Buca di Beppo's

My Italian is very rusty.  I don't even know what "Buca di Beppo" means but this "Fun Frank Friday" we chose an Italian restaurant.  I was looking for something that would be romantic for Valentine's and Italian food felt appropriate dinner for two.  We arrived around 5pm and there was already a 10-15 minute wait before we were seated.  As you walk in the walls are plastered with Italian memorabilia from photos, portraits, statues, and Italian signs.  This gives you something to look at while waiting for your table.  When our name was called our hostess immediately gave us a tour of the kitchen.  It is a simple walk through that shows the efficient and cleanliness of the kitchen line.  There is also a table you can reserve to sit at in the kitchen if you so desire.  I'm really impressed with any restaurant that is willing to show you how and where the food is prepared.  This shows confidence as well as trust.  We  were escorted to our booth and soon after greeted by our waiter.  He asked us for our drink order and when he told us they have Pepsi products we told him "Thanks for playing we will have water with lemon".  While  looking over the menu, we noticed that the size of the silverware is unusually large.  Which is fine by me, just means I can get more food in my mouth with one shovel.  It should have been our first indication of the size of the entrees we would be receiving.  Luckily if I had spilled any, it would have been easily wiped off the plastic table cloth by the paper napkin.... just like at home.

We ordered an appetizer sampler so we could try a variety of flavors.  Our trio included calamari, mussels and shrimp scampi.  As we waited for our appetizers to come out, our waiter brought out some sourdough bread and small dish which was empty.  At first I thought that it was for some invisible butter but our waiter seemed to be a little distracted or absent minded and after we had eaten a slice or three of bread, he realized that he had forgotten to pour olive oil into our empty dish.   Our appetizer arrived.  My heart had been set on the calamari because you can always tell what kind of Italian chef you have by the calamari.  It can be either very tender or very chewy, depending on the quality.  As I started on the calamari, it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, like good calamari should be.  The spicy marinara dipping sauce gave it just the right kick.  The smaller pieces with the squid tentacles tended to be overcooked and too chewy for my liking.

So I have mixed feelings about Buca's calamari.  Next I attacked the mussels.  Surprisingly, they were better than I expected.  They were tender, smooth and cooked to perfection in marinara sauce.
The shrimp scampi is the one you can't go wrong with.  The shrimp was tender, the garlic was strong surrounded in a the buttery wine sauce.  After tasting the scampi, I realized the sauce would make a perfect compliment to anything you dipped in it.  So let's try an experiment, take your left-over scampi sauce (once all the shrimp is gone) and mix it into your dipping olive oil.  Now dip your bread into our experiment and voila, you have just changed a bland olive oil into a flavorful dipping sauce.

 

When we were ordering our entree, we noticed the two choices of small versus large entrees.  Our waiter explained that a small entree feeds two people and a large feeds four.  All the entrees are served family style so they are easy to share.  Our first choice was the Prosciutto stuffed chicken.  This consists of chicken breasts stuffed with cheese and prosciutto, breaded and baked, then served on top of a pesto sauce.  Topped off with marinara and Parmesan cheese.  I enjoyed the different flavors of the dish.  The breading gave it a crunch while the prosciutto and cheese was a smooth compliment.  This would make good meal in itself but we needed something more.

If you go to an Italian restaurant you should always try and get some type of pasta.  We chose a shrimp Florentine, which our waiter indicated was a new addition to their menu.  This was a fettuccine pasta with shrimp, spinach, and tomatoes in a light garlic sauce topped with Parmesan cheese.  The colors and texture were brilliantly put together.  The flavor seemed to be lacking some sort of "oomph".  I think it might have needed a little more garlic/tang/kick to get the taste buds really going.  Don't get me wrong, it was good just not great.
  After eating our fill, we still had enough to take home and enjoy left-overs for at least two more meals.   You certainly could easily feed two or more people with one entree.  The downside is that the prices will reflect the amount of food that you receive.
So if you are looking to feed your family around a large table, this is definitely the place to be.  If you are looking for a quiet, romantic evening, you may want to choose another restaurant.
For the Italian food that your mama cooked at home, if you haven't tried Buca di Beppo's,  try it now.