After the novelty of being in an overly decorated Italian grandmother's house wore off, we realized the food at Buca di Beppo just wasn't that good. We weren’t offered any bread, the mozzarella and tomatoes were totally tasteless, and though the portions were gigantic, our main dishes were nothing to write home about.
In sum, this is not a great date place.
It is, however, a great place to chaperone a party of loud twelve-year-olds. Which is exactly what the people next to us did. One cool thing that is worth checking out about this place (when you are chaperoning the aformentioned party) is that the host gives you a rapid-fire tour of the whole restaurant, including the kitchen.
Now if we could only get "Happy Birthday Zoe" out of our heads. . .
Messy **1/2
Picky *1/2
The final word: All kitsch, no flavor.
Buca di Beppo
258 S 15th St
Philadelphia, PA 19102
215-545-2818
When you decide to eat your way through San Diego, make sure you visit Firenze Trattoria, instead of visit another one of these cookie cutter, franchise-type, tasteless restaurants that pretend to serve authentic Italian food.