Has Buca di Beppo been bought out? There have been some radical changes that this family is not fond of. We met some very old friends (We realized we had known each other for 20 years! What a special anniversary for us cause we were so young!) at the Bucca di Beppo at Florida Mall on a Monday night during a recession. I point this out because Mondays are traditionally slower evenings at restaurants, and I would expect great effort to keep customers during a recession. The following is a list in no particular order.

• The menu has been changed to a wired book with advertisements (like Cheesecake Factory).
• Bruschetta is no longer in a big pizza pan. It's a large loaf of french bread. It's much harder to eat. The tomatoes all fall off.
• Macaroni Rosa with tubular pasta, broccoli, peas, and mushrooms in a great pink sauce (we used to ask them to hold the chicken) has been removed from the menu.
• Sides like the white beans and escarole have been removed from the menu.
• The large salad is larger than it used to be, comes in a big white bowl instead of on a large plate. The lettuce was bitter (not like frisee, either) and the salad dressing was tasteless.
• The Eggplant Parmesan was overcooked. The cheese was nasty looking and yellow--clearly not the beautiful mozzarella they used to use. The eggplant itself was still green.
• The childrens' macaroni and cheese was really penne pasta in fettucini sauce. Luckily, the kids aren't picky eaters, but I think a turnip should be called a turnip.
• Service was slow, but kind.

The result of this depressing experience is that I have removed myself from the Buca email list and will no longer collect Buca coupons. I'm very sorry, but meals like this make me feel very guilty for not saving my money and cooking at home.