By the Bucket — Restaurant in Mesa

Update:

I am writing this update to let you know that I received amazing customer service from the owner. He replied to me directly and explained the situation. This family ran location truly cares about their customers and their experience

Prior Review: When this place first opened in Summer of 2022 I was interested to find a restaurant that was quick but not fast food. So we gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised. It quickly became one of our bi-weekly go to, especially on Monday when they have the meatball special. However, this last time I ordered in which was today January 30th 2023, It missed the mark so badly I don't know if I will ever return.

There was barely any sauce on my 10 meatballs or on my family bucket. My half loaf of garlic bread didn't seem to have any butter and was so dry I thought I'd have to perform the heimlich on my kid when he started to choke on it. Same thing with my full loaf of cheesy bread. The meatballs were missing that buttery garlicky flavor that makes them phenomenal and they just tasted like balled hunks of meat. However, their consistency and lightness is still there.

The pricing's gone a little wacky too, normally I would upgrade to a full loaf of cheesy bread with the family bucket for about $4. This time I showed up it was $8 which is only $1 cheaper than the full loaf itself. So I asked to pay the $1 difference to get my half loaf that would have came with my bucket so as to pay the $9 outright for the cheesy bread. They agreed but I didn't have cash so they were kind enough to just wave it off my credit card. Yet it still doesn't make up for the poor quality of food that I received, especially when it was close to $47.00 for a pound of spaghetti, 20oz of hamburger meat, and a loaf and a...

By The Bucket in Mesa off of Lindsey quickly became one of my favorite places to eat of all time. All my co-workers told me what a great experience it was so I tried it and became a regular.

This is family owned small business that are always super polite, friendly, and courteous. Gary, the owner, is a complete gentleman and runs the business well. His daughters work there, also super friendly, as well as Brandon, a truly nice guy. They also help out local schools with fundraisers which is great.

It's time to talk about the food, the real reason of this review. Absolutely delicious and second to none. Spaghetti cooked to perfection with an exceptional marinara sauce that surpasses Olive Garden and Buca Di Beppo. It's super affordable compared to those places as well. A mere $10 will get you a large helping of spaghetti, garlic bread, and a delicious meatball, all of which fill you up.

Speaking of meatballs, they have a fantastic meatball sub sandwich. However, they have a secret menu item. Ask for your meatball sub "Minnesota" style. The concept came from a Minnesota guy, which I respect being formally from Minnesota. This style of sub has meatballs, marinara, then spaghetti noodles on top, then melted cheese on top. Talk about filling and purely amazing.

They also have fantastic Italian sausage and totally sweet desserts that are the perfect complement to any meal. The Tiramasu is top notch.

Buy The Bucket gets the highest recommendation I can give out of any review I have ever written. This place is superb. Check out my plctures of my food experiences there and check the place out. You'll...

Have you ever been sitting on your couch watching another episode of Real Housewives and had the sudden urge to eat an absurd amount of spaghetti out of a bucket? No? Well…me neither…but then I discovered By the Bucket, and now my life is divided into two parts: BB (Before Bucket) and AB (After Bucket).

I walked in out of curiosity and walked out with a pound and a half pail of pasta like I was training for a carb-loading marathon. I don’t know what kind of magic they put in their sauce, but I would legally adopt it if I could.

The meatballs? So big and tender I had to name them. (RIP Meatball Larry—you were delicious.)

I brought it home thinking I’d portion it out over the week. Cut to 45 minutes later: I’m covered in marinara, half-asleep on the couch, and muttering “Mama mia” like I just blacked out in Little Italy.

Would I do it again? Already did. Twice. My neighbors think I’m running an underground Italian restaurant now. 10/10 would bucket again.

In all seriousness this was a great first experience. Ezra was extremely friendly, and seemed genuinely happy to be there. The food was great and the environment gave off a relaxed mom & pop vibe. I...