We drove on Ocean from the East and did a U-Turn to park in the metered parking in front of the restaurant. We threw in a dollar which gave us an hour worth of eating time. Being a work night, that would be plenty. We walked past two other store fronts, one coffee shop and a wine bar to enter the restaurant. When we entered we were immediately greeted and informed it was open seating. The dinning room was empty and we moved to the back of the restaurant. We sat in a comfortable booth with a view of the soda machine (kinda weird) and the side of the buffet. The server was a young woman who came over and told us about the specials and the buffet. We were informed that the buffet was $9.99 a person and it was all you can eat, four styles of pasta and pizza with a salad bar. The buffet is every Tuesday through Thursday evening and the items change daily. We were also told that they run the buffet everyday for lunch. We looked at each other and both picked the buffet, not that I needed it!
She took our drink orders and went to fill them while we got up to go to the buffet. Now that my wife is pregnant she eats almost as much as me so it seemed like a pretty good value. The Salad bar selection was good as far as toppings were concerned, but only provided one type of lettuce, a cross between romaine and iceburg. They had several dressings and they were homemade and tasty. There were not four kinds of pasta but three, a bowtie alfredo with herbs, a chicken rottini with cheese and red sauce and last but not least a very hearty cheese ravioli. There was also a serving dish of meatballs, sliced in half. There was some minestrone soup (which I passed on), some fresh bread and two types of pizza: cheese and pepperoni.
Back at the table our drinks were waiting for us and we dug into our food. It wasn't a minute or two before our waitress checked on us.
The food was average, salad being salad. The bowtie with alfredo sauce was meek and the ravioli was not very flavorful. The chicken rottini was alright and the bread was fresh and warm. The meatballs were good, but didn't fit with the pastas offered. The pizza however was very good, a little on the greasy side with big dough bubbles in the crust which you never find at the fast food pizza chains. The only thing I can complain about was that after Natalie and I went through the buffet line and gathered our desired pieces of pizza, they did not refill the pizza and the selection was left with nothing but a single piece of pepperoni.
After the meal we asked another server, our waitress was missing in action, if there was a better place to park and he said that they would validate at the parking garage behind the building. He brought us our bill, around $25 and we walked to the front to pay for the dinner. Our waitress had returned and was engaging our new waiter in some conversation so we waited a few minutes at the cash register.
So, for the official first Rating!
Value: I'm going to say that the value was good. Four stars. The amount of food for the price was definitely worth the expenditure. The restaurant was very clean and the staff were friendly. Based on Value alone I would eat here again.
Food Quality: 4 Seconds. The food quality left something to be desired. It was average and my taste buds did not feel compelled to go back after my initial pass. If this food were to fall on the ground, after five seconds it would stay there forever!
Category: If you are to take Buono's by their title, they are authentic, but I did not see any hint of Italy in this generic Italian Restaurant. The Decor was modern confusion and the only thing authentic was the giant pizza ovens in the window. The servers did not have matching uniforms, there was no music and the giant TV with the football game on it did not scream Italy. The food was lack luster and the sauces were bland. 4/10.
So there you have it!
Value: 4 Stars (out of 5)
FQ: 4 Seconds (out of 10)
Category: 4/10
Stand By for the next Installation of Bon Vivant!
Troy@BonVivant
Buono's
| 250 W. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90802 562-432-2211 |
No comments:
Post a Comment