was in a moving car when taking this…
On our last night in the states, my aunt and uncle took us out for dinner. The restaurant they chose was Buca di BEPPO which is supposedly quite popular, and it was. By 6:30pm the waiting area was packed with people. Good thing we had reservations.
The decor was very cozy and homely. There were lots and lots of old pictures hung on every wall, some weird ones too.
Apparently, if you wanted to, you can request to actually sit in the kitchen where you can watch the chefs work their magic.
In our particular area, the ceiling was lined with rows of wine bottles. My aunt mentioned that she hoped those were fake plastic bottles, or else if one was to fall on someone’s head, a lawsuit would definitely be in the works…it WAS America after all….
Their menu was made into paper place mats.
And there’s a separate drinks menu.
So to order, there’s basically two ways. Most of their items are meant for sharing, so you can order a small or a large portion, small before for up to 4 people, and the large for at least 6. There’s also a small selection of single portions available.
So for appetizer (antipasti) we ordered the Buca Trio Platter. This consisted of Fried Calamari (middle), Fried Mozzarella and Prosciutto Stuffed Mushrooms (left), and some fried cheese ball thing (I forgot the name) served with marinara, pesto cream sauce and spicy marinara for dipping.
The calamari and the mushrooms were good, but I didn’t like the cheese ball thing too much. It tasted like it was made of potatoes (which I’m not too fond of), but mostly it just tasted weird. The dipping sauces were good though. This was $19.99USD.
Next we had the Apple Gorgonzola Salad which had Tart Granny Smith apples, spiced walnuts, dried cranberries and gorgonzola cheese tossed with our fresh lettuce blend in our signature Italian vinaigrette.
It was good also mostly because of the gorgonzola cheese, the spiced walnuts and the cranberries. The apple slices were weird in that they were quite salty. I guess they didn’t want the apples to go yellow~ The salad cost $10.99USD for a Small.
After those two I was already quite full. However obviously that was just the beginning. For entrees they ordered 3 items. It was funny though, even though my aunt, uncle and cousins asked Boyfriend and I to choose some items, they ended ultimately picking all 3.
This is the Chicken Saltimbocca which is Sautéed chicken breasts layered with fresh sage and prosciutto, topped with artichoke hearts, our lemon butter sauce and capers.
I really liked this. The chicken was moist and succulent, and the artichoke hearts were tender. Everything went really well together.
I THINK they ordered a Small which was $18.99USD.
Next was Penne Arrabbiata. It is Spicy Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a zesty marinara sauce with imported Italian penne pasta.
The penne was a bit undercooked in my opinion. The sausage was too spicy for me, so basically I only had a little bit of this. It wasn’t bad at all though.
If they ordered the Small, this would be $15.99USD.
Last entree was the Baked Ravioli. It was Cheese-filled ravioli baked to perfection with fresh marinara, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
I liked this also. The pasta was cooked just al dente and the ricotta filling had just the right amount of flavor to it, not too overbearing and not too bland. The tomato sauce was very fresh and not overly sour like some Italian restaurants may make it.
Again, they probably ordered a Small, which would be $14.99USD.
You may think it’s over but nope. We had to have dessert.
I got to choose dessert so I went for the ultimate Italian dessert- the Tiramisu. Hey I could’ve chosen gelato but that was too simple.
This came in a huge bowl so it was funny splitting it. We kinda just dug in a spoonful. A BIG spoonful.
This was $9.99USD.
We (well, at least Boyfriend and I were) were holding our bellies when we left. This was one of the better Italian restaurants I’ve been to, and that’s saying a lot for me since I’m not a huge fan of Italian.
Next time if we have the chance I would like to come here again. In a bigger group though, so my belly won’t feel so stretched!
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