- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Buca Di Beppo
Rating Details »
10915 Carolina Place Pkwy
Pineville, NC 28134
(704) 542-5146
Pineville, NC 28134
(704) 542-5146
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
5 reviews for Buca Di Beppo
It's been more than three years since my original review of Buca, so I figured it's time to write again.
Though we still like Buca, and the experience is one that you should really check out if you haven't already, I'm not sure that I'd suggest you do so as heartily as I did before.
For starters, the plates of food seem to have found their way to Dr. Evil's shrinking ray. It's not uncommon these days for portions to shrink, but for whatever reason - perhaps because Buca already had large prices to begin with - the difference just seems to be much more pronounced. We still love the shtick, but it's a bit harder to swallow is all.
When it comes to value, it's not there as much as it used to be. The flavors haven't changed, and they seem to have put a lot of money into a fancy new menu to get you to buy into their plan, rather than the relatively simple menu that they used to have. The servers even seem to be working on the hard-sell now, rather than the simple family style that used to work so well. It just isn't the same.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
6/14/2006 First to Review
Though it is a chain, this is one of those places that you just have to visit to appreciate. It's… Read more »
Love this chain of family style Italian eating! Have been many times because my # 1 son lives in this great area. We even went here for his rehearsal dinner before he and Rebecca got married. Great place to kick back, have some wine, and eat a bunch of good Italian delicacies. However, the last time we went we had been waiting an awfully long time to be seated, so when the hostess asked if we minded sitting in the kitchen we all responded...OK. Little did we know that this was the specialty area of the house with tons of attention from all the waitstaff, the chef, and all of his attendants! In fact, every customer who is seated at Buca has to proceed to their table via the kitchen. We had fun chatting with the steady stream of customers. Seems that people request this kitchen area for special events, and I hear it has a long waiting list. We just got lucky because someone cancelled at the last minute and they gave this special seating to us! We hit the lottery...so much attention was showered on us as the chef immediately came over to introduce himself and ask if we would like some Calamari on the house. Duh! It was cooked to crispy, shear perfection! The Salads are always great and the Vegetables are wonderful. We got a couple of Lasagnas and some kind of Chicken dish...delicious! We even got chef hats that we wore throughout the evening...too much wine, I guess. Anyway, you must go...it is worth every penny. Take the kids or take your special sweetie...just watch out about ordering too much food...it is served family style, and our family loves it!
First visit: We ordered a pizza from the menu on the wall. The ingredients were olives and tomatoes. When pizza came it was covered in onions, and there were a smattering of small chopped olives and tomatoes..it looked like an onion tart. My kids refused...to eat this. We also had to go get our own tea and water, as our waitress forgot, she never refilled...we did that too.
Another visit: my daughter wanted to have her birthday dinner there with some friends. We made reservations months in advance and called day before to confirm. They were confused when we got there....didn't acknowledge we were waiting...and finally took us into the dining room. They tried to sit us at a too small booth that had a huge tear in the seat. NO. We finally got our seat at a table that was actually large enough for all of us...service was spotty.
on to the food. There is nothing spectacular about anything they serve. It tastes like chef boy rdee, or frozen dinners. Serving family style is nice, but it is akward to go with friends and do this.
Last visit 4 of us went....3 of us were sick for several days after...2 ended up at emergency room for IV...1 went to doctor for phenegren.....we will not be back after that experience for sure!!!
I think this is one of the most fun places to eat in Charlotte, especially if you can snag the kitchen table. It's a kitschy, tacky, wild and funky place, and the food is huge, plentiful, and delicious. The prices aren't bad, either.
I like the family-style service, although it's easy to over-indulge because everything is so good and so in your face.
It can get a little busy, so sometimes the servers seem a little overwhelmed. The food can take a while to come out, so although the atmosphere would be great for kids, if your little kidlet is impatient, I would recommend finding somewhere else to go on busy evenings.
They also offer curbside service if you aren't feeling the atmosphere, so order ahead of time, and they'll bring it out to you.
If you're looking to grab some good Italian food for dinner, then this place is great. Whether you're going with your family or on a date, it doesn't matter because the atmosphere of this place is unlike any other place you'll go.
Walking in, heck, even the outside of the place, you'll be amazed at the tackiness. Being half Italian, this place brings back a lot of memories of my grandmother's place. It's just so amazingly tacky, from the different types of rooms you can eat in, to the stuff on the walls & ceilings.
Buca is unique because of how they separate the seating. There are different types of themes for each room & each is very unique. I've sat in the Wine Room twice & filled wine racks cover the entire ceiling. There's also a pope room, with a spinning pope head in the middle of the table...yes...very weird. Also, I believe you have to reserve the booth located in the kitchen, but this is where you can watch the workings of the kitchen from inside of it.
The food here is great as well, with your normal favorites with some other odd creations. They have giant meatballs which are great for more than one person. You can order individual portions, but they're specialty is family style dining. So bring some people with you that have hearty appetites because you get a lot of food here.
This place may be a chain, but it's definitely a must visit if you're an Italian food fan...which I have no idea who isn't. From the uniqueness & tackiness of the place, to the great food you'll get to feed your whole party, you'll enjoy yourself & look forward to coming back soon.