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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

#31

Post by hopler »

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...

Being hated by hipsters who resent simple pleasures available to all is part of the appeal.

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

#32

Post by taurath »

Dirlewanger wrote: post #9
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…

Many American chains can fit under this guise. As others have said: Cheesecake Factory, Panda Express, Taco Bell, but also McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, Domino's, In 'n' Out, Whataburger...none of them pretend to offer a haute dining experience. Ones that I would argue don't want to be looked down upon (but are) are the likes of Olive Garden, Chili's, Applebees, Texas Roadhouse. They put on a facade of…

Applebees and Chilis sort of skirts the line - they want the after-work crowd but also families at the same time. They don't really have an identity, but I think thats sort of the point - be as generic an option as possible to have as wide a market as possible, offend no-one.

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

#33

Post by hopler »

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…

You don't own the Italian-American experience anymore than anyone else does. Feel free to enjoy your basil.

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

#34

Post by ocdtrekkie »

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...

I get so peeved by the treatment of chain restaurants like this as "poor" or "terrible". Because you know what, Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Outback Steakhouse? These are some of the nicest restaurants the average citizen can hope to afford to go to more than once in their lifetime.

It isn't going to impress folks who have a personal chef at home, but the food is pretty darn good, and you don't have to saw off your right arm to pay for it.

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

#35

Post by dragonwriter »

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…

> What are some other examples of American restaurants that followed this playbook?

It's pretty common (perhaps dominant) with ethnic (or American regional, and some other strong themes) chains or single-location restaurants, because it promotes accessibility by making alien elements less off-putting. It's a way to make it so the restaurant doesn't seem to be looking down on the customers.

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

#36

Post by taurath »

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 thought it was really interesting and enlightening that anyone could think about a restaurant this way - shows how little I know about the hospitality industry. I always pegged it to be going for different social classes sort of thing, but then I could never figure out why a burger and fries at a red robin is about the same as most steakhouses, and people were okay with that.

It definitely does make you feel like you don't need to impress anyone to be there - the real value that comes from making a place people feel socially relaxed is something I haven't thought much about.

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

#37

Post by luckydata »

brandonmenc wrote: post #23
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…

speak for yourself?

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

#38

Post by chipotle_coyote »

Dirlewanger wrote: post #9
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…

Many American chains can fit under this guise. As others have said: Cheesecake Factory, Panda Express, Taco Bell, but also McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, Domino's, In 'n' Out, Whataburger...none of them pretend to offer a haute dining experience. Ones that I would argue don't want to be looked down upon (but are) are the likes of Olive Garden, Chili's, Applebees, Texas Roadhouse. They put on a facade of…

Despite a lot of jokes and offended Yelp reviews I see accusing virtually every restaurant at every price level of that, I'd be surprised if any were literally microwaving frozen meals to serve. They use a lot of frozen and canned ingredients for dishes, and probably use mixes made for them in commercial kitchens and shipped to the restaurants. But a little cooking at the end can go a long way.

Chili's, for instance, serves not only freshly made salsa but freshly fried chips. The tortillas are pre-made and pre-cut and just need to be dumped in the oil, and you can make salsa in batches by dumping pre-measured portions in a blender. Panda Express is cooking everything on site throughout the day, too. Take the right bags of pre-cut vegetable blends, the meat, the sauce, stir it all furiously in a big wok, put it on a heat table. No microwave.

Most of the speed of "casual" restaurants just comes from doing a lot of prep work ahead of time, keeping everything from sauces to precooked vegetable mixes in warmers, and using the same ingredients across a range of dishes. (Prepare five grilled meats, six sauces, and put them on beds of rice, mashed potatoes, or pasta, and now come up with a name for each possible combination. Presto! You're a Cheesecake Factory.)

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

#39

Post by thfuran »

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.

Loudness in restaurants seems to be hip right now. It also has been shown to correlate positively with both alcohol consumption and table turnover, so it might not be going anywhere soon.

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

#40

Post by Konryan »

As someone who lives in Italy, a lot of what seems to be considered "Italian" in the US sometimes feels like little more than a caricature. It does trouble me slightly, because it feels like an impersonation of Italian culture.

On the other hand, it's probably just culture diverging and developing in different ways after migration, which is to be expected. So the problem is mostly one of identity: the same label - italian - means very different things to people across the world...

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