Husband and I were invited to Buca di Beppo in St. Paul to try out their menu and learn more about the history of their company and the history of that location’s building…including some ghost stories 👻.*

Buca di Beppo is a national chain that actually started in a basement in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their humble beginnings were actually the inspiration behind the name, with Buca di Beppo translating roughly to “Joe’s small place,” in Italian.

*I do want to add a disclaimer that while I was gifted a dinner experience, my review and thoughts are my own.

See pictures of everything we tried below.

I should start this review by explaining that Buca di Beppo is family style dishes so their portions are quite large. They offer small and large portions in most, with the small feeding 2-3 people and the large feeding 5.

Their menu breaks down their “bucanomics,” which I wanted to share in the photo below, because I thought it was a pretty clever illustration for those trying to understand their total cost.

Appetizers:

Buca Trio Platter: Fried Calamari, Fried Mozzarella & Spicy Shrimp

This trio is only offered in the one size. As it was just my husband and I, this was a lot of food. This would be a good size appetizer, in my opinion, for a family of 5-6.

Spicy Shrimp

This dish was my least favorite, but only because I don’t love shrimp. Husband, on the other hand, couldn’t get enough. He especially loved the sauce that came with the appetizers.

Fried Calamari

I love calamari, but only if it is cooked right. For me, a too mushy calarmi feels like I’m eating rubber bands…gross. This one was cooked to perfect crispiness.

Fried Mozzarella

This appetizer was obviously my favorite, because who doesn’t love fried cheese?! I felt like this was also a great portion size for a family.

Mozzarella Garlic Bread: Mozzarella cheese melted on top of our Italian loaf brushed with garlic-infused olive oil, Parmesan cheese & poached garlic

The cheese bread also only comes in one size, which as you can see is a large portion. Again, this is a great family sized portion.

Main Course:

For our main course we decided to get a main pasta dish and also one of the shareable sides.

Brussels Sprouts & Prosciutto

I kid you not that the Brussels Sprouts & Prosciutto was my favorite dish of the meal which is saying a LOT, because I LOVE Italian.

It was perfectly crispy and the added prosciutto really made it something special.

Spaghetti with Meatballs : Half-pound meatballs with our homemade marinara sauce, served on a bed of spaghetti

Our server, Adam, shared that Buca di Beppo is known for their giant meatballs, so that was an obvious must-try for me. We got the small portion and quite honestly barely made a dent with the two of us. These meatballs are absolutely huge! Luckily for us, this made great leftovers.

Dessert:

I must admit that I was very full, but when we were presented with this flight of cakes, I obviously had to find room and try a bite of each while they were fresh 😉.

This cake flight isn’t on the menu, but I’ve been reassured you can request it!

Double Dark Chocolate Cake

Everything you’d imagine looking at this cake was so true. Chocolatey perfection. This is one of the cakes I didn’t see listed on the menu, so don’t hesitate to ask if it is available!

Tiramisu: Homemade ladyfingers soaked in dark rum & espresso, layered with sweetened mascarpone cheese & topped with cocoa & crumbled hazelnut biscotti

I love espresso anything so Tiramisu is, naturally, my favorite dessert. Yum.

Italian Crème Cake: Three layers of rich lemon cake & mascarpone cheese filling, served in a pool of raspberry sauce & topped with whipped cream

l don’t normally like lemon cake, but it was really well-balanced here when eaten with all components.

Homemade Cheesecake

This cheesecake had a fun flavor with the pistachios. This was the second cake not listed on the menu so ask for it!

Drinks:

Red Sangria: Nostro Vino Rosso & brandy mixed with orange juice, simple syrup & fresh orange & lime slices

I highly recommend trying a sangria. I always find them to be refreshing and with so much heavy food, they’re a good apertif.

I do have plans to try their Espresso Martini when I go next. For those who have been around a while you’re actually probably baffled that I didn’t order it since they are, quite literally, my first love when it comes to cocktails, but I was already getting a delightful coffee flavor with my tiramisu and was SO full that it was simply just too much for my stomach to handle.

Atmosphere/Service:

Their space is so much fun. There is something quirky and colorful everywhere you turn. We were able to meet the Divisional Vice President, Frank Beaton, who filled us in on the history of the building, which was a speakeasy during the prohibition and the basement has boarded up tunnels that connect to the river and were used for smuggling 🤯. Such an amazing history!

We also had a little after dinner storytime with our server, Adam, who was telling us that every now and again something will happen like a random object dropping, a barstool being flipped over in the morning, or unexplainable noises that he believes to be from some of the spirits and energy left behind…to clarify – these are non-menacing spirits out to do no harm!

This was truly such a great experience. Thank you to Frank, Adam and the rest of the team for taking such great care of us. If you act now, they do actually also have a gift card promo happening until 12/31 where you get $10 for every $50 you spend.

Buca di Beppo
2728 Gannon Road
Saint Paul, MN 55116
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