Buca di Beppo

Reviews 4

MI

Michelle Mackner

What a disappointing end to what had been a fantastic day. My friend got engaged yesterday and his fiancées favorite food is Italian- so what better choice than Buca Di Beppo? The good- they were able to accommodate our 14 person reservation. The host was friendly and sat us quickly. Our drinks were brought promptly. Good was good. No complaints there. The issue came when we got the check and we were charged $45 for three baskets of garlic bread we never actually ordered. See the server said "would the table like garlic bread?" and each and every one of us assumed that meant HOUSE bread. So we said yes and she brought three baskets of bread. Please note- we did not ask for three baskets. And the bread wasnt very good. Dry and crusty, but hey, no one is going to complain about FREE bread right? Then when it comes time for the bill she asks who she should charge the bread too. Say what??? Her approach indicated his was the complimentary bread so we didnt know there would be a charge. But the bill indicated she had chosen to bring us three LARGE baskets- at $15 per basket. I questioned her and she said she just assumed based on the size of our group we needed three baskets. Ok, safe to assume if the bread is free. But at $15 per basket, probably better to ASK. So I asked to speak with a manager, at which point she seemed upset and irritated. The shift manager BOB came out and instead of being apologetic he was defensive and spoke down to our group as if we were dumb. First off - its just bread! We werent trying to get away with free stuff, we just didnt want to pay for something we didnt officially order. Bobs very sarcastic solution was offering to remove 2 baskets and charge for the 3rd. In my opinion, that was just petty. But on top of that he basically threatened the servers job, and we werent trying to get her in trouble. I think she was trained to do what she did, which is not her fault. Bob was rude and not pleasant to work with. The server then had an uncomfortable attitude with us. Very awkward finish to our meal. Outside one of the food runners stopped us and told us he was sorry for the experience and he understood the frustration. He said Buca encourages servers to upscale in that way and hope people dont catch or complain in the end Disappointing that such a popular establishment such as Buca does this. They will not be getting my business again. No matter how good the food, service is important.

CH

Chad Chamberlain

This little restaurant is sort of tucked into a corner, and I suppose if you have a window seat (there arent many) you might have a view of the lake. The overall ambience is...well, is "Italian restaurant" an ambience? Theres music playing in the background, people are talking, lighting is dimmed, lots of pictures and kitsch on the walls. I think we arrived around 1730 or 1800 and our party of two was seated immediately at a small table near the back of the restaurant. There were two large parties (8-12) that came in before and just as we were leaving; this didnt impact our service at all. The only things I didnt like about the service was that our waiter spoke very quickly and at the same volume as the background noise, so we just took guesses as to what he was conveying and asking; the hostess gave us lunch instead of dinner menus. At this restaurant, all dishes are served family-style - pricing per dish is set based on a "small" portion for 2-3 people or a "large" portion for 4-5. For a party of two on a budget, this means that you both need to agree on the same entree and sides, otherwise youre going to have a pretty large bill at the end of the night and likely a fair amount of food to take home (the servers will also explain this to you if you seem to be ordering too much for your party). My friend and I ended up skipping the salads and other sides, opting for prosciutto-stuffed chicken and the spicy chicken rigatoni. The prosciutto-stuffed chicken consisted of three medium-sized pieces of chicken topped with marinara sauce and a pesto cream was underneath. The chicken itself was just a touch dry and lacked flavor, but the cheese, prosciutto and cream made up for it. The rigatoni was indeed spicy, it basically tasted like theyd gone overboard with the crushed red pepper; Im not a big fan of spicy foods and used the pesto cream from the first dish to cut it down but my friend enjoyed it. Both dishes were sized appropriately for two people to share some of each and have a little leftover to take home, however we both hadnt eaten much all day so all plates were cleaned. Overall, this isnt a place to go if youre dining alone, and probably not a place youd visit as a regular haunt, although I didnt check out the bar.

CA

candy

I visited this restaurant many times in the past, in the old location. This time I found their prices to have increased greatly. The price for a small order of chicken carbanara at 32.99 is insane. It is only some noodles and a little chicken for Gods sake!! I ordered this to go, taking back on the ferry, I knew it would dry out some upon reheating so I asked for some extra sauce to take home with it. Boy was the cook ever generous, a 1/4 inch of sauce in a small container is what I got. When I asked for more sauce I was told I could have alfredo sauce, but not carbanara sauce because they make that with peas and another item. Isnt that all put in the pasta dish when made? I asked to speak with a manager whom came and said she could credit me for the dish, however she would need to credit the whole bill and recharge me for the dinner items minus the carbarna dish. Mean while buca would have 200.00 dollars of my money tied up waiting for charges to drop off in 3 days or so. Why cant they just credit for the one dish and be done? Maybe they need to reset their computers. Then upon leaving my friend and I were almost to the door to go out and our waitress that we had serve us ran thru the door, didnt even so much as hold it open or tell us thank you for coming and then did the same thing with the second door. I find wait staff to be a little rude for my taste!!! This was suppose to be a birthday celebration dinner, what a disastrous outing for a celebration. I do not have any plans to return to this restaurant under these conditions. Also, my egg plant was delicious as usual, but the alfredo pasta was dry and sticking together. My birthday friend had to ask for more sauce just so she could eat hers at the restaurant. I feel that mnaybe greed has over taken the great old buca it use to be.

TH

The Joker

Highly recommend the Buca di Beppo restaurant. My wife and two daughters had a wonderful experience at the Buca restaurant last week and this is only the second recommendation I have ever given. Buca and staff warrant a good mention on food quality, personable service, and attention gathering atmosphere. It is a very warm and welcoming spot. We travel several times a month to Seattle for cancer treatment and wish we had discovered this much earlier. We have only now discovered the second restaurant in the South Lake Union area that is quality priced and genuinely fun to go to. We stopped and ordered their thin crust pizza and not telling my SCCA nurses… a pint. Buca has the greatest pizza I have ever tasted. Genuinely was taken aback and very surprised at how good the flavoring was. The pizza was phenomenal and we even ordered another one. I had long given up the hope to discover a restaurant that could create a quality pizza. We have one now! The waitress, Laura was sincere, polite, professional, and a pleasure to talk to. She went with our flow and teased us back with light humor and poise. She warmed our experience. jlr