Bocca Ristorante — Restaurant in Birmingham

Was a very underwhelming experience and, while the food was 3/5 stars, the service was awkward and weird (it was perhaps the worst waiter we’ve ever had).

Upon arrival, we were told our table was not ready so they placed us by the bar with a drink menu. We waited for 10mins but no one came to take our drink order. Upon getting to our table, our waitress asked for our drink order. She recommended the tequila/earl gray bitters/lemon one and said it was the sweetest drink on the menu. When my fiancée said, “oh, I don’t want Sweet” the waitress quickly insisted “oh it’s not sweet at all”. I ordered their version of the Moscow mule. While we waited for our drinks (~10mins), our waitress came over 3 times asking if we had questions or if we were ready (it felt exhausting). When the drinks did arrive, she asked if we had any questions about the menu (again). I asked her what she recommended and she highlighted the veal meatballs and the Marsala.

She explained that antipasta was the starter, Primi was the first course and Secondi was the large entree. I asked her “what’s good here” and her reply was “everything is pretty good”. When I ordered the salad to start, she asked me twice if I wanted to split it, I said no thank you, to which she replied “oh so you each want one?”. At this point I looked at my fiancée and then back at the waitress to make sure I hadn’t missed some sort of secret order gesture and said “no, I just want to order the salad for me to start, my fiancée will order what she wants next”.

At this point the waitress was on my side of the round booth table. I also ordered a pasta dish but said I needed a minute to pick the main, which the waitress interpreted as “come back in 15 mins”. It was now my fiancé’s turn to order but the waitress stayed on my side of the table and proceeded to lean her entire body across my bread/drink area when pointing out things on my fiancé’s menu. Perhaps the most hilarious part of the evening was when my salad did arrive (as it was about the size of salad you could fit into a tea cup). I was bewildered as to why our waitress had tried to get me to split it.

We then had wine, which was nice. I then had a mich ultra. At this point it had been 60mins since we ordered our main course so we began to wonder why it was taking so long. When we asked, we were assured it was coming out any minute. Another 10 minutes went by. Then 15, then 20. At this point it was 9:38pm so we decided that if the food was not out by 9:45pm, we would be forced to call it a night and simply grab something quick from a fast food spot. At 9:43, this random guy came over to our table, didn’t introduce himself, just said “hey, sorry for the wait, the mich ultra is on the house”. I was perplexed that a restaurant that messed up our entrees was comping me a drink that I only ordered because the wine I ordered to pair with my meal came out normally and the food did not. He did this sort of wink and finger pointing gesture when he told me he was going to comp the beer, as if he was moving heaven and earth for me and that I should be honored, and I just wondered if these folks were so oblivious as to not offer to comp our entrees (since that was what was taking so long).

The food was fine. Would not recommend it but it had flavor and, other than being room temperature when it arrived at the table, I don’t tend to be that guy that sends things back unless it’s the wrong dish entirely. The check, minus the mich ultra (thank you winky finger pointing guy), was $200.88. I left $210 and bounced. I am hoping the GM realizes what a crummy job they did, removes the $37 halibut from the check , and let’s the waitress add some of that cash to her tip. But quite frankly, I would have no problem giving the waitress $0 as she seemed to...

My wife and I recently visited Bocca Ristorante to celebrate her birthday, and it was an unforgettable experience from start to finish. The service was impeccable, with our server Madison D leading the charge and the server assistants being incredibly attentive throughout the evening.

We began our evening with a bottle of Lassegue St. Emillion Grand Cru and a Ketel One vodka martini, both of which set the stage perfectly. The bread service quickly followed, featuring absolutely addictive focaccia paired with high-quality olive oil.

For our antipasti course, we split a Caesar Salad (Romaine Hearts, Parmesan, Croutons, Anchovy), which was clearly made with house-made dressing—delicious and fresh. We also indulged in the Arancini di Riso (Risotto Croquettes, Vodka Sauce), which were to die for. The vodka sauce was probably the best I've ever had, and my wife, who typically doesn't enjoy vodka sauce, loved it.

Moving on to the primi course, my wife had the Tagliatelle Bolognese (Grana Padano). While it had a depth of flavor, it was missing a certain something, though the noodles were perfectly cooked. I opted for the Linguini with Clams (Olive Oil, Lemon Zest, Crushed Red Pepper) and was absolutely delighted. This dish is my litmus test for any Italian restaurant, and Bocca Ristorante passed with flying colors. The clams were perfectly cooked, and the flavors were expertly balanced.

For the secondi course, I asked Madison if there were any specials for the evening and was thrilled to snag the last order of Braised Beef Short Rib (Polenta, Red Wine, Artisanal Mushroom, Baby Carrots). While I've had arguably better short ribs elsewhere, this dish was unique with the polenta replacing the usual grits. The sauce was excellent, and the meat was incredibly thick and flavorful.

In addition to sharing the short rib, my wife ordered the Chicken Picatta (Lemon Butter Sauce, Capers, Brown Butter Gnocchi). The sauce was excellent, the chicken perfectly cooked, but the brown butter gnocchi stole the show. If I could have a bowl of those gnocchi with the vodka sauce, my life would be complete.

For my dish, I chose the Scallop Risotto (Creamy Vegetable Risotto, Red Pepper, and Basil Pesto). The scallops were well-seasoned and perfectly cooked, and the risotto didn't last long under my wife's fork either—it was fantastic. The red pepper and basil pesto was a fresh, incredible take that I absolutely loved.

To finish, I took Madison's suggestion and tried a Carajillo instead of my usual iced Irish coffee, and it's safe to say I have a new favorite after-dinner espresso drink. The bartender is clearly a pro with both liquor and the espresso machine. My wife and I split the Italian Butter Crunch Doughnut (Toffee, Walnuts, Almonds, Salted Caramel Ice Cream) and a strawberry semifreddo, both of which were excellent conclusions to a wonderful dinner.

In summary, Bocca Ristorante provided an exceptional dining experience with standout dishes, impeccable service, and an atmosphere perfect for a special occasion. Highly...

2025 UPDATED: Rude stuff and extremely disrespectful/dishonest for my wedding party. We liked Bocca initially, so we decided to have a wedding dinner with close friends and family here. We called two months in advance to book a reservation for 14 people. We asked if we can have a quiet corner, the stuff said that he could get us a private room. We didn’t expect a private room, and said they didn’t have to.

On our wedding date, when we showed up with our party, we were placed on the middle of the restaurant. Two other large parties were set up in the private corner, and I asked the stuff to move us, she was quite rude and condescending said I didn’t tell them or request. I told her please check your reservation to see when we made reservations, was two months ago and particularly stated it was going to be a wedding dinner. I was still very nice and polite. She was very rude and said “I am the daughter of the owner.” I’m not sure why she is telling me that so I asked her what does that have to do with me. She said: ”it was not on your reservation” in a very condescending tone. I said “so are you saying it is my fault?” Can you not just swap our “assigned” seats and move us to that corner? She said no these people has reservations, and still decided to put us in the middle of the restaurant. Just for background, It was 5pm and almost the entire restaurant was empty, later around 530pm the restaurant was very loud, we could not even give wedding toast to our party because we could not hear anything.

My problem wasn’t that the fact we didn’t get the quiet table. It was when we called two months in advance told them we trust them and want to request a corner table, they promised “No problem, we can set you up a private room, make it go as smooth as possible.” If you can’t do it, don’t promise, we can decide to come or go to a different place. They didn’t just over promise, they did exactly what they should’ve done. The lady was quite rude and no one even apologized to us. PS: the food was horrible that day, pastas were saltless, I got a steak, I can’t chew the steak. Bad cut of the steak. They had good food in the past but these couple of times we visited this year has all been bad/inconsistent food. Horrible service and stuff.

Old comment: We visited Bocca’s around 10 times in this past year, I would say the food is great! I hope they have the steak for valentines in the regular season menu! All the pasta are made from scratch and tasty! The only thing is one of the servers was pretty rude, he was our servers for a few times, happened to every single visit with my parents, partner and friends. Also my colleagues was saying the same guy was rude as well. So I would say it’s not really to one...