Buca's Tuscan Roadhouse Review

Overall rating: 73

Food rating: 75

Buca's Tuscan Roadhouse: Good Italian food on Cape Cod for very high prices

We were in Harwich for a few days, and Buca's was one of two expensive restaurants we tried in two nights. The second night we ate at Fin.

Online reviews of Buca's are mostly superb. We arrived early in the evening, and parking in their lot was quick and easy. The hostess and wait staff were welcoming and pleasant, though the dining area itself was a bit crowded with tables close to each other and to walls.

We started off with some specialty drinks that were fine, including a "Sicilian Margarita" made with blood orange liqueur, and a bourbon/rye drink. Bread served with olive oil was excellent.

The menu is very large, and we asked for recommendations, and were told that the specialty of the house appetizer was "Carciofi Ripieni Alla Buca": grilled artichoke hearts stuffed with gorgonzola and mascarpone, and wrapped with prosciutto, with a balsamic reduction. While this sounded amazing, it really wasn't very interesting to eat.

For entrees, I again had a specialty of the house, listed on the menu as "Caccuicco", but pronounced "cacciucco" by our waitress, though when I asked about this she quickly said she wasn't sure. I checked Google later and the waitress was correct; presumably she knew the spelling on the menu was a typo. However it's pronounced, it's a Tuscan fish stew that they described as similar to a bouillabaisse, but with a tomato base. This was made with fish and various shellfish, all cooked perfectly and with some nice garlic toast. Again, though, the dish as a whole wasn't really that interesting or tasty. Other dishes at the table were similarly well prepared but not that special.

Rather than  having dessert, we went out for ice cream at one of the local places we like in the area.

All in all, this was a perfectly nice place to get a somewhat upscale Italian dinner. The food was good but nothing special, though the bread was delicious. The problem is the price. The Cacciucco was $32 and the artichoke appetizer was $14 for a small portion; drinks were similarly priced. All of this would be fine if the food were as wonderful as it sounded, but for food that was just nicely prepared and moderately tasty, Buca's does not provide good value.

After our dinner there and before we went to Fin, I was left wondering whether the summer tourist nature of Cape Cod means that prices are inherently exorbitant for food that is only okay. We go to the Cape fairly often, but only rarely eat in fine restaurants. We had an experience of a restaurant on Nantucket a number of years ago where again the price seemed out of proportion to the setting and food quality.