Buca di Beppo

The three of us shared two small appetizers, two small entrees, and a small pasta dish at Buca di Beppo. We didn't have dessert. The bill, excluding beverages, tax and tip, came to about $21 per person.

The is not the first time we have visited Buca di Beppo. When we first visited a few years ago we were unimpressed with this seemingly very popular restaurant. We decided to give it another try. On this trip, we didn't enjoy Buca di Beppo any better than before. The last time we were there it was deliberately very loud (servers yelling to get the patrons laughing and yelling back, etc.), and people were running in and out of the back door, near our table, for a smoke.

Basically much of the food tastes the same to us, using the same chunky tomato sauce. Buca di Beppo seems to pride itself on thick breading on many of the items, pretty much obscuring the taste of whatever it is covering. The Chicken Parmigiana was dry. The Veal Marsala was the best (not breaded!) but was too sweet, and the Spaghetti with Meat Sauce included very little meat.

One nice improvement they've made since our first visit is that now they have both small and large entrees. For people who aren't that keen on family style, meaning sharing your food with others, you can order a smaller portion for yourself. That way two of you really don't have to agree on which entree to have. Some of the small entrees may be large enough to share, depending on what else you order. Small salads are definitely enough for three or four people. Your server will help you out with those decisions.

As of this writing, there are four locations of Buca di Beppo in the Valley: Glendale, Scottsdale, Chandler, and Mesa.