The best neon sign in Saint Paul! The pasta here is consistently spot on. I always love the penne alla vodka and the shrimp fra diavolo. Both are flavorful and reliably delicious every time. The restaurant itself has a very cool vibe, and the service is always friendly and welcoming. read more

Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant - Italian Near Me - St. Paul, Minnesota

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Wow! I'm still hooked on this experience. It's a family thing, bring in a group. Surprised at all the negative reviews, evidently things must have improved. Service was outstanding as various servers checked on us, drinks came quickly. Now for chef's kiss applied to Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken. A great after taste. The swim of mozzarella & prosciutto in the marinara and pesto and creme sauce. You have to see the giant meatballs and even creamy spaghetti. I guarantee if you have kiddos along they'll eat well perhaps even the veggies like the green beans and brussels sprouts because they'll love the sauce. Plenty of parking and great service. read more

Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant - It's the lighting. - Italian Near Me - St. Paul, Minnesota

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No wonder this place is empty. I love the Marsala but they refuse to sell me a dinner salad. The only one they offer is a giant Caesar salad for $30! Their prices are ridiculous. Never again. read more

What is not to love anout Buca!? Honkin meatballs, delicious smelling and fun atmosphere.. speedy service and fun staff!

The food was surprisingly tasty & the artificially rustic atmosphere was kinda fun. Beats my only other time at Buca, when my boss took 4 of us there after we worked late. He ordered 4 family-size dishes & ate 3 entirely by himself in around 25 minutes. read more

Faded Glory. There was a time when Buca off Davern in St Paul was an innovative concept with good food and service. Then it became a chain. Buca now is a shade of its former self, but not entirely without merit. The setting is Italian kitch, with red and white checkered (plastic) tablecloths, numerous nostalgia photos, and tables for large groups. It never seems overly busy so this is a place you can get into on a moments notice with a group. Our server was attentive. Portions are made for either 3-4 people or 5-6 for a large portion. So going as a couple requires negotiation and consensus or you'll end up with copious amounts to bring home. We had the Caesar Salad which was amazing - very fresh crispy Romain and creamy dressing. We were both full by the end of it - but sample on we did. The garlic bread was good and seems like a whole loaf of bread - good garlic but not too much, and not too salty. The Carbonara was less like what we've made and more like Alfredo light. I like Alfredo, but not everyone does. Brussel sprouts are - like so many places - a deep fried bit of disgusting. We can do better than to take the healthiest thing on the menu and boil it in oil. In summary, Buca has its place with medium quality food at a reasonable price for large groups. read more

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Not the first time going to Buca but the first time at this location. Made an online reservation and the day before and phone call from Buca to confirm on the day of the reservation. Upon arrival, was promptly greeted and seated. For me it just felt like Buca needed to update the appearance. Our server from beginning to end was very attentive and made sure that our needs were met. Had no complaints of quality of food but the portion size did not seem same from my past experiences. I had a gift card that I wanted to use but was told that I could not after management had changed ownership, was disappointed!! read more

Just want to let you know know that on MOTHERS DAY our party of 15, were really disappointed when we spent nearly $600 + for our meal and our "server" did not accept the 20% coupon from one of the Mother's who presented the discount coupon (we were 5 mothers and 5 gentlemen & 5 children) at our Reservation in attendance BUT instead brought "one" Slice of chocolate cake and 15 plates for us to share. I was told by the "server" that the table only gets "one" slice of cake per Table NOT ONE SLICE PER MOTHER - as the the Cake specifically said for "Mother" on Mother's Day. We are a big family - we may not be Italian but we are patrons. read more

I ordered chicken limon, chicken parmigiana and a salad. The entrees were bland - no taste whatsoever. The salad had bad/wilted lettuce. I was so disappointed. Will look for other Italian options. The salad issue has happened before. The service was great. read more

We had a group of 6 that ate there and the service was great all the staff were friendly. We ordered the regular garlic bread along with our entrees and it had a "funny" taste, like a dirty water taste. This was a consensus with all of us. We brought it to the waiter's attention and he went and talked to the chef, the chef said that was their recipe so we switched to the french loaf. That was good, but they did not offer any butter with it. When I was eating the bread there was a long hair that must have been baked into the bread. That was it for me! Not the best experience. read more

I witnessed a male Hispanic server causing issues with our young female server and she seemed very upset and I was not impressed by the hostility he had showed her in front of guests. I noticed that she was upset and I could tell that she had just got done crying. However, Jaden's service was immaculate even after the situation occurred. read more

Before travelling to the Twin Cities on this trip, I decided to check out Thanksgiving catering. This year, I had missed Canadian Thanksgiving, as I was also in the Twin Cities. Since I was here for American Thanksgiving, it was fitting to have a special meal. It had been years since I last spent it stateside. Last year, I had wonderful catered food for Christmas. I changed it up this year by getting the small feast set from Buca di Beppo. It would get me through lunch and dinner on Thanksgiving Day while working remotely. The ordering process was straightforward. I ordered the mini feast set and also lunch for that day. I set a noon pickup time on Wednesday. It took me six minutes to drive from the hotel to this eatery. There was lots of parking around the restaurant. I pulled into a spot and headed over. I was greeted by a nice woman. I let her know about her order and she said she'd be right back. There was a woman in the kitchen who looked at me a few times. It was odd, but maybe that's simply who she is. The nice woman came out with two bags. The first had my hot spaghetti meal. The other was a large paper bag with handles with my mini feast and side salad. I thanked her and walked out with my goodies. I got back to the hotel and placed all feast items in the fridge. I had my spaghetti with a giant meatball for lunch. The portion size was large. It was yummy. The spaghetti was al dente. The meatball was huge, but tender and seasoned nicely. There was the perfect amount of sauce. I loved it. I also ordered a side salad. It was huge. I didn't need it get it, but I like salad. It came with dressing that tasted like Italian. The veggies were fresh. The Thanksgiving feast from Buca di beppo had the following items: - Sliced white meat turkey - Homestyle gravy - Roasted garlic mashed potatoes - Spicy Italian sausage stuffing - Seasonal vegetables - Cranberry sauce - Bread with butter - Pumpkin pie My mini feast served three. It fed Mary for a few meals. The food was yummy. Some thoughts about the mini feast: - The seasonal vegetable was green string beans. I love them! I was thrilled. They were done perfectly. - The stuffing wasn't spicy. At first, I didn't see or taste any Italian sausage in it. I found some with my second helping and beyond. You don't get a lot of it. It also wasn't spicy. It was more regular Italian sausage. It actually tasted better with the gravy smothered on top. - The side that surprised me the most was the roasted garlic mashed potatoes. They came watery in the container to the point where I thought that it was soup. After heating it up, the mashed potatoes looked normal. They were delicious and creamy, and mildly garlicky, to the point where I mixed them with the stuffing to make it taste better. - The turkey was nicely seasoned. It was perhaps too salty for my liking, but it balanced out with the less salty sides. - The pumpkin pie came in three slices. I had one with some candy cane ice cream on the side from Trader Joe's. The ice cream was more soft serve, but it complemented the pumpkin spice flavour nicely. The pie was delicious. It was nice to have leftovers for a total of four meals. It was good having home-cooked meals away from home. I had a great experience. Maybe next time, I'll dine in. The decor is rather busy in the eatery, so it'll be interesting to see how I feel looking at it all for at least an hour. (449) read more

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good was great , service was good. went there for a birthday party and my daughter left her birthday cards on the table by accident with some money and gift cards in there. called the restaurant about 45 after leaving and they said the cards are there but the money and gift cards are gone. So more than likely you have staff that have sticky fingers. We will be disputing the tip with the bank, and never returning . read more

Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant - Italian Near Me - St. Paul, Minnesota

I had been to a few locations over the last 20+ years and every time I find myself saying the same thing about my experience: overrated, overpriced and absolutely rude service. This place is a joke compared to the Italian restaurants you could go to in the cities. Seriously. Do NOT waste your time on this garbage chain with the absolutely ridiculous Italian stereotype decor. read more

Really enjoyed our meal. Great timing, great service, great food!! We would definitely return.

Amazing customer service !!! The food was perfectly cooked the marinara sauce was very delicious and gives you a real taste of Italy waitress was super friendly and fun very patient with taking my family's orders considering we had a table of 10 food comes in very big portions to share and get that feel of having a real sit down dinner with your family felt like as if we were at home ambiance was great they sung happy birthday and everybody joined in and it was all positive vibes and super wholesome this is my 100th time eating here I've tried them in other states as well still very happy with this restaurant!!! read more

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Upon walking in, the restaurant made me feel like I was stepping back into old time Italy. The walls were covered in memorabilia and I could've spent lots of time looking around. It was a warm and inviting atmosphere. They have tables blocked off and lots of social distancing implemented to keep people safe during the pandemic. I had a pick up order and it was ready quickly. The staff was friendly and offered a drink while I waited. The shrimp farfalle was pretty good. The shrimp were cooked perfectly. The farfalle needed a little more flavor. I added some pesto and it made it perfect. My kids loved the sausage rigatoni. My favorite dish was the wild mushroom tortellini. Absolutely delicious! Their food goes so far! We all ate our fill and had plenty left over for the next day. This would be a great place to stop if you're visiting Fort Snelling. They're close to each other. It's also close to the airport! I want to come back for five dollar wine Wednesday. I'll also keep this place in mind when I need catering! read more

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We used to love it here. Today are salad was brown and wilted, our bread was moldy and the spaghetti was very bland. We won't be going back. read more

Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant - Moldy bread - Italian Near Me - St. Paul, Minnesota

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The food was great and one of the bus boys I think his name was Wes made sure my meal was good and asked if we needed anything and made the meal and experience very personal. 10/10 would definitely recommend to all my friends. The ambiance was also great there. read more

Came back to use my gift card from our Yelp Elite event! We didn't have a reservation but there house was able to get us in pretty quickly for a family of four. Service was excellent. Our server was great and we were an easy family to serve. I've always ordered spicy entrees and so this time I went with a lighter item of the shrimp Florentine, margherita pizza and brussels sprouts with prosciutto for a side dish. Everything was tasty. I wish that I had requested for more spinach in the pasta and less tomatoes, the prosciutto in the brussel sprouts could be a little less crunchy and I was hoping that the basil wasn't chopped but leave as whole leaf. I felt the tarimasu cake part was a little runny with too much milk or something. Overall, we were full and had leftovers for lunch and dinner the next day. read more

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Came here again cuz it's close by. And this time got some shrimp and pasta. Handful of shrimp... read more

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In for lunch- Eddy was a wonderful representative of the restaurant. Great service and so friendly! Good guidance on the menu. We have the Prosciutto Mushrooms, salads and pasta. The creamy pesto- crazy good! This is the original Buca Di Beppo location! Great ambiance! read more

Had the best experience at this buca in St Paul! Location was great and there was convenient parking in the back. The servers were all so friendly and helpful. The managers were extremely generous as well and gave us huge portions! I was so stuffed that the next day didn't even eat breakfast. Reason why I am giving this a 3 stars is because most of what I ate was okay, not great.My favorites were the penne with vodka and the tiramisu. Definitely coming back here! read more

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Linda !! BEST SERVER EVER .. will only come for her and of course the amazing Food but her service, outgoing, and helpful advice was her expertise. read more

Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant - Linda Saint Paul - Italian Near Me - St. Paul, Minnesota

Ordered Buca To-Go for my birthday with family. Was absolutely disgusted when I nearly put this in my mouth There's a small black bug (maybe an ant?) in the Antipasto salad. I'm very disappointed. Lost my appetite after this and threw out all the food. Makes me question if I ate any bugs before I saw this one read more

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We went in last night to celebrate my significant others birthday. The service was awful. For the table to share I ordered a rum punch bowl, a large calamari, bruschetta, a large baked ziti, a large lasagna and a large chicken parm. We wanted a fun adventure for our out of state friends, one of which has celiac and was limited to their gluten free menu and or picked of the breading of a majority of the dishes. Upon asking for certain appetizers that come up on the gluten free menu, the server asked "what are you even looking at we don't have any of those". And then it started to get worse. Our drinks did not show up for 15 minutes. And when we got our punch bowl the ice was all melted and our beverage was watered down. Once he took our order he said "small? " After I kept telling him large- as we were sharing with the table. The table next to us who came after us and ordered after us received their appetizers before us- we had gotten the same ones. They brought us a small calamari first, which we had not ordered. Our bruschetta ten minutes after, and then they brought us our large calamari. We hadn't complained or anything this far, so we are unsure if the small calamari given to us was an accident or what had happened there. Our baked ziti was next and it was delicious! And then instead of bringing our chicken parm, they brought us eggplant parm. The lady who was not our server but was helping out had even said it was "chicken". We finally received our chicken parm after notifying our server that it was eggplant, he hadn't shown up after it was dropped off for ten or more minutes. He said "well I rang it in as chicken parm". He then was nice enough to keep us updated on how long it would take for our chicken parm to come out. Our chicken parm was dry on the inside and super oily and the crust was soggy. We had to wait a very long time for him to come over so we could ask for refills, to which he didn't wait for us to finish speaking and had already turned away from the table. We never got our large lasagna, it was never even ordered and or on our bill. We then ordered a colossal sundae, with the brownies on the side for our celiac friend. When I had stated to put them on the side because it's not gluten free he told our friend that they are gluten free, and that she can eat them but he'll double check. He never came back after "double checking" and when we had finally decided to dive in as our ice cream was soup by the time he came back he goes "oh, they're not gluten free but I'm from the Burnsville location and they're gluten free there". She had expressed that she had already eaten them, and he had no clue what to do. We then got our bill and he had charged us for the eggplant parm (which we had not ordered). Overall we spent over $200 on a not so great experience, with sad soggy food, and ended it with melted ice cream and a bad tummy ache. read more

Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant - Soggy eggplant parm - Italian Near Me - St. Paul, Minnesota

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Very disappointed. Significant problems with quantity, quality and pricing. Food is supposed to be family portion size. We (family of four) ordered the antipasti salad, fettuccini, and chicken marsala. Shockingly small portions fit to serve only one person per dish. It left us hungry. They don't put prices on their online menu for a reason; salad cost $27, fettuccini $33, and chicken marsala which had only three very thin slices of chicken cost $37, all of which served about one person. My son ordered a cosmopolitan for $13 which was reasonably priced. The total cost of the meal was $123 without tip. Now let's talk quality. This meal was comparable to a box dinner similar to that of many chains. The salad dressing was acceptable, fettuccini sauce tasted boxed, and marsala sauce was the color of dark gravy and tasted like it was artificially flavored. It's evident this chain has now cut corners and put artificial flavors/fillers in these sauces. I really couldn't believe they would charge that much for boxed/processed food. This is not the old Buca that I have come to appreciate years ago b In the end, we told the waiter our disappointment, tipped him a generous 23%, and he told us he would share our feedback with management. Reality check, it's a chain. After dinner the four of us went immediately to Cossetta's and shared a slice of pizza and cannolis for an upgraded dining experience. This is the last time we will be visiting this restaurant. If you don't know what normal food tastes like, come here. If you want food that tastes like food at half the price go elsewhere. read more

Decided to give this place a try and well it's a chain made to look like some old authentic Italian restaurant. Right down to the very dusty decor lol. Our waitress was very good except when she got busy and forgot about us for 15 mins between apps and ordering. Wasn't that big of a deal we weren't in a big rush but would be better if we had drinks for the wait. Portions are large and family style. Calamari was oily but was well cooked. The marinara was spicy but great flavor. Salad was huge and their dressing is delish. Pizza had good flavor would prefer it crispier but still very good. read more

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I was lucky enough to be part of Buca's event this week for world pasta month and I only have good things to say. First, the staff were all so nice. I arrived a few minutes early and were offer drinks and a place to sit. Second, the portions were so generous for just two people. Third, the food was amazing. It was quite the spread. Definitely recommend Buca di Beppo for all your pasta needs! read more

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We had a large group for a birthday celebration on a Saturday night. as always, the food was fabulous! but even better than the food was our server Jaclyn. she was very patient with our group and did an outstanding job working with our unorganized guests during the ordering process and when the bill came. i can't wait to go back!! read more

Buca is always a fun atmosphere, but nothing overly special. I haven't been in for a bit and the menu changed recently (most of your faves are still there), but holy, the prices have gone way up (I understand price hikes too; it was just a bit of sticker shock). I was also super disappointed in the seating structure. The host agonized over where to seat our party of 4. It seemed as though there were a couple big groups coming in, so they didn't want to out us in those sections. That's coll and understandable. However, we got seated at the smallest table in the place, while two tables of two were in huge booths. Also made for a lot of fun when we had drinks and food and couldn't move. At one point, I burned myself on one of the plates while just trying to hold my fork to eat. Really distracted from being able to enjoy the meal. Our server was at least really nice and tried to get as much out of the way as she could. Next time, I'll just insist on a bigger table. read more

Best Italian restaurant in Minneapolis/St Paul! Libby is the most personable sweet server. 10/10 recommend coming here for the food, vibes, and customer service. read more

I had to bring my family back here after we had a wonderful time recently at a Yelp Elite Event. We decided to have a go at their normal menu and see what strike our fancy. First off, I love the décor and feel of the place. It smells like your grandparents house, that old woody antiquey smell. There are lots of fun tidbits scattered all around the building, it is almost like a video game full of little Easter Eggs that you get the pleasure to find. The menu is a little different than other restaurants in that everything is served "family style." You have two sizes to pick from, small and large. Quick word of wisdom, if you are ordering pasta keep in mind that the large size will easily feed more than five people. If you order a, entrée dish that isn't pasta, the large size will adequately feed about five people. Since we didn't really know this, we ordered a large entrée and pasta. There was plenty of pasta left over for a whole other meal. The food that we had was very good. The marinara sauce and red sauces were made from fresh tomatoes and a very tasteful olive oil. We had the Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken and the Chicken Carbonara. Both dishes were very tasty and we left plenty stuffed. We finished our meal with an order of Chocolate Chip Cannolis. A little surprised by the portion since the price and portion (only 3) doesn't seem to match up, not really work $4 a cannoli. Other than that we were happy with our meal and plan on coming back. read more

Something happened here. A few years ago, I went to Bucca for dinner with the family and walked out severely disappointed. It wasn't as great as it used to be. We never returned. BUT... my wife decided to give it another try this weekend, and I went along. I'm so glad I did! The food and the experience we had this weekend was wonderfully reminiscent of the restaurant from the early days. The heaping helping of pasta for the table, the appetizers and the wine were brought by wonderfully considerate and friendly staff. The restaurant was busy and yet cozy. It was so nice to dine out and not have to suffer the polite patience of low staffing in a restaurant. We had a fantastic meal! I am back as a fan of Bucca. My only gripe: the music in the dining area was pop. C'mon! Give me some Sinatra, some Dean Martin, some Rat Pack! With those crooners in the air, I'd have doubled my cocktail purchase, for sure. read more

We got invited to a Yelp Elite event here at Buca. We were given 3 entrees, a salad, bread and four wonderful pumpkin cannoli Every thing was very delicious. The portions were for two people but really would have fed four easily. When we arrived our food was made fresh. We did a pick up and it worked out great. I would encourage doing a pick up meal if you're not quite ready to dine out. Dine in is available and if you've never visited a Buca there is quite a bit to look at. They have cool photos on all their walls along with lots of fun Knick knacks to look at. Course there is the Pope table with the lazy Susan in the center to share all the great food. Thank you so much for a lovely meal. read more

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This is a GROOM's dinner review. 27 people, amazing service, fabulous food, and tons of laughs! They sang to the couple-to-be ... wishing good luck and lots of love! Seriously, do you want amazing food and an atmosphere that is fun for a pre-wedding celebration ? Then you need to book now for a family style feast! This venue "gets it"! They know what good service is, and how to make it a special eve!! We had ravioli, manicotti and eggplant Parmesan. We had 2 special-diet requests (gluten-free) and their orders were handled with ease and care! I honestly can't say enough good things! read more

Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant - Yeah.. clearly... it was amazing.. family style cheese cake! - Italian Near Me - St. Paul, Minnesota

Great service, great food for a Christmas Day lunch with 8 people, ranging in age from 11-75. Very friendly helpful server, Jaiden Food was excellent. We had anti-pasto salad, 3 different kinds of chicken, some pasta and wine. This has become a tradition for us. We really like and recommend Buca. read more

Went here for my birthday celebration with two others. We ordered fettuccine Alfredo, chicken Marsala and of course the ultimate brownie explosion! The fettuccine Alfredo was yummy and reheated really well! It didn't get super oily like some do and I appreciated that. The chicken Marsala was really good and didn't taste like chicken Marsala-it was sweet. Our waiter let us know this in advance and yet I was still surprised with how sweet it tasted. We had the brownie martini for dessert-yummy!!! I love brownies and ice cream and caramel and chocolate sauce and the birthday singing was the BEST!! I was so so happy! Our service was awesome. The woman who sat us was really nice and our sever was awesome. I'm going to spell his name incorrectly-sorry-Duadan-He was friendly and knowledgeable and made our experience much better. I would definitely go back. read more

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So, I tried writing to Buca to discuss the bad service and terrible food, they haven't bothered to reply so I will post this on yelp so other know what to expect from this place. Wife and I went there on Feb. 23rd for lunch. There was no one else eating there. Decorations were nice, however... Waitress sat us down, gave us water and menus then disappeared for 10minutes. Came back with cold old bread with very bad tasting olive oil and vinaigrette dip. Did take our orders at that time and disappeared for another 20minutes. Came back with our order of Meatball sandwich and Spaghetti and Meatball lunch. She left and didn't even bother coming back to check on how we were. Meatball sandwich - DON'T order this microwaved mess. It also came with a whole 9 warm and powered French fries (I think they were supposed to be garlic and parmesan) and a cold on the outside piping hot on the inside meatball. Spaghetti and meatball - Waitress dropped the plate on the table, spilling it on the table and splashing us. Spaghetti was in a plate full of 80% water with a touch of tomato sauce for color. Also, the 1 meatball was dry and worse than the sandwich meatball. Waitress did come out of the back over 35 minutes later and asked how the food is, I told her that this was terrible, and we had been looking for her. She didn't care and gave us the bill. DON'T waste your money. $35 lunch for bad food. A jar of pasta sauce and noodles made at home is better than this place! read more

has seen its better days. mediocre food, cold i side/no heat and space heater was placed near us for warmth. i doubt any gin was even in my cocktail and place seemed dirty -no wonder, how could anyone dust all the framed photos and bruc brac all over-i get the intended charm but....a platter of pasta for $30? nope. so 80's and better days have passed. read more