Bocci Trattoria & Pizzeria — Restaurant in Cary

The food here was very disappointing. The first impressions were good as the calamari was perfectly cooked. The garlic knots had a small form factor was really interesting while still being tasty. Being able to easily eat something that good could be a problem if there are too many in front of me.

However, everything else was the epitome of bland. My first warning sign was my friend's Penne Alla Vodka being the wrong color; orange instead of a nice rosey pink.

A different friend and I ordered the Seafood Fantasia and while the seafood bits were good, the sauce were very watery and bland (and also the wrong color). My friend only got 1.5 scallops while I got 4. And you can't tell me I'm wrong about the color of the sauce because it says "pink" on the menu for both dishes, not "orange". To add insult to injury, the noodles in my dish (capellini) were "short". This tells me the chef broke the noodles in half so they would fit in the pot. Doing that made it very difficult to get the noodles on my fork, and probably why my dish was served with a spoon. This is the opposite of what I expect from what is supposedly authentic Italian food.

When I got there it was 12:30 at lunchtime and there were only two tables being served. My group being one of them. Despite this, our food took a long time to come out. This is very concerning, especially since they only had one server for this time frame (she was very nice). This tells me they know nobody shows up for lunch.

I've had worse food, but food this bland for the price they were asking ($25 for my dish) made this visit very disappointing. My friends did not have nice things to say about the food either.

I cannot recommend Bocci Trattoria & Pizza if you want good Italian food. Maybe the pizza is better, but it is very unlikely I'll be returning to try it. Especially...

Three is generous. Trust me on this. I was once a restaurant manager and the service we got today was pretty bad. There we a few questions that were asked about items on the menu. They got “answered” but not really answered. Then had the feeling of “just order it it will be good” What’s???? Order placed all at once and we were going to get bread in the meantime. We were a table of 6 and go 1 SMALL basket of 6 slices of bread. Slices were so small that you could almost eat it in one bit. 5 of the table were men. Never made it to my side of the table and lunch was being brought out before we could find her to get some more. First there were 3 served, left the table and came back with 2 more plates left and we waited for the last one to get hers. This place is not busy so why the spastic delivery of food. We got them all and had just begun eating when she popped around and asked if everything was alright and if we needed anything. After everyone at the table said no I looked ar her and asked for some catchup. She came back to the table with catchup but didn’t know who it was for!!!! She then started trying to take plate of the table and most of us we not even close to finished. Although she would continue asking while grabbing the plate with food on it. And have to put back down on the table. Half the table experienced this and it happen to me 3 times. Took the enjoyment right out of the meal. Food........food was good to a notch above. Not overly impressed but would give it at least another star if the service didn’t put a bad taste in my mouth. It’s a long shot that...

Bocci's somewhat limited menu is good and despite the mostly Italian entrees and Tuscan decor, this restaurant has something of an eclectic vibe which is not necessarily a bad thing. The lightening waitstaff and loud music feel out of sync with the theme but they somehow pull it off. Bocci is a happy place with a kitchen that turns out good food and a bar that turns out good cocktails.

The hard-benched booths that initially have you squirming for a comfortable position are forgotten after sipping on any of their well-concocted martini selections ...

Quality EEVO is used in everything from the bread dip throughout the menu. The wonderful chicken or eggplant parmigiana (they used to have a fantastic veal) are prepared to order using a nice house marinara and fresh mozzarella. Someone there loves Caesar dressing as much as I do: it's refreshingly authentic although for years now it's anyone's guess if the parmesan on top of the salad will be grated or shaved. The pizza is not cheap but neither is the quality of their dough and toppings -- it makes a difference!

A few years back they suffered a kitchen change now resolved; we patronized the Raleigh arm which my guess is finally closed for the same reason. These folks are serious about getting it right. (I've done only lunch in Durham: awesome crab cakes!)

If you skip the frills you can still enjoy a satisfying and moderately priced meal. I miss the beautiful view in the back of the dining room; they continue to do great take-out. I definitely recommend...