Food was provided by PR Firm, images and opinions are my own as I lavishly live food out loud
Buca di BEPPO
Traveling with kids and family, and visiting theme parks by day, creates the need to collapse by night. We were super busy as you all are when we were traveling and hanging out in Disney, Universal, and Legoland. Often by the end of the day, I did not care if we ate, slept, or just sat down where we were done, but the kids really wanted to get home and swim, which meant dinner at home, but who felt like cooking? This is my story of lavishly living food out loud while we are traveling and Buca Di Beppo Bring it Home
The fact that we were in Orlando during off-peak season made it much easier to end the fun by 5 most nights because many of the theme parks ended their fun around 6. The big question at night was where were we going to get dinner from or what were we eating? My family loves good Italian food (hmm, wonder why?) so we did something different. We picked up Buca Di BEPPO to go and enjoyed it in house, while the kids enjoyed some down time swimming.
We had to be mindful of Gluten Free food, nut free food and no latex and Buca di BEPPO made this possible as they offer a Gluten Free Menu. We alerted them to all other food allergies and they were very able to accommodate the food allergies.
The dining is family style portions, so you have to order only a small or large to place an order. Small will feed 2-3 and Large will feed 4-6.
You can learn all you need to know about serving size by asking your server. We are long time Buca di BEPPO patrons, and we actually eat at the Pittsburgh locations, several times a year, so we almost know the menu off by heart. Our family has their favorites and that means that the kids count on their foods that they love, even when we are in different states and Buca Di Beppo always makes it happen.
Kids are creatures of familiarity so if the food tastes one way in Pittsburgh, they want it to taste the same everywhere else we travel and that is what we look for, consistency and Buca Di BEPPO offers that consistency along with great dining options. What makes staying at a home a great save is that you can simply get back to the house, change, and go right into the pool, with no need for cover-ups or flip flops. The kids grabbed towels from the laundry room, suits from the drying rack and went out to the pool.
I grabbed the Buca di BEPPO to go bags and got dinner together– so NOT stressful. Buca Di BEPPO in Orlando, Florida is located at the Florida Mall between Macy’s and Nordstrom’s. There are To Go parking slots, and they are on the exterior of the mall, so it is easily accessible.
Do not add their physical address to the GPS because it will drop you off on the opposite side of the mall, rather use Macy’s address and you will get there with ease. The Florida Mall is super close to all the parks and the airport, so you can get there and shop with ease and then pick up your food.
The kids were thrilled because they were having their favorite food, and getting to hang out and have fun, making it a great time for all. I was happy because the preparation was just opening up the bags and serving, easy peasy.
What did we dine on? For my Gluten Free needs we ordered lemon chicken without the dusting of flour, making it a Gluten Free option. This has a wonderful white sauce(thicker) as well as capers on it and the lemon taste is outstanding, but not over-powering.
The salad was also Gluten Free, and the kids all love the dressing. The salad came in the big black bowl you see on the table and the dressing was in a separate container. You can reuse that container if you need to and we did for fruit salad a day later!
The boys ordered the pepperoni pizza, as they are basically pizza connoisseurs and they ate almost all of it, I guess swimming and parks give kids bigger appetites. The squares are large, the cheese is mozzarella and provolone mixed with pizza sauce and the taste is perfection. The crust is light but crisp and sure to please your pickiest. We dine on this every time we go to Buca as it is a Pittsburgh Frugal Mom Favorite. No, my child with Gluten Free issues can not eat this but the chicken and salad were plenty for her. The portions are large, the food is good and Buca di BEPPO is a Pittsburgh Frugal Mom favorite for dining.
The Eggplant Parmigiana is my answer to vegetarian eating as well as the salad. I got the Small portion and I had leftovers, until my husband found out there was a piece and he ate it! These are fried slices of eggplant, skin on and layered with marinara sauce, fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella and then it is baked, and zipped up with some parmigiana cheese. Add a side of pizza and you will be sunk and happy!
Vacation is a time to just relax and Buca di BEPPO will fill your tummies with great Italian Food. Don’t worry about allergies, because they are able to accommodate nut free,latex free and gluten free diets, just let them know what your needs are. Make sure you try out your Buca di BEPPO because family style dining has never been more affordable or delicious and don’t forget to try out the to-go it is just as good as the dine-in, but you can eat right in your home.