Buona — Restaurant in Lake Geneva

Hmm, I was reading the reviews after I just went for the first time (Aug 23, 2024 @ 10:15pm) and it honestly feels like the majority of the reviews are just fake. Especially the comments that say something along the lines of "Finally! A good bistro/restaurant in the area; there has never been one before!!!!". Or the numerous 5 star reviews with no comments attached.

Have you not heard of Claws in Lake Geneva? Have you not heard of Luke's in Elkhorn? Brodies Beef in Delevan? Three very similar places where you can get your chicago dogs, beef sandwhiches, combos, gyros, oinion rings, chicken sandwhiches, etc. etc.. The difference in quality (taste) between the 4 is minimal. They each have their pro's and con's.

Here is my ranking for those who care. I'm rating this based on flavor, texture, service, and price.

Luke's - 8.7/10 Best price/portion size (easily get 20-30% more of everything compared to the others). Overall think their food quality is on par with Buona and a bit better than Claw's. Worse than Brodie's by a hair. Have had the least screw-ups on orders here.

Brodies - 8.6/10 Hands down the best tasting food of all 4 places. There are two hangups for me though, which is why they are not rated as #1. Lack of variety (specialization is why they are good tho!) and smaller portion sizes than Luke's. As a poor peasant, price to portion size is more important to me. So long as the food quality isn't too far off that is.

Buona - 8.2/10 Slightly more expensive than Luke's or Brodie's. It has pizza, pasta, and vegan options that the other places don't have. Taste is subjective but I promise you that at least their beef, combo, and sides didn't taste better than Brodie's and was on par with Luke's. It does beat out Claw's though, which isn't a hard thing to do. I've heard their pizza and pasta are actually good too, which is rare for most places that don't specialize in them. So this is like a pizza joint, beef bistro, and ice cream shop rolled up into one. They are also open much later (11pm compared to 7-8pm for the others). Their portion sizing is on par with Brodie's and Claw's, which makes them the second most expensive after claw's.

Their service is pretty subpar at the moment but it is a new store and it's probably their first jobs, so slack is always given by me. Hopefully in the next few months they learn the system and become comfortable with it.

The only thing that really bothers me about this new place is that it does NOT have gyros. Why? It's the 1st or 2nd most ordered item at ANY place that offers beef sandwiches. Truly shocked. Get that on the menu ASAP and you might just become my go-to, once in a few months, bistro of choice.

Claws - 6/10 (would be a 7 if not for service and pricing issues) 95% of their food tastes fine and some of it is even top tier (their sides are killer). It is NOT significantly worse than the other 3 places (except their beef sandwiches..truly bland) in quality, like some reviewers might try to say.

This place is by far the worst when it comes to service. There is almost never a time I've been here and they didn't somehow screw up my order. Always something missing. If you go to claws, never leave the drive-thru until you've thoroughly checked your bag. I would say it's malicious intent at this point. You don't screw up that often unless it's on purpose, imo. Sure, they always tell you to come back next time and they'll give you the missing item (yay?!) but I'm sure they keep doing this on purpose because a lot of people just forget about the missing item and don't get the replacement the next time they swing by. Only reasonable explanation as to why their service hasn't improved in over a decade...it's free money for them.

I know I just reviewed 4 stores when it should have been 1 but I think a comparison like this is needed sometimes. Buona is on par with the other shops, offers pizza/pasta and it's in LG, saving you a trip to Elkhorn or Delevan. Great place to go overall. If they add Gyros and reduce the price a bit, it would...

Great Grand Opening / Soft Opening

Once you enter, they have small menus to pass around if there is a line. Once you reach the cashiers, they greet you and ask if you're a loyalty member. (Recommed downloading the app to start gaining points towards free food). You order go to the self-serve drinks and get your drink. You find a seat with your number. They bring your food once ready to you.

The staff is all mega friendly from start to finish, and Buona had many extra members / higher-ups there assisting the grand opening, making sure everything is going well / suggesting easier methods to the normal staff on how to do things / how things are done.

There is plenty of free parking along two sides of the restaurant. If the parking lot is full, it seems inside might not have enough seating.

The food was great. The sausage and beef were both wonderfully seasoned correctly. The Black Tea was good. I just needed a lot of ice to keep it cold. The fries were decent with the amount of salt and slight flakeness they have. Looking at others' food, they were pleased as well.

4 out of 5 for the atmosphere is due to how loud the location was with the music and people chatting loud.

Edit: Returned on 6/20/24 - Music has been turned down to a better level. Atmosphere updated to...

Food was really good as usual. I am located closer to the algonquin location but was visiting Lake Geneva and decided to stop here on our way back home! I was very disappointed with how I was treated by our “server” William. We had asked for dressing that they forgot to bring out and he practically slammed the dressing in my boyfriend’s hands and rolled his eyes. He was VERY rude to the table behind us as well. The people had asked him to wipe off the booth for them. He wiped it off and they thanked him. He proceeded to tell this woman that she should have sat at a table instead. She had an infant carrier that CLEARLY would not fit at a table. The people spoke to a manager and William basically got pulled to the back for 2 minutes and was right back serving people’s food. If you are having that bad of a day or can’t control how you talk to people, you should NOT get a job in that field. I try to be understanding if people have bad days because I have worked in retail, but what this guy said to the lady behind us was just disrespectful and disgusting honestly. Will not be returning to this location. William should be held accountable for how he was...