Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in San Diego

So today was supposed to be a happy day my parents drove down so we could go celebrate my mom’s birthday. I had given my mom a few options on where we could go eat and she decided on Buka De Beppo in Miramar. it should be noted that I’ve only ever been to there Hawaii location and this was my first visit to the Miramar location but from past experience I thought it would be fun. Arriving we were greeted by the hosts where I informed her that it was my mom's birthday, she handed me some chalk and asked me to write her name on a sign that said birthday today. We were then showed to our table and given our menus. After a few minutes of looking over the menu we knew what we wanted so I ordered for the table after the waitress took our drink orders. I ordered a small shrimp Florentine, a small fettucine alfredo added chicken, a small Cesar salad, and a small order of mozzarella garlic bread. All of this for a party of five. After a few minutes we received our bread and salad and soon after the alfredo so some of us began eating after a while my mom asks me about the pasta that she was patiently waiting for I had assumed it just took longer than the rest of the food but decided to ask the waitress after I asked her about the shrimp Florentine her response was that I had not ordered that paste I looked at her and told her that it was the first thing I ordered she then huffed and said well I can put it in now if you want it, annoyed I said yes please. I tried to brush this off and have a good time but after we were done eating and she brought the check over I said to her if I may ask a question she responded you have a coupon I replied yes I do her response was “I thought you would.” In that split second I wanted to say so many things because I felt beyond disrespected but seeing as I wasn't alone, I kept my composure showed her my coupon she wrote the number down and walked away. She then walked back stating she needed to see my phone again because the coupon wasn't working, mind you, I received the coupon in an email from buca de beppo and it doesn't expire until the 31 of January. at this point I am livid once she brought the bill back and we paid I walked downstairs and asked for the manager. I explained the situation and he was very apologetic and gave my mom a piece of birthday cake but the damage was done I don't think I’ve ever felt so disrespected like me using a coupon that was sent to me from the restaurant to save some money was in some way looked down upon. What was it about my family and I that made this waitress make such a rude comment? Was it that fact that we are a Mexican family and my parents were speaking Spanish with my aunt or was it that fact that we are also a military family my husband being USN regardless of the reason no one should ever speak to anybody in that way especially a customer I didn't come to your restaurant to see what you think of me or if you want to judge me on me using a coupon. I can honestly say that I will never be returning to this restaurant and will tell my friends and family about my experience in hopes that they will avoid the...

I say 3 stars, but after today I will NOT be returning to this location. I have had many happy meals here and other locations over the years, the food and service were consistently good - sometimes excellent, sometimes less so, always fine enough. They have a very nice handicap spot as far as handicap spots go, which might mislead a person into thinking they are universally welcoming and thoughtful in regards to those mobility is less-than-agile. Today my children and I brought my 89-year-old friend for an early dinner, having brought her to lunch here multiple times in the past. As we held the door and she came through with her walker, she asked the hostess if she goes “that way” into the downstairs dining area we usually go to and the hostess snapped at her. Thinking it was a minor miscommunication I explained that she always asks to sit downstairs because she has a hard time walking. They said ok, she asked the reservation name, I said we were just walking in so had none, she snapped at me this time, I thought smiling would salvage the situation but I was wrong. After a few minutes waiting they informed us that our table was ready and they put us upstairs after all but we can take the elevator - no reassurance for my friend who was obviously anxious about the walk. Her face falls and she says, “oh, you didn’t have something downstairs? Nothing would work there?” And the woman snaps at my friend again and repeated that they put us upstairs. My friend nixed my offer to go somewhere else because she didn’t want to be a bother and had made it that far, and I mentioned that they should have just told us from the beginning that we couldn’t sit downstairs, or whenever they decided, instead of after we waited. The nice young lady who actually seated us apologized at that and I told her she wasn’t the one being rude to my friend there, she had no reason to apologize. She was very nice, our waiter, Michael, was nice (as he always has been), but we still won’t come back to give our money to this place. Seriously - who snaps at a senior citizen unprovoked like that multiple times?! Shameful treatment of any stranger, let alone an 89-year-old woman. So three stars, up from nothing because of good past...

I had a gift card for Buca di Beppo, and was looking forward to their delicious chicken parmigiana.

I learned to my chagrin that dinner is served "family style", meaning that each entree is sized for 2 - 3 people (small) or 5 (large). While this may be great for large groups, it doesn't seem ideal for a couple.

My dearest wanted a salad, and as I said I wanted the chicken parmigiana. Oh, and I wanted something to go with the chicken, like maybe a side of spaghetti. Oops, there's no side of spaghetti on the menu -- that means I have to order a third entree!

So, in order for each of us to get what we wanted, we would have had to order enough food to serve NINE PEOPLE. That seems absurd to me.

We compromised and shared a plate of lasagna, which I'm happy to say was very good (worth a star to me). We also ordered the Italian Broccoli Romano, which seemed a bit over-seasoned to me; but I don't tolerate spicy foods very well, so it might be just right for you.

The service, in spite of my rant to our waiter about the absurdity of the "family style" menu, was excellent (another star). The manager was kind enough to take pity on us, and comped the lasagna (yet another star).

(The waiter and the manager both suggested that we could bring the extra food home, but that wasn't an option because we had other stops to make, and wouldn't be home for several hours after dinner. Also, a salad with dressing on it doesn't travel or keep well, does it?)

The quality of a restaurant's food is very important, but it's also important that the menu caters to the customers. It appears that Buca di Beppo has chosen to favor large parties, and is not an especially good choice for an intimate dinner for two.

We will try having lunch at Buca di Beppo sometime soon, maybe after a bike ride around Miramar Lake. The lunch menu isn't "family style", so I'm hopeful that we can each have...