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When asked if I wanted to accept an invitation to bring the family to Buca di Beppo for a meal, I did not hesitate to accept. It has been a while since I've dine at Buca .. in fact it may have been one of the last meals I had at a restaurant before the twins arrived, which was over 9 years ago. Gulp!
The interior of the restaurant hasn't changed much - it still has a lot of vintage artwork, photographs (some risqué), red and white checkered tablecloths, and lively music. My sons loved the music here!
We were led by manager Alex to the Wine Room - if you look upwards, you'll see why it's called the wine room!
The ceiling is decorated with bottles of various wines and grape vines - how cool is that!
After much deliberation over the menu (there are SO MANY CHOICES!), we placed our order and our appetizers arrived sooner than expected.
Each menu item is meant to shared. I forgot how big the portions are!
The boys requested the Mozzarella garlic bread - mozzarella cheese melted on top of an Italian loaf brushed with garlic-infused olive oil, Parmesan cheese & poached garlic. We had to take this away from the boys because they kept eating it and we were afraid they wouldn't have room for their entrées.
The hubby and I really enjoyed the bruschetta - Roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, red onions, basil-infused olive oil & balsamic vinegar, served with Parmesan crostini. The tomato mixture can be enjoyed with the crostini, and without it (if you omit the crostini, it's gluten-free!). This was a huge serving and we ended up taking half of it home.
If there is fried calamari on the menu, I will always order it, and today was no exception. It came with a tasty breading which was slightly spicy, and the spicy marinara sauce made this dish even more spicy!
The boys each ordered off the Kid's Menu - for $7.99, kids get a drink (milk, soda, juice, water, or sparkling water) and and choice of entree. One son ordered the Cheese Pizza....
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the other ordered the Macaroni & Cheese. Even the portions for the kids meals is pretty big! Both boys gave their meals two thumbs up!
For their drinks, they ordered the Sprunch (Sprite and Fruit Punch) and a Shirley Temple. Our server had suggested it to our son, and he agreed to try it, and ended up loving it! I don't know if there is an upcharge for a Shirley Temple - you may want to inquire with your server.
For our entrée, the hubby and I shared the Lasagna, since were both craving it!
This is the "small" serving, which is intended to serve three, but I really think it could easily serve 4, especially if you order appetizers or sides. The lasagna was AMAZING - it was very traditional, which is what I loved about it. We took half of it home, and as with most pasta dishes, it tasted even better the next day.
Although we were all really full from our meal, we had to get dessert!! The Italian Creme Cake had all of my favorite in it - lemon cake, mascarpone cheese filling, raspberry sauce, and whipped cream. The boys went straight for the whipped cream, which they always do. I mopped up whatever was leftover - I loved this cake and am still thinking about how much I enjoyed it! The cake was moist!
For more information on Buca di Beppo in Honolulu, click here.
BUCA DI BEPPO
1030 Auahi St (Ward Village)
808-591-0800
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