Buca de Beppo

An evening at Buca de Beppo was quite different other restaurants.
While other restaurants encourage sharing with "tapas" Buca de Beppo
caters to bigger appetites. Not only does this place reunite families
around the dinner table, but the food is delicious. I was shocked at the
masses that crowded the entrance. There wasn't a vacant table on an
early Sunday evening. Everything about Buca de Beppo is novelty. There
are many wandering rooms with much to discover. In one room a party
of maybe a dozen was seated at a big round table beneath a painted
domed ceiling with angels reminiscent of Michael Angelo. The walls
throughout the restaurant are covered with a humorous collection of
photos and oddities including a shrine to Frank Sinatra. We couldn't leave
here without taking a tour. It's a more rustic atmosphere in the dining
rooms, but we were curious to sit in the coveted booth in the kitchen,
making our reservation three weeks in advance as suggested. This booth
sits four people and is set right in the midst of all the action. They run a
tight ship here with certain chefs assigned to only making salads, others
to making pizza and still others delegated to making pastas and entrees.
Perhaps most impressive are the overseers that constantly direct meals
to their appropriate tables, hot! Our front row seat not only enabled us to
see the food being made, but many times the overseer would bring it to
our table, describing the dish before it went out. It certainly made
ordering much easier, but also left us yearning for more than we could
eat. Meals are offered family style in small portions for two and large
portions which is plenty for four or more. Hope you're not too good for
leftovers cause it's a lot of food here. For starters we had a cumbersome
Bruschetta which topped a thick round of garlic pizza bread with an
Italian tomato salsa, most of which would fall off as I tried to take a bit,
but was a mighty good combination. The Mussels Marinara had a great
spicy tomato broth, but the mussels were to livery for my taste. Next it
was off to the Warm Tomato & Spinach Salad which gave us a glimpse of
how amazing it could really be if they'd thoroughly tossed it, since much
of our spinach leaves were dry and the feta and candied nuts were hard
to find. For entrees the Shrimp Parmigiana was unique with breaded
shrimps topped with melted mozzarella and marinara, and finished with
crispy fried proscuitto, I liked this. There was no comparing the Macaroni
Rosa with thick curly noodles, broccoli, peas and chicken in a creamy
marinara to the Chicken with Lemon which was amazing! It was much
more than I'd expected. Though the chicken hadn't been pounded thin as
I would normally would prefer, it wasn't a bit dry and the Lemon Butter
Caper Sauce was perfect. I'm anxious to return here for this dish as well
as a couple others I'd like to have tried such as the Quattro Al Forno with
a sampling of all their baked pastas; Manicotti, Lasagna, Stuffed Shells
and Baked Ravioli. The pizzas are another I hated to pass up. They are
rectangular with thin crust and cut into squares. They looked so
tempting, especially the Pepperoni Pizza with pepperoncinis and the
Pizza Gamberi with shrimp, spinach, garlic and cheese. Feeling indulgent
we decided to go all the way ordering a couple of desserts. The others at
the table marveled at the Torta Formaggio an impressive 6-inch high
crustless piece of cheesecake made on the premises and topped with a
raspberry sauce and toasted hazelnuts. I was rather taken instead by
the Cannoli with a creamy and sweet ricotta center wrapped in a thick
crunchy tubular shell sitting in a generous pool of melted Chocolate
Sambuca Sauce. This was wonderful. We washed it all down with the last
sip of a smooth and easy Maestro Italiano Merlot. It's going to take quite
a few more trips for me to get my fill of this place!

Prices: Bruschetta - small $7.45 and large $9.95, Warm Tomato &
Spinach Salad - small $9.95 and large $15.95 Shrimp Parmigiana - small
$15.95 & large $25.95, Chicken with Lemon small $13.95 for two breasts
and $21.95 for 4 breasts, Maestro Italiano Merlot $21.95, Torta
Formaggio $8.45, Cannoli $8.95

Located at 505 W. Foothill Blvd. in Claremont

Telephone (909) 399-3287