Aug 12 2008
Close to authentic Italian at Buca’s.
Today’s local eatery review, Buca di Beppo. Yes, I know why this restaurant, let me explain. To an Italian, Italian restaurants are out of the question. We cook Italian food at home, so why would we want to go pay to eat something that cannot even compare to the real thing. Well that holds true for the Olive Garden and Macaroni grill, these are two of the most non-authentic Italian restaurants, they are truly a waste of money. Anywhoo, Buca di Beppo has some great food that actually taste Italian. The local Buca di Beppo is located in Brea, however, there is also one in the city of Tustin/Orange. I am sure there are more. For those of you that have had wood burning oven fired pizza, Buca’s Pizza Margherita which is basically fresh mozarella cheese and basil, taste exactly like the one i used to buy in Italy. Not too soggy and not too saucy, this pizza is delicious, their pasta entrees are pretty good too, their seafood linguini and veal parmiggian is to die for. The ambiance is very laid back, the decor is too eclectic and loud for my taste, almost too Italian overdone, however, the food compensates for the collage of missmatched photo frames, flags and giant photos of Sofia Lorens dress baring busoms that plaster the walls. This joints merits a B+, obviously nothing beats home cooked Italian food, but this subsides the cravings for that nostalgic pizza Margherita I used to eat down in Italy at the local pizzeria. Two large pizzas (12 slices each), two large antipasto salads, two large calamari plates, one kids meal, one beer, and 7 fountain drinks grand total: $ 137.00, not bad for 8 adults and two toddlers, needless to say, we had left overs. By the way I forgot to mention that food is served family style, and depending on how many individuals, there is size small and size large.
