nothing special
(2)
Jeka M.
Love the Bepp. I've always had friendly service, food comes quickly, and it's pretty delicious. The food can be typical Italian or extra-super-delicious Italian depending on what you order (mozzarella garlic bread = okay, Chicken Artichoke Rigatoni = delish) and how into Italian food you are. It's gets pricey quickly if you start adding beverages of the alcoholic persuasion. Excellent for groups~ it's like tapas, but you get more of fewer items. I still like sharing multiple options, though. They've got a great vibe.
(4)
Nic Z.
This Buca and another are essentially equidistant from us. Over the years, we gradually started leaning toward the other until we hadn't gone to this one in about 2-3 years. We opted for a "change of scenery" and came here a few weeks ago. Long story short, we quickly realized why we don't come here anymore. We were sat in a dining room all by ourselves where there was a woman mopping the floor with bleach... BLEACH! While we ate! The entire time. When our main course came, we had finally had enough and asked if she could please stop mopping while we eat because the smell was nauseating. After 30-40 minutes of mopping, we all felt ill and ready to faint; there was no way we could enjoy our meal like that. Her reply? "Oh, I'm almost done." ...She mopped throughout our whole meal. We managed to swallow a slice of pizza each (the 2x2" paper-thin square) and asked to have the rest wrapped up. We were disgusted and just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. That had to be in violation of some health codes. Who the hell mops with bleach while people are eating?
(1)
Jennifer L.
LOVE this place! Yay for their fabuloso garlic bread and spicy chicken rigatoni... mmm mmmmm gooood!! Great service, large location... If you have less than 4 people you can request the special table in the kitchen which is kinda fun! All the servers have to stop and show you the food they're bringing out to their tables... So you can see all the delish food they have. I like this place. A wee bit expensive for a chain restaurant, but this is one of those places where I actually bring the leftovers home cuz I want to keep eating!!! Recommended!
(5)
Justin R.
Decent family-style Italian food appropriate for group dining
(3)
Christine L.
I love love love Italian food, and Buca always seems to do it right. Huge portions (the "small" can feed a small family). The only thing about Buca di Beppo's is the wait. There always seems to be a wait to eat, but I guess that just means that the food is good, right? Their pasta is always al dente, and cooked to perfection. They serve the meat dishes separately, on the side (like chicken parm or italian sausage). Everything is family-style, so I would definitely not recommend eating alone here. Unless you're really, really hungry.
(4)
Kathleen T.
It has been several years since we have been there and it seems as if things have changed. I remembered a several page menu to chose from. I knew that there were small and large portions to choose from. This time the menu was scaled down but I Immediately noticed that spaghetti and meatballs was $20 for a small. I asked the waitress and she said all our meals are served family style and are to be shared. We ordered the S and M and a small order of calamari for an appetizer which was $13 which is higher than most Italian restaurants. The calamari was like shoe leather. Very over cooked. The S and M was very good. The bread on the table was like a soft commercial loaf bread and not crusty Italian bread. The restaurant could use a good cleaning. The women's room floor was filthy. I see this and I think what must the kitchen look like. Our server was very nice and attentive but we only saw one other couple in the restaurant which in itself was strange. I doubt if we would return.
(2)
Aly L.
Just had dinner there with a group of friends. The best Italian place I've been to in a while. The small plate option was huge. Definitely plenty for two. The mussels marinara were out if this world. Christine, our server, was very fast and attentive. Will be coming back there for sure.
(5)
Shannon F.
This Buca Di Beppo on Milwaukee had the friendliest people ever! I went there for my birthday and although the food I ordered wasn't my favorite, the waiter and people who worked there were super nice. I lost my birthday card they gave me and the waiter saw me searching for it. After I told him what happened he hurry ran around the whole restaurant to get a new card signed by everyone before I left.
(4)
Abhijit C.
The food is decent Italian, however they certainly need to work on their Decor. As soon as you enter, the place stinks of 1960. And the smell remains till you leave. The service is mediocre, however the portions are good.
(3)
Laurence K.
Even though its a chain I've been coming to bucks since they first opened I've always enjoyed there mixed green salad with prosciutto and Gorgonzola and the semi sour dressing really goes well with this salad. The chicken saltinbocca is chicken breast prosciutto lemon capers and artichoke hearts its sooo good!! And the spaghetti and meatballs good too! I mean its not gourmet but it dam tasty!!
(4)
Samantha L.
What this boils down to is two things. The food is pretty good and the service sucks. Like, it really, sincerely, is a dreadful and awful experience due to service. A "quick birthday lunch" ended up taking us almost two hours, because we were constantly waiting and looking for our waitress. And even when she was in the same room as us, it was really awkward and painful to get her attention. The place was deserted too. We were seated towards the interior/back and there was only one other table there at the time. (Including the bar area and the other sections/rooms). It got to the point where at the end of the meal, it took us 20 minutes (we timed it) for us to flag (literally flag) down our waitress so that we could get the bill. P.S. Only one of us got a singular water refill while we were there. Two hours. But really, the food is good, and we do like their lunch menu. I had a plate full of meatballs (off of their dinner menu) they were moist, flavorful, delightful, and a ridiculous size, and Andy had the Chicken Parm lunch meal - and while it was a little greasy, it was nonetheless good. The next time we're craving Italian though, Biaggi's, Maggiano's or Francesca's will be our destination.
(2)
Gavin S.
We once ate at the (now closed) downtown location and quite enjoyed the experience, so we sought out this location when house shopping in the area and have now dined there three times in the last couple months, each time just the two of us, usually mid to late afternoon. I see a number of recent complaints about the service, but all three times we got very helpful friendly attentive service so I have absolutely no complaints there. In fact on our third visit yesterday I felt a bit guilty because our check was going to come to a whopping zero due to a free appetizer coupon (see below) and that was all we really needed to make a meal. But our server seemed totally happy with the fact that we decided not to order anything else (and were even just drinking water). I left a nice tip of course. At least currently if you sign up at their bucalove web site for their mailing list then the next day you'll get an email with a free appetizer coupon (no purchase required). As I mentioned above we took advantage of this yesterday and the two of us made a full meal out of their bruschetta (about 14 slices of bread along with Buca quantities of the topping served in a giant martini-style glass about 10-12" across) and were totally stuffed after finishing it. I wish it were easier for a couple to eat here more easily without getting/paying for twice as much food as you really want, because it's a fun place that oozes happy atmosphere and the food and service have been great. We usually end up splitting an appetizer or a single entree between the two of us. Their Pizzas are another option as well. Of course if you have a larger group then it's a lot more fun. Or you can buy into their "buy it for the leftovers" line. They also have some online coupons surrounding their 20th anniversary where you can get $20 off the purchase of two entrees which is approximately a "two for one" offer.
(4)
Jacob S.
I had to make the time and write this review. We all know Buca Di Beppo Italian restaurant to be a nice place to bring the family for a good Italian food, large portions and delicious meal. Well, not this time around. Based on our last wonderful family dinner and my son's request, we decided to celebrate his 20th birthday at Buca Di Beppo, and how disappointing that was, and that's putting it lightly. We had a 6:30 pm reservations and we were seated as soon as we got there, greeted by our waiter who specifically asked if we're celebrating any event, and we replied that it is my son's 20th. So far so good. For starters we ordered the Apple Gorgonzola Salad, it had all the right ingredients , except for the signature Italian vinaigrette that was just BLAH (I know for a fact it was really wonderful in our last visit there). Then for the main dishes: The Chicken Marsala tasted sweet thinking now I'm at a bad Chinese restaurant, no wait, I'm still at Buca Di Beppo. The Penne San Remo, we changed and had it with spaghetti pasta. It was actually good. The cheese ravioli in marinara sauce, how should I say it, the cook was out for lunch while dinner was cooking. The marinara was horrible. We really enjoyed the garlic and cheese toasted bread. As we finished our dinner, the waiter asked if we're interested in dessert and we replied "not this time". At this point our waiter was not to be found and no acknowledgment as to my son's birthday. Now that's a shame, considering I just spent $110 + tip for so so food. The two stars given only do to our nice experiences in the past.
(2)
Kristie R.
I made reservations mid week for their Kitchen table at the Wheeling Buca di Beppo for a special celebration for my boyfriend and I. I had been teasing him all week about an exciting one of a kind dining experience. When we arrived Saturday, I was deeply disappointed to hear they "lost" our special reservation. While upset, the hostess assured me she would get us a really good table to make up for it and send a manager to our table. We got a regular table and no manager ever came. Then when we ordered our drinks the long island ice tea was TERRIBLE - very watered down. We sent it back and the 2nd one they brought was better. Now the food was excellent. My boyfriend was thinking of getting a $100 gift certificate for Christmas at this restaurant for his parents. But given the deep disappointment of our experience he decided to get a Lettuce Entertain You certificate instead. Overall was DEEPLY upset about the lack of concern about the major screw up that turned our magical night into a ordinary meal. Wish they took better care of us in making up for the mistake.
(2)
Johnny O.
As for fine Italian dining, this place is not. It's maze like interior with walls covered with some interesting photographs make for a nice conversation over dinner. It's a great place to take young kids and have a good family style meal. During our visit, we had the mozzarella caprese, apple gargonzola salad, baked ziti and lasagna, all of which satisfied my picky-eating kids. The service was very friendly and courteous, and the price was reasonable. We will definitely come back to try to some of the other dishes.
(4)
Kelsey W.
Delicious food! Enjoyed the family style portions! Great service as well! I will definitely be back.
(5)
Rachel R.
A group of 6 of us ate here on Saturday. The place was pretty empty, but the service was unreasonably slow. It took us 55 minutes to get our salads, although one person in our group who had ordered soup was served this before us and had finished it before we got our salads. The food was essentially flavorless and ordinary. It was definitely not worth spending over $100 to share one dinner and some wine for two people. We won't be back. This place has definitely gone downhill since the last time we ate here. Save your money.
(2)
Jerome R.
Great atmosphere for family, delicious food, and good service. However, it's a little pricer for what we got. Don't be mistaken it's still a pretty good place to experience. Despite the prices, we will come back but just not as much. Give it a try.
(3)
Dave J.
For a national chain restaurant, this is one of the best. Sorry Olive Garden. I like the food, the decor, and the vibe at Buca. I like that I signed up on their e-mail list and they send coupons. I like that they gave me a birthday card, signed by the staff, and didn't do any obnoxious singing ritual (upon my request) on my birthday. I like that they have LARGE and small portions, depending on how many of us are at the table. I like the variety of choices on the menu. Simple, fun, unpretentious, party rooms, great service, and always consistently great food.
I have been to other locations of this chain, and always had a decent time and a decent meal. But looking at the value aspect of what a recent lunch cost, I would have to say I had a mediocre experience at best here. Let me start with the good stuff: Bruschetta appetizer. Although it was large, and the bread was delicious, $10.00 for Brushcetta? It's not as if they had to make a pizza, or anything. I mean it's just bread, tomatoes and basil. But that was the best part of the meal. I ordered Chicken Parmigiana, because I love it, and I don't have it too often. Well, I violated my own never-order-chicken-in-a-restaurant rule, and was sorry I did. The chicken cutlet was thin, over-cooked, and not unlike a frozen Aldi entree. The accompanying spaghetti was pretty bad, too. I could have found better Chicken Parm at one of my neighborhood fast-food Italian spots. My lunch companion had baked Salmon, with a pesto sauce, whole pine nuts, and broccoli. I believe it was not accompanied by pasta. He did eat it all up and appeared to enjoy it. I do enjoy the over-the-top, whimsical art and photos everywhere, especially the vintage Italian ones. But I don't know that I will be rushing back here for the food, or the just a little too over-friendly and invasive service. It just was not worth the price. Lunch for two: about $60.00 tax and tip.
(2)
T G.
We had an 830 reservation this past Tuesday, we entered the lobby and was not greeted by anyone. We walked into the bar to look for an employee and there was no one present. We also looked in the dining room and it was only a few tables of customers and no wait staff. We checked both areas twice and again no employees to be found. We returned to the lobby for a few more minutes still no one came to seat us. We checked the bar and dinning room one final time to no avail. So we gave up after ten minutes. We went on open table and cancelled our reservation and went across the street to Cooper's hawk and had a wonderful meal. First time at Buca and they blew it. I won't be coming back after that experience.
(1)
Jay N.
Parking lot is a little small and not easy to get out of if you're going north on Milwaukee to get to Lake Cook. Since this is family style service, the tables are relatively small considering you're ordering a few dishes, have drinks, and need room for the plates. The decor, service, and environment are pretty standard for Buca. The food is still quite salty and nothing was quite distinctive. My friends liked the Shrimp Fra Diavolo but it seemed like it was only because they put red peppers in there so you could actually taste the spice. I can't believe I said yes to my friends choosing this place. Maybe I need new friends.
(2)
Sarah P.
I liked the place. We went there once and the food was delicious and still affordable. The only reason I am giving it only 3 stars is because I did not like their dessert.
(3)
Dr. Catherine L.
I was in the area for a conference and was staying at the Westin Hotel.. so this place was within walking distance. Several colleagues and I came here because it was the only nice restaurant nearby to the hotel. We were seated in a room where the ceilings were wine glasses and grape vines. How beautiful it was! Buca di Beppo never ceases to amaze me with their set up and ambiance! We were a party of 15-16.. service was slow, but I don't think we cared very much because we were all so busy talking and eating. My favorite was the chicken marsala. The mushrooms and its sauce were so DELICIOUS!
(4)
John R.
Horrible! Rude and very mediocre overlooked pasta. Overpriced to boot.
(1)
Phil R.
I come here more often than I would like to mainly cause my relatives like it here. I'm not crazy about this place. I mean the environment is nice and the portion is large but they are inconsistent when it comes to some of their pasta dishes. More than half the times there's a least one pasta dish where the noodles are a bit undercooked. So it's kind of like eating warm soggy cereal with a bit of a crunch. For an Italian restaurant, you would think their pasta dishes would be on point but maybe it's because it's harder to cook larger amounts of noodles since you don't really want to over cook the noodles. Maybe come here when you have a slightly smaller group and order the smaller dish size, it may minimize the undercooking issue. I will have to test this out myself the next time I go. Their appetizers are good and their pizza is also good.
(3)
Kris V.
We have ate at multiple Buca di Beppo locations all over the country because of the great food. Our only suggestion is to never visit this location. The service was absolutely horrible, we left without even seeing any waitstaff. After reading through reviews, it is clear that this is a common situation at this restaurant. Maybe the management staff should research how their patron's truly feel by visiting some review sites. Our night started off with 7:15 reservations. The hostess never mentioned that they were behind in sitting people with reservations and finally at 7:30 we get a table. We proceeded to wait until 7:45 without seeing any waitstaff and did not even receive a glass of water. We had tickets to a comedy show at 9:00 and that is why we made reservations. If it took 30 minutes to get seated and not even take our drink order, I could only imagine how long it would have taken to get our diner out. This location really needs to wake up and deliver better service. It is in a great location, but there are many great Italian restaurants in the area to provide this horrible level of service.
(1)
Julie O.
I was here for a graduation party. We had a private room and plenty of attention from the servers. The food was tasty, not too salty and served hot. Portions were large. The bruschetta appetizer rocked!
(3)
Jessica J.
This place has horrible Italian food. My sister and bf got the Seafood trio Platter, They said it was very good. ( I don't eat sea food ) The chicken parmesan was awful. We also had the side of fettuccine pasta, Tasteless. The decor, waitress and staff was amazing. Very quick with our food and very polite. Other then that, I rather go to the store and get a microwave dinner then to ever eat here again.
(2)
Demetrio P.
Whenever we're in the mood for Italian and want family style offerings, Buca is our place to go. My fave dishes here are Frutti de Mare, Chicken Carbonara, and the Lemon Chicken. The Lemon Chicken is my favorite of the 3, as it comes out golden brown on top, with a lemon butter sauce that is finger licking good! Their deserts are good as well, especially their chocolate cake. This place is also great for group gatherings. Overall, good food, okay service, okay prices.
(4)
Anna K.
chopped antipasto salad margherita pizza fried calamari lasagna spicy chicken rigatoni linguine frutti di mare eggplant parmigiana cabernet sauvignon, louis m. martini malbec, gascon riesling, chateau ste. michelle 16 people. 2 community tables. large-size servings of family style italian dishes. bottles of wine (per usual) good food but the laid back atmosphere for lively groups and conversing makes it an ideal place for groups. 3 for the food, 4 for the service solid 3.5
(3)
Kelly E.
Oh Mamma Mia!!! I think I love this place for its crazy decor, themed rooms, tour of the kitchen, loud and liveliness, family style food selections, cramped seating, and its joy. It has tons of joy. 5 stars for all the bells and whistles. but the food...gets 3 stars. The food doesn't hold a candle to some of the Chicago greats (RoSal's, Sabatino's, etc.). Though they try really hard and are decent, despite being a franchise.
(3)
Marina W.
It definitely is an excellent dining place for a crowd like family gathering or a group of friends like us wanting to celebrate someone's birthday and share food and love in a fun way!:) the portion of the plates is good to share from 2 to 6 depending on which size you order. We placed the order first not realizing the birthday boy was in a mood for white sauce clam linguinie instead of red by default so we changed the order after we placed the order for a while but the waitress was so good and because they have high table turn over, they found another table ordere the same dish so our wish was granted! For the birthday song, the staff came and surround the bday boy and sang a loud fun birthday song so we all had a great time, both kids and adults. Over all it's a good place to go back again.
(4)
Cinderella S.
I ate here first time today and comparing to olive garden I would say this place is better.I love the design and the low ceiling.I would eat here again.
(4)
June C.
OK so the manager at the Wheeling location AND the Divisional V.P. contacted me today. My review still stands but they handled it with 4 stars(5 if they would have contacted me sooner) First off, I didn't write the review to get anything free but was just honest about our experience. The manager Agatha tried explaining how things failed that night. I was surprised to know the woman who we handed the glass with the bug in it was a manager as well. hmm? Anyway, we have eaten at other Bucas before and had a good experience which is why we went in the first place. They emailed a generous certificate to give them another try. Which we will.
(4)
San T.
One word to describe this place, DELICIOUS! Be prepared to eat alot of food! Even the small portions are huge! I ordered the Chicken Carbonara and the Anti Pasto Salad shared with another person and we still had left overs! The place could get very loud but it has a cozy atmosphere! We are already planning our next visit this coming weekend. By far Buca is one of my top favorite restaurants! If you sign up for the email up dates, you will receive coupons for $10.00 off or free desserts! You must visit this place!
(5)
Sam S.
Overall pretty disappointed. Had heard of the large portions, but that was not the case with us. Food was average in taste and very dry, as in over cooked. Sausage and Peppers extremely over cooked. Won't be back anytime time soon. Atmosphere was interesting though with many interesting photos. But we can't eat those now can we.
(2)
Peter S.
One of my favorite places to eat! I'm actually not wild about the busy atmosphere (every square inch of wall is covered with decoration, and it can get pretty loud), but the food is so good, I don't even notice. Everything is delicious, the portions are very generous, the servers have always been friendly & attentive, and it's a very good value when you've got a group or are particularly hungry (I can polish off a full serving of pasta on my own, if suitably hungry). I always look forward to an opportunity to eat at Buca Di Beppo! Something to remember, is that they have additional parking to the south, in case the main lot is full (and it usually is on a weekend night).
(5)
Nicholas K.
We love Buca, but this location is bad. We would not return. The building was in bad shape outside, and the bathrooms were not clean. They were not busy on a Saturday evening, which should have been a clue that others feel the same way about them. Our main complaints were two things. 1) We never got refills on our water, and 2) my wife explained some food allergies she has and when our food came out, Salmon and Eggplant spaghetti, we noticed the Salmon had no seasonings at all, not even salt and pepper. The Eggplant spaghetti was missing... Eggplant. We asked about it and the waitress said "the eggplant had some breading that you were allergic to, I guess I should have asked if you wanted something different instead huh." Very disappointing meal.
(1)
Doug S.
I never usually complain about a restuarant, however my experience was horrible. When we were seated we asked about a 10 coupon, I get them in the mail all the time. Our waitress had directed us to their website in which they had a 10 coupon and we gave our waitress the code and she said great and they would accept it. Well in the mean time we had to flag our waitress over several times and what we had asked for never came. The cheese ravioli was horrible, they tasted like they were filled with cheese wiz. They are way under staffed!!!!!!!!Then when it was time to pay the bill the manager came over said the coupon code was expired and they could do nothing about it? Why would they have a expired coupon on their website and why would the waitress direct us to go there? I used to manage a restuarant and if we provided a service this bad, we would not have any business at all. I know the whole mighty dollar is very important but they will never earn my business again. This was the one on Milwaukee Ave and Lake Cook Rd in Wheeling Illinois.
(1)
Kathy B.
The food is phenomenal- HUGE portions to feed large crowds, they offer lots of coupons and offers to make your visit as affordable as possible. The wine list is ok for a chain- not too many choices. Great for groups and birthday outings!
(4)
Jean K.
3 stars: Good food for a chain restaurant and great for groups, but bad for entree takeout. I go to Buca Di Beppo fairly often - the pasta is consistently good, and one of my favorite dishes is the Linguine Frutti Di Mare, a seafood tomato sauce pasta. The Fried Calamari is also pretty good. I'm not a fan of their pizzas though, I've had better frozen pizzas. The servers seem prepared for large groups and I've never had a bad experience with their service. The atmosphere is family friendly and the decor is a bit quirky, which I like! For takeout, be cautious about ordering entrees. I ordered the Oven-roasted Salmon once and the portion size was ridiculously small, just enough for one person (which was overcooked and dry, cost $22 and was supposed to feed up to 3 people).
(3)
Oxa L.
well, i used to adore this place until this evening ,:(((( All shames on its service!!!. OK: we came on a Monday night around 8 pmish..( its open till 10pm on Mondays - Great!) the reason we came to Buca it is on the way to our home and my husband was so hungry after late shift. Due to their huge portions that the place to fill ups! me?- i trying very hard to stick with a diet, no late nights dinner...so came just for drinks ( very delicious get 5 stars just for raspberry lemon drop martini). the waitress did her job well but with mean attitude, kind of you can feel that she doesn't like you for some you never discover reason.. For example: 1st - she took away bread and oil from me when i still have peace of it ready to deep in that oil... its rude! .. 2nd. when i tell her I'm not ordering a dinner only drinks for me tonight(smily face) she said:" aah, ofcorse.." what's up with that? I'm trying not to it late, came only to companion my hungry hubby... and 3rd overall her ignorance and "looks"... sorry, dont want to come back :( Another is a manager came over to ask hows everything as usual, and we said everything is perfect, and i asked one question about a cheese on a pasta,; she replies:" its Risottos!" and immidiatly went away.... i know its an a Risottos but with what?and how? i can feel garlic and chives very strongly. anyway the cheese was Delicious i just want to give a compliment to a kitchen. Didn't expect that it would bather someone... Well, sometimes little can ruin everything, becouse this "little" ment a lot. too bad i used to keep very pleasant memories with this place for a good 5 years.! not anymore, not anymore :(((((((( P.S. pardon me for mistakes..
(2)
Joann F.
Had horrible meal. Ordered the salmon. Manager came over and I explained how it tasted if someone just poured hot pepper flakes over the entire dish. My son, who loves spicy was coughing. My whole face was on fire and my eyes watering and she was like, care for us to give you steamed vegetables with it instead? Ah, no!! Then she asked if I would rather have a meatball? Don't get that since the whole reason I ordered the fish is that I don't eat red meat. Would have been nice if she just offered something to offset the burn. I did ask for a refil and she was like "sure", the server came over with a menu and again I asked for a refill and got "sure". NOTHING!! Our server was cleaning up a table that another server just got spraying!! Such a bad experience. Been going here for over five years. Today was my last. Manager is useless! Why they hire someone like that to manage this place is beyond me. No wonder the servers just don't care.
(1)
Luiza R.
We had a Christmas party at a friends house this weekend and catered from Buca. Everything tasted fresh and delicious. I personally loved the calamari, it was perfect. The pasta was spicy and had a particular zest to it, it was great. Definitely will cater from them again :)
(4)
lisa a.
Horrible food. The pasta was gummy and tasteless. Chicken Marsala was so sweet no one wanted to eat it. We were told the kitchen would be closed by the time our dinner would be served so we had to order dessert right away. Bad choice. My family loves Italian food and no one wanted to take home the left overs. Try Tuscany down the road instead. To give them credit the calamari was very good.
(1)
Chris W.
This is a FANTASTIC establishment for family get togethers. We had a birthday dinner for my grandpa here a long time ago with like 15 of us and we had this adorable table with a bust of the pope in the middle. It was one of those tables where you could turn part of it and then be able to grab what you need family style. Yay to pasta dishes. nEh to pretty much anything meaty. I can see how a lot of people would be like "this place is just ehh" because it's not Sabatino's after all hehe. However, it's good food and it's more than that a fun time. Service isn't 5 star high end quality but the staff is friendly. It's got a nostalgic air about the restaurant and just a very cute italian mood with the music and the lighting. Prices are reasonable so I would recommend it for big or small groups, and have dessert too!
(3)
Carolyn M.
Not a fan! I've been wanting to try buca di beppo for a hot minute. I will say I was not expecting this to be a fabulous authentic Italian meal, but I like chain "junk food" (as we call it in my house) dinner spots. The only redeeming quality, was that I was able to order online and they brought it to my car. My laziness astounds even me! Soooooo when ordering I was concerned by the prices until I realized these portions were for two......... supposedly. We made the mistake of trusting that and ordering one entree, a side of sausage for my hubby and a side of meatballs for me. What we got would be considered a small plate at ANY Italian restaurant for one person. I pulled up early and only live 5 minutes away but as soon as we opened the container we realized it was ready long before the time they gave me. It was dried up like it had been sitting under a warmer. The only thing I enjoyed from our plate which was a sampling of the dishes was what I assumed was manacotti which was the quality of a microwave dinner. Next time I get that craving for junk food italian I'm headin to the garden of olives!
(2)
Joseph P.
At Lunch on a Monday, this place was pretty quiet. Except for us, the entire room was pairs of "Ladies who Lunch". The Lunch menu has individual size items, most of which are $10 - 15, a bit high for lunching. We started with cold, slightly stale bread with a dab of Olive oil, poured by the server - the oil was never refilled, a bad sign. Fortunately, the entre's were pretty good - the Chicken Limone (1 small breast half) comes with Fettuchine Alfredo; the Penne San Remo was a good pasta dish. If you want dessert, be hungry, because most are $10-14 and, presumably, large - not ideal for Lunch. Service was good, but a bit detached. Just don't come here alone at night on a business trip, because then you have to order at least a "double order" of everything, so even couples had better have agreeable tastes. Overall, the kitchy decor works and the place is worth it if you are well funded by your late Husband's estate.
(3)
Ian M.
The food here was pretty mediocre. Due to the nature of our group, we ended up leaving a large tip for the server and I'm not really sure if this was warranted or not because, despite the quality of service, the food was only so-so. All of the dishes came in huge portions and, while some were bursting with flavor, others, such as the alfredo, were quite lacking. The dishes were not innovative. They were all very plain. The food also proved to be more oily than average. This presents a big problem if you're about to throw on a big, full-body costume and go dancing right afterward. I felt a bit queasy after dining and that's never a good thing. If I were to get quality Italian food, I would walk across the street for Osteria di Tramonto (although, considering that we were staying in the Westin North Shore, we could have just saved ourselves the walk in the cold weather). Buca is great for big parties and for good conversation, though.
(3)
kaya s.
I've been here twice. Once for a large family gathering and once with a girlfriend. Both times I was not overly impressed. The large party experience, grandparents 50th anniversary, was almost disastrous. Service was ok throughout but not really good. Many of us had to wait quite a while for drink refills. The first course was good, antipasto trays and salads. The pasta came out next and it was god awful. The sauce was so burnt that it smelled like someone ashed their cigars in our food, no joke. It took over the whole room and even when we sent it back the smell still lingered. It killed the whole mood. I went again a few months later to give it another try and it was better overall but again nothing too great. The service was fine and the house wine was at a good value but our calamari was on the warm side not hot, and the Alfredo on the pasta was kinda bland. Huge portions are a plus but overall not the best Italian around by far.
(2)
Dana M.
This restaurant has been my family favorite for many years now. We love to come here with a large party because it's easy to make reservations, the food is fairly inexpensive, and it's family style. My favorites are the Chicken Saltimbocca and the Linguine Frutti Di Mare; these two dishes must be ordered every time! I forget how good they are until I take a bite of these two dishes! The service is not that great and I don't know if it's because they're always busy on a Sunday night or what. They give you your food and you never see the waiter again! But apparently, that hasn't stopped me from going back!
(4)
Tony C.
My brother and I recently took our dad there for his 70th birthday. There was 6 of us, total. The waiter started us off by pouring us one saucer of olive oil, then taking he bottle away. Then, he gave a table of 6 Italians two small pieces of bread. He asked us if there was anything else, and I said, "Yes. More bread, please, and a bottle of olive oil." We ordered a green salad with cheese on the side, and spaghetti with meatballs on the side. (My wife and I are vegetarians. Limited choices.) When the salad came, the waiter gave us a nice plate of cheese on the side, and a salad topped with salami. Not a green salad. he took that back, and eventually brought us the green salad that we ordered. The salad was an uneventful generic iceberg salad, topped with maybe half dozen olives. Next, the spaghetti came with meatballs on top. We reminded him they were supposed to be on the side. He took the plate away. With the quickness in which he returned, I think it's safe to assume he just took the meatballs off the spaghetti, and brought the same plate back. He said "I guess it's just not my day." I didn't really care how his day was. I cared how my dad's meal was, and of course, the people paying the bill (and the dwindling tip...) As far as the spaghetti, it was cooked properly, and the sauce was decent. By the way, we kept asking for more bread and more olive oil. At one point, we had to ask the manager, when she came by to see how our door was, to bring us more bread and olive oil. We joked that they were channelling the great depression, and were rationing the olive oil and bread. We don't foresee returning any time soon.
(2)
Jon J.
Yeah, it's a chain, but it's my favorite Italian chain. They execute well on just about everything, from perfectly fried calamari, to a delicious salad, to tender veal parmigian. Everything's good, and if you're with a group, price is quite reasonable. The decor makes it kind of cool... so over the top that it's not annoying, just funny. Service is friendly and food comes out well paced. Excellent!
(4)
Brad F.
I have come here many times with the fam and have ordered trays for parties. Everything is always awesome. I love the chicken parm, thats my dish here. They have this awesome pasta with I think penne noodles and chicken that is very spicy and thats what gets me everytime. Love the decor of the place, and have gone to many of the locations around the country.
(4)
J J.
Traditional, bread is horrible, mixed green salad is just iceberg and wilted (sitting in dressing awhile). Past was descent.
(1)
Justin W.
Absolutely one of the best Italian restaurants in the suburbs. I have always loved the wait staff, who go above and beyond to provide helpful, friendly, and courteous conversations, while the food has never let me down. If I could, I would give Buca six stars and cuddle afterwards. If you have not gone here, you have to go immediately. Right now. I'm serious. STOP READING, CALL ME, AND LETS GO!
(5)
Piotr T.
Food is just ok. Service was horrible.
(2)
Bruce N.
Carried out from here last night for the umpteenth time. I usually prefer to carry out,as the place is loud and I have to be in the mood for the noise. I wasn't last night. We had the usual chopped antipasto salad (tremendous, with iceberg lettuce, assorted meats & cheeses, peppers and olives with the house vinaigrette). The small order of spaghetti and meat sauce with a couple of softball sized meatballs. I especially like that the meat sauce is very generous in the meat department and there's NEVER any water under the pasta (A HUGE PET PEEVE OF MINE... WHY CAN'T A RESTAURANT PROPERLY DRAIN PASTA??). As always, the food was very good. There's a goodly amount of garlic in everything, which I love! They also throw in a whole loaf of fresh bread. Spent around $40 and have leftovers for a couple of meals, too! Oh...and try the cannoli with warm chocolate sauce. It's DE-licious!! Certainly a good Italian meal. A great place for both families and dates. I actually had a holiday party there, in December at the Pope's table, and it was a perfect room at a very reasonable price for a party of 14. (A warning though... the "throne" has springs that I can still feel in my ass!)
(4)
George V.
Much like going to a fish restaurant and trying to order a hamburger, don't go to Buca if you don't want pasta. You're simply setting foot in the wrong establishment if you want something that's not semolina based! While delivering pasta, he Wheeling BDB is in competent hands. The three pasta dishes that we shared family style (yes, we had a ton of leftovers, even with four people!) were all done well. None were done excellently, but none were complete air-balls, either. They were accommodating to my food allergy (allergic to octopus, unfortunate!) and were able to make a frutti-di-mare sauce sans calamari. As others mentioned, the place is loud so be prepared. The decor is similarly loud to match. If you're on a date and it's not going well, you can always spend a few minutes reading the walls. Though the decor is not so loud that if you're on a bad date that you can simply claim not to hear anything your date says. :) I really wish Yelp would allow me to give a half star, as this place deserves three and a half!
(3)
Rachel C.
My family and I have been going to Buca Di Beppo for ages. They have amazing, authentic Italian food. Fair prices, humongous portions and an extremely catering to large parties and group events. My favorites are the Chicken (and Veal) Parmigiana with Prosciutto and their Garlic Mashed Potatoes. They have some to die for deserts, particulary the Chocolate Cannoli and the Tiramisu. Always a good time and great meal at Buca Di Beppo!
(5)
Larry B.
Hmmmmm.....just a step above Olive Garden
(2)
David P.
Pasta portions are the size of your head. Decent house wine. Good chain
(3)
ron k.
i don't know why you would come here and order pizza but if you did it would be awesome... and the chicken cacciatore on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes is freakin amazing and seems more authentic than the other chain type places like Maggiano's but who knows i'm korean so whatever...
(4)
Emerson C.
The food here is exceptionally delicious. Decided to take a date here since we were both coming from her place in Buffalo Grove. Not a big place, but a very homey feel. They serve you garlic bread as you wait. When I say garlic bread, it actually has garlic on top of the bread. Very delicious, but I tried to lay away since I didn't want my breathe kicking like bruce lee. =P We ordered a couple pasta dishes and shared them. The first one we had was the Penne Arrabbiata. The sauce was out of this world. Very tasty and the sausage had some spice that kicked in after you ate it. I love spices. The second dish was a Cheese Manicotti. The mix of cheeses inside was very subtle, very creamy. It actually made me feel full after eating just one. I would definitely recommend the manicotti. After our entrees, we had the tirimasu which was delicious. The lady fingers were topped with the cheese cream and fudge syrup. MMMMM... they also give you mini cones at the end. Overall a great experience. Wouldn't mind going here for lunch since it's fairly close to work.
(4)
Rachel H.
Okay, nothing great, nothing bad. The thin crust pizza was not bad. Not greasy at all.
(4)
Russ M.
Decent block-and-tackle italian, not as rich as let's say, Maggianos, which I prefer. An Ok value for a family style dinner with friends. Certainly nothing fancy, but fun, a little kooky, and good service.
(3)
Jonathan C.
This is a smaller Buca de Beppo, a family style, italian themed restaurant. Pretty much a maggiano's with more retro italian americana style decor. Food is plentiful, but skews towards very heavy whole canned tomato/garlic flavors. Not much depth of taste or balance beyond these two staples. If you love whole fresh tomatoes or love garlic come here. I do enjoy the mammoth buttery/crispy calamari, very greasy, but has a nice pepper kick in the marinara dippish sauce. Meatballs are quite large. Veal parmagian and pizza (soggy) was victim of over tomatoization. Garlick bread had whole slice garlic on it, which was a bit much. The biggest plus was that we had plenty of leftovers. Service was nice and friendly though and the kept the food and drink refills out at a good pace.
(2)
Amy K.
Bucca di Beppo was a terrific place to work for and dine at until Jaime the new General Manager took over. She is a total sexist bitch of a woman who fires people left and right without reason. For example, she fired me for being late one day because i was stopped by the police for a traffic ticket on my way to work and then wouldn't accept my doctor's note because i had been coming into work sick all week to avoid getting fired, she fired me anyway and said "you are not fit for buca" well this bitch is not fit to be a manager. At bucca they stress that it is a "family" environment and that they are all "family" there but Jaime would fire a "family" member because she got sick and was late to work (I got the ticket for trying to get to work on time, ironic?). She only fires women. She had fired three women in one week. I am so happy I do not work for that piece of shit manager anymore. :)
(1)
Sam W.
Gross. There was no one here at 6:00pm on a Wednesday night. That would've been enough of a warning, but instead my family and I still walked in and decided to eat. That was our second mistake. We ordered the small portion of bruschetta as an appetizer, and somehow this was the best dish of everything we had. It was served in a hot skillet with fresh tomatoes and basil on top. However, as we soon learned would be a reoccurring theme in all of the dishes, there was a huge puddle of oil on the bottom of the skillet. For dinner, I ordered the Buca Mio (individual portion) of Salmon with Pesto. This was disgustingly oily and made me feel sick. It was served with butter and oil soaked potatoes and veges, and the salmon filet itself was covered, and I mean covered in creamy pesto sauce. Nasty! The other two with me ordered the Buca Mio Eggplant Parmigian (this seemed as if it were fried twice!) and the small order of Shrimp and Scallop Orzo (this thing was even worse than the salmon, with seriously no less than a half cup of buttery oil on the bottom of the plate). How can people serve this junk and expect anyone to come back?! Of course, to insure we all had a heart-attack, we ordered dessert. The piece of apple pie mush they call an "Apple Crostada" was actually good. This is nothing what a Crostada should be (just ask Maggianos and Osteria di Tramonto) but I guess if you just wanted a huge piece of apple pie and ice cream then this hit the spot. I am never returning to this sick place again. What a complete waste, and I was really looking forward to it the entire week. The only reason I gave it one star is because our server tried hard to make the experience feel authentic, even though there were more employees than people in the restaurant. Come to think of it, once we finished dinner, the server took his sweet time coming over to clear our plates, so he's lucky he even got that star!
(2)
Yahaa T.
Ehh I went there because our work had a Christmas Party there and it was okay. The atmosphere is nice but otherwise than that service and food were okay. Everyone kept raving about the mashed potatoes and I thought they were nasty. AND I LOVE GARLIC OKAY!? But not when Im eating chunks of them. Uh no thanks. The spaghettie was okay too and the meatball. We also had some chicken thing, which was also alright. Nothing special, and our waitress kept forgetting our drinks.Id rather go to Olive Garden.
(2)
Patty V.
If you love garlic-this is your place. Garlic is the star here!!It is in everything and plentiful(there are some who do not care for garlic-so this is not your place).We also left with plenty of food for another meal! This is not a place to go to if you are not hungry and you are watching calories.If you can't eat like you are going to the chair-go to some chi-chi nouvelle cuisine place that serves two pea pods and a slice of carrot along a frothy foam of whatever. This is a place for people who eat!!!
(5)
Shannon M.
I was nervous about coming here after reading these reviews and to be honest it was just so-so. Our waitress was really nice, but too over the top which we found annoying. The food was okay, but as someone else mentioned extremely filling and oily. For 4 of us we spent over $160, which to be honest wasn't really worth it. It's not a bad place but I probably wouldn't go back.
(3)
Kasia R.
This place is great!!!!! I loved the food, especially the garlic potatoes, they are to die for. Mmm.... making me hungry already. The meatballs are delicious and HUGE!!!!!!!! Don't pass this place up, so much food and great prices. Edit: 4/13/08 Visited this restaurant last month for our nieces birthday party! Seemed like everyone else was celebrating their birthday that day. We couldn't pick our own food since it was a party and we were not paying, which was disappointing.. i was looking forward to those big meatballs and those garlic potatoes. We had pizza instead and it was not good at all... very greasy and not enough ingredients. My husband was sick the next day from all that grease. We both ordered the ice tea and it didn't taste all that great. We also had a side order of garlic bread and cheesy bread, which was actually pretty tasty. We were also served salad which was also good and so was the bread, which they brought out right before the pizza arrived ... pretty odd. The other thing I didn't like was that they brought everyone that was celebrating their birthday this big silver candle stick (3 joined together) I can't remember what it was called ... and sang happy birthday to you. It was ugly... and looked weird. Since the last time I was here was about 5 years ago I completely forgot about the odd decorations they have. We sat at a round table and had the pope in the center in a glass case on a table turning thingy.. he he There was also a couple paintings of the pope around us. Weird...
(3)
Roy A.
Pretty much your basic franchise Italian place. Ginormous portions meant to be eaten family style and great for get togethers with large groups, etc. Also, has take out service which is not too shabby itself.
(3)
MaryLou G.
Hearty southern Italian cuisine is served family-style here. Try to reserve the "Pope Room" if you've got a group. It's a circular room with a table that seats up to about 20. In the center of the big lazy susan is a plastic case which holds a bust of the last Italian-born pope. Whatever section you're in, you'll be passing dishes around for all to taste. It's noisy and fun and you will not go away hungry or broke!
(5)
Daniel B.
So the ordering style here...it is interesting to say the least. With huge portions that are meant for family-style sharing, Buca di Beppo certainly stands apart from other restaurants where everyone orders individually. However, this isn't just some gimmick to get you to try it, it genuinely has pretty good food. We ordered a salad, pasta, and an appetizer for a family of 4 and when we were stuffed, we still had a good portion of pasta leftover. Pretty inexpensive for the price that we ended up paying, so it seems like a great value. Our server, Dom, also gets a shoutout for being probably the best waiter I've ever had; considering that he seemed like a high school student, all the more impressive. Try it! Definitely a step above other Italian restaurant chains.
(4)
Robert H.
Brought my son there for graduation. We have been taking him there (and my other 4 children) for birthday's etc. for the last 8+ years. Party of 10. The only thing I can surmise is the ownership has changed????? Service was slow waitress was more than rude. After another waitress overheard my sister in law complain about how long we were sitting there without a waitress, our waitress shows up. We ordered a bottle of wine. She carded my sister in law. She is 50. Clearly did it to be a b#%*$. Yea yea yea we card everybody that looks under 30, she's 50. A very weird and trying experience to say the least. $350.00 bill. Should have been treated better. Food was good, but seemed a little off compared to what we have eaten there over the course of the last 8 years.
(1)
Sarah L.
I give ten stars for their spicy chicken rigatoni~~~but their slow service takes it all the way down. We have recently moved to the area and has been a very frequent visitor...the service is good and the waitstaff are friendly, but they are on a very very slow side. Even when they are not busy, it seems like it's really hard to get a hold of someone, especially with the way the restaurant is laid out. I suggest to go on off-times, like weekday lunches, and have a lot of patience, and u will enjoy it!!!!:)
(4)
steven h.
We ordered take out. One large chicken parm and a large spicy chicken rigatoni. Parm was great. Rigatoni was awful. There was no sauce on it. Dried red pepper flakes "the spicy" were thrown on top as an afterthought. The Manager interrogated me when I came back the next night to acquire some sauce so we could eat the pasta as we had not touched it the previous night. Needless to say-at Bucca, the customer is not always right, even when they are.
(2)
Jane R.
Oh wow! I was amazed at the quantity and quality of the food here. I came here with a group of friends. I learned really quickly that it was a better idea to order 4-5 dishes to share among 8 people. The portion size was enormous. I ordered penne alla vodka. It was delicious and had a nice spicy kick to it. For dessert, I had colossal brownie sundae. Holy guns, it was enormous!!! My friends and I tried to devour this delicious "will give me diabetes soon" sundae. Even though there was 8 people, we still had some brownies leftover. I think this restaurant is a great place to go to for a big group. The price was reasonable. The service was quick. Our food came out fairly quickly. I will be coming back with my friends again!!! :)
(5)
Mahsa T.
While this is Italian American and not authentic Italian, I still love Buca for the freshness and quality of their food. I've dined in once and ordered food for carry out several times. I LOVE their chicken parmesan - fresh, perfectly cooked (never dry) with fresh tomato sauce. Delicious! I also really like their lasagna, fettucine alfredo and baked rigatoni with spicy Italian sausage. I love how they give you bread and olive oil and parmesan cheese even on the carryout orders - Italian food wouldn't be the same without bread and olive oil! Good service. Such wonderful comfort food and their portions are HUGE! Single lunch portions can feed two, their small portions can feed three people. I'd highly recommend Buca!
(4)
Ken K.
Food was cold. Service slow she may be taking very long smoking breaks. The seat we sat at was ripped. And the food was expensive. After posting a 1 star review I was contacted by the management and they seem quite concerned. I am told the booth was fixed and the manager contacted. I believe that this was an issue where the restaurant manager may have not been paying attention. I am told that this has been also addressed. I was offered a free something which I rejected because I wanted them to know but I don't want anything from them. It wasn't the end of the world. When I go back I will amend this review again. 3 stars for the effort. 7-31-2015 I used Buca to cater some of our food for a Grad party they were one time, hot very helpful, I would absolutely use them again very good!
(4)
Dominick C.
Great food! Great waiter Guillermo who steered us to a better choice. I've read some recent negative posts about the service. Ours was impeccable tonight. Try the bruchetta appetizer. Yummy. Best cannoli in Chicago!
(4)
Michael N.
After a long work week, you don't really want to get in the kitchen and cook a big meal (or so my wife says). So, being the diner-outers that we are, and the scheming cheapo that I am, we took advantage of a $15 free gift card that Buca was offering online. Not having been to Buca in over ten years, I was anxious to get back and slop up some delicious pasta. We were seated quickly and the high chair for our little bambino was brought to the table shortly after we sat down. Our server was very nice and quick on reloading the bread, one of the most important things a server can do for their guests at an Italian restaurant. My wife and I decided to share a small (haha!) bowl of the chicken and sausage ziti. I laugh at the small bowl because it was huge. We didn't notice it was served in a garlic cream sauce, because if we did, we wouldn't have ordered it. My wife likes her pasta with marinara or vodka sauce. Anyway, we asked them to bring a side of marinara and the server was more than happy to honor our request. The dish was awesome. Perfectly cooked pasta with a spicy garlic cream sauce. It was delicious. We mixed some of the marinara into the garlic cream sauce and created an Italian Special Sauce; I took the rest of the bread and sponged up all the sauce in the bowl. I give it 4 stars because my original beer order was super flat. However, they brought me a different beer, one that I didn't really want. I will definitely be back. If you sign up for their birthday club, you get an email coupon for a free pasta...so hello lunch today!
(4)
Frank D.
Update...,,,,,restaurant has responded very actively to our concerns. They strongly believe nothing was altered or compromised by anyone on their staff but promised to follow up. They offered to refund the $3 but I refused and did me send a gift card. So the food gets 4.5 and all the hassle over the up charge and need to cancel CC gets a 0. Hopefully we were a one off and won't occur to anyone else Watch your credit card. We spent $500+ on HS graduation dinner and my daughters credit card got compromised and someone used next day and someone added $3 to my already generous tip. Food ok but I hate back room cheaters like this place seems to have
(2)
Elaine M.
Huge portions here! The food is basic Italian, nothing really noteworthy. This is a great place to come if you are just craving a lot of carbs smothered in sauce. While we have dined in on many occasion, our most recent experience with Bucca involved take out. Specifically with did take out with their "Feed four for Forty" deal. Not only did we feed four we fed five with leftovers. Basically you choose a salad and a pasta dish plus garlic bread. We had the Caesar salad and spaghetti with meat sauce. (Husband's choice) If I were to order the spaghetti with meat sauce again I would request some marinara sauce on the side. I thought the dish a bit dry.
(3)
Joon S.
Ordered food for catering. Birthday party for 30 girls. Thought I ordered enough food but the catering manager insisted that I didn't order enough food even after I changed my order each time. I've dined in before and was familiar with their large portions. Of course you don't want to be short of food for a party, but I don't believe they were looking out for my best interests. I should have known better and just trusted my gut instincts after ordering more after their first prodding. I just feel like their sales tactics to order way more than you need is disappointing. We're fine having leftovers, but we had so much that even after a week of eating leftovers and giving away food, we still had to throw some out. It's been a few months now, but it's left a bad taste. We won't go back.
(1)
Eva D.
Great place to eat!!! The food is amazing and the waiters are attentive and quick. Love this place!!!!
(5)
M. S. O.
Do not get their gift certificates for anyone. Each time you ask them to check balance or even if you go online and put the number in yourself, they deduct $2 from the gift. Unheard of anywhere else. We finally realized in fine print on card. Why online where it's an automated process. Why anywhere, it's a courtesy. They are only set up for serving large groups.
(1)
Brian W.
We took our cousins visiting from new York to buca last night. We had amazing time. Damian was our waiter. Top notch service. Damian was so personable and truly loves his job and even suggested a dessert that the kids gobbled down and loved. Food as always was excellent, warm and cosy atmosphere. Had a great time. Bucca de beppa. Job well done
(5)
Alexandra J.
We came here for a large party, 25 people, to celebrate three birthdays and a college send off. We ordered the Glorioso package which was $35.95 per person and were never told all leftovers would be thrown away. Not once during the three times we called to make reservations or arrangements for the menu were we told that food would not be packaged for leftovers. Our family actually saved one of the dishes to have some for the kids the next day as they would be driving for six hours to college. We did not order any extra items beyond the allotted amount in the package. There was a lot of leftover food and in this day and age where we are all watching our budgets and people don't always have enough to eat, it's a shame that they dispose of the leftovers instead of giving them back to the customer. I'm sure it's to avoid any liability but really, it's shameful to throw away perfectly good food. It's really a shame that we have so much in this country that we can't make the right choice versus worrying about liability. The amount of food that had to be thrown out was huge. The waitstaff manager was nice enough to give us a fettuccine to go but that was beside the point - we should not waste food - period. We are lucky to have the option to eat at nice restaurants and would like to be able to share with family members that could not attend.
(2)
Debra C.
My husband and I went back to Buca di Beppo and this time we asked for Damon. Well just like last time, it was great. The food was fantastic and Damon's service was impeccable. 5 stars.
(5)
Emma L.
After receiving a call with apologies and a certificate for a dinner, i visited Buca again last weekend and I have to admit that this time my experience was completely different. The young man (bartender/waiter) who took care of us was very pleasant, attentive and helpful. Food was delicious as always and the dessert absolutely overwhelming. We were unable to finish it . Overall a great experience. Keep up a good work and we'll be back again soon... :)
(5)
Rawlins R.
I feel like I've been to this Buca and many others many more times than I should have . Nothing against Beppo or the experience but I am not fond of paying money for pasta. Buca di Beppo is a family style restaurant that provides you with large portions to serve anywhere from 2-4 to 5-6 people. You order in this fashion and the food comes out in platters that you self serve to your table. From the appetizers to salad and on to the main course. Buca has a very eclectic assortment of artwork with a loose Italian theme. Don't be surprised if you see some naked people or "artwork". If you come during the right time they will offer you a tour of the kitchen on your way to being seated. The staff here is quite helpful and knowledgeable of the portion sizes and how much you should order for your group. I've used Buca as a romantic dinner on a few occasions but that was when I was rookie diner. You could still pull it off but Buca is above an Olive Garden but not as nice as some other fancy Italian places. Overall, it is a great family Italian dinner experience that is a must try if you haven't been to Buca before.
(3)
Nicholas H.
I've only gone for lunch and ordered a la carte rather than family style, but the food is always delicious and any special requests are easily and accurately accommodated. Wait staff has been consistently friendly and prompt for lunch, which is nice when you're on a time budget. The decor and theme are a bit kitschy and do nothing for me, but its like most Italian places in and around Chicago that try too hard on the decor, but make up for it with their kitchen.
(3)
Monty W.
a descent experience for mid-week dinner. If you enjoy the entire restaurant staff wishing you a birthday - this is the place to go to. We had the bread - which was a little dry and stale - but the 2nd round was softer and warmer. Had the creamy pesto penne and my standby frutti de mare linguine. The linguine a little softer than I'd prefer and the flavors didn't quite pop as I remembered it as before (perhaps a little more parsley and lemon to bring out the flavors). I discovered that they actually have a chef's table in the kitchen - perhaps I'll check that out next time.
(3)
Lois C.
I signed up to be a Buca member online before I came here and received a free small spaghetti marinara, fettucine alfredo, or baked ziti. What a great value! We came here on a Thursday night and it was pretty busy for a weekday night. We were seated at a booth but with 2 kids in highchairs, we weren't all able to fit in the booth. We promptly got moved and asked if we wanted to sit in the kitchen table. We decided to go for it. The positive: Most of the waitstaff was really awesome about showing us what was coming out of the kitchen so that we know what to order for the future. The kitchen was really clean and the everyone was friendly. If they're willing to show their customers the kitchen, shows that they really pride themselves in cleanliness and how they handle their food. Negative: It was a bit loud sitting in the kitchen and sometimes harder to get the attention of our server since we couldn't find him or he was busy taking food to other tables. Some waitstaff passed by us quickly (totally fine) but when we were looking for our server, it would have been nice if someone else checked in on us. We ordered the baked ziti (the free pasta I received by signing up) and it was good but nothing exceptional. It was a bit dry and could have used some more sauce. We ordered the chopped antipaso salad and it was good but a bit salty. If I order again, I'll definitely ask for it on the side next time. They do give you bread as a complimentary side but we ordered the garlic bread as well. It was warm and really garlicky (just the way my husband likes it). The last dish we ordered was the spicy chicken rigatoni. It was delicious! Our whole party was eating away at the dish and we put a good dent in it but still had some to take home. The serving portions are HUGE. We had 2 small pastas, salad, and the garlic bread for 4 adults and 2 young children and we took leftovers home, to give you an idea of portion sizes and what you may want to order. I would recommend it but it was nothing too special.
(3)
Jessica P.
I came here on a Saturday evening around 6:30pm with friends..there was a 30 minute wait for my friends because we did not make any reservations...I came 30 minutes late so my friends were already seated by then..upon my arrival, the waitresses were kind enough to help me find my friends..... Appetizers -Mozarella Garlic Bread ($9.99): the garlic bread was good and had chucks of garlic for garlic lovers..however nothing too amazing about it...and I personally didn't think it was worth the cost.. -Calamari ($11.99 - Buca Small size): tasted good, but not spectacular... Food Food -Shrimp Fra Diavolo ($20.99 - Buca Small size): contains garlic shrimp with a spicy pasta sauce and penne pasta...it tasted ok... there was nothing too special about this pasta.. just pasta...HUGE portion -Baked Rigatoni ($16.99 - Buca Small size): contains meat sauce & spicy Italian sausage (big pieces for sausage lovers) with rigatoni pasta topped with mozzarella, parmesan, and ricotta cheese......just tasted like normal pasta though... HUGE portion *the BUCA SMALL portions were huge.. I felt like you can share 1 BUCA SMALL entree dish with 3-4 people....within 3 people, we ordered 2 appetizers and 2 dishes and we had more than enough leftovers to take home... Customer Service: the waitress was friendly; however, my water was not served immediately upon arrival... **For the coupon users: plan on using all cash or one credit card to make your payment if you want to use the coupon --- if you plan on using a coupon, you cannot split the bill using a couple or multiple credit cards (unless everyone brings cash)... ---I also found it odd that the waitress didn't calculate the discounted price (using the coupon that was provided to her) when bringing out the bill, but rather brought the original bill and we had to provide her w/ the credit card w/out knowing the discounted price...(i've never been to a restaurant that didn't calculate the discounted price for me when giving me the final bill)...I'm sure it's inconvenience for the waitress to do that.. but still....ehh I don't think I would come her when craving pasta... there's soo many other better pasta restaurants to check out!!
(3)
Heidi L.
Just found the place a little repulsive. The wait staff was overheard swearing by my son. Wall photos are suppose to be kitschy but really past that and distasteful. I don't really want to see gross photos where I'm eating, like the one of a boy picking his nose - most were in that kind of irreverent theme. The restaurant was dirty. We sat next to the exit door which had a big spider web on it my 8 year old had to ask to have it removed because she was literally on top of it. Then a moth flew by our food. Food was ok but nothing at all special. Whoever wrote the place is authentic hasn't been to an authentic Italian restaurant, where there might be say...ITALIANS cooking the food and serving you. Too many other better places to go
(2)
JESS G.
It's like an Olive Garden with tons of flair. I wasn't prepared for the number of pictures that would be hanging on the walls, but I guess this isn't really supposed to be about the decor. I'm not usually a fan of family style restaurants, but I actually enjoyed myself. The food was good. You're not going to find authentic Italian food here, but if that's what you're going to a chain restaurant for, then you must be on something. Out server, Octavio was fantastic. He gets five stars. And the sangria gets five stars too, because it was amazing.
(3)
Steph H.
I made reservations for my parents and I on Christmas Day. Good thing I did because it was so crowded! I checked in at the front for a 5 pm reservation and was told they were running behind and that it would be about a 15-20 minute wait. When we were finally seated, we were approached by a very vibrant server. However, because it was so busy, she was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. When she asked us if we wanted a refill on bread, she didn't even stick around to wait for our answer and never came back with a second round. I will say though, that she did a really good job of refilling our drinks without asking us. The food was very good. We shared a house salad, calamari, chicken Iimone and a tagliatelle pasta dish. All were excellent and piping hot. The part of the dinner I was disappointed with and turned off by was when our server brought our food. As she was trying to set the chicken liimone down, the knife fell into the sauce and she used her hands to dig it out. Second, on the tagliatelle dish. She noticed there was some red sauce on the side of the plate and used her fingers (not even a napkin or cloth) to wipe it off. My mom and I looked at each other when both incidents happened and were stunned. We were going to say something up but knew we'd end up waiting for a long time for new dishes to come out so we just cut the part of the chicken that the server touched and re-wiped the area that was touched on the pasta plate. Once we were finished with our meal, our server asked if we wanted a to-go container for the pasta. We said yes. When it came back out wrapped, the plastic bag was so incredibly greasy and the I could tell that the way the pasta was put inside the container was so sloppily done. The sauce was everywhere. I ended up wasting the leftovers because I ended up leaving it at the table because it was so messy. All in all, food was very good, but service was semi-disappointing.
(3)
Steve L.
Too expensive for the mediocre food that is served and one of the most terrible wait staff I have seen in a while. I went christmas eve with my mother. Ok we understand the bigger tables can be seen as priorities but this was just too much. I had empty glass of water the whole time. The waitress did not stop by to check if our food was ok. Our food was served after 40-50min of sitting down and our food was lukewarm. Thank you for the awesome service.
(1)
E S.
Went back last night and it's gotten worse. The food was tasteless, the sangria was not fresh, but just from a bottle. I'd rather hit up maggianos.
(3)
Dolores P.
Had not been here in over one year. Place seemed dirty. Ramon our waiter was weird. He seemed out of it. When the check came & I questioned the price on the small portion he looked at me like I lost my mind. Only after my husband asked him to bring the menu did he reluctantly get it.The price on our check was correct but he should have complied to my request. Kept pestering us to wrap our food and our salad was wrapped while we eating our main courses. Our main course was wrapped & thrown in the bag sideways. Not coming back. Rather order from Piero's.
(1)
Karen K.
Came here on a Saturday night but the wait wasn't too long. The staff are very friendly. Our waitress was sweet and very quick to take our order. Appetizers: -cheesy garlic bread: the bread was very warm with some chunks of garlic on the bread. As I'm a garlic lover, I enjoyed it very much. The price however i did not enjoy (~$9.99!!) It's good but not worth it unless you have a coupon -calamari: my favorite every time. It's seasoned and fried deliciously. I couldn't stop eating this. It was devoured very quickly :) Entrees: -Baked rigatoni: the last time i was here I got this with a side of Italian sausage and enjoyed it so much I ordered it again but this time without the extra Italian sausage. The pasta this time was very greasy and the slices of sausage that came with the dish tasted dry. It tasted like they had microwaved a frozen sausage or the sausage was old. Not happy:( -Shrimp fra diavolo: like the other dish, slightly greasy but creamy and the sauce is delicious! So far I'd say this is my favorite pasta I've eaten at the restaurant so far. It came with plenty of shrimp which is a big plus for me! The portions are huge ( 1 "small" size dish can feed up to 3 to 4 people) so leftovers are inevitable. Overall I would give this place a 3.5. Im not a big Italian food snob so I enjoyed the pasta here and would come back again.
(3)
j s.
Friend wanted to use a $25 gift card last Saturday at about 5 p.m. There was only 1 other table of (2) customers in the restaurant, & some private gathering in the back room. The complimentary bread basket on the table contained a length of Italian bread about the size of a hot dog bun, no butter, olive oil & balsamic only. We were shocked to see that salad for 2 ranged between $13 and $15...just crazy when you note that a head of lettuce costs $.99. We did not order salad. We ordered the small Chicken Parmesan for 2 ($19.99) which were 2 hand-sized, previously frozen, flattened, overcooked, breaded chicken breasts dressed with tomato puree and 1 slice (each) of parmesan cheese. They looked very sad and naked on an oval serving plate. Two glasses of diet pop, sales tax and tip brought the bill to $34.50 for what amounted to about $5 of food. We're not going back. Ever. Most genuine Italian meals are generous celebrations of life, and this is clearly some sort of Planet Hollywood guess at what Italian dinners should be. Very disappointing. I will say that the greeters were kind, and the waiter was prompt.
(1)
Kristen D.
Migdalia is terribly pleasant to work with when planning a large gathering! She was very sweet and helpful on the phone. I hope to work with her again in the future! We enjoyed a large team party here in one of their secluded rooms with a prix fixe menu. The Caprese salad, apple walnut, and ceasar salads were all tasty. I absolutely LOVED the ravioli, while everyone else seemed to prefer the Pasta Basilica. Chicken Limone was good, though the pieces of chicken were a little on the small side. Meat was tender and juicy, still! This place is the perfect kind of kitchy restaurant...we always host our White Elephant gift exchange here. Perfect setting and good food for a good price!
(4)
Jennifer S.
Friends of ours have been wanting to try Buca di Beppo for over a year. We tried it with them tonight. We had a reservation, so we didn't have to wait very long which was nice, but once we got back to the dining area, the hostess didn't know where to seat us. We stood in the middle of the restaurant while she tried to figure it out. There were two tables for four. My hubby asked for the one near the wall - not crammed in between two very full parties. When she came back, she wouldn't seat us near the wall. We were between two large birthday parties. NOTE: This does seem to be a birthday dinner location - we heard the Buca di Beppo birthday song about six times over the course of the evening. It's cute. But, these large parties make for a very loud restaurant. The waitress was busy. So we waited a few minutes & she breezed by letting us know that she would be back in a minute. This was the first of many, many minutes. When she returned, we let her know that this was our first visit. She suggested a cocktail made with amaretto. I wasn't going to order a cocktail, but she stressed how great it was, so I ordered it. So, did my friend's husband. My friend opted for water & my husband ordered a Pepsi. We asked for a few suggestions & she pointed out three things. I'm trying to be a better patron these days, so we decided to order two of the three suggestions. When the waitress brought the cocktails, she didn't bring the water or Pepsi. This took two more trips to the table. I tasted the recommended drink & it was a lukewarm, watered down margarita. I didn't even taste a hint of amaretto. So, I hunted down the waitress & asked for an iced tea. The manager came over, saw that I had only sipped the drink, removed it & agreed to bring an iced tea. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. The manager even walked by again before the iced tea made it to the table. This was frustrating because the pitcher was on the counter within eye shot of our table. We started with stuffed mushrooms with a pesto sauce & fried calamari. The mushrooms had a lot of cheese & the pesto sauce was a nice change of pace. The calamari came with a spicy arriabata sauce. The apps were hot & fresh. Things were looking up again. The bread service here is weird. A basket of bread came out followed by one small plate for four people to share of olive oil that the waitress poured. She walked away with the olive oil. I'm going to pick on my hubby for a minute...he should go back to Kindergarten because he does not like to share with anyone other than me. I can't really blame him because some people like cheese, some like pepper, etc. So, we asked the manager for a second plate with olive oil. She brought it right away. Then, I found out that the bread was chewy and cold. Not what I was expecting. My very non-picky friends even commented on it. My friend wanted to have some bread with dinner, but unfortunately the waitress picked up the basket & crumpled the paper basket liner in front of us at the table & took it away. I guess we can't use any bread to soak up any sauce... We ordered four small dishes. The portions are intended for sharing & when they say that it will feed two to three people, I would agree that it really does. No one cares about my opinion here, but they should really do a small, medium & large. Make the small, smaller & charge a little less per dish. I would have ordered more dishes if they had been just a bit more reasonable on their pricing. It might have been nice to try more options, but it was too expensive to justify. So, we ended up with lasagna, baked rigatoni, chicken Parmesan & some spicy chicken pasta. The chicken pasta & the parm were two of the waitress' suggestions & what my hubby & I decided to share. Our friend's lasagna was very cheesy. A huge portion, but not a lot of meat. Their baked rigatoni had fresh ricotta cheese on top & throughout, the sausage was nice and spicy & again the 'small' portion was huge. The spicy chicken pasta was lukewarm & dry. My husband asked for some of the sauce to put on top. This took soooo long that the pasta was even colder by the time the sauce arrived. The two chicken breasts were burnt with overdone cheese & had been sitting way too long as the breading on the underside of the chicken stayed on the plate because it had absorbed the sauce. Those were lukewarm as well. Apparently my review is too many characters, so I will cut this short. Getting drinks refilled was like pulling teeth-we couldn't even find the waitress half the time. I'll bring it in a minute, means ten minutes. After a frustrating meal & less than satisfactory meal, I talked with the manager in the bar & she was gracious enough to take care of a portion of the bill. Can't say I'll be back especially considering the distance for us. But, I still appreciated the manager's gesture and hope the waitress gets some more training.
(2)
Peter S.
I have had two ABSOLUTELY miserable experiences in less than two months at this location. We walk in the restaurant and the manager is standing on her little podium and there are whining, complaining, loud, immature waitresses standing around whining about their jobs and their night and their customers. There are SIX PEOPLE waiting to be seated in that very foyer. Nothing says welcome to our restaurant like a bunch of classless waitresses bi*$&#ing about customers!! We are generally pretty nice to waitstaff who show up to work. That's mostly what it takes. When our waiter came to the table we asked how he was. "Terrible!" He whined. Something about making mistakes and needing a beer and not wanting to be at work. "Sorry to keep you here!" I said with a smile - hoping to lighten the mood. However, the night just kept getting WORSE and WORSE. First my husband asked for a beer. The waiter - let's call him "T", told him that there was Peroni on draft. Brian is easy to please - SOLD. Then he brings a bottle. He said the bottle is $6.00. Brian said he ordered a draft beer. The guy LIES and says they're 'out'. That's weird - I said. You run out of Peroni at an Italian restaurant this early on a Saturday night? (It was about 8 p.m.) Pretty poor planning. Then the brat tells us he lied. He entered the wrong thing in the computer and he then WHINED about how they changed from their old POS System to Aloha and there's no 'wiggle room'. So he's telling us that he didn't bring the right beer because he basically entered in the wrong thing - the bartender was obligated to make it and T doesn't want to go to a manager to ring it in right. THEN after several minutes he brings our Peroni draft - in a WATER CUP. A legitimate short octogon-shaped F-ING WATER CUP. For $6.00 you give us SIX OUNCES of beer?!?! He tells us he can't frost the glass because their freezer is 'broke'. t's Wheeling, not the Loop dude. I ended up with the Ravenswood Zin for 7.99 which was decent but still. On to the appetizer - the next DISASTER. We ask T for Garlic Cheesy Bread and ask him to make sure there's cheese - last time they were SUPER SKIMPY with the cheese. "Sorry but I can't do that. Sometimes it comes out skimpy and sometimes it comes out burnt and there's nothing I can do." He brings the bread and it's cheesy - but we asked for marinara - just a little bit to dip the bread in. This is how we ALWAYS have had this dish. FOR NINE F-ING DOLLARS that we paid for bread with cheese that cost the restaurant TWO FZ-ING CENTS the dude REFUSES to bring us a dollop of marinara! The bread was dry and tasteless and they try to compensate by pouring a half an ounce of oil on the table. This place won't even leave the olive oil on your table for the bread?! THEN we order the main course. This is another HUMILIATING FAIL. The waiter almost has me in tears over the salad I ordered. I said please add a raw vegetable to the salad. It's NOT HARD to throw a half a handful of broccoli or a few carrot slices on the salad. The salad was plain - just spinach and tomato and fried prosciutto. I told him that I was not going to fill up on the spinach and hoped he'd add a vegetable for me. For a twelve dollar salad he could have suffered me a piece of broccoli, right?! I told him that last time I was there they humiliated me and had the manager come talk to me over adding RAW BROCCOLI to a SALAD. FOOLS. Salads should have veggies, morons! Guess what brainiac did? HE BROUGHT A MANAGER TO MY TABLE because I asked for A PIECE OF VEGGIE on my overpriced salad. UGGHHHHH!!!!!! I can't even continue to review because this place SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS. I'm usually so much more eloquent - I know. But today I need to VENT. THIS PLACE HAS GONE TO CRAP. I asked for dressing on the SIDE of my salad and he brought it LOADED WITH DRESSING. I asked him to bring one without dressing and it took THIRTEEN minutes. Brian's food was ice cold by the time he came back. Then I DIDN'T EAT because I'm livid. I ask for a box and he grabs my plate. NO! - I say politely (the whole time Brian and I are smiling and laughing but CRYING on the inside)... "I prefer to wrap it myself". What do you think I'm going to do? Punk-a$$ waiter slime asked me. "SPIT IN IT?!" He basically told me he's going to spit in my food - I'm positive. This was like being ABUSED. I felt BEATEN UP by this place. The managers. The chefs, the waiter, the overpriced CRAP FOOD. TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : Yes Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : No Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Claudia W.
BAD, BAD, BAD and BAD!!! Had not been to Buca di Beppo in years, my cousin had a taste for chicken saltimbocca and wanted to go. Horrible in every way. The service was excruciatingly slow and the waiter could have cared less about us. He even called us "sir" twice (a table of two women?) The chicken saltimbocca was very dried out, I ordered the stuffed shells which were described as filled with spicy Italian sausage...spicy dog vomit maybe, sent those back. Tried the chicken limone, better but really not good. If the chef would like cooking lessons, I make a mean chicken piccata, I would be glad to show him how it's done. And the lighting... if you like being interrogated in a police lockup, maybe you'll feel comfortable with those glaring overhead track lights. Stay away from this place.
(1)Ron G.
We went here to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday. It was a great time. I'm glad I made a reservation because it was full at 6:30 Saturday night. The green Apple Gorgonzola salad was terrific, filled with candied walnuts. The eggplant parmesan was good too - we ate every bite. Their smaller portions are just right for two hungry people. We had two glasses of Chianti (very good) and a bottle of mineral water (a bit overpriced at $5.75). For dessert, their double dark chocolate cake was moist and delicious and ample enough to take home for a second serving. I used a $10 off coupon that's readily available around here so I was very happy when the bill arrived. The service was exceptional - friendly but discreet and professional. My only concern about the restaurant is that the tables are a little too close together. You have to turn sideways in some spots to navigate to your table. On the other hand, my girlfriend was wished happy birthday by diners in the two nearby tables after the birthday cheer was performed by the staff.
(4)Derek C.
I don't know why they need to put red pepper flakes into all of the food here. it's in the pasta and the marinara sauce for the calamari. I'm good at things being spicy, and I can hold my own, but I think this is quite unnecessary. leave it at the table for people to put it on themselves. Service is also horrible here. our waitress went on break without letting us or any of her fellow servers know. so we sat there like idiots for 20 min after our meal waiting for her to come by to clean up and give us the bill. we asked another server cleaning a nearby table to find our waitress and a different server came back to help us. she dropped off the check but then she disappeared for quite some time as well. she also almost spilled pasta sauce on me after recklessly packing some leftovers for us. the one saving grace here was that the Chicken Saltimboca was awesome (no red pepper flakes in this dish!) and probably the only dish I will eat from here again.
(2)Richard B.
We have eaten at Buca di Beppo several times over the last three years, and have always found the meals and presentation to be satisfactory. Also, we have never paid full price there because they frequently offer two-fers and other deals that keep skinflints like me satisfied with decent food at a modest total price. We have only eaten at this location, so my comments only apply to the Wheeling Buca restaurant. One thing that distinguishes Buca from other southern Italian restaurants is the décor. Yeah, a lot of these restaurants display pictures, photos, and other paraphernalia on the walls, but Buca goes pretty much over the top: you can hardly find a free space on the walls. Also, they have displays of multi-color bulbs (like Christmas tree lights) all over the place. One of the people in our party asked me if they are just too lazy to remove the holiday lights. I dunno. The restaurant serves many of its meals in a "family style" form. Instead of presenting diners with food on a plate, they bring bowls of food, and it can be a free-for-all among diners trying to spear or spoon out items that they want before others can get a chance. The menu is reasonably complete, with most entrees in the $10-13 range. Meat entrees may also include a serving of pasta or a vegetable. Servings are adequate, but not as large as, for instance, Maggiano's (which I consider to be a competitor). Like many similar Italian restaurants, they bring out a basket of bread and provide everyone with a plate of olive oil instead of butter. Service was good and attentive; and I thought the pacing was very good. This restaurant also has several party rooms for receptions, meetings, showers, and other affairs. The party rooms were decorated much like the main dining rooms. Oh, those of you who have read my reviews note that I always discover some cheapskate way of dining out. This meal was free: the last time I was there, I dropped my business card into a bowl - and I won the drawing for a complimentary meal.
(4)Yanyao N.
It's super kitschy, the portions are ridiculously large, and the cuisine is what some members of my family would call "eye"-talian... but Buca di Beppo really hit the spot for me this week. It was exactly what I wanted (a crazy large serving of spaghetti with some red sauce) and I got to sit at a booth next to a picture of a ginormous fat little boy stuffing his face with a giant donut. When I was leaving, I saw a picture of a cat with spaghetti on its head. Funny. Our server was terrific and friendly. And their spicy chicken rigatoni is DELICIOUS. I had seen someone pin "Buca di Beppo's spicy chicken rigatoni" recipe on Pinterest the other day and was curious. I'll be ordering this again. And, those half pound meatballs totally hit the spot. Who doesn't like a big meaty ball? I only managed to take down half of one. Sad!
(4)Gerry T.
Both Buca's locations in Chicago closed which speaks to what I feel is due to consistent 3 star experiences. We've had the fried calamari, egg plant parmigiana, chicken limone, chicken fettuccine and braised beef. It's all fine however, in comparison to Maggiano's, their meals don't quite compare. Perhaps it's the quantity and/or quality. I just don't get that same feeling when I dine at Maggiano's. Now, will I come back? Probably...but Wheeling is not that close and if I travel that far, I might be tempted to go to Bob Chinn's, Pete Miller's or Super Dawg's instead. Hang in there Buca, I do like your music and pics of Sinatra and Dean.
(3)Jessica Y.
I have dined here countless amounts of time. It's not so much that the food is amazing every single time as much as the memories I have had here. I am a fan because when I come here it reminds me of past great times - father's 50th birthday gathering, my sweet 16, and other birthdays and holidays. In some ways that in itself is a success. Don't get me wrong...the food is delicious. Big portions/family style, pictures covering every spot on the wall, and great atmosphere.Dishes range from $11 for a small salad to $33 for specialty pasta. We always order the linguine frutti di mare, and tiramisu (best ever).. caesar salad. calamari, pizzas, chicken marsala, spicy chicken rigatoni, meatballs, ravioli, stuffed shells, green beans, broccoli, mashed potatoes - all good!
(4)Dan C.
When you walk into this place, you will know right away... that you are in for something special. The aroma of some of the best food you will ever eat is going to send your appetite into overdrive. This is my #1 Favorite Restaurant ever!
(5)Debbie M.
Placed an order to pick up. Told them I had a $10.00 off $30.00 coupon. Coupon literally blew out of my hands so I didn't have it when I went to pick up my order. I explained my situation and also pulled up several other coupons from several other sites. One was for 2 pastas and I ordered a pasta and a salad so they wouldn't take it. I showed them all sorts of coupons from all sorts of sites and they wouldn't take it. Mgr., Matt finally came out and said there was nothing he could do. I asked him if it was worth it to lose a customer, get bad press and toss out my order. He said there was nothing he could do. Terrible customer service and unprofessional attitude. Not to mention the last 2 times I ordered from them, they messed up those orders. Won't be back.
(1)David Y.
Though the host said the wait would be 30 minutes, they sat us in 5 minutes. The server seemed new and took a long time to bring bread over. All the other food came out quick, almost too quick. We ordered the di beppo salad, lasagna, and penne alla vodka. Salad was really tasty with pepperoni and salami. Lasagna was ok. Penne has some spice to it and was pretty good. Overall, portions were generous and a good family style meal.
(4)Susan S.
the decor is great. the food is nothing special
(2)Jeka M.
Love the Bepp. I've always had friendly service, food comes quickly, and it's pretty delicious. The food can be typical Italian or extra-super-delicious Italian depending on what you order (mozzarella garlic bread = okay, Chicken Artichoke Rigatoni = delish) and how into Italian food you are. It's gets pricey quickly if you start adding beverages of the alcoholic persuasion. Excellent for groups~ it's like tapas, but you get more of fewer items. I still like sharing multiple options, though. They've got a great vibe.
(4)Nic Z.
This Buca and another are essentially equidistant from us. Over the years, we gradually started leaning toward the other until we hadn't gone to this one in about 2-3 years. We opted for a "change of scenery" and came here a few weeks ago. Long story short, we quickly realized why we don't come here anymore. We were sat in a dining room all by ourselves where there was a woman mopping the floor with bleach... BLEACH! While we ate! The entire time. When our main course came, we had finally had enough and asked if she could please stop mopping while we eat because the smell was nauseating. After 30-40 minutes of mopping, we all felt ill and ready to faint; there was no way we could enjoy our meal like that. Her reply? "Oh, I'm almost done." ...She mopped throughout our whole meal. We managed to swallow a slice of pizza each (the 2x2" paper-thin square) and asked to have the rest wrapped up. We were disgusted and just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. That had to be in violation of some health codes. Who the hell mops with bleach while people are eating?
(1)Jennifer L.
LOVE this place! Yay for their fabuloso garlic bread and spicy chicken rigatoni... mmm mmmmm gooood!! Great service, large location... If you have less than 4 people you can request the special table in the kitchen which is kinda fun! All the servers have to stop and show you the food they're bringing out to their tables... So you can see all the delish food they have. I like this place. A wee bit expensive for a chain restaurant, but this is one of those places where I actually bring the leftovers home cuz I want to keep eating!!! Recommended!
(5)Justin R.
Decent family-style Italian food appropriate for group dining
(3)Christine L.
I love love love Italian food, and Buca always seems to do it right. Huge portions (the "small" can feed a small family). The only thing about Buca di Beppo's is the wait. There always seems to be a wait to eat, but I guess that just means that the food is good, right? Their pasta is always al dente, and cooked to perfection. They serve the meat dishes separately, on the side (like chicken parm or italian sausage). Everything is family-style, so I would definitely not recommend eating alone here. Unless you're really, really hungry.
(4)Kathleen T.
It has been several years since we have been there and it seems as if things have changed. I remembered a several page menu to chose from. I knew that there were small and large portions to choose from. This time the menu was scaled down but I Immediately noticed that spaghetti and meatballs was $20 for a small. I asked the waitress and she said all our meals are served family style and are to be shared. We ordered the S and M and a small order of calamari for an appetizer which was $13 which is higher than most Italian restaurants. The calamari was like shoe leather. Very over cooked. The S and M was very good. The bread on the table was like a soft commercial loaf bread and not crusty Italian bread. The restaurant could use a good cleaning. The women's room floor was filthy. I see this and I think what must the kitchen look like. Our server was very nice and attentive but we only saw one other couple in the restaurant which in itself was strange. I doubt if we would return.
(2)Aly L.
Just had dinner there with a group of friends. The best Italian place I've been to in a while. The small plate option was huge. Definitely plenty for two. The mussels marinara were out if this world. Christine, our server, was very fast and attentive. Will be coming back there for sure.
(5)Shannon F.
This Buca Di Beppo on Milwaukee had the friendliest people ever! I went there for my birthday and although the food I ordered wasn't my favorite, the waiter and people who worked there were super nice. I lost my birthday card they gave me and the waiter saw me searching for it. After I told him what happened he hurry ran around the whole restaurant to get a new card signed by everyone before I left.
(4)Abhijit C.
The food is decent Italian, however they certainly need to work on their Decor. As soon as you enter, the place stinks of 1960. And the smell remains till you leave. The service is mediocre, however the portions are good.
(3)Laurence K.
Even though its a chain I've been coming to bucks since they first opened I've always enjoyed there mixed green salad with prosciutto and Gorgonzola and the semi sour dressing really goes well with this salad. The chicken saltinbocca is chicken breast prosciutto lemon capers and artichoke hearts its sooo good!! And the spaghetti and meatballs good too! I mean its not gourmet but it dam tasty!!
(4)Samantha L.
What this boils down to is two things. The food is pretty good and the service sucks. Like, it really, sincerely, is a dreadful and awful experience due to service. A "quick birthday lunch" ended up taking us almost two hours, because we were constantly waiting and looking for our waitress. And even when she was in the same room as us, it was really awkward and painful to get her attention. The place was deserted too. We were seated towards the interior/back and there was only one other table there at the time. (Including the bar area and the other sections/rooms). It got to the point where at the end of the meal, it took us 20 minutes (we timed it) for us to flag (literally flag) down our waitress so that we could get the bill. P.S. Only one of us got a singular water refill while we were there. Two hours. But really, the food is good, and we do like their lunch menu. I had a plate full of meatballs (off of their dinner menu) they were moist, flavorful, delightful, and a ridiculous size, and Andy had the Chicken Parm lunch meal - and while it was a little greasy, it was nonetheless good. The next time we're craving Italian though, Biaggi's, Maggiano's or Francesca's will be our destination.
(2)Gavin S.
We once ate at the (now closed) downtown location and quite enjoyed the experience, so we sought out this location when house shopping in the area and have now dined there three times in the last couple months, each time just the two of us, usually mid to late afternoon. I see a number of recent complaints about the service, but all three times we got very helpful friendly attentive service so I have absolutely no complaints there. In fact on our third visit yesterday I felt a bit guilty because our check was going to come to a whopping zero due to a free appetizer coupon (see below) and that was all we really needed to make a meal. But our server seemed totally happy with the fact that we decided not to order anything else (and were even just drinking water). I left a nice tip of course. At least currently if you sign up at their bucalove web site for their mailing list then the next day you'll get an email with a free appetizer coupon (no purchase required). As I mentioned above we took advantage of this yesterday and the two of us made a full meal out of their bruschetta (about 14 slices of bread along with Buca quantities of the topping served in a giant martini-style glass about 10-12" across) and were totally stuffed after finishing it. I wish it were easier for a couple to eat here more easily without getting/paying for twice as much food as you really want, because it's a fun place that oozes happy atmosphere and the food and service have been great. We usually end up splitting an appetizer or a single entree between the two of us. Their Pizzas are another option as well. Of course if you have a larger group then it's a lot more fun. Or you can buy into their "buy it for the leftovers" line. They also have some online coupons surrounding their 20th anniversary where you can get $20 off the purchase of two entrees which is approximately a "two for one" offer.
(4)Jacob S.
I had to make the time and write this review. We all know Buca Di Beppo Italian restaurant to be a nice place to bring the family for a good Italian food, large portions and delicious meal. Well, not this time around. Based on our last wonderful family dinner and my son's request, we decided to celebrate his 20th birthday at Buca Di Beppo, and how disappointing that was, and that's putting it lightly. We had a 6:30 pm reservations and we were seated as soon as we got there, greeted by our waiter who specifically asked if we're celebrating any event, and we replied that it is my son's 20th. So far so good. For starters we ordered the Apple Gorgonzola Salad, it had all the right ingredients , except for the signature Italian vinaigrette that was just BLAH (I know for a fact it was really wonderful in our last visit there). Then for the main dishes: The Chicken Marsala tasted sweet thinking now I'm at a bad Chinese restaurant, no wait, I'm still at Buca Di Beppo. The Penne San Remo, we changed and had it with spaghetti pasta. It was actually good. The cheese ravioli in marinara sauce, how should I say it, the cook was out for lunch while dinner was cooking. The marinara was horrible. We really enjoyed the garlic and cheese toasted bread. As we finished our dinner, the waiter asked if we're interested in dessert and we replied "not this time". At this point our waiter was not to be found and no acknowledgment as to my son's birthday. Now that's a shame, considering I just spent $110 + tip for so so food. The two stars given only do to our nice experiences in the past.
(2)Kristie R.
I made reservations mid week for their Kitchen table at the Wheeling Buca di Beppo for a special celebration for my boyfriend and I. I had been teasing him all week about an exciting one of a kind dining experience. When we arrived Saturday, I was deeply disappointed to hear they "lost" our special reservation. While upset, the hostess assured me she would get us a really good table to make up for it and send a manager to our table. We got a regular table and no manager ever came. Then when we ordered our drinks the long island ice tea was TERRIBLE - very watered down. We sent it back and the 2nd one they brought was better. Now the food was excellent. My boyfriend was thinking of getting a $100 gift certificate for Christmas at this restaurant for his parents. But given the deep disappointment of our experience he decided to get a Lettuce Entertain You certificate instead. Overall was DEEPLY upset about the lack of concern about the major screw up that turned our magical night into a ordinary meal. Wish they took better care of us in making up for the mistake.
(2)Johnny O.
As for fine Italian dining, this place is not. It's maze like interior with walls covered with some interesting photographs make for a nice conversation over dinner. It's a great place to take young kids and have a good family style meal. During our visit, we had the mozzarella caprese, apple gargonzola salad, baked ziti and lasagna, all of which satisfied my picky-eating kids. The service was very friendly and courteous, and the price was reasonable. We will definitely come back to try to some of the other dishes.
(4)Kelsey W.
Delicious food! Enjoyed the family style portions! Great service as well! I will definitely be back.
(5)Rachel R.
A group of 6 of us ate here on Saturday. The place was pretty empty, but the service was unreasonably slow. It took us 55 minutes to get our salads, although one person in our group who had ordered soup was served this before us and had finished it before we got our salads. The food was essentially flavorless and ordinary. It was definitely not worth spending over $100 to share one dinner and some wine for two people. We won't be back. This place has definitely gone downhill since the last time we ate here. Save your money.
(2)Jerome R.
Great atmosphere for family, delicious food, and good service. However, it's a little pricer for what we got. Don't be mistaken it's still a pretty good place to experience. Despite the prices, we will come back but just not as much. Give it a try.
(3)Dave J.
For a national chain restaurant, this is one of the best. Sorry Olive Garden. I like the food, the decor, and the vibe at Buca. I like that I signed up on their e-mail list and they send coupons. I like that they gave me a birthday card, signed by the staff, and didn't do any obnoxious singing ritual (upon my request) on my birthday. I like that they have LARGE and small portions, depending on how many of us are at the table. I like the variety of choices on the menu. Simple, fun, unpretentious, party rooms, great service, and always consistently great food.
(4)Irene Z.
Have been to their other locations in Lombard and Chicago, but this was our first time at the Wheeling location. We were in the area on Labor Day and decided to stop in for an early dinner. We were seated in the medium sized dining room just past the bar. I love the kitschy décor at Buca and Wheeling's was up to par. Stepping into any Buca never fails to make me think about how long it must have taken to decorate the place (hanging all those pictures that seem to have less than an inch of space between them!). On this day, we were seated in front of a b&w wall-length portrait of ladies (circa 1950) in evening gowns slurping up bowls of spaghetti...the pictures kept my kids entertained while we waited for our food. We shared Caesar salad, Calamari, and Fruti di Mare. Kids had chicken parmigiana and pizza off the kids menu, but the portions were large enough to be able to fill me up. Definitely good value for the price (side & drink included, along with crayons). Fruti di Mare was tasty, just the right amount of seafood and good flavor in the red sauce. We enjoyed the calamari which had a bit of a kick to it, and the Caesar salad was mixed well with just the right amount of dressing. Portions were extremely generous, which we're used to at Buca. We had plenty of leftovers. Service was a little slow on this day, but the staff were all friendly from the greeter to our server. Our server was efficient but it was just generally slow, despite us being in a virtually empty room with only 2 other parties near us. Also, we ordered cheese pizza for my son, but it had pepperoni on it. I appreciated our server noticing that before we even called attention to it, and he quickly brought it back and had a new plain cheese pizza for us within 10 minutes. It was Labor Day, so maybe they didn't have full staff on this day. We weren't in a rush so the slow service didn't bother us, but I can see that being an issue on a busier day. One thing's for sure, though, the food is always consistent at Buca...Wheeling location was no exception. We enjoyed our dinner all around. Also a huge plus, I dropped my biz card in the fishbowl on the way out and won a $25 gift certificate! We would have been back regardless, but this is an added incentive!
(4)Jack P.
I have been to other locations of this chain, and always had a decent time and a decent meal. But looking at the value aspect of what a recent lunch cost, I would have to say I had a mediocre experience at best here. Let me start with the good stuff: Bruschetta appetizer. Although it was large, and the bread was delicious, $10.00 for Brushcetta? It's not as if they had to make a pizza, or anything. I mean it's just bread, tomatoes and basil. But that was the best part of the meal. I ordered Chicken Parmigiana, because I love it, and I don't have it too often. Well, I violated my own never-order-chicken-in-a-restaurant rule, and was sorry I did. The chicken cutlet was thin, over-cooked, and not unlike a frozen Aldi entree. The accompanying spaghetti was pretty bad, too. I could have found better Chicken Parm at one of my neighborhood fast-food Italian spots. My lunch companion had baked Salmon, with a pesto sauce, whole pine nuts, and broccoli. I believe it was not accompanied by pasta. He did eat it all up and appeared to enjoy it. I do enjoy the over-the-top, whimsical art and photos everywhere, especially the vintage Italian ones. But I don't know that I will be rushing back here for the food, or the just a little too over-friendly and invasive service. It just was not worth the price. Lunch for two: about $60.00 tax and tip.
(2)T G.
We had an 830 reservation this past Tuesday, we entered the lobby and was not greeted by anyone. We walked into the bar to look for an employee and there was no one present. We also looked in the dining room and it was only a few tables of customers and no wait staff. We checked both areas twice and again no employees to be found. We returned to the lobby for a few more minutes still no one came to seat us. We checked the bar and dinning room one final time to no avail. So we gave up after ten minutes. We went on open table and cancelled our reservation and went across the street to Cooper's hawk and had a wonderful meal. First time at Buca and they blew it. I won't be coming back after that experience.
(1)Jay N.
Parking lot is a little small and not easy to get out of if you're going north on Milwaukee to get to Lake Cook. Since this is family style service, the tables are relatively small considering you're ordering a few dishes, have drinks, and need room for the plates. The decor, service, and environment are pretty standard for Buca. The food is still quite salty and nothing was quite distinctive. My friends liked the Shrimp Fra Diavolo but it seemed like it was only because they put red peppers in there so you could actually taste the spice. I can't believe I said yes to my friends choosing this place. Maybe I need new friends.
(2)Sarah P.
I liked the place. We went there once and the food was delicious and still affordable. The only reason I am giving it only 3 stars is because I did not like their dessert.
(3)Dr. Catherine L.
I was in the area for a conference and was staying at the Westin Hotel.. so this place was within walking distance. Several colleagues and I came here because it was the only nice restaurant nearby to the hotel. We were seated in a room where the ceilings were wine glasses and grape vines. How beautiful it was! Buca di Beppo never ceases to amaze me with their set up and ambiance! We were a party of 15-16.. service was slow, but I don't think we cared very much because we were all so busy talking and eating. My favorite was the chicken marsala. The mushrooms and its sauce were so DELICIOUS!
(4)John R.
Horrible! Rude and very mediocre overlooked pasta. Overpriced to boot.
(1)Phil R.
I come here more often than I would like to mainly cause my relatives like it here. I'm not crazy about this place. I mean the environment is nice and the portion is large but they are inconsistent when it comes to some of their pasta dishes. More than half the times there's a least one pasta dish where the noodles are a bit undercooked. So it's kind of like eating warm soggy cereal with a bit of a crunch. For an Italian restaurant, you would think their pasta dishes would be on point but maybe it's because it's harder to cook larger amounts of noodles since you don't really want to over cook the noodles. Maybe come here when you have a slightly smaller group and order the smaller dish size, it may minimize the undercooking issue. I will have to test this out myself the next time I go. Their appetizers are good and their pizza is also good.
(3)Kris V.
We have ate at multiple Buca di Beppo locations all over the country because of the great food. Our only suggestion is to never visit this location. The service was absolutely horrible, we left without even seeing any waitstaff. After reading through reviews, it is clear that this is a common situation at this restaurant. Maybe the management staff should research how their patron's truly feel by visiting some review sites. Our night started off with 7:15 reservations. The hostess never mentioned that they were behind in sitting people with reservations and finally at 7:30 we get a table. We proceeded to wait until 7:45 without seeing any waitstaff and did not even receive a glass of water. We had tickets to a comedy show at 9:00 and that is why we made reservations. If it took 30 minutes to get seated and not even take our drink order, I could only imagine how long it would have taken to get our diner out. This location really needs to wake up and deliver better service. It is in a great location, but there are many great Italian restaurants in the area to provide this horrible level of service.
(1)Julie O.
I was here for a graduation party. We had a private room and plenty of attention from the servers. The food was tasty, not too salty and served hot. Portions were large. The bruschetta appetizer rocked!
(3)Jessica J.
This place has horrible Italian food. My sister and bf got the Seafood trio Platter, They said it was very good. ( I don't eat sea food ) The chicken parmesan was awful. We also had the side of fettuccine pasta, Tasteless. The decor, waitress and staff was amazing. Very quick with our food and very polite. Other then that, I rather go to the store and get a microwave dinner then to ever eat here again.
(2)Demetrio P.
Whenever we're in the mood for Italian and want family style offerings, Buca is our place to go. My fave dishes here are Frutti de Mare, Chicken Carbonara, and the Lemon Chicken. The Lemon Chicken is my favorite of the 3, as it comes out golden brown on top, with a lemon butter sauce that is finger licking good! Their deserts are good as well, especially their chocolate cake. This place is also great for group gatherings. Overall, good food, okay service, okay prices.
(4)Anna K.
chopped antipasto salad margherita pizza fried calamari lasagna spicy chicken rigatoni linguine frutti di mare eggplant parmigiana cabernet sauvignon, louis m. martini malbec, gascon riesling, chateau ste. michelle 16 people. 2 community tables. large-size servings of family style italian dishes. bottles of wine (per usual) good food but the laid back atmosphere for lively groups and conversing makes it an ideal place for groups. 3 for the food, 4 for the service solid 3.5
(3)Kelly E.
Oh Mamma Mia!!! I think I love this place for its crazy decor, themed rooms, tour of the kitchen, loud and liveliness, family style food selections, cramped seating, and its joy. It has tons of joy. 5 stars for all the bells and whistles. but the food...gets 3 stars. The food doesn't hold a candle to some of the Chicago greats (RoSal's, Sabatino's, etc.). Though they try really hard and are decent, despite being a franchise.
(3)Marina W.
It definitely is an excellent dining place for a crowd like family gathering or a group of friends like us wanting to celebrate someone's birthday and share food and love in a fun way!:) the portion of the plates is good to share from 2 to 6 depending on which size you order. We placed the order first not realizing the birthday boy was in a mood for white sauce clam linguinie instead of red by default so we changed the order after we placed the order for a while but the waitress was so good and because they have high table turn over, they found another table ordere the same dish so our wish was granted! For the birthday song, the staff came and surround the bday boy and sang a loud fun birthday song so we all had a great time, both kids and adults. Over all it's a good place to go back again.
(4)Cinderella S.
I ate here first time today and comparing to olive garden I would say this place is better.I love the design and the low ceiling.I would eat here again.
(4)June C.
OK so the manager at the Wheeling location AND the Divisional V.P. contacted me today. My review still stands but they handled it with 4 stars(5 if they would have contacted me sooner) First off, I didn't write the review to get anything free but was just honest about our experience. The manager Agatha tried explaining how things failed that night. I was surprised to know the woman who we handed the glass with the bug in it was a manager as well. hmm? Anyway, we have eaten at other Bucas before and had a good experience which is why we went in the first place. They emailed a generous certificate to give them another try. Which we will.
(4)San T.
One word to describe this place, DELICIOUS! Be prepared to eat alot of food! Even the small portions are huge! I ordered the Chicken Carbonara and the Anti Pasto Salad shared with another person and we still had left overs! The place could get very loud but it has a cozy atmosphere! We are already planning our next visit this coming weekend. By far Buca is one of my top favorite restaurants! If you sign up for the email up dates, you will receive coupons for $10.00 off or free desserts! You must visit this place!
(5)Sam S.
Overall pretty disappointed. Had heard of the large portions, but that was not the case with us. Food was average in taste and very dry, as in over cooked. Sausage and Peppers extremely over cooked. Won't be back anytime time soon. Atmosphere was interesting though with many interesting photos. But we can't eat those now can we.
(2)Peter S.
One of my favorite places to eat! I'm actually not wild about the busy atmosphere (every square inch of wall is covered with decoration, and it can get pretty loud), but the food is so good, I don't even notice. Everything is delicious, the portions are very generous, the servers have always been friendly & attentive, and it's a very good value when you've got a group or are particularly hungry (I can polish off a full serving of pasta on my own, if suitably hungry). I always look forward to an opportunity to eat at Buca Di Beppo! Something to remember, is that they have additional parking to the south, in case the main lot is full (and it usually is on a weekend night).
(5)Nicholas K.
We love Buca, but this location is bad. We would not return. The building was in bad shape outside, and the bathrooms were not clean. They were not busy on a Saturday evening, which should have been a clue that others feel the same way about them. Our main complaints were two things. 1) We never got refills on our water, and 2) my wife explained some food allergies she has and when our food came out, Salmon and Eggplant spaghetti, we noticed the Salmon had no seasonings at all, not even salt and pepper. The Eggplant spaghetti was missing... Eggplant. We asked about it and the waitress said "the eggplant had some breading that you were allergic to, I guess I should have asked if you wanted something different instead huh." Very disappointing meal.
(1)Doug S.
I never usually complain about a restuarant, however my experience was horrible. When we were seated we asked about a 10 coupon, I get them in the mail all the time. Our waitress had directed us to their website in which they had a 10 coupon and we gave our waitress the code and she said great and they would accept it. Well in the mean time we had to flag our waitress over several times and what we had asked for never came. The cheese ravioli was horrible, they tasted like they were filled with cheese wiz. They are way under staffed!!!!!!!!Then when it was time to pay the bill the manager came over said the coupon code was expired and they could do nothing about it? Why would they have a expired coupon on their website and why would the waitress direct us to go there? I used to manage a restuarant and if we provided a service this bad, we would not have any business at all. I know the whole mighty dollar is very important but they will never earn my business again. This was the one on Milwaukee Ave and Lake Cook Rd in Wheeling Illinois.
(1)Kathy B.
The food is phenomenal- HUGE portions to feed large crowds, they offer lots of coupons and offers to make your visit as affordable as possible. The wine list is ok for a chain- not too many choices. Great for groups and birthday outings!
(4)Jean K.
3 stars: Good food for a chain restaurant and great for groups, but bad for entree takeout. I go to Buca Di Beppo fairly often - the pasta is consistently good, and one of my favorite dishes is the Linguine Frutti Di Mare, a seafood tomato sauce pasta. The Fried Calamari is also pretty good. I'm not a fan of their pizzas though, I've had better frozen pizzas. The servers seem prepared for large groups and I've never had a bad experience with their service. The atmosphere is family friendly and the decor is a bit quirky, which I like! For takeout, be cautious about ordering entrees. I ordered the Oven-roasted Salmon once and the portion size was ridiculously small, just enough for one person (which was overcooked and dry, cost $22 and was supposed to feed up to 3 people).
(3)Oxa L.
well, i used to adore this place until this evening ,:(((( All shames on its service!!!. OK: we came on a Monday night around 8 pmish..( its open till 10pm on Mondays - Great!) the reason we came to Buca it is on the way to our home and my husband was so hungry after late shift. Due to their huge portions that the place to fill ups! me?- i trying very hard to stick with a diet, no late nights dinner...so came just for drinks ( very delicious get 5 stars just for raspberry lemon drop martini). the waitress did her job well but with mean attitude, kind of you can feel that she doesn't like you for some you never discover reason.. For example: 1st - she took away bread and oil from me when i still have peace of it ready to deep in that oil... its rude! .. 2nd. when i tell her I'm not ordering a dinner only drinks for me tonight(smily face) she said:" aah, ofcorse.." what's up with that? I'm trying not to it late, came only to companion my hungry hubby... and 3rd overall her ignorance and "looks"... sorry, dont want to come back :( Another is a manager came over to ask hows everything as usual, and we said everything is perfect, and i asked one question about a cheese on a pasta,; she replies:" its Risottos!" and immidiatly went away.... i know its an a Risottos but with what?and how? i can feel garlic and chives very strongly. anyway the cheese was Delicious i just want to give a compliment to a kitchen. Didn't expect that it would bather someone... Well, sometimes little can ruin everything, becouse this "little" ment a lot. too bad i used to keep very pleasant memories with this place for a good 5 years.! not anymore, not anymore :(((((((( P.S. pardon me for mistakes..
(2)Joann F.
Had horrible meal. Ordered the salmon. Manager came over and I explained how it tasted if someone just poured hot pepper flakes over the entire dish. My son, who loves spicy was coughing. My whole face was on fire and my eyes watering and she was like, care for us to give you steamed vegetables with it instead? Ah, no!! Then she asked if I would rather have a meatball? Don't get that since the whole reason I ordered the fish is that I don't eat red meat. Would have been nice if she just offered something to offset the burn. I did ask for a refil and she was like "sure", the server came over with a menu and again I asked for a refill and got "sure". NOTHING!! Our server was cleaning up a table that another server just got spraying!! Such a bad experience. Been going here for over five years. Today was my last. Manager is useless! Why they hire someone like that to manage this place is beyond me. No wonder the servers just don't care.
(1)Luiza R.
We had a Christmas party at a friends house this weekend and catered from Buca. Everything tasted fresh and delicious. I personally loved the calamari, it was perfect. The pasta was spicy and had a particular zest to it, it was great. Definitely will cater from them again :)
(4)lisa a.
Horrible food. The pasta was gummy and tasteless. Chicken Marsala was so sweet no one wanted to eat it. We were told the kitchen would be closed by the time our dinner would be served so we had to order dessert right away. Bad choice. My family loves Italian food and no one wanted to take home the left overs. Try Tuscany down the road instead. To give them credit the calamari was very good.
(1)Chris W.
This is a FANTASTIC establishment for family get togethers. We had a birthday dinner for my grandpa here a long time ago with like 15 of us and we had this adorable table with a bust of the pope in the middle. It was one of those tables where you could turn part of it and then be able to grab what you need family style. Yay to pasta dishes. nEh to pretty much anything meaty. I can see how a lot of people would be like "this place is just ehh" because it's not Sabatino's after all hehe. However, it's good food and it's more than that a fun time. Service isn't 5 star high end quality but the staff is friendly. It's got a nostalgic air about the restaurant and just a very cute italian mood with the music and the lighting. Prices are reasonable so I would recommend it for big or small groups, and have dessert too!
(3)Carolyn M.
Not a fan! I've been wanting to try buca di beppo for a hot minute. I will say I was not expecting this to be a fabulous authentic Italian meal, but I like chain "junk food" (as we call it in my house) dinner spots. The only redeeming quality, was that I was able to order online and they brought it to my car. My laziness astounds even me! Soooooo when ordering I was concerned by the prices until I realized these portions were for two......... supposedly. We made the mistake of trusting that and ordering one entree, a side of sausage for my hubby and a side of meatballs for me. What we got would be considered a small plate at ANY Italian restaurant for one person. I pulled up early and only live 5 minutes away but as soon as we opened the container we realized it was ready long before the time they gave me. It was dried up like it had been sitting under a warmer. The only thing I enjoyed from our plate which was a sampling of the dishes was what I assumed was manacotti which was the quality of a microwave dinner. Next time I get that craving for junk food italian I'm headin to the garden of olives!
(2)Joseph P.
At Lunch on a Monday, this place was pretty quiet. Except for us, the entire room was pairs of "Ladies who Lunch". The Lunch menu has individual size items, most of which are $10 - 15, a bit high for lunching. We started with cold, slightly stale bread with a dab of Olive oil, poured by the server - the oil was never refilled, a bad sign. Fortunately, the entre's were pretty good - the Chicken Limone (1 small breast half) comes with Fettuchine Alfredo; the Penne San Remo was a good pasta dish. If you want dessert, be hungry, because most are $10-14 and, presumably, large - not ideal for Lunch. Service was good, but a bit detached. Just don't come here alone at night on a business trip, because then you have to order at least a "double order" of everything, so even couples had better have agreeable tastes. Overall, the kitchy decor works and the place is worth it if you are well funded by your late Husband's estate.
(3)Ian M.
The food here was pretty mediocre. Due to the nature of our group, we ended up leaving a large tip for the server and I'm not really sure if this was warranted or not because, despite the quality of service, the food was only so-so. All of the dishes came in huge portions and, while some were bursting with flavor, others, such as the alfredo, were quite lacking. The dishes were not innovative. They were all very plain. The food also proved to be more oily than average. This presents a big problem if you're about to throw on a big, full-body costume and go dancing right afterward. I felt a bit queasy after dining and that's never a good thing. If I were to get quality Italian food, I would walk across the street for Osteria di Tramonto (although, considering that we were staying in the Westin North Shore, we could have just saved ourselves the walk in the cold weather). Buca is great for big parties and for good conversation, though.
(3)kaya s.
I've been here twice. Once for a large family gathering and once with a girlfriend. Both times I was not overly impressed. The large party experience, grandparents 50th anniversary, was almost disastrous. Service was ok throughout but not really good. Many of us had to wait quite a while for drink refills. The first course was good, antipasto trays and salads. The pasta came out next and it was god awful. The sauce was so burnt that it smelled like someone ashed their cigars in our food, no joke. It took over the whole room and even when we sent it back the smell still lingered. It killed the whole mood. I went again a few months later to give it another try and it was better overall but again nothing too great. The service was fine and the house wine was at a good value but our calamari was on the warm side not hot, and the Alfredo on the pasta was kinda bland. Huge portions are a plus but overall not the best Italian around by far.
(2)Dana M.
This restaurant has been my family favorite for many years now. We love to come here with a large party because it's easy to make reservations, the food is fairly inexpensive, and it's family style. My favorites are the Chicken Saltimbocca and the Linguine Frutti Di Mare; these two dishes must be ordered every time! I forget how good they are until I take a bite of these two dishes! The service is not that great and I don't know if it's because they're always busy on a Sunday night or what. They give you your food and you never see the waiter again! But apparently, that hasn't stopped me from going back!
(4)Tony C.
My brother and I recently took our dad there for his 70th birthday. There was 6 of us, total. The waiter started us off by pouring us one saucer of olive oil, then taking he bottle away. Then, he gave a table of 6 Italians two small pieces of bread. He asked us if there was anything else, and I said, "Yes. More bread, please, and a bottle of olive oil." We ordered a green salad with cheese on the side, and spaghetti with meatballs on the side. (My wife and I are vegetarians. Limited choices.) When the salad came, the waiter gave us a nice plate of cheese on the side, and a salad topped with salami. Not a green salad. he took that back, and eventually brought us the green salad that we ordered. The salad was an uneventful generic iceberg salad, topped with maybe half dozen olives. Next, the spaghetti came with meatballs on top. We reminded him they were supposed to be on the side. He took the plate away. With the quickness in which he returned, I think it's safe to assume he just took the meatballs off the spaghetti, and brought the same plate back. He said "I guess it's just not my day." I didn't really care how his day was. I cared how my dad's meal was, and of course, the people paying the bill (and the dwindling tip...) As far as the spaghetti, it was cooked properly, and the sauce was decent. By the way, we kept asking for more bread and more olive oil. At one point, we had to ask the manager, when she came by to see how our door was, to bring us more bread and olive oil. We joked that they were channelling the great depression, and were rationing the olive oil and bread. We don't foresee returning any time soon.
(2)Jon J.
Yeah, it's a chain, but it's my favorite Italian chain. They execute well on just about everything, from perfectly fried calamari, to a delicious salad, to tender veal parmigian. Everything's good, and if you're with a group, price is quite reasonable. The decor makes it kind of cool... so over the top that it's not annoying, just funny. Service is friendly and food comes out well paced. Excellent!
(4)Brad F.
I have come here many times with the fam and have ordered trays for parties. Everything is always awesome. I love the chicken parm, thats my dish here. They have this awesome pasta with I think penne noodles and chicken that is very spicy and thats what gets me everytime. Love the decor of the place, and have gone to many of the locations around the country.
(4)J J.
Traditional, bread is horrible, mixed green salad is just iceberg and wilted (sitting in dressing awhile). Past was descent.
(1)Justin W.
Absolutely one of the best Italian restaurants in the suburbs. I have always loved the wait staff, who go above and beyond to provide helpful, friendly, and courteous conversations, while the food has never let me down. If I could, I would give Buca six stars and cuddle afterwards. If you have not gone here, you have to go immediately. Right now. I'm serious. STOP READING, CALL ME, AND LETS GO!
(5)Piotr T.
Food is just ok. Service was horrible.
(2)Bruce N.
Carried out from here last night for the umpteenth time. I usually prefer to carry out,as the place is loud and I have to be in the mood for the noise. I wasn't last night. We had the usual chopped antipasto salad (tremendous, with iceberg lettuce, assorted meats & cheeses, peppers and olives with the house vinaigrette). The small order of spaghetti and meat sauce with a couple of softball sized meatballs. I especially like that the meat sauce is very generous in the meat department and there's NEVER any water under the pasta (A HUGE PET PEEVE OF MINE... WHY CAN'T A RESTAURANT PROPERLY DRAIN PASTA??). As always, the food was very good. There's a goodly amount of garlic in everything, which I love! They also throw in a whole loaf of fresh bread. Spent around $40 and have leftovers for a couple of meals, too! Oh...and try the cannoli with warm chocolate sauce. It's DE-licious!! Certainly a good Italian meal. A great place for both families and dates. I actually had a holiday party there, in December at the Pope's table, and it was a perfect room at a very reasonable price for a party of 14. (A warning though... the "throne" has springs that I can still feel in my ass!)
(4)George V.
Much like going to a fish restaurant and trying to order a hamburger, don't go to Buca if you don't want pasta. You're simply setting foot in the wrong establishment if you want something that's not semolina based! While delivering pasta, he Wheeling BDB is in competent hands. The three pasta dishes that we shared family style (yes, we had a ton of leftovers, even with four people!) were all done well. None were done excellently, but none were complete air-balls, either. They were accommodating to my food allergy (allergic to octopus, unfortunate!) and were able to make a frutti-di-mare sauce sans calamari. As others mentioned, the place is loud so be prepared. The decor is similarly loud to match. If you're on a date and it's not going well, you can always spend a few minutes reading the walls. Though the decor is not so loud that if you're on a bad date that you can simply claim not to hear anything your date says. :) I really wish Yelp would allow me to give a half star, as this place deserves three and a half!
(3)Rachel C.
My family and I have been going to Buca Di Beppo for ages. They have amazing, authentic Italian food. Fair prices, humongous portions and an extremely catering to large parties and group events. My favorites are the Chicken (and Veal) Parmigiana with Prosciutto and their Garlic Mashed Potatoes. They have some to die for deserts, particulary the Chocolate Cannoli and the Tiramisu. Always a good time and great meal at Buca Di Beppo!
(5)Larry B.
Hmmmmm.....just a step above Olive Garden
(2)David P.
Pasta portions are the size of your head. Decent house wine. Good chain
(3)ron k.
i don't know why you would come here and order pizza but if you did it would be awesome... and the chicken cacciatore on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes is freakin amazing and seems more authentic than the other chain type places like Maggiano's but who knows i'm korean so whatever...
(4)Emerson C.
The food here is exceptionally delicious. Decided to take a date here since we were both coming from her place in Buffalo Grove. Not a big place, but a very homey feel. They serve you garlic bread as you wait. When I say garlic bread, it actually has garlic on top of the bread. Very delicious, but I tried to lay away since I didn't want my breathe kicking like bruce lee. =P We ordered a couple pasta dishes and shared them. The first one we had was the Penne Arrabbiata. The sauce was out of this world. Very tasty and the sausage had some spice that kicked in after you ate it. I love spices. The second dish was a Cheese Manicotti. The mix of cheeses inside was very subtle, very creamy. It actually made me feel full after eating just one. I would definitely recommend the manicotti. After our entrees, we had the tirimasu which was delicious. The lady fingers were topped with the cheese cream and fudge syrup. MMMMM... they also give you mini cones at the end. Overall a great experience. Wouldn't mind going here for lunch since it's fairly close to work.
(4)Rachel H.
Okay, nothing great, nothing bad. The thin crust pizza was not bad. Not greasy at all.
(4)Russ M.
Decent block-and-tackle italian, not as rich as let's say, Maggianos, which I prefer. An Ok value for a family style dinner with friends. Certainly nothing fancy, but fun, a little kooky, and good service.
(3)Jonathan C.
This is a smaller Buca de Beppo, a family style, italian themed restaurant. Pretty much a maggiano's with more retro italian americana style decor. Food is plentiful, but skews towards very heavy whole canned tomato/garlic flavors. Not much depth of taste or balance beyond these two staples. If you love whole fresh tomatoes or love garlic come here. I do enjoy the mammoth buttery/crispy calamari, very greasy, but has a nice pepper kick in the marinara dippish sauce. Meatballs are quite large. Veal parmagian and pizza (soggy) was victim of over tomatoization. Garlick bread had whole slice garlic on it, which was a bit much. The biggest plus was that we had plenty of leftovers. Service was nice and friendly though and the kept the food and drink refills out at a good pace.
(2)Amy K.
Bucca di Beppo was a terrific place to work for and dine at until Jaime the new General Manager took over. She is a total sexist bitch of a woman who fires people left and right without reason. For example, she fired me for being late one day because i was stopped by the police for a traffic ticket on my way to work and then wouldn't accept my doctor's note because i had been coming into work sick all week to avoid getting fired, she fired me anyway and said "you are not fit for buca" well this bitch is not fit to be a manager. At bucca they stress that it is a "family" environment and that they are all "family" there but Jaime would fire a "family" member because she got sick and was late to work (I got the ticket for trying to get to work on time, ironic?). She only fires women. She had fired three women in one week. I am so happy I do not work for that piece of shit manager anymore. :)
(1)Sam W.
Gross. There was no one here at 6:00pm on a Wednesday night. That would've been enough of a warning, but instead my family and I still walked in and decided to eat. That was our second mistake. We ordered the small portion of bruschetta as an appetizer, and somehow this was the best dish of everything we had. It was served in a hot skillet with fresh tomatoes and basil on top. However, as we soon learned would be a reoccurring theme in all of the dishes, there was a huge puddle of oil on the bottom of the skillet. For dinner, I ordered the Buca Mio (individual portion) of Salmon with Pesto. This was disgustingly oily and made me feel sick. It was served with butter and oil soaked potatoes and veges, and the salmon filet itself was covered, and I mean covered in creamy pesto sauce. Nasty! The other two with me ordered the Buca Mio Eggplant Parmigian (this seemed as if it were fried twice!) and the small order of Shrimp and Scallop Orzo (this thing was even worse than the salmon, with seriously no less than a half cup of buttery oil on the bottom of the plate). How can people serve this junk and expect anyone to come back?! Of course, to insure we all had a heart-attack, we ordered dessert. The piece of apple pie mush they call an "Apple Crostada" was actually good. This is nothing what a Crostada should be (just ask Maggianos and Osteria di Tramonto) but I guess if you just wanted a huge piece of apple pie and ice cream then this hit the spot. I am never returning to this sick place again. What a complete waste, and I was really looking forward to it the entire week. The only reason I gave it one star is because our server tried hard to make the experience feel authentic, even though there were more employees than people in the restaurant. Come to think of it, once we finished dinner, the server took his sweet time coming over to clear our plates, so he's lucky he even got that star!
(2)Yahaa T.
Ehh I went there because our work had a Christmas Party there and it was okay. The atmosphere is nice but otherwise than that service and food were okay. Everyone kept raving about the mashed potatoes and I thought they were nasty. AND I LOVE GARLIC OKAY!? But not when Im eating chunks of them. Uh no thanks. The spaghettie was okay too and the meatball. We also had some chicken thing, which was also alright. Nothing special, and our waitress kept forgetting our drinks.Id rather go to Olive Garden.
(2)Patty V.
If you love garlic-this is your place. Garlic is the star here!!It is in everything and plentiful(there are some who do not care for garlic-so this is not your place).We also left with plenty of food for another meal! This is not a place to go to if you are not hungry and you are watching calories.If you can't eat like you are going to the chair-go to some chi-chi nouvelle cuisine place that serves two pea pods and a slice of carrot along a frothy foam of whatever. This is a place for people who eat!!!
(5)Shannon M.
I was nervous about coming here after reading these reviews and to be honest it was just so-so. Our waitress was really nice, but too over the top which we found annoying. The food was okay, but as someone else mentioned extremely filling and oily. For 4 of us we spent over $160, which to be honest wasn't really worth it. It's not a bad place but I probably wouldn't go back.
(3)Kasia R.
This place is great!!!!! I loved the food, especially the garlic potatoes, they are to die for. Mmm.... making me hungry already. The meatballs are delicious and HUGE!!!!!!!! Don't pass this place up, so much food and great prices. Edit: 4/13/08 Visited this restaurant last month for our nieces birthday party! Seemed like everyone else was celebrating their birthday that day. We couldn't pick our own food since it was a party and we were not paying, which was disappointing.. i was looking forward to those big meatballs and those garlic potatoes. We had pizza instead and it was not good at all... very greasy and not enough ingredients. My husband was sick the next day from all that grease. We both ordered the ice tea and it didn't taste all that great. We also had a side order of garlic bread and cheesy bread, which was actually pretty tasty. We were also served salad which was also good and so was the bread, which they brought out right before the pizza arrived ... pretty odd. The other thing I didn't like was that they brought everyone that was celebrating their birthday this big silver candle stick (3 joined together) I can't remember what it was called ... and sang happy birthday to you. It was ugly... and looked weird. Since the last time I was here was about 5 years ago I completely forgot about the odd decorations they have. We sat at a round table and had the pope in the center in a glass case on a table turning thingy.. he he There was also a couple paintings of the pope around us. Weird...
(3)Roy A.
Pretty much your basic franchise Italian place. Ginormous portions meant to be eaten family style and great for get togethers with large groups, etc. Also, has take out service which is not too shabby itself.
(3)MaryLou G.
Hearty southern Italian cuisine is served family-style here. Try to reserve the "Pope Room" if you've got a group. It's a circular room with a table that seats up to about 20. In the center of the big lazy susan is a plastic case which holds a bust of the last Italian-born pope. Whatever section you're in, you'll be passing dishes around for all to taste. It's noisy and fun and you will not go away hungry or broke!
(5)Daniel B.
So the ordering style here...it is interesting to say the least. With huge portions that are meant for family-style sharing, Buca di Beppo certainly stands apart from other restaurants where everyone orders individually. However, this isn't just some gimmick to get you to try it, it genuinely has pretty good food. We ordered a salad, pasta, and an appetizer for a family of 4 and when we were stuffed, we still had a good portion of pasta leftover. Pretty inexpensive for the price that we ended up paying, so it seems like a great value. Our server, Dom, also gets a shoutout for being probably the best waiter I've ever had; considering that he seemed like a high school student, all the more impressive. Try it! Definitely a step above other Italian restaurant chains.
(4)Robert H.
Brought my son there for graduation. We have been taking him there (and my other 4 children) for birthday's etc. for the last 8+ years. Party of 10. The only thing I can surmise is the ownership has changed????? Service was slow waitress was more than rude. After another waitress overheard my sister in law complain about how long we were sitting there without a waitress, our waitress shows up. We ordered a bottle of wine. She carded my sister in law. She is 50. Clearly did it to be a b#%*$. Yea yea yea we card everybody that looks under 30, she's 50. A very weird and trying experience to say the least. $350.00 bill. Should have been treated better. Food was good, but seemed a little off compared to what we have eaten there over the course of the last 8 years.
(1)Sarah L.
I give ten stars for their spicy chicken rigatoni~~~but their slow service takes it all the way down. We have recently moved to the area and has been a very frequent visitor...the service is good and the waitstaff are friendly, but they are on a very very slow side. Even when they are not busy, it seems like it's really hard to get a hold of someone, especially with the way the restaurant is laid out. I suggest to go on off-times, like weekday lunches, and have a lot of patience, and u will enjoy it!!!!:)
(4)steven h.
We ordered take out. One large chicken parm and a large spicy chicken rigatoni. Parm was great. Rigatoni was awful. There was no sauce on it. Dried red pepper flakes "the spicy" were thrown on top as an afterthought. The Manager interrogated me when I came back the next night to acquire some sauce so we could eat the pasta as we had not touched it the previous night. Needless to say-at Bucca, the customer is not always right, even when they are.
(2)Jane R.
Oh wow! I was amazed at the quantity and quality of the food here. I came here with a group of friends. I learned really quickly that it was a better idea to order 4-5 dishes to share among 8 people. The portion size was enormous. I ordered penne alla vodka. It was delicious and had a nice spicy kick to it. For dessert, I had colossal brownie sundae. Holy guns, it was enormous!!! My friends and I tried to devour this delicious "will give me diabetes soon" sundae. Even though there was 8 people, we still had some brownies leftover. I think this restaurant is a great place to go to for a big group. The price was reasonable. The service was quick. Our food came out fairly quickly. I will be coming back with my friends again!!! :)
(5)Mahsa T.
While this is Italian American and not authentic Italian, I still love Buca for the freshness and quality of their food. I've dined in once and ordered food for carry out several times. I LOVE their chicken parmesan - fresh, perfectly cooked (never dry) with fresh tomato sauce. Delicious! I also really like their lasagna, fettucine alfredo and baked rigatoni with spicy Italian sausage. I love how they give you bread and olive oil and parmesan cheese even on the carryout orders - Italian food wouldn't be the same without bread and olive oil! Good service. Such wonderful comfort food and their portions are HUGE! Single lunch portions can feed two, their small portions can feed three people. I'd highly recommend Buca!
(4)Ken K.
Food was cold. Service slow she may be taking very long smoking breaks. The seat we sat at was ripped. And the food was expensive. After posting a 1 star review I was contacted by the management and they seem quite concerned. I am told the booth was fixed and the manager contacted. I believe that this was an issue where the restaurant manager may have not been paying attention. I am told that this has been also addressed. I was offered a free something which I rejected because I wanted them to know but I don't want anything from them. It wasn't the end of the world. When I go back I will amend this review again. 3 stars for the effort. 7-31-2015 I used Buca to cater some of our food for a Grad party they were one time, hot very helpful, I would absolutely use them again very good!
(4)Dominick C.
Great food! Great waiter Guillermo who steered us to a better choice. I've read some recent negative posts about the service. Ours was impeccable tonight. Try the bruchetta appetizer. Yummy. Best cannoli in Chicago!
(4)Michael N.
After a long work week, you don't really want to get in the kitchen and cook a big meal (or so my wife says). So, being the diner-outers that we are, and the scheming cheapo that I am, we took advantage of a $15 free gift card that Buca was offering online. Not having been to Buca in over ten years, I was anxious to get back and slop up some delicious pasta. We were seated quickly and the high chair for our little bambino was brought to the table shortly after we sat down. Our server was very nice and quick on reloading the bread, one of the most important things a server can do for their guests at an Italian restaurant. My wife and I decided to share a small (haha!) bowl of the chicken and sausage ziti. I laugh at the small bowl because it was huge. We didn't notice it was served in a garlic cream sauce, because if we did, we wouldn't have ordered it. My wife likes her pasta with marinara or vodka sauce. Anyway, we asked them to bring a side of marinara and the server was more than happy to honor our request. The dish was awesome. Perfectly cooked pasta with a spicy garlic cream sauce. It was delicious. We mixed some of the marinara into the garlic cream sauce and created an Italian Special Sauce; I took the rest of the bread and sponged up all the sauce in the bowl. I give it 4 stars because my original beer order was super flat. However, they brought me a different beer, one that I didn't really want. I will definitely be back. If you sign up for their birthday club, you get an email coupon for a free pasta...so hello lunch today!
(4)Frank D.
Update...,,,,,restaurant has responded very actively to our concerns. They strongly believe nothing was altered or compromised by anyone on their staff but promised to follow up. They offered to refund the $3 but I refused and did me send a gift card. So the food gets 4.5 and all the hassle over the up charge and need to cancel CC gets a 0. Hopefully we were a one off and won't occur to anyone else Watch your credit card. We spent $500+ on HS graduation dinner and my daughters credit card got compromised and someone used next day and someone added $3 to my already generous tip. Food ok but I hate back room cheaters like this place seems to have
(2)Elaine M.
Huge portions here! The food is basic Italian, nothing really noteworthy. This is a great place to come if you are just craving a lot of carbs smothered in sauce. While we have dined in on many occasion, our most recent experience with Bucca involved take out. Specifically with did take out with their "Feed four for Forty" deal. Not only did we feed four we fed five with leftovers. Basically you choose a salad and a pasta dish plus garlic bread. We had the Caesar salad and spaghetti with meat sauce. (Husband's choice) If I were to order the spaghetti with meat sauce again I would request some marinara sauce on the side. I thought the dish a bit dry.
(3)Joon S.
Ordered food for catering. Birthday party for 30 girls. Thought I ordered enough food but the catering manager insisted that I didn't order enough food even after I changed my order each time. I've dined in before and was familiar with their large portions. Of course you don't want to be short of food for a party, but I don't believe they were looking out for my best interests. I should have known better and just trusted my gut instincts after ordering more after their first prodding. I just feel like their sales tactics to order way more than you need is disappointing. We're fine having leftovers, but we had so much that even after a week of eating leftovers and giving away food, we still had to throw some out. It's been a few months now, but it's left a bad taste. We won't go back.
(1)Eva D.
Great place to eat!!! The food is amazing and the waiters are attentive and quick. Love this place!!!!
(5)M. S. O.
Do not get their gift certificates for anyone. Each time you ask them to check balance or even if you go online and put the number in yourself, they deduct $2 from the gift. Unheard of anywhere else. We finally realized in fine print on card. Why online where it's an automated process. Why anywhere, it's a courtesy. They are only set up for serving large groups.
(1)Brian W.
We took our cousins visiting from new York to buca last night. We had amazing time. Damian was our waiter. Top notch service. Damian was so personable and truly loves his job and even suggested a dessert that the kids gobbled down and loved. Food as always was excellent, warm and cosy atmosphere. Had a great time. Bucca de beppa. Job well done
(5)Alexandra J.
We came here for a large party, 25 people, to celebrate three birthdays and a college send off. We ordered the Glorioso package which was $35.95 per person and were never told all leftovers would be thrown away. Not once during the three times we called to make reservations or arrangements for the menu were we told that food would not be packaged for leftovers. Our family actually saved one of the dishes to have some for the kids the next day as they would be driving for six hours to college. We did not order any extra items beyond the allotted amount in the package. There was a lot of leftover food and in this day and age where we are all watching our budgets and people don't always have enough to eat, it's a shame that they dispose of the leftovers instead of giving them back to the customer. I'm sure it's to avoid any liability but really, it's shameful to throw away perfectly good food. It's really a shame that we have so much in this country that we can't make the right choice versus worrying about liability. The amount of food that had to be thrown out was huge. The waitstaff manager was nice enough to give us a fettuccine to go but that was beside the point - we should not waste food - period. We are lucky to have the option to eat at nice restaurants and would like to be able to share with family members that could not attend.
(2)Debra C.
My husband and I went back to Buca di Beppo and this time we asked for Damon. Well just like last time, it was great. The food was fantastic and Damon's service was impeccable. 5 stars.
(5)Emma L.
After receiving a call with apologies and a certificate for a dinner, i visited Buca again last weekend and I have to admit that this time my experience was completely different. The young man (bartender/waiter) who took care of us was very pleasant, attentive and helpful. Food was delicious as always and the dessert absolutely overwhelming. We were unable to finish it . Overall a great experience. Keep up a good work and we'll be back again soon... :)
(5)Rawlins R.
I feel like I've been to this Buca and many others many more times than I should have . Nothing against Beppo or the experience but I am not fond of paying money for pasta. Buca di Beppo is a family style restaurant that provides you with large portions to serve anywhere from 2-4 to 5-6 people. You order in this fashion and the food comes out in platters that you self serve to your table. From the appetizers to salad and on to the main course. Buca has a very eclectic assortment of artwork with a loose Italian theme. Don't be surprised if you see some naked people or "artwork". If you come during the right time they will offer you a tour of the kitchen on your way to being seated. The staff here is quite helpful and knowledgeable of the portion sizes and how much you should order for your group. I've used Buca as a romantic dinner on a few occasions but that was when I was rookie diner. You could still pull it off but Buca is above an Olive Garden but not as nice as some other fancy Italian places. Overall, it is a great family Italian dinner experience that is a must try if you haven't been to Buca before.
(3)Nicholas H.
I've only gone for lunch and ordered a la carte rather than family style, but the food is always delicious and any special requests are easily and accurately accommodated. Wait staff has been consistently friendly and prompt for lunch, which is nice when you're on a time budget. The decor and theme are a bit kitschy and do nothing for me, but its like most Italian places in and around Chicago that try too hard on the decor, but make up for it with their kitchen.
(3)Monty W.
a descent experience for mid-week dinner. If you enjoy the entire restaurant staff wishing you a birthday - this is the place to go to. We had the bread - which was a little dry and stale - but the 2nd round was softer and warmer. Had the creamy pesto penne and my standby frutti de mare linguine. The linguine a little softer than I'd prefer and the flavors didn't quite pop as I remembered it as before (perhaps a little more parsley and lemon to bring out the flavors). I discovered that they actually have a chef's table in the kitchen - perhaps I'll check that out next time.
(3)Lois C.
I signed up to be a Buca member online before I came here and received a free small spaghetti marinara, fettucine alfredo, or baked ziti. What a great value! We came here on a Thursday night and it was pretty busy for a weekday night. We were seated at a booth but with 2 kids in highchairs, we weren't all able to fit in the booth. We promptly got moved and asked if we wanted to sit in the kitchen table. We decided to go for it. The positive: Most of the waitstaff was really awesome about showing us what was coming out of the kitchen so that we know what to order for the future. The kitchen was really clean and the everyone was friendly. If they're willing to show their customers the kitchen, shows that they really pride themselves in cleanliness and how they handle their food. Negative: It was a bit loud sitting in the kitchen and sometimes harder to get the attention of our server since we couldn't find him or he was busy taking food to other tables. Some waitstaff passed by us quickly (totally fine) but when we were looking for our server, it would have been nice if someone else checked in on us. We ordered the baked ziti (the free pasta I received by signing up) and it was good but nothing exceptional. It was a bit dry and could have used some more sauce. We ordered the chopped antipaso salad and it was good but a bit salty. If I order again, I'll definitely ask for it on the side next time. They do give you bread as a complimentary side but we ordered the garlic bread as well. It was warm and really garlicky (just the way my husband likes it). The last dish we ordered was the spicy chicken rigatoni. It was delicious! Our whole party was eating away at the dish and we put a good dent in it but still had some to take home. The serving portions are HUGE. We had 2 small pastas, salad, and the garlic bread for 4 adults and 2 young children and we took leftovers home, to give you an idea of portion sizes and what you may want to order. I would recommend it but it was nothing too special.
(3)Jessica P.
I came here on a Saturday evening around 6:30pm with friends..there was a 30 minute wait for my friends because we did not make any reservations...I came 30 minutes late so my friends were already seated by then..upon my arrival, the waitresses were kind enough to help me find my friends..... Appetizers -Mozarella Garlic Bread ($9.99): the garlic bread was good and had chucks of garlic for garlic lovers..however nothing too amazing about it...and I personally didn't think it was worth the cost.. -Calamari ($11.99 - Buca Small size): tasted good, but not spectacular... Food Food -Shrimp Fra Diavolo ($20.99 - Buca Small size): contains garlic shrimp with a spicy pasta sauce and penne pasta...it tasted ok... there was nothing too special about this pasta.. just pasta...HUGE portion -Baked Rigatoni ($16.99 - Buca Small size): contains meat sauce & spicy Italian sausage (big pieces for sausage lovers) with rigatoni pasta topped with mozzarella, parmesan, and ricotta cheese......just tasted like normal pasta though... HUGE portion *the BUCA SMALL portions were huge.. I felt like you can share 1 BUCA SMALL entree dish with 3-4 people....within 3 people, we ordered 2 appetizers and 2 dishes and we had more than enough leftovers to take home... Customer Service: the waitress was friendly; however, my water was not served immediately upon arrival... **For the coupon users: plan on using all cash or one credit card to make your payment if you want to use the coupon --- if you plan on using a coupon, you cannot split the bill using a couple or multiple credit cards (unless everyone brings cash)... ---I also found it odd that the waitress didn't calculate the discounted price (using the coupon that was provided to her) when bringing out the bill, but rather brought the original bill and we had to provide her w/ the credit card w/out knowing the discounted price...(i've never been to a restaurant that didn't calculate the discounted price for me when giving me the final bill)...I'm sure it's inconvenience for the waitress to do that.. but still....ehh I don't think I would come her when craving pasta... there's soo many other better pasta restaurants to check out!!
(3)Heidi L.
Just found the place a little repulsive. The wait staff was overheard swearing by my son. Wall photos are suppose to be kitschy but really past that and distasteful. I don't really want to see gross photos where I'm eating, like the one of a boy picking his nose - most were in that kind of irreverent theme. The restaurant was dirty. We sat next to the exit door which had a big spider web on it my 8 year old had to ask to have it removed because she was literally on top of it. Then a moth flew by our food. Food was ok but nothing at all special. Whoever wrote the place is authentic hasn't been to an authentic Italian restaurant, where there might be say...ITALIANS cooking the food and serving you. Too many other better places to go
(2)JESS G.
It's like an Olive Garden with tons of flair. I wasn't prepared for the number of pictures that would be hanging on the walls, but I guess this isn't really supposed to be about the decor. I'm not usually a fan of family style restaurants, but I actually enjoyed myself. The food was good. You're not going to find authentic Italian food here, but if that's what you're going to a chain restaurant for, then you must be on something. Out server, Octavio was fantastic. He gets five stars. And the sangria gets five stars too, because it was amazing.
(3)Steph H.
I made reservations for my parents and I on Christmas Day. Good thing I did because it was so crowded! I checked in at the front for a 5 pm reservation and was told they were running behind and that it would be about a 15-20 minute wait. When we were finally seated, we were approached by a very vibrant server. However, because it was so busy, she was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. When she asked us if we wanted a refill on bread, she didn't even stick around to wait for our answer and never came back with a second round. I will say though, that she did a really good job of refilling our drinks without asking us. The food was very good. We shared a house salad, calamari, chicken Iimone and a tagliatelle pasta dish. All were excellent and piping hot. The part of the dinner I was disappointed with and turned off by was when our server brought our food. As she was trying to set the chicken liimone down, the knife fell into the sauce and she used her hands to dig it out. Second, on the tagliatelle dish. She noticed there was some red sauce on the side of the plate and used her fingers (not even a napkin or cloth) to wipe it off. My mom and I looked at each other when both incidents happened and were stunned. We were going to say something up but knew we'd end up waiting for a long time for new dishes to come out so we just cut the part of the chicken that the server touched and re-wiped the area that was touched on the pasta plate. Once we were finished with our meal, our server asked if we wanted a to-go container for the pasta. We said yes. When it came back out wrapped, the plastic bag was so incredibly greasy and the I could tell that the way the pasta was put inside the container was so sloppily done. The sauce was everywhere. I ended up wasting the leftovers because I ended up leaving it at the table because it was so messy. All in all, food was very good, but service was semi-disappointing.
(3)Steve L.
Too expensive for the mediocre food that is served and one of the most terrible wait staff I have seen in a while. I went christmas eve with my mother. Ok we understand the bigger tables can be seen as priorities but this was just too much. I had empty glass of water the whole time. The waitress did not stop by to check if our food was ok. Our food was served after 40-50min of sitting down and our food was lukewarm. Thank you for the awesome service.
(1)E S.
Went back last night and it's gotten worse. The food was tasteless, the sangria was not fresh, but just from a bottle. I'd rather hit up maggianos.
(3)Dolores P.
Had not been here in over one year. Place seemed dirty. Ramon our waiter was weird. He seemed out of it. When the check came & I questioned the price on the small portion he looked at me like I lost my mind. Only after my husband asked him to bring the menu did he reluctantly get it.The price on our check was correct but he should have complied to my request. Kept pestering us to wrap our food and our salad was wrapped while we eating our main courses. Our main course was wrapped & thrown in the bag sideways. Not coming back. Rather order from Piero's.
(1)Karen K.
Came here on a Saturday night but the wait wasn't too long. The staff are very friendly. Our waitress was sweet and very quick to take our order. Appetizers: -cheesy garlic bread: the bread was very warm with some chunks of garlic on the bread. As I'm a garlic lover, I enjoyed it very much. The price however i did not enjoy (~$9.99!!) It's good but not worth it unless you have a coupon -calamari: my favorite every time. It's seasoned and fried deliciously. I couldn't stop eating this. It was devoured very quickly :) Entrees: -Baked rigatoni: the last time i was here I got this with a side of Italian sausage and enjoyed it so much I ordered it again but this time without the extra Italian sausage. The pasta this time was very greasy and the slices of sausage that came with the dish tasted dry. It tasted like they had microwaved a frozen sausage or the sausage was old. Not happy:( -Shrimp fra diavolo: like the other dish, slightly greasy but creamy and the sauce is delicious! So far I'd say this is my favorite pasta I've eaten at the restaurant so far. It came with plenty of shrimp which is a big plus for me! The portions are huge ( 1 "small" size dish can feed up to 3 to 4 people) so leftovers are inevitable. Overall I would give this place a 3.5. Im not a big Italian food snob so I enjoyed the pasta here and would come back again.
(3)j s.
Friend wanted to use a $25 gift card last Saturday at about 5 p.m. There was only 1 other table of (2) customers in the restaurant, & some private gathering in the back room. The complimentary bread basket on the table contained a length of Italian bread about the size of a hot dog bun, no butter, olive oil & balsamic only. We were shocked to see that salad for 2 ranged between $13 and $15...just crazy when you note that a head of lettuce costs $.99. We did not order salad. We ordered the small Chicken Parmesan for 2 ($19.99) which were 2 hand-sized, previously frozen, flattened, overcooked, breaded chicken breasts dressed with tomato puree and 1 slice (each) of parmesan cheese. They looked very sad and naked on an oval serving plate. Two glasses of diet pop, sales tax and tip brought the bill to $34.50 for what amounted to about $5 of food. We're not going back. Ever. Most genuine Italian meals are generous celebrations of life, and this is clearly some sort of Planet Hollywood guess at what Italian dinners should be. Very disappointing. I will say that the greeters were kind, and the waiter was prompt.
(1)Kristen D.
Migdalia is terribly pleasant to work with when planning a large gathering! She was very sweet and helpful on the phone. I hope to work with her again in the future! We enjoyed a large team party here in one of their secluded rooms with a prix fixe menu. The Caprese salad, apple walnut, and ceasar salads were all tasty. I absolutely LOVED the ravioli, while everyone else seemed to prefer the Pasta Basilica. Chicken Limone was good, though the pieces of chicken were a little on the small side. Meat was tender and juicy, still! This place is the perfect kind of kitchy restaurant...we always host our White Elephant gift exchange here. Perfect setting and good food for a good price!
(4)Jennifer S.
Friends of ours have been wanting to try Buca di Beppo for over a year. We tried it with them tonight. We had a reservation, so we didn't have to wait very long which was nice, but once we got back to the dining area, the hostess didn't know where to seat us. We stood in the middle of the restaurant while she tried to figure it out. There were two tables for four. My hubby asked for the one near the wall - not crammed in between two very full parties. When she came back, she wouldn't seat us near the wall. We were between two large birthday parties. NOTE: This does seem to be a birthday dinner location - we heard the Buca di Beppo birthday song about six times over the course of the evening. It's cute. But, these large parties make for a very loud restaurant. The waitress was busy. So we waited a few minutes & she breezed by letting us know that she would be back in a minute. This was the first of many, many minutes. When she returned, we let her know that this was our first visit. She suggested a cocktail made with amaretto. I wasn't going to order a cocktail, but she stressed how great it was, so I ordered it. So, did my friend's husband. My friend opted for water & my husband ordered a Pepsi. We asked for a few suggestions & she pointed out three things. I'm trying to be a better patron these days, so we decided to order two of the three suggestions. When the waitress brought the cocktails, she didn't bring the water or Pepsi. This took two more trips to the table. I tasted the recommended drink & it was a lukewarm, watered down margarita. I didn't even taste a hint of amaretto. So, I hunted down the waitress & asked for an iced tea. The manager came over, saw that I had only sipped the drink, removed it & agreed to bring an iced tea. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. The manager even walked by again before the iced tea made it to the table. This was frustrating because the pitcher was on the counter within eye shot of our table. We started with stuffed mushrooms with a pesto sauce & fried calamari. The mushrooms had a lot of cheese & the pesto sauce was a nice change of pace. The calamari came with a spicy arriabata sauce. The apps were hot & fresh. Things were looking up again. The bread service here is weird. A basket of bread came out followed by one small plate for four people to share of olive oil that the waitress poured. She walked away with the olive oil. I'm going to pick on my hubby for a minute...he should go back to Kindergarten because he does not like to share with anyone other than me. I can't really blame him because some people like cheese, some like pepper, etc. So, we asked the manager for a second plate with olive oil. She brought it right away. Then, I found out that the bread was chewy and cold. Not what I was expecting. My very non-picky friends even commented on it. My friend wanted to have some bread with dinner, but unfortunately the waitress picked up the basket & crumpled the paper basket liner in front of us at the table & took it away. I guess we can't use any bread to soak up any sauce... We ordered four small dishes. The portions are intended for sharing & when they say that it will feed two to three people, I would agree that it really does. No one cares about my opinion here, but they should really do a small, medium & large. Make the small, smaller & charge a little less per dish. I would have ordered more dishes if they had been just a bit more reasonable on their pricing. It might have been nice to try more options, but it was too expensive to justify. So, we ended up with lasagna, baked rigatoni, chicken Parmesan & some spicy chicken pasta. The chicken pasta & the parm were two of the waitress' suggestions & what my hubby & I decided to share. Our friend's lasagna was very cheesy. A huge portion, but not a lot of meat. Their baked rigatoni had fresh ricotta cheese on top & throughout, the sausage was nice and spicy & again the 'small' portion was huge. The spicy chicken pasta was lukewarm & dry. My husband asked for some of the sauce to put on top. This took soooo long that the pasta was even colder by the time the sauce arrived. The two chicken breasts were burnt with overdone cheese & had been sitting way too long as the breading on the underside of the chicken stayed on the plate because it had absorbed the sauce. Those were lukewarm as well. Apparently my review is too many characters, so I will cut this short. Getting drinks refilled was like pulling teeth-we couldn't even find the waitress half the time. I'll bring it in a minute, means ten minutes. After a frustrating meal & less than satisfactory meal, I talked with the manager in the bar & she was gracious enough to take care of a portion of the bill. Can't say I'll be back especially considering the distance for us. But, I still appreciated the manager's gesture and hope the waitress gets some more training.
(2)Peter S.
I have had two ABSOLUTELY miserable experiences in less than two months at this location. We walk in the restaurant and the manager is standing on her little podium and there are whining, complaining, loud, immature waitresses standing around whining about their jobs and their night and their customers. There are SIX PEOPLE waiting to be seated in that very foyer. Nothing says welcome to our restaurant like a bunch of classless waitresses bi*$&#ing about customers!! We are generally pretty nice to waitstaff who show up to work. That's mostly what it takes. When our waiter came to the table we asked how he was. "Terrible!" He whined. Something about making mistakes and needing a beer and not wanting to be at work. "Sorry to keep you here!" I said with a smile - hoping to lighten the mood. However, the night just kept getting WORSE and WORSE. First my husband asked for a beer. The waiter - let's call him "T", told him that there was Peroni on draft. Brian is easy to please - SOLD. Then he brings a bottle. He said the bottle is $6.00. Brian said he ordered a draft beer. The guy LIES and says they're 'out'. That's weird - I said. You run out of Peroni at an Italian restaurant this early on a Saturday night? (It was about 8 p.m.) Pretty poor planning. Then the brat tells us he lied. He entered the wrong thing in the computer and he then WHINED about how they changed from their old POS System to Aloha and there's no 'wiggle room'. So he's telling us that he didn't bring the right beer because he basically entered in the wrong thing - the bartender was obligated to make it and T doesn't want to go to a manager to ring it in right. THEN after several minutes he brings our Peroni draft - in a WATER CUP. A legitimate short octogon-shaped F-ING WATER CUP. For $6.00 you give us SIX OUNCES of beer?!?! He tells us he can't frost the glass because their freezer is 'broke'. t's Wheeling, not the Loop dude. I ended up with the Ravenswood Zin for 7.99 which was decent but still. On to the appetizer - the next DISASTER. We ask T for Garlic Cheesy Bread and ask him to make sure there's cheese - last time they were SUPER SKIMPY with the cheese. "Sorry but I can't do that. Sometimes it comes out skimpy and sometimes it comes out burnt and there's nothing I can do." He brings the bread and it's cheesy - but we asked for marinara - just a little bit to dip the bread in. This is how we ALWAYS have had this dish. FOR NINE F-ING DOLLARS that we paid for bread with cheese that cost the restaurant TWO FZ-ING CENTS the dude REFUSES to bring us a dollop of marinara! The bread was dry and tasteless and they try to compensate by pouring a half an ounce of oil on the table. This place won't even leave the olive oil on your table for the bread?! THEN we order the main course. This is another HUMILIATING FAIL. The waiter almost has me in tears over the salad I ordered. I said please add a raw vegetable to the salad. It's NOT HARD to throw a half a handful of broccoli or a few carrot slices on the salad. The salad was plain - just spinach and tomato and fried prosciutto. I told him that I was not going to fill up on the spinach and hoped he'd add a vegetable for me. For a twelve dollar salad he could have suffered me a piece of broccoli, right?! I told him that last time I was there they humiliated me and had the manager come talk to me over adding RAW BROCCOLI to a SALAD. FOOLS. Salads should have veggies, morons! Guess what brainiac did? HE BROUGHT A MANAGER TO MY TABLE because I asked for A PIECE OF VEGGIE on my overpriced salad. UGGHHHHH!!!!!! I can't even continue to review because this place SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS. I'm usually so much more eloquent - I know. But today I need to VENT. THIS PLACE HAS GONE TO CRAP. I asked for dressing on the SIDE of my salad and he brought it LOADED WITH DRESSING. I asked him to bring one without dressing and it took THIRTEEN minutes. Brian's food was ice cold by the time he came back. Then I DIDN'T EAT because I'm livid. I ask for a box and he grabs my plate. NO! - I say politely (the whole time Brian and I are smiling and laughing but CRYING on the inside)... "I prefer to wrap it myself". What do you think I'm going to do? Punk-a$$ waiter slime asked me. "SPIT IN IT?!" He basically told me he's going to spit in my food - I'm positive. This was like being ABUSED. I felt BEATEN UP by this place. The managers. The chefs, the waiter, the overpriced CRAP FOOD. TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE.
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