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| - Wow. So much to say about the Thanksgiving 2015 experience. I realize the last time I reviewed Buca was in 2007, and my have things changed. It's a chain, I get that, more on that later.
We arrived with a reservation for 6 but added two who were not eating. That threw them through a bit of a loop but they handled it well. If it weren't for the staff being able to rework the reservation, they would have gotten 1 star.
What I remember most fondly about Buca was their garlic bread with cheese. It used to be served in this cast-iron pie dish. Not anymore. Instead, this gummy, undercooked (COLD) garlic bread arrived at the table. I guess cold is the theme for the meal. The house salad did fine but was sort of not impressive enough to distract from the cold bread. Wine was served. And drank. And drank. Because it took our food FOREVER to come. We ordered the traditional Thanksgiving meal for 10 and a large side of pasta (when in Rome).
After our meal arrived, we dug in. Turkey Breast (so SO DRY) on top of stuffing (which most folks liked) both were COLD. Mashed potatoes (those were pretty good, but cold.. If they weren't cold, I would have had seconds). Green beans (cold). We told the waitress but she was empathatic. The manager came out and offered to give us more food but because we had waited SO LONG to begin with, we dug in and didn't find it necessary to wait again for more food. Pasta dish was cold on the top and hot on the bottom.
I think a lot could improve on this visit. The restaurant wasn't packed, so there was definitely some disconnect between the kitchen and the servers. I likely will not return to Buca. The empathetic management and poor quality of food is just not worth the expense.
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