Bugatti's Steak & Pasta — Restaurant in Saint Charles

This place is IMPRESSIVE! When walking in the host's podium, you are stepping back in time. Dark leather, heavy, classical woodwork, ambient music reminiscent of a bygone era, subdued lighting from classic styled fixtures framed art on the walls, and the SMELL...you can smell the food being created in the kitchen, herbs, spices, tomato sauce, a hint of steak. If you were slightly hungry, the smell will make you starving! We were greeted like we were the favorite regulars, even though it was our first time there, given our selection of table, and drink orders taken. We looked over the menu, and decided on the cavatelli, the veal cutlets, the salmon on risotto, and an order of steak fries. From the first bite, my wife and I were absolutely astonished at how wonderful everything was. The veal was very lightly breaded and done to perfection, tender (cut with a fork tender!) and expertly paired with arugula, seasoned as such that it was complex yet not overpowering. The salmon was flaky yet not dry (with as thick as the slab was, this is no small feat) and tasted very fresh. The risotto served under the salmon was very nice, creamy with a hint of tomato and basil, which complemented the fish. The cavatelli....oh, the cavatelli! If you stop in here for dinner, you absolutely will not go wrong with it! The only thing I can say about it is it is sublime with its cream sauce and al-dente pasta! The steak fries were not what we normally think of as steak fries. These were wedges of baked potato with chives, cheese, and a drizzle of a slightly spicy, slightly sweet sauce. The initial taste was much like a loaded baked potato until the sauce started doing its thing, making these very hard to put down. We opted to take a portion of our meal 'to go' so we could have dessert. The Amoretto cheesecake is excellent, incredible texture and taste, and plated so well it seems a shame to eat it. My wife had a chocolate mousse/cake dish (I didn't catch the name of it, unfortunately) that was a dark chocolate lover's dream, a busy, yet cohesive texture and mouth feel, and again, artistically plated. The staff were friendly and attentive, but also made sure they minimized interrupting our dining experience. I have another restaurant in the same price range that I like, just a couple miles from Bugatti's, but Bugatti's just replaced it as my...

We dined at Bugatti for my husband’s 74th birthday. He’s always liked the place and that’s where he wanted to go. We probably dine there 2 maybe 3 times a year. We live in St Charles and try to support local businesses, even if corporately owned. When entering we were greeted by a less than pleasant young woman. She added nothing to our dining experience. Bad start. I worked in the restaurant business for more than 25 years and understand how important a good hostess is. They are the first and last impression of an establishment. I assume she is only still working there because staffing is such a challenge now. Everything was saved by our terrific server, Sarah. Sarah is knowledgeable, extremely pleasant and clearly enjoys her job and cares about the guest “experience”. She made thoughtful suggestions, was attentive, personal and communicated to management our less than happy time with the hostess. I am from the school that if management doesn’t know about something that is wrong then how can you expect them to fix it. Salvatore, the general manager visited our table and engaged us in a very nice conversation and acknowledged the hostess challenge. The star of the evening was our server Sarah. Yes, the 20oz bone-in rib eye was excellent, the double bone pork chop over Gruyère mashed potatoes, delicious, the beet and burrata salad was full of flavor and texture. BUT, Sarah made the evening a true pleasure. We recommend Bugattis, the food presentation was very good, our dinner was tasty and hot. I will note that they use to have terrific bread and butter. Years passed we were served lavash crackers , Asiago or ciabatta rolls that had complex texture and a hearty flavor. They now serve a less than impressive soft yeast sweet roll. A real step backwards and disappointing. It’s so nice to have a bite or two of tasty, rustic bread and butter. Not a store bought tasting, soft, you can get it anywhere roll. But that was a minor hiccup in our evening. Our entrees were tasty, wine delicious and service excellent. We will be back but will only when Sarah is working. Bugattis, you have a gem of an employee. John...

Wife and I had our 15th wedding anniversary dinner at Bugatti's in the Ameristar Casino. It was a bit dark for my taste, but cozy and friendly.

We started with a nice cabernet. To try something new, we bought a $120 middle-of-the-price-list bottle of Faust which was quite decent. The complimentary rosemary focaccia was delicious, and my Caesar salad (with the anchovies - they asked) was perhaps the best I have had, with a delightful crisped sheet of toasted parmesan in it instead of just some shredded from a block.

The toasted ravioli they brought was tasty, if not as impressive - until I hit a massive chunk of gristle. I didn't want to ruin the evening with an excessive reaction, so I didn't bother to complain and send it back, but I didn't eat any more of that, either. I suspect they would have replaced it.

My wife's salmon was excellent.

My own $60 12oz medium filet came with a single tiny chunk of roasted tomato with garlic and some greens, as you can see un the photo. The tomato was delicious, but ridiculously small. I predicted that as a restaurant norm and had already asked for a sliced fresh beefsteak tomato, which went very well with the meal. I also got cheddar garlic mashed potatoes which were wonderful, but could not effectively get them out of the dish they came in with my fork, and ended up leaving behind more than I liked.

The filet mignon was also quite tasty, but was not medium - it was very well done, with not the slightest hint of pink. When the waitress came to ask if everything was alright I had already eaten a third of it - it was good, and I was in good spirits, but she was appalled, and took it back to the kitchen. They brought me out another, and didn't charge me for either. Note that she wasn't slow or late, I was just eating enthusiastically. The second one was perfect.

They also gave us a complimentary dessert for our anniversary. We got the tiramisu, and I reccommend...