First Impressions

John: I’m going to go ahead and take a guess that 90 percent of the people reading this review right now have seen the movie Jerry Maguire. Remember the part when Renee Zellweger’s character tells Jerry, “You had me at hello.” Well, Buca Di Beppo had me at hello. Now you’re probably wondering, ‘without giving John a financial kickback or a free mid-size sedan, how did they get him at hello?’ Here’s what Buca did; they did things other places don’t do. Before you’re seated, the host takes you on a tour of the restaurant. We went through the kitchen, we waved at the people who were sitting in the booth in the kitchen (yes, there is a booth in the kitchen and yes people were sitting there) and then we were seated underneath 400 bottles of wine. That’s right, the ceiling was a wine rack and that wine rack held 400 bottles of wine. The whole night I was thinking, “if this wine rack goes midtown parking garage on us, Copsey and I are dead men.” (Since no one died, let’s agree that midtown parking garage jokes are OK).

Copsey: Having studied Italian architecture and spent some time in Italy, I have to agree with John; the Italian flavor of the restaurant was vivid, with (fake) statues and decorative bits and bobs throughout the place that it really felt like we were in an Italian restaurant rather than a subsidiary of Planet Hollywood. They definitely had me at hello.  

John: A
Copsey: A

Appetizer

John: First let’s get this out of the way. Portions at Buca come in two sizes; huge and gigantic, with huge being the smaller of the two. Boca says their gigantic portion can feed a small country, I believe them. Everything on the menu is available in these two sizes. Since the portions were so enormous, Copsey and I limited ourselves to one appetizer, bruschetta.  I didn’t see a tomato garden in the parking lot, but Buca must have pillaged one to top our bruschetta. There were so many diced tomatoes on top of our Italian bread loaf that I actually thought they forgot to put bread on the plate. And if I’m making it sound like they shorted us on bread, they didn’t, the Italian loaf was more than enough for Copsey and I. The bread was almost perfectly crisp, the tomatoes were fresh (I swear there must be a garden somewhere) and the combination of the two was rather tasty.

Copsey: I should clarify John’s statement. The meals are big because they are meant to be shared, just like they do in Bella Roma. The smaller portion is to be shared between a couple and the large portion is for the football team. That said, the bruschetta was so tasty (as was the olive oil dipping sauce it came with) I would have been happy to have just that for dinner. So I was happily surprised when we ordered our entrees.

John: A-
Copsey: B+

Entrée

John: For the main course, we sampled several things: the Pizza Angelo, the Penne Arribbiata and the Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken. I felt like a higher power wanted us to order the pizza. First, we were sat at a booth next to a giant portrait of the dish, then, our server Todd said it was the best thing anybody has ever eaten. We couldn’t turn that down. The pizza was topped with alfredo sauce, chicken, corn, mushrooms and parmesan chips (really thin chips). I was a big fan, the mozzarella cheese had a lot of flavor and the corn added an interesting, yet tasty twist. The Penne Arribbiata was two spicy Italian sausages in penne pasta. I could only find one problem with this dish, it wasn’t the same if you didn’t have a piece of sausage in your bite. This wasn’t a problem with Copsey. But say I was eating with Andre the Giant and he decided he wanted both spicy Italian sausages, leaving me only the penne pasta, well, I would have to pass on the rest of the dish. If you order this dish, just make sure you’re with someone who doesn’t always have to eat the best bite (you know if you’re with this person, they have to have the biggest slice of pizza or the bite with the most toppings in an ice cream sundae or the biggest piece of communion bread at church).

Copsey: The prosciutto stuffed chicken is exactly what it sounds like; ham crammed into a chicken breast and smothered in cheese. To add a little more punch, the whole thing is served with a pesto cream sauce. This was by far my favorite dish of the night. It was so simple and straightforward, I loved every bit of it. It was only halfway through eating a portion of it that I wondered how many Jews (or Muslims) know what prosciutto is and how horrified they would be to find it in their chicken? The thought quickly passed, me being neither Jewish nor Muslim, and I was back to enjoying my meal.

John: A-
Copsey: A-

Dessert

John: Finally, we topped the meal off with Chocolate Vesuvio. When I saw this on the menu, I thought of Mt. Vesuvius. Then I thought of a volcano and then I thought of a flavor eruption in my mouth. I’m not sure what psychological trickery Buca is up to, but it worked. The thing about this dish is that it’s not too rich. Many times, the problem with a chocolate dessert is that it’s so sweet, you have to stop eating it because you feel like all of your teeth are going to fall out. Vesuvio does not have that problem. Combined with the ice cream and caramel sauce, it was a tasty treat that grandma might even love.

Copsey: To give the chef credit, the wedge of cake was upended on the plate, so it looked a little like a volcano. That or a Christmas tree. As John said, it was pretty damn perfect. And the ice cold gelato it was served with was a perfect contrast. 

John: A
Copsey: A

Final Impression

John: When Copsey and I walked out of the place, I felt like we had just gone shopping on Michigan Avenue, mainly because we were carrying around 17 bags each. If you’re too tired to read between the lines, I’ll spell it out: YOU’RE GOING TO BRING FOOD HOME. Unless you’re eating at Buca with a local high school football team, there is going to be left over food. I find this to be a good thing. The day after Buca, I didn’t have to spend one dollar on food because I ate my leftovers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (I only kind of regret the Buca for breakfast, I don’t think Prosciutto Chicken is really what I wanted at 9 a.m.) Oh, one last thing, that tour you go on when you’re seated, make sure you draw up an exit route with your family because if you don’t, you’ll end up getting lost trying to find your way out. And because there are no windows in the restaurant, you won’t be able to use the outside to navigate.

Copsey: We were told, when we sheepishly asked for to-go boxes, that everyone asks for them. Personally, I would take that as a hint that maybe I’m serving too much food. But as John said, I ate like a king the next day. So I guess I shouldn’t gripe. A couple of closing tidbits of information: Buca di Beppo is Italian for “The Hole of Giuseppe,” which can (apparently) be thought of as “Joe’s Place.” This works well with my second tidbit, that the restaurant has no windows other than the front door. This is done to maintain the feeling of being in someone’s basement, just like the original restaurant, as well as to make it seem a little more comfortable. I think it worked.

John: A-
Copsey: A-