Buca di Beppo--Come On In To Joe's Basement
Written: Jan 12 '03
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Pros: Food with lots of flavors, hearty portions.
Cons: Salad was a little bland, must order family portions (Can be pro or con)
The Bottom Line: A great place to go with a group of friends. Going once with a large group will give you the opportunity to try many menu items.
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| merlot's Full Review: Buca di Beppo |
While on vacation recently my husband and I had the opportunity to dine at Bucca di Beppo in Anaheim, CA. We have a Bucca, or 2, where we live but for one reason or another have never tried it, although we have always wanted to.
"Bucca di Beppo" we told the kids when they asked where we were eating. "Bucca di what?" they came up with all kinds of versions of the name. If you can't say it, you don't get to eat, we told them. By the time we arrived they were pros at the name.
The Restaurant
Bucca di Beppo is a nice looking building. Mainly brick with bright signs that tell you the name of the restaurant and that they serve Southern Immigrant Italian food.
When you enter the lobby you are greeted and then given a mini tour. They take you to your seat via the kitchen, so you get to see the kitchen. At this location there was a table in the kitchen where people can dine. What a fun place to sit. We were told that Bucca di Beppo means Joes Basement.
We were seated at a table for 4 which was covered in a red and white checkered tablecloth. The restaurant is divided into different rooms each with a mix of booths and tables. The decor is mostly Italian. Lots of pictures of Italian Movie stars, Italy, and the like. The ceiling had Italian labels on it. The restaurant itself is pretty loud, lots of people having a good time.
The Menu
At this particular location we were not given menus, instead we were directed to a menu that is painted on the wall above one of the booths. There was a lamp above the booth which made it very difficult to read the menu. My husband had to read some of the blocked menu items to me.
Buca di beppo serves Southern Immigrant Italian food. Our waitress stated that this meant the food was cooked with lots of garlic and herbs. I knew the first time Buca opened in our town that they used a lot of garlic, the smell permeated throughout the parking lot. This was going to be good!
The food is also served family style. You will want to discuss the menu with the people you are dining with so you can choose selections that everyone will like. My husband and I did the Buca per Due, which is meant to serve 2-3 people. We knew this would be perfect for us and our 2 children.
When you order the Buca per Due you choose one of the following : Lemon Chicken, Veal Parmigiana, Chicken Parmigiana, or Eggplant Parmigiana. Once you have selected one of those 4 choices you then "marry" it with a baked specialty: Lasagna, Manicotti, Raviolis (our choice), stuffed shells or canneloni. The price is $22.95 and it served all 4 of us quite nicely. We also ordered a small salad which was $10.95. We would have ordered the salad per due but our waitress did not tell us that was offered and we didn't see it on the menu until later.
First we were brought some very fresh bread. It was delicious with herbs and onion baked into it. There was olive oil and balsamic vinegar on the table for dipping.
The salad is next to arrive. It came heaped on an oval platter with a couple of olives on the side and tongs for serving. It was a little difficult to serve off the platter and being the klutz that I can often be, I seemed to get a portion in my lap or on the floor. Oh well, after all it's family cooking :) I thought the salad was a little bland. It had a vinegar and oil type dressing with not much flavor. No tomatoes or anything extra in the salad. Just lettuce and maybe a few red onions, with the 4 olives.
Where the salad lacked, dinner made up! It was served on a large platter. The raviolis were under the chicken parmigiana. There were enough raviolis for us to each have a few. They were tender and cheesy. But the chicken, oh my the chicken was fantastic. It was pounded thin, breaded, and then baked with a marinara type sauce, cheese, and a thin slice of ham. It was delicious. I have never had such good chicken parmigiana before. The flavors were intense!
If this doesn't sound good to you, you might enjoy a pizza (they have several to choose from), Rigatoni, Macaroni, Linguine or one of the many other choices on the menu. Everything sounded delicious.
Prices
The Buca per Due was $22.95 and we added the $10.95 small salad. Remember you are dining and being served family style so you will be sharing. When you look at the $19.95 dinner price coupled with the $11 salad and say a $6.95 Garlic Bread (which looked fantastic, served in a deep dish pizza pan), it sounds expensive. You really aren't spending more than you would elsewhere for good Italian food.
You can also order side dishes like Green Beans with olive oil and lemon ($8.45), Garlic Mashed Potatoes ($8.95), Spicy Italian Sausage (4 $10.45), or Meat Balls (as big as your head for $10.95).
The Service
We did not make reservations when we dined at Buca. It was a Monday night and it was not at all busy. We walked in and were seated right away. It might just be the location, you might want to call ahead. I would definitely make a reservation or call ahead if I were dining in my hometown. The place is always packed!
We were seated right away and our waitress was friendly. She gave the kids crayons to color with and explained to us how things worked when dining at Buca di Beppo. Our drinks (priced high at $2 for soda and iced tea) were always kept filled and fresh bread was brought out when we asked.
Final Thoughts
I was very impressed with the food and service at Buca di Beppo. I like food that has a lot of flavor and you can pretty much guarantee if it's got garlic it's gonna be good :).
I think the next time we dine here it will be with a group of friends and we will leave the kids home. There isn't a childrens menu because everything is served family style. My kids loved the raviolis, bread, and salad. The youngest (we call her Carnivore) loved the Chicken but her sister (also known as CarBivore) didn't. I would recommend checking the online menu to see if there is anything on the menu your children will eat. They do provide the crayons and the restaurant is a family restaurant so you will feel that your children are welcome, you just won't find the kid friendly menu (chicken nuggets, corndogs, grilled cheese, etc).
I will definitely return to Buca di Beppo and you should definitely try it if you haven't done so yet.
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations The Chicken Parmigiana is the best I've ever had.
Best Suited For: Large Group
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Epinions.com ID:
merlot
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