A foodie’s nightmare

In my opinion, Bucca di Beppo embodies the worst of American food and certainly an extreme example of mediocre American-Italian food.

I’ve only been there twice in my entire life. After my first experience, I promised myself never to return to that ungodly place, but a few nights ago, when we met friends for dinner, they insisted on eating in that “hole”, the literal translation of “bucca”.

First the smell seizes you, as one crosses the labyrinth-like space; a scent of bad Italian food that is. Then the decor is garish, heavy and simply too much. Finally as you get to the table and discover the menu, realizing what mass-quantity is.

One gargantuan portion will feed two people, easily, and we made the error of following the “dosage” indicated on the menu.

This means that we ordered for five people which was twice as much as we should have, and regreted it every bite of the way, except perhaps our guests who seemed to truly enjoy the fare. So much so I must say that they left home laden with “doggy bag” that I'm sure were capable of lasting them for a full week.

As for me I decided to say “ciao” forever to that dreaded place, but who am I to know, don't we say that that “three times is always a charm!”