Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Eden Prairie

I am a Mother of the Groom, I choose Buca Bi Beppo in Eden Prairie for my Rehearsal Dinner with 38 guests. Many who I spoke to said that I'd be sorry and that they are a not a good choice for large group party's. I took a chance on them only because the wedding was at Grace Church which was only 5 minutes away and I did not have a lot of other choices. Since reading all the bad reviews online now I can understand why I had a terrible nightmare experience on Friday night.

First, the minimum number of guest for the "Wine Room" was 35 and Max was 50. I will tell you this, if you have one more than 38 in that small room you will be eating with some one sitting on you lap!! It was all tables and no way to walk around table's and talk. Second, we only had 2 servers for 38 and refills on drinks was impossible! We were served our salad and bread in a timely manner at 5:15 pm and at 5:30 when that course was done we waited and waited for the entree to be served. Dinner didn't come till 7:00 pm. I went and complained several times, wheres the food! They said they were having trouble in the kitchen and it was coming in 2 minutes. A half hour later I was so humiliated that I had to tap a glass with a spoon to get my guests attention and apologize for the wait! The 6 children under 5 were getting impatient!! Third, when the food started coming out the server set the huge tray on a unstable stand and the stand collapsed and all the bowls of pasta fell on the floor. We had two other entree's being passed around that where very dismal looking at best. When the San Remo entree was delivered to replace the other that hit the floor, it the veggies in it weren't done, the artichokes and sun dried tomato's were not chewable. Guests thought that was the end of the dinner and even though I told them the desert is coming they had to leave. When the desert arrived half my guests where gone!!

I will also want to add the worst thing of all. I was wanting to impress my new daughter in laws bridal party and out of town guests with a wonderful celebration. As Mother of the Groom I had a speech prepared for the end of the meal which I didn't get a chance to give because everyone was...

Risque decor for a "family restaurant," especially in the bathrooms!!! Wouldn't take a child in there over 4 years old. Moved our party three times, putting us in awkward spots, but finally the last one worked out. VERY BLAND food. I ordered shrimp Alfredo and asked for extra garlic, you couldn't even taste it. The waitress took the dish back and they supposedly added garlic...still nothing. I'm guessing they use cheap powder or garlic salt. So I asked for a side of fresh garlic, which helped a lot. Still rather flavorless sauce. I heated up my left overs at home with full fat cream and that's definitely what was missing. I'm guessing they use skim milk or 1% in their sauce? My husband ordered their spicy chicken rigatoni, I believe. No spice at all. I can't eat spicy food and even I agreed when I tasted it that it was just a regular Rosa sauce. We asked about it after and the waitress said that it doesn't have much spice. So, then why is it called "spicy" on the menu? She made a suggestion for next time for something spicy and gave him red pepper packets to take home with left overs. The cheese bread was ok. The free birthday dessert for my niece tasted processed and awful...of course it's great that it's free, but just speaks to their food quality. I've been here two other times. Once at this location and once downtown. I didn't want to go because of the other similar experiences, but it was for a family birthday. I can safely say 3 strikes and you're out. Nobody in our party was really satisfied...except the kids, ages 2, 3, 7, and 12. I think they liked it. None of them complained. They ordered very basic Mac and cheese and pizza. If your idea of gourmet is chain restaurants, using cheapest ingredients possible, reheating frozen bags of premade food in the microwave, then you...

Hadn't been here in 10+ years but definitely wont be back. Building on the outside looks like it could use some updates. We went around 3pm on a Sunday. They seated us right away but it was over 15 min before anyone came to take a drink order. They only had 4 other tables but lots of staff just standing around. We ordered the Sunday special, it was OK, the garlic bread was bland, very dry & not that great. We waited at least 30 min or more before the pasta & meat came. Pasta was luke warm at best, meat was good & hot. The waiter never really checked on us & only offered to refill our drinks when we were done eating. I would have asked for more but he only checked in like 2 min after getting the food & not again until we were done. The inside atmosphere is kinda depressing too much going on, burnt out lights on the Christmas strands stapled to the walls & things just look cluttered, & shabby you can see damage to statues & general wear & tear over time & nothing has been repaired. I dropped the cc on the floor under our table & when I went to get it all I felt were crumbs on the sticky floor, we were in a booth & we both sat close to the aisle & the card went under where no on was sitting while we ate. Just General disappointment as we expected better service as it was a non peak time we were there & there were plenty of staff. There were 3 young ladies at the hostesses...