Buca di Beppo

We wanted dinner, with no wait, and Bucca di Beppo filled the bill.  Every other place in town has an hour wait, but although they were busy we got right in.  They are a chain, that doesn't feel like a typical chain restaurant.  The walls are filled with hilarious old Italian black and white photographs of nuns, priests, children and adults in just nutty situations or poses or just catching an odd moment.   The old advertisements in the bathroom cracked me up as well!  

All food is served family style in large bowls which makes the price very reasonable.  A dish of baked Ravioli is what we ordered this time, and it was delicious.  The pasta was cooked perfectly, the sauce was flavorful and the Italian sausage was nice and spicy.  I decided to only eat half of my rigatoni because I have a sweet tooth and wanted to order this delicious looking brownie with ice cream served in a martini glass that is pictured on the menu.  

OH MY GOSH this was SO EMBARRASING!    It took FOR-EV-ER for this dessert to come out and the HUMILIATION was complete when people watching her carry it out saw that it was just for me.    HOLY fudgebrowniesundae!    I got a LOT of laughs at my shock.

That being said....I'm glad I didn't know how big it was because then I would not have ordered it.   This martini glass could have fit over my head.  Fully.  I think there were at least 20 small brownies in the bottom, topped with at least 8 inches of homemade whipped cream, sprinkles and chocolate and vanilla ice cream in the middle.  

And yeah!  I ate it!    

We are in CHICAGO so EVERYTHING has been super expensive.....so we were starting to panic wondering how enormous was the bill going to be for this thing......   I thought that I saw $13 for the dessert...I was like....ehhh?  Its Chicago.   But I'm sorry...they could have sold this amount of food to about 10 diners!  I really thought I got the wrong thing.    It was Ohmygoshdelicious but holy crapoli!!!    

So, kudos Bucca di Beppo!    Dinner AND entertainment!   I'll be back!!!

I will deffinately come back, they took us in a tour around the cuisine and then we ate really well. Just an advice, order for one and share, the plates are huge!

The downtown Chicago location looks to be CLOSED!!! What a sad..sad day it is as I will certainly miss the Buca location!! PLEASE COME BACK TO CHICAGO BUCA!!