Buona — Restaurant in Schaumburg Township

STAY AWAY FROM THEIR PIZZA: PIZZA LOTTERY SOMETIMES GOOD SOMETIMES BAD: UPDATE: 2/1/25: eat pizza here a lot, after 100+ visits sometimes get a good pizza and sometimes get a bad one, changed help and get mostly bad ones, it is a different pizza every time.

3/28/23: i used to eat pizza there for years used to be good, since the past year i have ordered pizzas from this place, the crust is WAY TO THICK and SOGGY and to much cheese, i ask for extra thin crust they say in a rude way "the crust is pre-made, we cannot change the thickness" (back 2 years ago they used to make extra thin on request till now they do not do this, I HAVE BEEN EATING PIZZA OUT AT PLACES FOR 45 YEARS i know the good places and bad ones i advise from experience to STAY AWAY FROM BUONA BEEF PIZZA, I have notice lots of 5 star reviews from this place and from sales theory and what i read about reviews at least half of these 5 star reviews are fake, usually posted from employee accounts with an incentive like award points to get a $$ raise bonus etc, UPDATE 3/28/23, returned there at night and asked for a pizza with thinner crust a woman general manager took my order and insisted thinner crust and she said in a rude way that "crust pre-made no way to change it" recieved the pizza and same the crust was way to thick, dried out not worth eating i advise all to stay away from this place, poor staffing...

I absolutely love Chicago style Italian Beef sandwiches and anytime I visit the Chicagoland area I try to visit a Portillo’s. But on this trip I wanted to try other brands, so I came here based on the reviews.

I went on a weeknight and simply ordered a kid’s size Italian Beef. I simply wanted to try how they do their sandwich. Service at the register was helpful (as I had a couple questions) and friendly. The restaurant was really busy, both inside and the drive-thru and the staff was friendly. The place was clean and I have to say it was quite accommodating, like a full-service restaurant.

My kid’s size Italina beef came to my table about 10 mins after I sat down, which is reasonable, especially with their level of business. This kid’s meal came with their crinkle cut fries and I have to say, they were amazing! Crispy and tasty and piping hot too! The Italian Beef sandwich itself was perfect! The beef was tender and moist and nicely sliced. The bread was perfect. The seasoning on the meat was excellent and the au jus was equaly as great! The combo of all these items together were what I dream of from the East Coast (where we don’t have anything similar).

Overall… Everything was great! And their kid’s meal is a nice deal for those not seeking tons of food!! Their restroom was nice and clean too. Highly...

I always loved to eat at Buona Beef because their excellent food and my favored beef sandwich. Maybe not anymore! Just minutes ago I was washing my hands in the restroom after I ordered my Italian beef sandwich. I noticed someone was using toilet. By the time I was done washing my hands person with Buona beef t-shirt walked out from toilet area and left the restroom without washing his hands. I followed the person and found him behind the food boots. I asked him : are you preparing food here? He replied surprisingly : yes I do! You never washed your hands after you used a toilet. He said: I was fixing the toilet.

Questions to Buona’s:

I just wonder if food handler and toilet maintenance guy is the same person in this Buona beef location. Is this normal practice you do? Does those food handling personal go through proper hygiene and food handling classes and legibly tested to obtain food handler certificates?

If yes, please explain this incident to your loyal customers.

I rejected my food and left to go eat and spend my money...