Ristorante La Buca

Ristorante La Buca is great for dinner celebrations and intimate dining. Reservations are highly recommended. Service was good. We enjoyed a three course meal. Serving size is a good portion.

I hadn't been to La Buca in a very long time. So, it was very nice to reacquaint myself with this lovely Italian restaurant. I am definitely going to add it into my restaurant rotation for the future. The service was exceptional. And the food fantastic, freshly prepared and delicious. Definitely looking forward to my next visit. We each had the shrimp cocktail for an appetizer. The pan-seared scallops and stuffed calamari were done to perfection.

Went for lunch after a friend's audition at Walnut St. Wow. Fantastic. Had the Penne al Mare and it was STELLAR. One of my all-time favorite dishes done exceedingly well. Service was also excellent. Can't wait to return for dinner.

The red sauce was amazing! Authentic feeling place. Great service too, we were able to walk in on a Monday night.

Ordered the rigatoni bolognese (pictured) and a side of penne. Both were delicious! Only criticism would be I wish the portion sizes were a little bigger for the price.

My wife and I dined here for the second time on Valentines Day. It was just as good the second time around! Great ambiance, good service and the food is delicious. It’s certainly a hidden gem with very authentic Italian food.

Phenomenal. High level of attentive service. Food was tasty and well put together. I wouldn't miss it if you're in the area. Great restaurant.

The food was very delicious and the wait staff were very professional and very helpful and knowledgeable and very kind ask for Paul when you visit the restaurant

Under new management. Great service. Great food. Generous portions. Outdoor seating. BYOB until the liquor license transfers. A really great addition to the neighborhood.

Walk down the stairs to an authentic Italian experience, server was great, food was excellent.

I very much recommend trying this restaurant. Everything I tried from the polenta & gorgonzola special appetizer, mushroom & goat cheese flatbread, and the bone-in veal milanese were delicious. The staff is very professional and attentive; and the prices are reasonable.

This place is a low key, authentic haven. The staff was friendly and patient and gave stellar recommendations. Especially when dealing with our large group of 10 people. We were there for about 3 hours and they never rushed us or tried to hurry us out. The cocktails were delicious and strong and the pasta and seafood was fresh. The quality and flavors were second to none. Will absolutely be returning.

Food is quite good and reasonably priced for a center City Italian restaurant. The cozy atmosphere is really what makes this place. I had fried calamari (fine) and veal d'oro (again fine) plus an espresso martini (kind of watery, not rich enough). I would go back and try other options though.

We came here because we wanted authentic Italian food in a nice setting. Buca D'oro did not disappoint! The staff was incredibly friendly, made us laugh and made us feel incredibly comfortable. You can feel the family vibes. The food was amazing, good portions but when you're finished you don't feel so heavy. The food was so fresh, the pasta delicious with authentic flavors and the dessert (the tempation cake) was out of this world. I'll 100% be coming back when I'm back in Philly to this very nice place. Thank you to our servers who made our experience so wonderful! We are so happy we found it.

Quick solo Lunch date with myself btwn appointments and I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED!! Food was great (Bolognese was great & piping hot// Calamari was Hot Fresh & Fried perfectly to my taste) My drink was STRONG (also to my taste as 1 was 🎶Allll I ever needed🎙️). First time popping in 🗣️Butt ..WILL NOT BE MY LAST‼️💯

Love! Celebrated my white coat ceremony at this location, and did not regret it at all. Staring at the menu outside, an exiting couple told us we have to go in, and that this was their 12th time at the restaurant. Their words easily convinced us, and I am so happy I dined there. Well-attentive staff, friendly quiet environment, and delicious food.

My husband and I came for our Valentine's Day dinner. This is a very old school Italian restaurant. The food was delicious. My husband had the lamb chops for his entrees. I had the gorgonzola gnocchi. The food, service and atmosphere were wonderful. I have been walking past Buca D'Oro for years & I am glad I finally went.

Got the fettuccine fungi was phenomenal. The hazelnut chocolate cake was great too. Went for a friend’s birthday and it was great. The servers were attentive and helpful. Would come back here again in a heartbeat.

We have returned many times to Buca D'oro for their consistently delicious dinners. Authentic flavors, great service, never disappoints!

If you’re looking for true, authentic Italian in Philadelphia, Buca D’Oro Ristorante is an absolute gem. From the moment you walk in, you feel transported straight to Italy—warm atmosphere, attentive service, and food that is simply unforgettable. The pasta is clearly made fresh in-house, cooked perfectly al dente, and the sauces are rich, flavorful, and balanced exactly as they should be. Every dish is crafted with care and you can taste the authenticity in every bite. The seafood was outstanding—fresh, perfectly seasoned, and beautifully presented. The staff go above and beyond to make you feel at home, offering thoughtful recommendations without being pushy. It’s rare to find a restaurant where every course, from antipasti to dessert, feels like a highlight, but Buca D’Oro nails it. Whether you’re local or visiting Philadelphia, this is a must-visit spot. Easily one of the best Italian dining experiences I’ve ever had—authentic, cozy, and unforgettable. I’ll be back many times over.

Food was very good and portion size was generous! Staff was attentive. Would recommend!

Food was tasty. One star less: The quantity of food is small compared to the price of the entree. Pricy. Entrance has stairs going down and it is a beautiful ambiance inside.

My friend and I enjoyed dinner before a Saturday evening performance at the Walnut Street Theater. After walking down their outdoor very long brick staircase, we came to a lively bright set of restaurant rooms with widely spaced tables. Our dinner started with a platter containing two bruschetta as well as additional freshly made warm Italian bread. Our salads, hers Gorgonzola, pear and nuts, mine goat cheese atop spring mix, were fresh and imaginative. Given that every table appeared to be in use, we did end up waiting another 25 minutes after the salad for our entrees. And when they arrived, both her salmon and my veal, shrimp and mixed veggies were quite overcooked. But the sauce was both tasty and warm, which saved the dish.

Had Lunch here today, super cute place and everything was delicious. A little on the pricey side but would recommend.

My date had the stuffed pork chop. It was wonderful! I had the veal marsala with mushrooms and artichokes. The artichoke gave the marsala sauce an off flavor.

Buca D'oro Ristorante is a charming Italian eatery with a warm atmosphere! The seafood dishes are exquisite, and the murals create a lovely dining experience. I can’t wait to go back for another meal!

We had a reservation and ended up waiting for more than 30 min to get our seats. The food was good; typical Italian. We ended up waiting again for the food once we were seated with the whole endeavor taking several hours. The underground vibe is very cool and it seems to be run by a family ☺️ just maybe needs more staff on Saturday nights.

This was a cool spot! I loved the entrance and the decor; you literally feel like you’re stepping into Italy. The food was good, but nothing special. I had the veal saltimbocca and was pretty salty. Nothing was especially flavorful, it was all just good. I would compare it to an Olive Garden experience.

This place has some of the best Italian food I've ever eaten. The fried calamari is perfectly fried, and the basil aioli was such a beautiful compliment to the wonderfully acidic marinara. I got the risotto with veal sausage and was blown away by how tasty this dish was. Everything was balances and each ingredient perfectly seasoned and prepared. Finally we ended the night on the homemade tiramisu. This tiramisu was so well made and light, I was stunned. All of this, was hard to fully appreciate for the following reasons. The atmosphere in this space is DATED. I felt like I was in the late 80's and it wasn't the fun 80's. The interior is old and looks generally bizarre for the year 2023. The service was an experience within itself. We couldn't order lemon wedges and had a difficult time getting seated. The waiting room before the restaurant was barren and uncomfortable and the host had no idea we were waiting to be seated for like 15 minutes. The table service was also super bizarre as we had a hard time communicating to any of the 3 staff(all waiters/waitresses) that came to our table. I loved the food. I was surprised by how good the food was (the bread was also giving me store bought vibes- not sure it was fresh.) I don't know how a place like this isn't packed but im assuming it's the staffing and decor. If you have the patience this place is 100% worth a try.

Thought the food was good and the dessert was great. Only disappointing thing was a single cup of espresso was $4.50 and it was less than full cup I pay for 1€ in Italy

The appetizers, including an arugula salad and a mussels and clam broth, were good, but not out of this world. The main dishes were disappointing, especially the gnocchi. The sauce was very off-putting, and both my friend and I could not stomach more than 10 pieces of gnocchi combined. The service was mid, as a lot of the servers don’t understand English very well. If you don’t understand what I’m saying, just ask again, I’ll be patient and say it a different way. Don’t serve me the wrong dessert, box the wrong dessert, pour me sparkling instead of flat water when I wanted flat, and get me a box for the leftover gnocchi that I don’t want. Even if English is difficult to understand—and I get it, it’s a bad language, surely me shaking my head and waving my hand “no” and “stop” should get it across? Just a confusing experience overall with no highlights.

This was my first time here.. i was in town for a business meeting and it was a limited menu. Everything was great, i had the salmon along with a salad and the artichoke. It was my first time having artichoke and i really enjoyed it. The salmon was moist along side tomatoes. I enjoyed, I'm not huge into Italian but I'll definitely come back to this place. And i also had an old fashioned and it was great.

Extremely underwhelming. We went on a Saturday night to celebrate a birthday. When we went down the place looked deserted. The bar was dark with no bartender and no one at the bar at all. It looked closed. There was no host. We walked into the restaurant and were sat at a table that did not look upscale at all. The sides of the paper menu in the plastic casing looked waterlogged and stained on the sides. After ordering, we were given two small pieces of bruschetta, and some sliced, cold bread that could’ve been brought at a convenience store. It was not heated, not in a basket, there was no butter or garlic to dip… I would typically expect some homemade bread or something a little more flavorful at an Italian restaurant. I asked what my dish came with and was told a side of mashed potatoes and veggies. When it arrived, there were three slices of a potato— not mashed potatoes; Not even an entire potato. The portion was very small. I will say the sauce was flavorful. It just could have been an appetizer. The chicken was not even a full breast. We left still hungry. My entrée was supposed to include artichokes and Kalamata olives. Those flavors typically go very well together for an Italian/Mediterranean profile. My entree had no Kalamata olives. There were a couple canned black olives thrown on top. When I addressed it with the servers, they said the kitchen planned to make mashed potatoes, but they didn’t come out good so “ it was for the best.” That was literally the response. And “sorry about the olives.” There was no effort made to make anything better. Just reiterating this was “for the best”…. We had pizza when we got home. Disappointing.

We were a party of 3. We arrived at our reservation time And waited at the front desk to be seated along with several other tables. Our appetizer came in a timely manner but was awful, grilled calamari was really tough. Then our waiter disappeared and our meal took an hour and a half to appear. My daughter's ravioli was hard and unappetizing. They took my daughter's meal off but now, despite having left 2 plus hours for dinner we had to rush to get to the Theatre. They also took quite a while to get our check back to us. So disappointing!

I was a loyal customer of its predecessor, La Buca, for years. Sadly, Buca D’oro does not measure up. There really isn’t anything special about this Italian restaurant; the city is full of much better alternatives.

We went to the restaurant after seeing Beauty and the Beast at Walnut Street Theater. The deal was see a show and then go the restaurant and get 15% off the bill. We arrive at the restaurant and they only had a limited holiday menu available. We ordered and when the bill came they did not honor the 15% discount. We asked for a manager and it turned into a three ring circus. The manager told us there was no way to deduct the 15% from the bill. We asked if he could cancel our current bill and redo with the 15% discount. He said NO. His solution was to take the 15% dollar amount and deduct from the tip. He was willing to screw over his servers. We paid the full amount of the bill and left the full 20% tip. The food was mediocre and the service was the same. Would not recommend.

We came in an hour before closing. I've worked food service, I get people coming in at close is annoying. If we had been any later then a solid hour before close, we would not have gone. The waiter who met us to our seats blatantly looked at his watch, scowled, and led us to a table while muttering under his breath. There were two other groups there, both mid meal, both with 6 or more people. When our waitress came for our drink orders, we had our entree orders ready, and I said that we know it's close to closing we will be fast. She looked us in the eye and said "yeah." The other two groups were nowhere close to being done. When the servers went to them, they were all smiles. I got up to let the texting waitress know we were ready for the check almost exactly 30 minutes after we sat down. One of the other groups was still in full swing. I found out later she told my husband "At least you weren't slow." We still tipped. And when we left, the other group was still there. I've worked food service. I don't need a server to be nice to me. But borderline politeness with slightly lest open disgust would be nice. This was the worst service I've had in years. Also. My husband's dinner was good. I got something with seafood that was overcooked and honestly looked off. I didn't eat most of the meat because I was worried it was off. The pasta left behind was fine.

The food was fine. The music was horrific and the service was worse. We had 5 different servers and never saw one of them more than once along with no bartender at the bar. It took 25 minutes to order and then receive drinks and food. We ordered another round of drinks as our food was delivered and it still hasn’t arrived by the time we were done eating. Once we cancelled our drink order, not one waiter made eye contact with us and they refused to drop the check. The hardest working employee was the man refilling our waters who we asked for the check and gave back to him to run our card. Absolutely do not recommend as the food was fine but did not make up for the horrific service.

First time I’ve ever felt like a restaurant didn’t want me there. We showed up an hour before closing and the host muttered under his breath like we were putting them out. When we paid, the server said “at least you were fast.” We asked for zero modifications or special orders, we had one drink, ordered immediately plus one drink with dinner, and apparently that was so onerous that “at least we were fast.” My wife got seafood and ate less than half of it because it was either overcooked or tasted fishy. I had short rib ragu which was good and I’d order again. Really mid experience, I’d recommend this to zero people.

We came here with a friend for restaurant week and paid 22$ total for a an appetizer and entrée. We thought the price was correct until we saw that the plates had the smallest portions i had ever seen in a restaurant. The food tasted like canned food (mushrooms with tomato sauce as an appetizer) and even affordable products such as pasta were put in a very small quantity. It it probably the worst restaurant i have ever been to in my entire life. I really do not recommend this restaurant to anyone. Do not be fooled by the photos, the portion size is actually way smaller in real life.