05/09/08

Mediocre food (at best)

by JenInIndy

We went here for a birthday celebration. With the exception of the salad, the food was mediocre at best. The atmosphere is noisy and the service was below expectations.

04/27/08

Disappointing service....

by girl20

I've been to Buca 3 times now, 2 of which I took out due to the worst customer service in town.

The hostess does not give a slightlest effort to smile at the guest. Plus, there is always a frowny guy standing by the host stand and stares at you like you're nothing but a trouble. I never felt welcome there.

The food is OK. Not bad, not good, just OK. Could be better for those prices...

But the customer service is unacceptable....If you're looking for place where you will feel welcome - do not choose Buca.

12/28/07

Go elsewhere

by djmeltdownil

First out was the salad, which was of good size, it should be for $10.00, however i felt cheated out of the items that are traditonally served in an antipasto salad because it was mostly lettuce. On the salad there were 8 small triangles (a slice of luncheon meat cut in quarters) of pepperoni, and 8 small triangles of genoa salami. The provolone cheese was wafer thin (also looked like it was cut from deli cheese) and diced. There were no artichoke hearts, and only 2 pieces of roasted peppers. The garlic bread ($10.00) was a huge dissapointment, the menu did not state that it was made from fococcia. And it is served in a pizza pan, inverted, so when you take a slice and bit into it, you are suprised with the hunt of onions and red peppers baked into the underside of the bread, which isnt all that bad, except that the sliced garlic on top was way too overpowering so you didnt taste the onions and peppers up front, it was more of an aftertaste. Because the bread was baked in a pan, it was very doughy and not crisp, it was just unsatisfying. My chicken saltimbocca(18.00) was perfectly cooked, the cutlet was nice and thin, however the recipie is completely flawed. Nowhere on the menu does it mention that "capers" are included in the dish. Needless to say with the proscuitto (also cured in salt), and the numerous capers, my chicken was similar to a salt-lick, while my fettucini alfredo was perfectly al-dente, the alfredo sauce nor the pasta had seen a grain of salt....??? Also, for $18.00 the portion size was small, 2 small chicken breasts.,..couldnt have been more than 5-6 oz each. The only dish that was well recieved and i felt that i got my moneys worth was the chicken parm kids meal, my nephew loved it and ate it all, and at only $5 it was a steal because the portion size was bigged than our chicken saltimbocca. FYI - soft drinks are $2.75 - we wont be returning and reccomend that you avoid Buca at all costs

• Pros: Family Style meal - great for groups
• Cons: over priced, over hyped, generic italian fare