Buona — Restaurant in Palos Township

So for the price that these fast food restaurants take, like most suburban Chicago dining, delivers subpar food and dining experience. My bill was about $15. The meatballs were cold, small(from a frozen bag now?)ok, lukewarm, very skimpy on the marinara sauce, the bread was the only thing fresh(of course, cheap carbs, asked for butter, it was a stale shortening blend), the side salad was totally, totally gross! Drenched in this thick, very acidic, grocery store quality vinaigrette(clear, thick salad dressing? Gross!), which I returned for a salad with no dressing, which had a ton of rock hard croutons! Generally their beverage choices are good, and the teas are not spoiled. The one no-cal beverage at the soda fountain, I could tell needed the tubing lines disinfected as the typical mold taste was coming through (common at Taco Bell :p). The dining room had a large, loud group (Orland is a very diverse city) doing a birthday, late, and the kids were running around the restaurant unattended, irritating to the other diners, the staff doesn't do anything about it. The temperature of the dining area was cold, and had to keep a coat on for dining. I just wish I planned travel better, had own food with me so wouldn't be out this $15 on a poor...

Since my last review of BB, things have gone SIDEWAYS.

Today, for the 1st time in 6 months I had lunch. GF flatbread Italian Beef meal. In the past they would warm the flatbread on the grill to soften it. Today, it was right out of the package. My beef was more like 2 pieces of crumbly flatbread w beef in the middle, but they still charged me $1.49 for the GF bread.

I try to minimize drinking soda. Frequently I get unsweetened tea and add a couple packets of sugar. Today, like my last 4-5 visits, they did not have sugar. Only artifical sweetners. When I previously asked for sugar, the server was very unapologetic telling me they don't have sugar; they STILL DON'T have sugar.

Today's experience doesn't want me to rush back. I may schedule my next visit for 12 months to give them time to restore things to their original luster.

BELOW IS MY 5 STAR REVIEW FROM A FEW YEARS AGO. If your Gluten Free, here's YOUR OASIS! Buona is the real deal started and run by a real Italian family. I found out I needed to be Gluten Free a few years ago. I was really missing Italian Beef Sandwiches until I discovered Buona has Gluten Free bread. Now, the Beefs taste Great and are Gluten Free, which is a VERY BIG...

The prices are ridiculous and the value non-existent. No more pizza for kids, all meat-heavy options for kids which is not okay. Gluten-free pizza is same price as regular pizza but literally 1/4 the size. No more soup/salad combo and all salads have meat—kind of defeats the purpose of a healthy salad! The soups are no longer a gluten free option where pasta optional. Buona used to be an awesome stop with something for everyone in our large family, inclusive of food allergies. No longer! We used to eat here 3 times/week, now maybe once every 6 months for one family member. After paying $25 for 3-pita sized pizzas alone, for 3 kids—no drinks or fries included—“pizzas” that were so small they were surfing in the pizza boxes comically—we’ve officially written this restaurant off. Tiny pizzas drowning in way too much sauce to the point they were not edible. My kids hated it for the first time ever. Why change are impose restrictions to the point of...