10 Things You Should Think Twice About Ordering From Buca Di Beppo

You may have heard that Buca di Beppo has reached its rather unfortunate filing for bankruptcy era. Though several locations have closed, many remain open to serve family-style Italian feasts to folks who can't get enough of the chain's affordable pasta in their dining lives. After all, making your dining money go as far as possible may not take you all the way to Italy these days; a table at Buca could be the next best thing, provided you make the right choices.

What could possibly be a wrong choice at Buca di Beppo? Take a look at the nutritional information. On the mneu, there's an array of high-calorie, fat-laden dishes that may be the height of comfort food dining, but they plumb the depths of nutrition and physical well-being. Some of the most egregious offenders provide almost half a day's worth of sodium and sugar too, complicating your family dining matters even more. All things nutritional aside, some of these dishes just don't come to the table with the sort of Italian flair you'd expect from a restaurant where Italian cuisine is the only thing available.

Whether for the sake of your physical well-being or to ensure you make wise decisions with your discretionary dining money, take a look at a list of dishes you might want to pause and reconsider next time you're seated at the Buca di Beppo table.

Like this brand-new Italian dining adage says, if it's covered in Parmesan, it's probably not the healthiest choice on the menu. And so it goes for Chicken Parmigiana in the form that Buca di Beppo serves it. Is it a delicious dish that piles on so much Old World flavor you might end up speaking with an Italian accent? Without a doubt. But it's also a 920-calorie nutrition bomb with 59 grams of fat (13 saturated) and a spine-tingling 2,020 milligrams of sodium that sets your body on a path to sorrow, even as your taste buds dance the tarantella over the flavor.

Think you'll sneak around your internal alarm systems by ordering your chicky parm off the kids menu? Think again; this version is even worse for your physical maintenance, slather the plate with 1,110 calories. This is a nutritional mistake you can't sidestep even by splitting an order with your preferred parmigiana partner.

And as for the dining experience with Buca's take on chicken parm? It may not be as prime as you'd hope. Yelp reviewer Elle M. calls out very clearly about her visit to the restaurant that the "Chicken parmigiana was so dry," which may work on Opposite Day, but not when you're paying for presumably delicious dining. You're better off un-parming your plans and choosing something lighter and less aggressive on your internal organs, or just making your own version of chicken Parmesan instead.

Alfredo sauce is the king calorie crusher of Italian sauces, as it's a combination of butter and cheese that piles on the bad eating and gives otherwise innocent pasta like fettucine a terrible nutritional reputation. While Buca Di Beppo may do the legacy of Fettucine Alfredo justice in the flavor department, it's an injustice done to your fitness ideals that could take considerable time on the treadmill to overcome.

That's because one plate of this creamy, dreamy Alfredo eats up 710 calories of your daily caloric intake, bringing its familiar friends along to make things even more tough to swallow: 28 grams of fat — 15 of the saturated sort — and 2,300 milligrams of sodium. And how did those 7 grams of sugar sneak onto the plate? This controversial crew comes along for the ride as you down fork after fork of delicious pasta, not realizing what an error in judgment you've made until the plate is clean.

Aside from the nutritional downfall, customers have called out Buca's Alfredo sauce mistakes, a cardinal sin in the world of Italian dining. "The Alfredo tasted more like cream gravy than Alfredo," says Amazon reviewer Jennifer Williams says of her dinner at the St. Paul location. So maybe it's not as delicious as it should be. It's just another reason to just say "No no, Alfredo," and say "yes" instead to something satisfying and more likely to cooperate with your nutritional values. The further Alfredo stays from your table, the better off you'll be.

If chicken covered in parmigiana is a menu mistake, maybe Eggplant Parmigiana would be a better fit for your nutritional ethos, right? It's a logical leap to make: Eggplant is a plant, which should provide a healthful base for all those other rich toppings to sit on ... See how easy it is to use flawed logic when interpreting a Buca di Beppo menu?

Eggplant parmigiana turns out to be an even worse option than the chicken version, delivering 910 calories, 55 total grams of fat with 20 grams of saturated fat included, and a mind-blowing 2,930 milligrams of sodium. With 75 milligrams of cholesterol and 24 grams of sugar in the recipe too, every nutritional red alert of yours is likely to be raised with a single order. 

The fact that the sliced eggplant is every bit as battered and fried as the chicken is your visual cue that nothing in the parmigiana section of the menu is destined to be a stop on your path to wellness. Take a detour to more thoughtful options instead.

The tubed pasta with the pointy ends might be a decent choice if it wasn't being smothered in a sea of gooey cheese. Yes, that makes it uber-delicious, but it also turns Baked Ziti into a Buca di Beppo order you should scratch off your list of favorites if you value your physical prosperity. Even if Buca di Beppo is sure to use actual ziti pasta and never penne – that would be a rookie mistake made by home cooks who aren't well-versed in the intricacies of pasta shapes — the restaurant is setting you up for dietary disappointment with every luscious noodle on the platter.

With just an order of this eye-catching creation, you're spending 680 calories, 28 grams of fat total, with 15 (more than half!) saturated, and 80 milligrams of cholesterol out of your daily budget. By the time you realize there's also 2,290 milligrams of sodium. Blame much of it on the three cheeses and rosa sauce, a creamier version of red sauce that adds calories and fat to an already-rich dish that leaves you nutritionally impoverished.

Even if you're okay with the nutritional breakdown on the baked ziti, you may be rolling the dice with the enjoyability of your meal. Yelp reviewer Danni Z. doesn't mince words when describing her experience: "The baked ziti was noodles, light red sauce, and cheese and a toddler could make a better ziti." Wow. Surely you can use your dining dollars more wisely than this.

In for a penne, in for a pound, at least if you go by the calorie count and fat content in this rich dish. Penne Basilica proffers a pasta tossed with sauce that marries basil, pine nuts, and garlic with Parmesan and olive oil, which sounds suspiciously similar to pesto. Yet Buca di Beppo goes to the deep end of the sauce-abilities by including cream in its concoction, which does practically nothing to nutritionally elevate the broccoli florets that pepper the chicken and pasta in the bowl.

How much does this rich blend of pasta, chicken, and veggies complicate your Buca dining matters? Fire up your calculator and drop in 820 calories, 36 grams of fat (12 saturated), along with 80 milligrams of cholesterol. But wait — there's more! Be sure to add in 2,380 milligrams of sodium and 7 grams of sugar, and you will come up with a nutritional total that sends your health calculus into a tailspin. Surely there's something on the menu that equals satisfaction without so many variables mucking up the math.

What could be so nutritionally challenging about Spicy Chicken Rigatoni? Chicken is high in protein, and spicy foods are great for helping fire up your metabolism. How could Buca di Beppo list a menu item with so much potential and have it go downhill so quickly? The rosa sauce is the obvious culprit, given that it's a twist on marinara that introduces high-calorie and high-fat cream into the operation. Suddenly, a simple and otherwise less worrisome dish becomes a dining destination that should probably have you pumping the breaks.

The challenge comes in the form of 820 calories, 40 grams of fat (12 of which are saturated), 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,990 milligrams of sodium, and a rather creepy little 9 grams of sugar sprinkled somewhere in there, too. You're correct if you think the ingredients sound delicious, but after reading the numeric analysis of the hit your dietary standards will take upon ordering this meal, this head-turner of a dish becomes a head-shaker. Keep shopping for more favorable fare.

With a name like Penne San Remo, this selection from the menu sounds like it could be the height of masterful Mediterranean cuisine. It's easy to imagine enjoying your order on a white-washed patio near a sun-soaked shore, the ocean winds gently cooling your pasta and chicken served up with sundried tomatoes and artichoke hearts in a white wine cream sauce until it's the perfect temperature. But read the dietary facts on this luxurious mix and your hair may catch on fire, and in a way that no sea breeze can extinguish, real or imagined.

How much will this trip to Nutritional No-Goodsville cost you for your pasta dinner? How does 780 calories, 36 grams of fat (10 grams of which are saturated), 65 milligrams of cholesterol, 2,210 milligrams of sodium, and 10 grams of sugar strike you? Pretty pricey, no matter what your nutritional baseline might be. All told, it's going to be a bumpy ride from order to bill with all of that coming to the table. Plan your dining excursion more cautiously to experience smoother sailing and select something else off the menu.

Rigatoni can't seem to catch a break around the Buca di Beppo dining room. Baked Rigatoni sounds like looser, less formal version of lasagna, a dish you can eat with a spoon without ruining all the delicately arranged layers. The photo on the menu practically winks at you, nudging you to make a date with a plate that sounds like a lot of fun, but will only break your heart with a litany of nutritional facts that don't align with your intentional eating style.

On the nutritional tote board, you'll see the numbers roll up to 760 calories, 28 grams of fat with 12 grams saturated, 75 milligrams of cholesterol, and a shocking 2,760 milligrams of sodium, plus 13 grams of sugar that just seem unnecessary. The rigatoni itself may be moderately innocent, but the Italian sausage and meat sauce surely complicate matters — and that's before the mozzarella, Parmesan, and ricotta get their greasy fingerprints all over the recipe card. It's like the game is rigged against rigatoni, a sure sign you should step away before sorrow ensues.

Now here's where the nutritional missteps start to make more sense: the dessert menu! With its lush layers of mascarpone and ladyfinger cakes soaked in coffee and sprinkled with cocoa powder, Tiramisu is both eye candy and a delicious dish that ends an Italian meal in perfectly sweet style. It's such a phenomenal take on the traditional template, there's even a copycat Buca di Beppo tiramisu recipe that lets you recreate the experience at home, saving you gas or Door Dash money while bringing the dicey nutrition decisions directly to your door.

This sinfully indulgent dessert can set you back nutritionally more than an entire meal. With 830 calories, 55 grams of fat that include 29 grams saturated, 140 milligrams of cholesterol, and 54 grams of sugar, you'll have almost consumed a day's worth of the most troubling elements on the menu. Even if you think you have room for this dastardly treat in your stomach, you certainly don't have room for it in your diet, no matter what your health plans entail.

Beyond just the super-decadent nutritional misstep here, Yelp reviewer Cecily C. declares, "The tiramisu was not good at all; It was too thick," while Grub Hub reviewer Jill proclaims that they "Ordered Tiramisu for a birthday celebration. It was dry and tasteless." Yikes. Exercise heroic restraint, ask for the check, and head for the door before you make a dessert mistake that you're likely to regret.

Not many menu items at Buca top out at over 1,000 calories, but the Colossal Brownie Sundae sure does. It's not an all-the-time option, but when it appears from the mist for the special occasions it's designed for, it brings with it a whopping 1,200 calories. There's no mystery regarding why; the dish comes laden with six scoops of creamy chocolate and vanilla ice cream studded with six chunks of brownie, soaked in caramel and chocolate sauce and topped with whipped cream and a cherry. Beyond the unbelievable calorie count, a construction like this also delivers 54 grams of fat, 26 of which are saturated, 110 milligrams of cholesterol, and a ridiculous 133 grams of sugar. You don't need to be a careful eater to recognize that this is a lot ... as in, a lot, a lot.

Anyone who can't resist the siren call of this ridiculously over-the-top dessert should bring a bank of friends to dig their spoons in as well. It's the only way you can hope to defray the out-of-bounds intake of so many nutritionally taxing elements that should be consumed in moderation. This is one sweet dish that isn't playing around and neither should you. If you happen to be riding solo on the dessert train, know your limitations and go for a more modest treat.

Buca di Beppo's menu makes it relatively easy to zero in on the second-guess options, thanks to an array of rich sauces, loads of cheese, and layers of heavy ingredients. Despite the delicious temptations, the handy nutritional facts provided by the restaurant are available to confirm any suspicions patrons may have. In other words, the setback their health might encounter if they make less-than-advisable choices is very clear. Though the dishes on this list are the biggies, it's smart to check through the rest of the menu to see what your favorite plate offers before your next visit.

We searched for items with the highest calorie count and found that they also tended to carry higher concentrations of fat, sugar, sodium, and cholesterol. We took a look at the dessert menu too, hoping to give perspective on the "ready for dessert?" factor. After making mindful choices for dinner, it would be a shame to undo all the will power with a sweet dish that's much less favorable than your entree.

We also scouted out customer opinions to see if public weigh-ins might lend insight into the quality of Buca's dishes. It turns out there are many diners who are willing to share their not-so-favorable remarks when their orders turned out to be disappointing. Thank goodness for the internet and its unending supply of hot takes and firm opinions.