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Buca Di Beppo
Rating Details »
16091 N Arrowhead Fountains Ctr Dr
Peoria, AZ 85382
(623) 412-9463
Peoria, AZ 85382
(623) 412-9463
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
13 reviews for Buca Di Beppo
After reading some of the previous reviews, I didn't think I need to write anymore, but why not...
The $10 off $20 ticket coupon lured me in. I talked my husband into going there even though the last experience wasn't the best one. So, that said, it was not that good this time either.
First of all, they got rid of personal portion. So we had to choose something we both would eat. Now, my husband and I have very different taste buds. That's why we go to a restaurant!! So I don't have to make 2 different meals for the evening. Also it seems like they have raised the price when they made fancy-new-menu which had more ad by us-air or something that had nothing to do with their food... like Cheese cake factory's menu... (is that just to cover up the fact that they have no variety to choose from...?)
We finally decided and ordered garlic bread and seafood pasta. $9 for garlic bread and $20 for a bowl of pasta... Hmmm why do I get the feeling I'm getting ripped off?
So anyways... food was descent, but I don't like to be forced to get meal for 3 when I just want something for me
Reviews are all over the scale for this demi-Italian joint, but my experience here puts it on my Mediocre List.
Remember Leftover Night as a kid?
You'd ask your mom what's for dinner and she'd open the fridge and say, "Whatever you want -- we have spaghetti, salad, bread, there's a piece of fish, and some kind of meat. Go to town."
Buca is kind of like that.
The selection and portion sizes available to you are just wierd. Plain and simple, I like getting what I want, not choosing from among the things that THEY want me to have. I know all places have their menu's, but any illusion of getting something the way you want it is gone at Buca.
That makes me change my mind. Buca is more like "Leftover Night" at a friend's house, choosing from among that other mom's dishes, which while familiar to you, were prepared in a way that just "isn't like my mom makes it".
The food is pretty good: hovering around average, but hearty.
The service is the standard fake-friendly. I can't be sure if the extra touch of douchebag that our server exhibited was a personal trait or something they train.
The restaurant itself is oh so very annoying, with enough distracting wall decorations to paralyze a hard ADD case. The layout is a bunch of ridiculous rooms, with doorways and stairways like a maze, and they march you through the kitchen to get to your seats -- an obnoxious bit of pretention that should be saved for an establishment that deserves it.
$10 coupon and FREE spaghetti coupon brought me back here recently, and things haven't changed. This is some of the most ordinary Italian fare that I've ever had and they give you huge portions that you cannot avoid. Well, you can, but it is silly when you consider the price difference between the full size order and the half order.
Eggplant isn't bad, and I'm upset that they axed a few appetizer menu options from the menu. It's cool that they have an Italian beer on tap but they need more beer options. Not all of us splurge on restaurant wine, especially if you're trying to lure customers via coupons.
OK, so love the flat pizza, exactly like the kind at the now defunct Tuchettis that was in Town and Country (you remember that place?). Service is always great, very enthusiastic 18 year old employers there, but professional. Any place that lets you eat and walk through their spotless kitchen on the way to seating has to be a plus.
Food is actually pretty good for a chain, the pictures on the wall are cool too. Fast, friendly service. It is better than Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill for sure. Fun for family or date. They have Mio dishes now so you can order small ones and they usually give you a $10 off coupon in your e-mail or on the receipt. For chain, its pretty good. If you really want bland, then Olive Garden is your one stop in blandness.
I recently visited this location attending a business mixer event. WOW these portions are HUGE. They have small and large sizes - I hope you are really hungry when you come here.
I really enjoyed the interior - old nostalgic photos, italian music in the background and the family style of service. I wanna say that I felt like I was at home sharing my meal with family - after all when you are dining with me - you WILL be sharing your food. =0)
The restaurant is separated by different areas but still open concept so its great for group events - there was a birthday party going on in the next area too.
I was going to pass on reviewing this place, but I left behind a "You've been Yelped" card and didn't want to be proven to be a liar...
My parents were in town and it was my brother's birthday. The only Buca in Omaha had closed so they wanted to come here while they were in town. It started soon after we sat down with a kid screaming bloody murder at a booth beside us. Maybe the parents would take him outside to calm him down? No such luck.
We ordered a few items, with my parents ordering a salad in which a special cheese was a key ingredient. After halfway through the salad we realize some thing is off. There is no cheese. So we bring this to our waiter's attention and he goes to the kitchen and comes back saying they ran out of that cheese. So.........instead of informing us of that they just throw out an incomplete salad and hoped we wouldn't notice?
The rest of the food was ok, when we thought we tell them it was my brother's b-day to get the piece of cake and b-day gift certificate deal, they were, you guessed it, out of cake. So they substituted a piece of cheesecake.
For that and for taking the salad off the bill, I can give them 2 stars.
I have been here 4 times since it opened, so you know it isn't the best ever but it is not bad.
Most recently we went for a wedding rehearsal dinner. 35 plus people. We were served wine, beer, pop, tea, water, salad, garlic bread, spaghetti with marinara and meatballs, chicken parm and cheesecake.
The meatballs were a little mushy and lacked a presence other then the size. The pasta was good, cooked perfectly and tasted good with the sauce. The chicken parm was fantastic. Simple yet tender and plenty of flavor. The salad was bitter....? The bread was great, the cheesecake was excellent.
We have always enjoyed our dinners here but will only order ceaser salad from now on.
I really should have known better-being that I was spoiled in NJ with such fantastic italian food.
Once again, another restaurant (chain or family owned) that does not offer chicken francaise! What do I have to do to find some chicken francaise in AZ?!
Anyway..food was bland-you have to order pasta seperately? really??? It's not included? what italian place doesn't give you a smidge of pasta? Even olive garden gives you some pasta!
Oh well..server was great, so I gave the extra star for the super waiter and I actually love all the kitchy stuff on the walls.
Haha at Buca.
Yeah, you have an array of typical dishes to choose from, but considering these are quite, SIMPLE, Buca still cannot master them.
Thought the chopped salad would be awesome...but, I should have
known, they used machetes to chop this dish, and then served us the bottom of the bulk, which means, sweaty, liquefied salad. Also, I don't mind having to order a 'side' of pasta, but I'm just so flummoxed by the choices: spaghetti with marinara? or fettucine alfredo?...choices, choices, choices! I mean, these two just pair so well with the porchetta rustica :(sarcasm):
Apple crostata= standard apple pie. No warm apples, flaky crust, as falsely advertised on the menu.
I should have learned from my first experience here.
Good as a soup line!
Buca Di Beppo is literally, italian restaurant hell. You know how all big box chain restaurants throw junk up on the walls in an attempt to make the space feel vintage? Buca Di Beppo throws junk, and knick knacks and statues and anything else 'italian' they could find in the chinese warehouse where they loaded up these goods. It's a terrible horrible mess and you end up sitting in a yardsale of italian paraphenalia while eating your very bland pasta.
It's embarassing how truly flavorless the food is here. Thin, flavorless alfredo sauce. Thick slabs of lasagna with less taste than what I can get out of the frozen section at Publix. I went with a large group and across the table, bland food.
When they seat your party, they guide you through the kitchen area where the cooks play along and say a welcoming hello. Deep down you know they hate this. Why are we in the kitchen? Sure it's nice, but I'd rather have them concentrating on making the food, and making it good. Of course, the food at Buca Di Beppo seems to be far beyond any point of return to tasting good. It's just dead. Dead food. No life, no flavor, not emotion. I get more flavor from the $.99 Michelina's frozen lunch package.
Far from claiming anything authentic Italian, Buca Di Beppo even pumps out bread with no taste. Eating at Buca is like eating food from an assisted living facility. No salt, no sugar, no butter, no fat, it's all gone along with anything resembling taste. Sure, Buca has huge portions, and the setup is nice for large parties and families - but they might as well just buy the family-size pasta packs from the frozen section and bake it at home, even that would be better, and they wouldn't have to the mandatory gratuity. Say what you will about other italian chains like Macaroni Grill, or Olive Garden - at least their food taste like something.
I saw another review this place as great, so I had to weigh in. It's crap. I wish I liked it, but I can't imagine have any worse Italian food. I would rather just have a bowl or cereal at home. If you want food without flavor, this is your place.
I guess the building is cool looking from the outside...just don't venture in! I hate being such a downer, but we all need fair warning.
I was out in AZ for business about 2 weeks ago for a whopping 24 hours... maybe less.
My co-worker and I decided to hit this Italian place after settling into the hotel. I guess this stretch CAN be busy, since there's a whole training facility across the street, but that night, it was DEAD empty. Actually, there was nobody standing at the front of the restaurant to greet us! The place is overflowing with pictures upon pictures upon pictures, all of Italian families and kids and famous people, religious figure and so on. They had a special area called the Pope's Table (or something similar) with a bust of John Paul II in the center of a Lazy Susan. Tacky? Absolutely. Interesting... sorta.
The main dining area is upstairs. The server was very pleasant though, but I wish the food was better. They serve buffet style, so they have their menu set up as "small" and "large", with small serving 2 and large serving 3-4 people. We settled on something simple, tortelloni. But it just wasn't good. It was kinda blah and that was disappointing considering we passed a grill and a steakhouse before deciding on this place. The wine, however, was very good! But that's the wine. The riesling was damned tasty.
And then the kicker. So the fire alarm goes off and you know, I'm from NY, we don't screw around when it comes to alarms. The server just kinda looks at us and is like, "oh that went off 3 times today, its no big deal", and goes about his business. We were half out the door! I said enough is enough, paid for the bill and left.
Crazy Arizona.
For me, this is a chain that really does a good job delivering a mass-produced experience.
What is most amazing to me is how fresh and tasty the tomatoes and tomato sauce are for a chain the couple of times I've gone to a Buca. It makes even simple dishes like eggplant parmesan really good.
I've also had fine experiences with the wine and tiramasu they have that can make a family or friendly gathering at a suburban chain a good time. Or you can just go with a date and start a bottle of wine and sneak the rest into to the Harkins theatre thats right by there.
The comfy booths and attentive service has always helped as well. This location also features a seemingly long lost Wilson brother waiter. You'd swear working at a suburban Phoenix Buca was part of Owen's rehab program. He's got some pretty good indie movie recommendations too.
