Last weekend, for our 5th anniversary, Todd and I planned to go out for dinner but without any sort of cravings one way or another. The destination up in the air, I remembered some discounts we received at the office for the newly opened Buca di Beppo so decided to give it a try.

Well, after first looking up the menu to make sure there were ample non-tomato sauced dishes for me to choose from (always a peril at Italian restaurants).

Thankfully, Buca di Beppo has quite an extensive menu and I had plenty of choices. Also a plus was with family-style dining, a single entree (which looks pricey on its own) easily serves 2 so even with the a la carte side dishes, dinner is quite affordable if you’re willing to eat the same as your dining partner. And if not, you’ve definitely got lunch for the next day for each of you!

We went with the sharing option, but not before starting off the evening with cocktails and appetizers.

A Mediterranean Orange for Todd

and a Lemon Basil Vojito for me.

Both were quite tasty, though Todd’s benefited from ditching the pretty layers in his drink and stirring it up to mix the melon liqueur in the bottom with the rest of his drink. Definitely smoothed it out.

For our appetizer we couldn’t–or didn’t want to–settle on just one thing, so went with the sampler platter. It worked out perfectly: Todd got the mozzarella triangles, I got the mushrooms (stuffed with a creamy cheese mixture and with a pesto cream sauce), and we split the mass of calamari.

And speaking of the calamari, it was fried but not greasy, and the breading was very light, letting the flavor of the squid come through instead of just tasting breading.

Before we’d finished our trio of appetizers our entree arrived. We’d both been intrigued by the Veal Saltimbocca (also available with chicken) that we’d seen on our at-home menu perusal and once at the restaurant we were both still leaning that way.

The veal was wrapped in prosciutto and topped with artichoke hearts and a lemon caper sauce–it was like veal met our favorite bacon-wrapped artichoke heart appetizer and there’s nothing wrong with that ideas at all!

With a side of green beans (which the waitress cautioned us was very lemony, though we didn’t have any problem with it) the dinner was more than complete, to the point that we couldn’t even contemplate dessert.

When it comes to chains, what they might lack in originality they make up for in reliability. Buca di Beppo has made a favorable impression on us with this first visit and we’re certainly open to returning.

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The discount coupon I used for this visit was through a workplace promotion. This “review” was not solicited in any way and all opinions and experiences are our own. Your mileage may vary–but you’ll never know if you don’t try it yourself 😉