Buca di Beppo

Reviews 4

JO

Jonathan Duncan

Tried the Rookwood location twice before formulating my opinion. Here it is: The decor of this restaurant is overwhelming, but each wall offers you something to look at. This is especially helpful after you realize you ordered an overpriced menu item, and need a distraction to maintain emotional composure on a half-full stomach and an empty wallet. In truth, your ADD kids will probably get a kick out of it. The bathroom was a lot to take in. Both urinals were clogged by mysterious means. (I can only assume Buca di Beppo patrons need to drink more water.) I saw not one, but two pictures of baby penises during my brief bathroom break. I, thankfully, only saw one picture of a soiled diaper. When entering this bathroom, I was hoping to see zero baby penises and zero soiled diapers, but as an artist I can respect their decision. The service varies. When busy—which is often on weekends—dont expect great service. Both visits saw great hostesses—shoutout to Kody, my friends newest crush—but my first visit had my party waiting far too long for our waitress. And when the shift hit the fan, a new waitress was assigned to us without any acknowledgement. On my second visit we received personalized and timely service that quickly fell flat once our party silently exuded our disappointment in our appetizer. It was subtle, but the waitress could read the hurt in our eyes. The portion sizes, as inscribed on the menu, are way off. We had to order garlic bread after our meal (during visit number one) because the appetizers and entrée didnt even come close to feeding our party of three, as promised. We waited over an hour for food, and were hungry at the end of our meal. This was literally the first time that had happened to me in my life. First world problems, but still. Our second visit had good timing on food delivery, but the quality of the food was very lacking. My friend and I agreed that our Fettuccine Supremo tasted like somebody forgot to invite us to our own surprise birthday parties. I wish this food tasted bad. I wish it left me with a funny story. But I wasnt graced with a horrible dish. I was graced with overpriced mediocrity. When my wife ate some of the leftovers, I think she hated me and my friend. I was thanked by several staff for coming to their restaurant on the way out. In all seriousness, some of these people really do seem to care. But after leaving, I spent two hours and fifteen minutes drowning in a sea of regret. Was it the shame I felt after opening my fridge and seeing leftovers of the hubris of minutes ago? Or perhaps it was how I could have eaten a cheesecake or sponsored a child in a third-world-country for one year, instead of this bad experience. Currently, Im thankful for my second trip to Buca di Beppo, because it taught me that I never want to return there. I would never recommend that anyone dine there, except on the condition that the menu and prices are completely overhauled. Or, if you and your ex left things on bad terms, and you want to meet her again, you could invite her to Buca di Beppo, and just ditch her before the bill. She will be so upset with you, but any wrong you may have committed in the past will be instantly forgotten in favour of this. EDIT: Two months later, and Im just now recovering from a bout of mono and an acute case of Hep C, likely from ingesting some bad food. My visit matches with the timing of my diagnosis, but I doubt it was from Buca di Beppo, though I want it to be. It would be the most sincere way to punctuate this review.

WH

Whitney Brindle

Planning any type of event? Keep looking! I had my rehearsal dinner at this location and it was a disaster. The room was one large room where they just pull curtains to make it smaller so everyone was on top of each other. The meat portions were half the size of what you would get when typically ordering, yet the prices are higher! The drinks and the food took forever. It took over 30 minutes to get a single glass of wine. My mother was gesturing to me from across the room trying to figure out where all the food was. When we did finally get food, she put the same amount of food on every table, though some tables had twice as many people, so we were forced to pass platters from one long table to the next with no help from the servers. We had also ordered baked items so the platters were extremely hot. When I told her we needed more food, she gestured to the other table and said, well they have some. No help coming from her! There was also clearly no additional food coming from the kitchen, even though it was a banquet. The server also embarrassed us in front of our friends and all our family. When I told the manager what happened, she tried to get me to point out the server while they were all standing behind her and my family was watching. It was so bad I almost started crying. When we spoke to the manager at a later date, she all but said to me that is was our fault for making one change. She even said to me "You may be able to handle changes where you work, but we arent here." We had 40 people and they claim they can handle over 100?! We got cut-off mid conversation and I have not heard from her since. Wondering if she just hung up on me . . . I would never recommend this restaurant to anyone!

RA

Rachel Robinson

Im slightly torn between 3 and 4 stars, but Ill give them the benifit of the doubt. If youre wanting that nice romantic candlelit italian place... this is not that. If youre looking to have a good time with a group of friends and gourge yourself on lots of good food, then this is more up your alley. Bucas is tacky. Striaght up in your face kitsch tackiness. They do not try to hide it... ever. Im not really sure what color the walls are as there are crazy pictures of Italian celebrities and random junk (like bowling plaques) covering darn near every square inch. Theres also crazy Italian music playing; think Musak in Italy. Its loud its big, you can seriously get lost. They have a kitchen table literally in the kitchen. They have no problem offering tours through said kitchen either. The alcohol selection is good and the food selection even better. Yes. Its pricey. You will pay for extras, like a side of marinara or extra sauce when the kitchen skimped on the sauce for the Fruitti de Mare to begin with, but the food is oh so delicious! And they offer tons of choices! from pork to beef to chicken to marina to alfredo to vinegar sauces. All family style, so go with at least 3 people unless youre planning expensive leftovers. If youre planning on going on a weekend, you should call ahead for a reservation. This place does take parties and lots of them. Even if youre coming with 4-6 people, it might be worth it. Its really hit or miss with getting a table honestly. You can always stroll around the mall too if its going to be a wait.

RO

Ron Spurlock

We have now had 2 out of 3 bad experiences at the Florence KY location. We tried the online ordering option. Upon arriving they were clueless about online ordering, never made the food, then wanted payment again after it was paid online. We had to wait 30 minutes which totally killed our lunch hour. When the food arrived we asked for plastic wear since it was take out and told they dont do that. In the car we inspected the food. Linguine was missing from the wifes lunch special. I ordered a meatball sandwich with roasted potatoes. They put the potatoes in a aluminum dish full of the water that the potatoes were cooked in and then set the sandwich in the water. When I opened the container to inspect it, the sandwich had quickly became soggy and fell apart from the water. I just took the bag back in and asked for a refund. The manager was not sure how to refund an online order. So I tried to call corporate. Their website does not off contact info, I had to get that from their info on the BBB website. I chalked it up to a bad experience and tried again a couple weeks later on a carryout baked ziti. Once I got home I had a container of just pasta with 2 small spots of what looked like the cheese filling from lasagna. Their were only slight hints of sauce. Not enough to even say it had sauce. How can you charge $20 for a $1 box of cooked ziti with no other ingredients. We ended up opening a can of hunts spaghetti sauce and adding to it. So we learned to never go there and get carryout again. It is very expensive for subpar food.