Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Franklin

The service was excellent Todd our bartender was friendly, knowledgeable about the restaurants food and portion sizes. Todd very attentive checking if we needed anything he provided everything we asked for cheerfully. The atmosphere was nicer than expected at a chain Italian restaurant very upbeat, clean nicely lit but not to bright with the restaurant divided into several smaller areas giving it the feel of Cosy little dining areas with a more intimate atmosphere than the usual large open dining rooms. Todd gave us a mini tour of the several dinning areas including showing us a table in the kitchen area that diners can request if they want to see the inner workings of the kitchen like eating in an old time mom and pop Italian place. Now the food part when I saw "family style" I thought ok casual family friendly for the kids family specials like a big pizza pitchers of soda. I was wrong "family style" is like dinner at home at the kitchen table large portions in bowls meant for several people to serve the amount you want just like you'd have a bowl of spaghetti on the table and a loaf of bread at home. I've not seen that before but it works really well. The portions are available in two sizes regular and large Todd said regular usually serves two to three people and large four to five easily. Our party of three Aaron Rose and myself ordered a regular spaghetti with meatsauce, a regular order of meatballs (3) 1/2 pound meatballs in a bowl with marinara sauce and proscuitto stuffed chicken (3) large pieces of chicken on a plater. The meal started with some bread 2 loaves about the size of a commercial banana bread loaf. The bread was not the usual restaurant rush baked doughy soft baked just enough to rush it to the table it was a nice fresh crusty warm loaf that was baked perfectly and served with a plate of warm slightly sweet olive oil on one side and a tangy balsamic viniger on the other side to be mixed to taste. The bread was a great start and a very welcome surprising change from the usual restaurant bread. The spaghetti and meatsauce was plentiful the regular size order along with the bread would have been enough for the 3 of us it was good the pasta was cooked correctly. The meatsauce left a little bit to be desired it had plenty of meat but was kind of Bland could have had a little more spice it was good but could have been better. The meat balls were good but again a little Bland the sauce was pretty plain and the meatballs could have used quite a bit more Italian style seasonings 3 meatballs along with the bread could have been a meal for 3. The prosciutto stuffed chicken was a little disappointing there was very little prosciutto stuffing otherwise the chicken was just chicken 3 decent size pieces would be ok for 3 people. Now after all that overall the meal was good the portions are large even by the usually large Italian restaurant standards we took home enough spaghetti and meat sauce for 2 more dinner plates and 1 and a 1/2 meatballs with sauce and 1 of the pieces of chicken we knew we ordered too much as Todd said each thing we ordered was for more than one person but we wanted to try several things so we ordered and we could each have some of everything expecting to have left overs but we were still a little surprised by the amount of food. There's no doubt you get a really good value it's a lot of food for the price. It won't be one of our absolute favorite go to places but we'll definitely go back at times we...

Let me start by saying that this was one of the most memorable dining experiences we've ever had. I'll start with the service! We had a table of 9 including 5 children, our waiter was Tyler and he was absolutely phenomenal, never an empty glass, very personable, and knew about every dish when asked. Offered valuable opinions based on his own experiences, nothing worse than "I don't know, I've never had it". Here's where it gets better, on top of the stellar service, he was attentive to the kids, my son is 16 months old and tends to be shy, every time he came to the table he put his hand out, and said "give me 5" well my boy being shy, he wouldn't, . By the time the end of the meal came, Tyler's persistency paid off and my boy trusted him enough to "give him 5". That same persistency went through our entire meal, the kids asked if they could watch them make pizza for a table, Tyler "said hang on, I'll check" he came back, and all the kids went to the kitchen to watch them prep and bake a pizza, the manager of the restaurant explained a little about himself, explained what was going on during the pizza making process, then when they were baked and done the manager handed the 2 pizzas to the kids and said "here take these home with you" free. Talk about excitement! The whole staff we encountered that night was absolutely epic, nothing more can be said, one of best dining experiences I've ever had, hands down.

Now the food! Oh boy! The food! I'll admit, family style can be slightly difficult, but it truly brings the table together towards an amicable decision. We first started off with Brussels sprouts for an appetizer for the table, the picture sold it for me. They were phenomenal! Warm and perfectly cooked with a slight darkening around the edges, extremely tasty, they were delicious, in retrospect I should have ordered 2. For my meal I ordered a Antipasto salad and 3 meat balls, the salad was amazing, all fresh vegetables, and so much meat and cheese, the salad lacked nothing! It was perfect! The meatballs came and they were huge! Very tasty, firm and they were all meat! Not overly breaded falling apart on your dish. Tyler explained their sauce and said the only thickening agent they use in it was puréed carrots, and they do that to keep it gluten free, so no flour, and not too sweet, It was great! The kids had pizza it must have been good because all that was left was crumbs The rest of the table had shrimp and pasta. I sampled a bit and would say the lemon butter sauce was on point and the shrimp were perfect! Very juicy taking on the flavor of the sauce and not over cooked!

In closing the food was incredible and service was perfect! We will be back! Thank you for a...

My relative & I dined here last night after a particularly trying afternoon. Our server Tori totally changed our night. First, upon my request for their quietest room, Tori spoke up in agreeing to serve us in an otherwise unused room, and even offered to turn the music down (eventually off). No crying babies, blaring music, or men conducting business on their speaker phones over my shoulder -- what a relief for two women in pain. All the food was prepared & served promptly & perfectly. We started with the giant meatball appetizer, covered with marinara and a dollop of cheese on each of the 3 meatballs. Then an order of garlic bread covered with thick mozzarella cheese was made with fresh garlic and a cup of warm, tasty marinara sauce for dipping. Small entrees feed a minimum of 3 people, so we shared a chicken pasta in a cream wine sauce that included peas, sun-dried tomatoes, and artichokes. Last but by no means least, Tiramisu finished our meal. Tori brought a box for leftover dessert before it ever arrived, but we were doubtful we would need it. Then we saw it -- 10 to 12 inches of pure heaven! Its taste never disappointed. I enthusiastically recommend Buca di Peppa both for its food and the way it takes care of its customers. Few restaurants would have gone to the effort to provide the peace and quiet we really NEEDED last night. Although some do and some do not notice, my dining companion is a twenty-something on the spectrum. Tori handled serving her like a champ, despite my companion being in high anxiety, close to a meltdown, at the start of our meal. Our experience was that a special needs customer was in a safe space there, at least in the hands of...