Buca di Beppo, located at 310 W. 47th Street is one of the best Italian food places the Plaza has to offer.
It is not your ordinary Italian restaurant with Roman decors or sophisticated Italian paintings.
Buca di Beppo is an authentic Italian restaurant that is found underground, because the first Buca di Beppo was opened in a basement of an apartment building.
When patrons enter the restaurant, they are happily greeted by the hostess and are accompanied to their seats. It looks small from the outside, but the restaurant is big inside.
The walls of the restaurant are covered in pictures and paintings, most being humorous. The pictures and paintings mostly show families or people enjoying their meal and just having a good time.
The restaurant has booths and tables for groups of up to eight people.
They also have a bigger room, called the Pope room, separated from the main dining area. The Pope room can accommodate up to 15 people or more, and is usually used for family celebrations or business occasions.
Buca di Beppo serves fresh salads, enticing appetizers, mouth-watering entrees and delectable desserts. Their dishes are big because they serve family-style servings.
Their apple gorgonzola salad is one of their most-popular salads. The salad has apples, spiced walnuts, dried cranberries and gorgonzola cheese tossed with fresh lettuce blend with the restaurant’s signature Italian dressing.
Craving something cheesy? Their cheese manicotti is perfect and tasty. Their manicotti are pasta tubes stuffed with a rich blend of ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, topped with creamy alfredo sauce on a bed of homemade marinara sauce.
Their veal saltimbocca is also a must have. It is sautéed veal layered with fresh sage and prosciutto, topped with artichoke hearts, lemon butter sauce and capers. The veal is very tender and full of flavor.
After enjoying tasty entrees, patrons can choose from a number of delectable desserts. Their chocolate chip cannoli, which are crispy shells stuffed with a sweet, cannoli cream filling mixed with chocolate chips, are served over a drizzle of chocolate sauce. The chocolate chip cannoli is good, but for pricey for its size and number.
The Colossal Brownie Sundae has chunks of freshly-baked brownies with scoops of vanilla and chocolate gelato, topped with caramel and chocolate sauces, whipped-cream and a cherry. This dessert is very rich and can be shared up to six people.
Overall, with family style servings and scrumptious meals, Buca di Beppo is a good restaurant to go to when craving for Italian food. But the restaurant gets four out of five stars for some of their pricey foods.
