Don't know where to begin. Ditch the Olive Garden, ditch Macaroni Grill, ditch any italian restaurant you have ever been to and run to Buca Di Beppo.
My stepbrother loves this place and has to go there everytime he is in town. I went with him and the rest of our family for father's day this summer. Oh my gosh. First of all the atmosphere is homey and comfortable, nothing pretentious at all. You can basically wear pretty much whatever (I suggest elasticized pants).
The food is OUT OF THIS WORLD. I kid you not. You must go. Everything is served family style so you order a few different things and everyone passes it around. My favorite was the fork tender chicken, blah, blah, blah insert some italian sounding name here. WONDERFUL. The garlic bread with cheese was incredible. Everything, really, was fabulous. I can't say enough good htings about it.
The drawbacks? it's a bit spendy (well a lot spendy for my budget but my step brother paid). The other thing to know is that I would not consider this a good place to bring small kids. It's just not a kid friendly place for them. You' won't enjoy it as much. I am speaking from experience as I had my one year old with and didn't get a whole lot of chance to eat as I kept grabbing utensils, glasses, table cloth and napkins away from him.
Definitely a must-go restaurant.
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