Buca di Beppo

Reviews 3

A

A Private User

*Disclaimer: The following conversation is not verbatim, cannot be guaranteed to be factual, and is the opinion of the writer. We hosted a formal at their restaurant this past weekend and had a horrendous experience with their management and food portions. We RSVPed 28, yet only 21 arrived - our member dropped the ball on the correct RSVP. Buca has a stringent contract - and so gave us a bill for the full 28. Our President only had enough time to speak with the waiter before he head out to organize our after-formal event, as we were already running late. He called the next day where their manager Emily, who he said was quite courteous and professional, told him she would forward this to their managing partner, Katie Sulzer As an owner of several businesses in Indiana, Tennessee, and Austin, I know the quality of a restaurant and organization is a direct reflection of the attitudes of the management and owners. We called Katie Sulzer the next day and would like to share my experience with this "managing partner" of Bucca Di Beppo. We explained to her that since we signed the contract, we agree it is our fault, and shes not obligated to credit us with anything. However many of our members were upset that the amount of food hardly justified being charged for 28 people. We left with a couple boxes that would hardly have fed more than two. As a business I would imagine they are looking for loyalty and a small credit would go over well with a group of 21 people. She told me that she would like to keep the money we were contracted to pay. She had personally portioned out the food, and assured me she had portioned it for 28 people. In fact, she then said she portioned it 10% more than the 28 (that would make 30.8) and corrected herself once more saying she portioned it out for 35 people!! Goodness, if their portions for 35 are barely enough for 21 people, they must have a lot of hungry patrons leaving their restaurant every evening. We told her again once more, she has the opportunity to make everyone happy, that many of us in the organization, myself included, often threw birthday parties there. We mentioned if this was her stance towards us its not likely many of us will return. Rather than trying to come up with an agreeable compromise, she had the audacity to ask if we were "threatening her"!!?? We told her absolutely we were threatening to never return. Why would anyone, having that conversation with her? Before we ended the conversation she asked for his full name, no doubt to put him on their block list. As competitive as the restaurant industry is, theres a good reason most restaurants strive to have happy customers leave their restaurant. Buca Di Beppo Austin on the other hand seems to be more intent on keeping their patrons money then building long term relationships with customers. You are welcome to draw your own conclusions from our experience, If you plan on hosting large parties, I suggest avoiding Buca Di Beppo, if not for their stringent contracts, then for their meager portions. I rated would rate this experience a 1.5 though I rounded up to 2 out of courtesy (courtesy that their managing partner did not extend to me). The rating is due to the very small portions, and the disappointing attitude of a member of their management. The food itself was good though apparently too meager, I heard no complaints about the service, and they allowed us to stay close to an hour after the closing time to wrap up.

A

A Private User

The food was good, although I was a bit surprised at the end total. The family sized portions were definitely about right for two hungry people (getting "small" sizes). Especially if you get a salad or another light dish in addition to a pasta. We got the apple gorgonzola salad and the fettucine alfredo. The salad in particular was delicious, the fettucine passable. My 5 year old got mac and cheese, but I didnt taste any (she didnt seem enthusiastic about it, but thats the way kids are some times). The only reason this review isnt a star or two higher is that the design and decor is firmly in the realm of the WTF. The place is a maze for one thing, which is a double edged sword. On one hand we were comparatively secluded at the place we sat until the dinner rush. On the other hand, just finding the way out can be confusing. Then theres the decor. Pictures all over the walls. At first I thought it was just an overly dense version of the typical nostalgia stuff, old Italian folks, nuns, etc. But on second glance it appears that it was chosen by a schizophrenic. For example, right next to our table was a two foot tall statue of David with its penis at eye level. Not even a faithful reproduction, it seemed to be better endowed. Now, Im not against art or expression, but it did cause my 5 year old to get distracted and I kinda wish it wasnt right next to our table. I wouldve asked to move except we had already been served by the time she noticed it (fortunately I was the only one facing it). That wouldve been a pass, a quirk, except that some of the other art was questionable. Near the bathroom theres a picture of an elephant with its trunk in its own butt. An ambulance with a kid giving the middle finger. Theres another room decked out in Pope memoribilia. And these are just the big pictures that are WTF and I literally only examined the walls in *two* places (near the table and the restroom on the way out). Heres the thing. I dont feel like any of these things are overly offensive, but if Im going to drop 50 bucks on a dinner for 2 adults and kid (*without drinks or tip*), I want the place to look like its worth it. Not have walls cluttered with poop eating elephants. If youre going to go corporate anyway, you might as well go to Maggianos for classier atmosphere, or save a buck or two and just go to an Olive Garden. Well definitely be skipping Buca next time.

MA

Marcus Salinas

Let me start by saying we had a large party. Around 20 individuals so that may have affected the service. The servers were nice people. They stayed nice throughout all the dissent of the table as the night went on. Throughout the whole process I just feel like they were in a difficult position due to the table size, but they made mistakes as well. A couple of orders were out in wrong so they had to spend time fixing that. Drinks often went unfilled when most of the people had water. We had to ask for the house bread about halfway through while waiting before they gave it to us and even then there was hardly any for 20 people. As I said though they tried their best and were never impolite. The food for me was meh. First of all, they only do family serving sizes of small or large where small feeds 2 or 3 and large is 4 or 5 which is sort of cool but then you have to figure out who youre sharing with otherwise youll have a large serving to yourself. Not a bad thing Im just not a fan of family serving sizes. Second, I was no impressed by the food taste for the price. $23 for a small spaghetti and meatballs and there is just simply nothing special about it. Then again that could be because they ran out of meatballs after we ordered so we had to settle for meat sauce. Youd probably get a better service experience from a normal sized party but to me the food doesnt merit the price. It was a nice experience, but probably wont eat here again if I have a choice. There are other alternatives that taste the same for less. The restaurant is well decorated though Ill give them that. They have lots of pictures I liked looking at. All in all, Id give it 3 meatballs out of 5 but they ran out of meatballs so Ill give them 3 meat sauce out of 5.