We were greeted by a welcoming young gentleman who promptly shown us to our table after removing 2 of the place setting on a table for 4 people. Our waitress was very friendly and informative about the menu. My wife had the Brussel sprouts as a starter followed by the Stromboli for her entree, I had the calamari and the Lobster Ravioli for my main we shared a house salad All the food was of great value and quality and the tasty. I would recommend this restaurant but the restaurant is small in size but great atmosphere get there early. Great meal.
A personal favorite on St. Pete Beach. The atmosphere is always welcoming. They have indoor and outdoor seating and offer a variety of Italian dishes. I’ve never had a bad meal here. And the food is soo good, I never have space for dessert.
This place is truly a Hidden Gem!!! Family Owned - Authentic Italian Food!!! We Loved Buona and Vincenzo was a Great Server very friendly and attentive. The owner is super friendly and stopped by our table to talk when we were there for dinner. We had a quick lunch and loved it so much went back for dinner the following night! We are from the Chicago area and Vincenzo from New York so we had great food/ family conversation... I still think we have better pizza Vincenzo 🙂. My wife is 100% Italian comes from a line of family in the food business and rated all our food A+++. We had Margarita Pizza, Eggplant Parmesan, Chicken Parmesan - all excellent!!! The Appetizers were great and if you are a fan of homemade bread and homemade Italian dipping oil you will not be disappointed!!! The atmosphere is excellent and welcoming both inside and out! You will absolutely love Buona!!! Almost forgot you have to have the Tiramisu... Excellent!
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Boy where do I even start? I will say first and foremost the service at Buona was phenomenal as they were very accommodating on multiple instances. We were there Sunday evening, they were fairly busy. We got a table after about 15-20 minutes? Not bad at all. Even then, they apologized that we had to wait so long. For us it was not a big deal.
The home made bread was just the beginning of a great night of eating. It’s served warm and toasty. They give you a sesame roll and a focaccia with a side of olive based pesto dip. 5/5
We ordered one appetizer, garlic Parmesan wings. The waitress misheard us and brought out garlic cheese bread at first. She ended up giving it to us on the house while still bringing out the garlic parm wings. They were both delicious. I will have to say that the garlic parm wings are an ABSOLUTE MUST for an appetizer here. They’re crunchy and packed with garlic parm flavor, AMAZING. So many restaurants fail to cook wings properly and they come out soggy. The wings here are not jumbo sized, they’re on the smaller size, but it’s fine since it’s just an appetizer and the flavor and texture really made up for the size. Let’s just say these wings had great personality. 5/5
For entrees I got the cacio e Pepe with a side of meatballs. Meatballs are definitely some of the better meatballs I’ve had here in StPete/Tampa. The meatballs bathed in their delicious marinara sauce. They’re fairly big in size and pack great taste. Cacio e Pepe was delicious. Noodles were cooked just right, and the light white sauce was perfect, not too salty not too bland. 5/5
Pizza was great as well. Not too doughy, crunchy thin crust. Flavors were on point especially with the sauce. It’s all in their marinara sauce! It’s definitely on the sweeter side, but not overwhelmingly sweet. 5/5
My girlfriend had requested for a Buffalo chicken calzone since it wasn’t on the menu. Ultimately, they were once again able to accommodate and they came through with a hearty and delicious Buffalo chicken calzone. My girlfriend loved it. Everyone around the table thoroughly enjoyed their food. Not a single complaint.
As for dessert we were given homemade tiramisu on the house because they forgot to add a topping to one of our pizzas, again it wasn’t a huge deal, but they insisted on a compensated dessert. The tiramisu was Creamy, not too sweet, very rich and light. You won’t regret it 5/5
I typically don’t write extensive reviews like this, but everything was amazing. Eat local. We’ll definitely be back. 10/5!
Just a disclaimer: not all accommodations will be able to be fulfilled all the time whether it’s here or any restaurant. This was just staff seeing what they could do on the whim, and they ultimately pulled through. It won’t be like this every night as they can be totally slammed. Just keep that in mind!
This place is wonderful! We've been in town for 5 days and have eaten here twice already! You can't go wrong with the Cacio e Pepe!! The salmon was prepared perfectly - not at all dry! We also had the creamy cheese risotto - delicious!! My husband really liked the lasagna and the rigatoni marinara! My brother-in-law raved over the veal picatta and the Osso Buco! The salads are so fresh and the bread & seasoned oil is a wonderful way to begin your meal! If you are in St Pete's Beach, you have to try this place! BTW.... You can eat indoors or outside.
The bolognese pasta was to die for!! Amazing quality and portions. The garlic knots were also 10/10. They came out steaming! My fiancé got their pizza and LOVED it!! I definitely recommend this spot.
This is a lovely intimate, local Italian restaurant that we would be delighted to have the opportunity to dine at again. We were down the street at a Conference all week and this was a nice way to end some long days.
The image is of their lobster ravioli which has a lemon and rose water cream sauce. It was delicious as was the whole meal. Our server was fantastic as well.
If you get a chance, it is definitely worth a try.
Really excellent Italian food, generous portions. It's popular, so expect a wait, but it's definitely worth the wait. Consider ordering for delivery or take away if you don't have time to wait. For the quality, it's very reasonably priced, can't beat it!
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