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Buca di Beppo, America’s Most Postmodern Red Sauce Chain

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Re: Buca di Beppo, America’s Most Postmodern Red Sauce Chain

#21

Post by strictnein »

joshmn wrote: post #11

Fun fact! Philip Roberts, who started Buca, sold it and started what is now one of the best steakhouses[0] in the country. It's the cash cow (no pun intended) for the other restaurants in his restaurant group Parasole, and is easily the highest-grossing restaurant in Minnesota. They're "sperm-to-table" and a treat to dine with. I'm there too often. [0] https://www.mensjournal.com/food-drink/10-best-steakhouses-i...

Manny's is great, but in Minneapolis I'd honestly rather go to P.S. Steak or Burch Restaurant if I'm in the mood for a good steak. It may be just me though, as I don't enjoy the traditional steakhouse experience.

Re: Buca di Beppo, America’s Most Postmodern Red Sauce Chain

#22

Post by giardini »

bpolverini wrote: post #15

As an Italian-American, this explains why every time I go to a Buca di Beppo, I feel like I'm in some kind of merger between a mediocre Italian restaurant and a minstrel show. To those of us who grew up in this culture, it's ridiculous (almost bordering on offensive). Thankfully, I grew up in communities where the Italian's could proudly go to other restaurants that were more respectful of a 3,000 year old culture. I…

tpolverini says>"Some of us are just computer scientists who like basil."

Well, you can open a restaurant named "Computer Scientists Who Like Basil" but I ain't gonna be one of your customers until I see lines queuing up!8-)

tpolverini says>"respectful"? "bordering on offensive"? "proud"? "it's tough to feel proud of the movie The Godfather", "I grew up in communities where the Italians could proudly go to other restaurants that were more respectful of a 3,000 year old culture."

Heck, that's nuthin'! I grew up in communities where you could proudly go to restaurants serving food that _was_ 3,000 years old, judging by the taste! I'll take Italian-American any day!

Jeez! Lighten up a little bit! The economy runs on entertainment. And if we can't laugh at each other and at ourselves then we're lost. That's the original and cheapest entertainment.

[Later: Hey! Hey! Why the downvote? You guys got no sense of humor? C'mon, help me out here, I'm dyin'!]

Re: Buca di Beppo, America’s Most Postmodern Red Sauce Chain

#23

Post by brandonmenc »

bpolverini wrote: post #15

As an Italian-American, this explains why every time I go to a Buca di Beppo, I feel like I'm in some kind of merger between a mediocre Italian restaurant and a minstrel show. To those of us who grew up in this culture, it's ridiculous (almost bordering on offensive). Thankfully, I grew up in communities where the Italian's could proudly go to other restaurants that were more respectful of a 3,000 year old culture. I…

> To those of us who grew up in this culture, it's ridiculous (almost bordering on offensive).

Both of my parents are half Italian-American, and that's the tradition in which I was raised.

My relatives who actually came off the boat loved Buca di Beppo. And Olive Garden, etc. (Of course we all know it's not as good as home cooking, but who cares when you just want something fast.)

Honestly, Italian-Americans have no one to blame but ourselves for exalting gangster culture and caricatures. We love that stuff.

Re: Buca di Beppo, America’s Most Postmodern Red Sauce Chain

#24

Post by mwfunk »

kevinmchugh wrote: post #5
apo wrote: post #2

> Roberts saw an opportunity not just to re-create those bygone red sauce joints, but to present the most exaggerated, over-the-top version of them, to create an environment where people could feel totally comfortable—as he describes it, "... I wanted a restaurant people could look down on.” > > He wanted the decor to be tacky, the portions to be enormous, the atmosphere to be boisterous. He figured it didn’t matter…

It arose organically before the restaurants adopted it, but Taco Bell and White Castle have both embraced their reputations as food for the chemically impaired. Almost every time* I've heard someone talk about either restaurant, they have a glee as if sliders or a gordita crunch are a form of debauchery. *the exception is vegetarians who have a lot of completely earnest love for the bean burrito.

Junk food is absolutely a form of debauchery, or at least can be a guilty pleasure.

Re: Buca di Beppo, America’s Most Postmodern Red Sauce Chain

#25

Post by giardini »

joshmn wrote: post #11

Fun fact! Philip Roberts, who started Buca, sold it and started what is now one of the best steakhouses[0] in the country. It's the cash cow (no pun intended) for the other restaurants in his restaurant group Parasole, and is easily the highest-grossing restaurant in Minnesota. They're "sperm-to-table" and a treat to dine with. I'm there too often. [0] https://www.mensjournal.com/food-drink/10-best-steakhouses-i...

joshmn says> "They're "sperm-to-table" and a treat to dine with. "

May be, but lost my appetite with that "sperm-to-table" thing there!8-)) Not quite the same as caviar!

Re: Buca di Beppo, America’s Most Postmodern Red Sauce Chain

#26

Post by dragonwriter »

cowmoo728 wrote: post #4
apo wrote: post #2

> Roberts saw an opportunity not just to re-create those bygone red sauce joints, but to present the most exaggerated, over-the-top version of them, to create an environment where people could feel totally comfortable—as he describes it, "... I wanted a restaurant people could look down on.” > > He wanted the decor to be tacky, the portions to be enormous, the atmosphere to be boisterous. He figured it didn’t matter…

Cheesecake Factory? They're famous for having terrible decor, service, and food, yet somehow being an essential part of the American high school prom experience. https://www.barstoolsports.com/barstoolu/dude-goes-viral-for...

> Cheesecake Factory? They're famous for having terrible decor, service, and food,

I've always found CF to have decent service and good (but not outstanding) food, a ludicrously long menu being the main negative, plus the fact that it's always ludicrously crowded because they underprice for their appeal.

The decor is gaudy, but not what I would describe as terrible (or even unpleasant, just incongruous.)

Re: Buca di Beppo, America’s Most Postmodern Red Sauce Chain

#27

Post by dwighttk »

_red wrote: post #10
apo wrote: post #2

> Roberts saw an opportunity not just to re-create those bygone red sauce joints, but to present the most exaggerated, over-the-top version of them, to create an environment where people could feel totally comfortable—as he describes it, "... I wanted a restaurant people could look down on.” > > He wanted the decor to be tacky, the portions to be enormous, the atmosphere to be boisterous. He figured it didn’t matter…

I don't think its mean spirited. "Dive bars" have always been popular. A friend of mine in college opened a dive bar, which quickly became very very popular. This was the type of place where you could smell the ammonia from the urinal when you walked in the door. Spending more than an hour in there, and you left smelling like cigarette smoke and stale beer. When opening his 2nd bar, he made the rookie mistake of "try…

everything in your description of a dive from "smell the ammonia", to "cigarette smoke and stale beer" to "spill your beer...so what" makes me feel uncomfortable.

Re: Buca di Beppo, America’s Most Postmodern Red Sauce Chain

#28

Post by mwfunk »

bpolverini wrote: post #15

As an Italian-American, this explains why every time I go to a Buca di Beppo, I feel like I'm in some kind of merger between a mediocre Italian restaurant and a minstrel show. To those of us who grew up in this culture, it's ridiculous (almost bordering on offensive). Thankfully, I grew up in communities where the Italian's could proudly go to other restaurants that were more respectful of a 3,000 year old culture. I…

I could almost tolerate it, might even enjoy it sometimes, but eating there is just excruciating to me. For some reason they all seem to be optimized for loudness. Buca di Beppo really wants you to feel like you’re always surrounded by huge groups of people having comically loud conversations, but that’s one of the last things I want from a restaurant, or any public place really.

Re: Buca di Beppo, America’s Most Postmodern Red Sauce Chain

#29

Post by brandonmenc »

mwfunk wrote: post #28
bpolverini wrote: post #15

As an Italian-American, this explains why every time I go to a Buca di Beppo, I feel like I'm in some kind of merger between a mediocre Italian restaurant and a minstrel show. To those of us who grew up in this culture, it's ridiculous (almost bordering on offensive). Thankfully, I grew up in communities where the Italian's could proudly go to other restaurants that were more respectful of a 3,000 year old culture. I…

I could almost tolerate it, might even enjoy it sometimes, but eating there is just excruciating to me. For some reason they all seem to be optimized for loudness. Buca di Beppo really wants you to feel like you’re always surrounded by huge groups of people having comically loud conversations, but that’s one of the last things I want from a restaurant, or any public place really.

> Buca di Beppo really wants you to feel like you’re always surrounded by huge groups of people having comically loud conversations

Welcome to an Italian-American kitchen at dinner time. I think this is what they're aiming for.

Re: Buca di Beppo, America’s Most Postmodern Red Sauce Chain

#30

Post by southphillyman »

saikit wrote: post #12
apo wrote: post #2

> Roberts saw an opportunity not just to re-create those bygone red sauce joints, but to present the most exaggerated, over-the-top version of them, to create an environment where people could feel totally comfortable—as he describes it, "... I wanted a restaurant people could look down on.” > > He wanted the decor to be tacky, the portions to be enormous, the atmosphere to be boisterous. He figured it didn’t matter…

The flair-era of TGI Fridays, as immortalized in Office Space.

There is a movie called Waiting, that does a great job of illustrating that era and those type of restaurants.
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