Bocca — Restaurant in Indianapolis

In short, a delightful Italian experience with solid cocktails and delicious food.

Although I usually shy away from Italian, the glowing recommendations from multiple people catapulted Bocca to the top of our must-try list. If you aren't familiar with the surrounding area, it's a little rough around the edges. The parking lot around back is tiny, but there's decent street parking and you don't have to stray too far from the restaurant itself. Entering the restaurant, it had a dark and muted interior with a buzzing crowd, which fits nicely for an intimate gathering or date without feeling too starched. Although we didn't get a drink, we poked our heads briefly downstairs into the speakeasy portion of the restaurant. Low ceilings and some more comfortable seating options rounded out the space and it feels like a neat little area to grab a drink and hang out before or after a meal. Many of us ended up getting an old fashioned from the bar ultimately, which was deliciously well balanced. Overall service was excellent and attentive without being overbearing. Perhaps most importantly, the food was the star of the show. We went with a large group and ended up ordering/sharing just about everything on the menu. Among the appetizers the risotto balls stood out above the rest, but nothing disappointed. The entrees, especially the pasta dishes, were outstanding. I think the only one that felt a bit lackluster was the seafood pasta mainly due to the very thin consistency of the sauce with it, which was mostly left in the bowl. Desserts were good, but nothing extraordinary compared to the rest of the meal. The tiramisu and deconstructed cheesecake were the table's favorite and I don't think anything was bad, but this is perhaps the one time I might say it's okay to fill up before dessert. All in all, a hearty...

On a whim, my wife and I went to Bocca's for the first time last night. We read the reviews and were very excited to see what the restaurant had to offer. As we walked in, we were met with a charming looking upscale place and greeted by a very friendly host. The restaurant was busy, but the host found a nice quiet table for us. Our waitress, Yessica, was friendly and made really good recommendations for food. We had started the evening with the bruschetta and cocktails, and just WOW. I had the basil gimlet and my wife had a glass of wine. It would be a lie to say I didn't want to lick the plate after we finished the bruschetta. The soft warm bread, mixed with just the right amount of goat cheese and jam: So good! My wife is a bit of a lamb fiend, and she gets it everywhere she can. As such, she had the lamb shank and I had the bistecca tagliata (sliced porterhouse). I'm not sure which of us enjoyed our meal more. Both of our meals were cooked to perfection, so tender and delicious. After we finished our meal, we saw another table eating the bombolini, so we glutinously ordered it for ourselves. So. VERY. DELICIOUS! I didn't leave a scrap of food from the appetizer all the way to my dessert. My wife, being a tiny woman ate her fill, but still managed to have enough for a to-go bag. Everything was fantastic last night: from the pleasant ambiance, good and friendly service, delicious food, to the final price bill. I have paid way more for way less; I was not disappointed in any aspect of this "experience" and my wife and I will most definitely...

Generally, food, drinks and service are good here. But during our last visit, one odd thing that occurred bothered me though:

All of us in our party had ordered the same salad. After enjoyable appetizers and drinks, when the salads landed at our table, they reeked like a nasty, mildewed old sponge or rag. Now, the salad had cheese on it and we thought it might be that, because sometimes they can have unpleasant odors. That would understandable and forgiveable. And I do enjoy many ripe, stinky cheeses, but the salad really smelled bad and off. We could all smell them before they were placed on the table. So, we thought we should check.

What bothered me most of all was that no one could tell me if that's how the salad is supposed to be.

If they could have confirmed that the cheese is funky, I'd just have made a mental note to never order the salad again and would have just moved on. But no one could confirm if the salad reeking in such an off-putting way is normal. I even left the table to ascertain if that was just how the salad is and inquire with multiple servers. One of the servers even inquired with someone in the kitchen. But we were not able to get confirmation that the salad smelling spoiled is normal due to an ingredient. For an establishment of this caliber, I was a little surprised by that.

We opted not to eat the salads. And the salads really killed the good vibe at the table for us. The rest of the meal was fine and we had no issues other than the dubious salad. But this experience left us all with a bad taste,...