Buca D’Oro

Arrived in Philly last night and craved good Italian food. Our hotel recommended this restaurant, and after reading a few reviews, I was apprehensive. I am glad that my husband and I gave this place a shot. It may not be terribly fancy, like some comments I read, but the food is what matters. We both ate the Penne Bella for dinner, and the red cream sauce was delightful. Prior to the meal, they served brucheta, which was nice. For desert, we enjoyed their lemon chello cake, very yummy. I am a picky Italian food eater, and this place was a nice surprise and hit my hungry for Italian spot.

My bf and I had dinner here for Valentine's Day and had an okay experience. The restaurant is very big inside with plenty of seating and bar seating. It was a very cute spot.We had 3-4 waiter/waitresses so it was a bit confusing. We had one person introduce himself and pour us water, another person introduce himself and took our drink order and brought it to the table, another person take our food order, and a different lady who handled desserts. We ordered the grilled octopus, tomato basil fettuccini, baramundi and tiramisu.The grilled octopus and baramundi were both excellent. I wouldn't change a single thing and would highly recommend ordering it. Very flavorful, tender and delicious!There were only 2 fettuccini dishes on the vday menu and my bf ordered the one that was packed with seafood. He received the vegetarian pasta. We eventually got the attention of one of our many waiters and he apologized for giving us the wrong dish. He offered to get the right one, but mentioned it would take some time because the restaurant was getting busy. We decided to just stick with it. Delicious pasta but went from seafood filled pasta to straight vegetarian.Dessert came and we ordered the tiramisu which was just okay. We did not receive a small discount for the pasta confusion or anything, but overall the food was all good. Out of everything, I would recommend the octopus and my delicious baramundi!

Fresh food cooked perfectly! We walked right in on a Friday evening, and were well taken care of.

Buca has a very nice design on the inside and feels very romantic. We came here for restaurant week for lunch and left a bit disappointed. The lunch menu was just salads and soup with a selection of one entree out of a list of three. I really wish they had mixed it up a bit more and given us more variety, especially considering that many of the entrees were less than $20. The soup and the main entree had a reheated sort of taste. As if they reheated frozen food and threw some sauce on it to spice it up. The service was quite inattentive and brought us no water until we asked after being seated for almost 10 minutes. I would not come back to be quite honest. I am not a picky eater, but I found myself not really wanting to continue eating my meal, or even try my friends

Have you ever been to a restaurant before and momentarily forget what city you're in? Well that's what happened to me multiple times eating at Buca D'Oro - I felt like I was eating at an Italian restaurant in Italy. The ambiance really makes you feel like you're not in Philly and it felt great.I came here for 1 during restaurant week and was truly able to just take in the wonderful experience of eating here.Before I even got my 1st course, I was given bruschetta which was refreshing and bread with olive oil that was good. Then every single thing I ordered tasted just so authentically Italian - Burrata, Salmone Alla Fagiolini, and the Chocolate Mousse Cake. There was a lot of food, but it didn't leave me disgustingly full either!I also ordered the Manhattan, the speciality cocktail on their restaurant week menu which was good as well.This may be my new favorite restaurant in Philly. I look forward to coming back in the near future!

Really cool spot off Washington Square. Tucked away to the side, you walk down steps to get in and are greeted by beautiful murals and a surprisingly large space. The service was good and food was better - we had an appetizer and two pasta dishes and really enjoyed everything. Really recommend the squid ink pasta special!!

While visiting in Philly I had the pleasure of dining here. First and foremost the ambiance was great. The bartender name Dustin was awesome and very personable. The food was amazing. I kept saying I wanted a great meal from somewhere and this restaurant did not disappoint. Everything is authentic and fresh just delicious. All in all a ten. We messed up on the parking because they do offer discounted parking. However we parked in the wrong lot. I explained and was given $10 back. I appreciated that. Everyone there seem to be have a great time, I will definitely be back soon.

I've been here twice and I have to tell you the chef here is the best ! I've come with parties of 5 and a party of three and we all share and everything we ordered both times was excellent! Love this place!

the gnocchi's where pretty good in the blush sauce. It was creamy and filling. The service was very nice and fast also. The ambiance is painted walls with authentic Italian murals.

Food: 6.5/10Decor: 8.3/10Service: 8.5/10Bang for your buck: 6.9/10Entrance/ambiance was beautiful - feels like an upscale restaurant. However, food is not on par. To some degree lacking in taste. Small things can go long way- serve your bread warm, not cold. Line your margarita glass with salt/sugar, etc. Overall, it was a miss for me.