Buca di Beppo

With school almost ready to start back up, I figured today provided a good opportunity to try a new place for a leisurely lunch - Buca di Beppo at Rookwood Commons in Norwood. Buca di Beppo is an American restaurant chain specializing in immigrant Southern Italian food. The name roughly translates as "Joe's Basement."

As soon as we arrived, the hostess took us for a quick tour of the restaurant. We toured the kitchen, down the decorated hallway, and then past the “Pope” dining room.


We were then seated in a room with a shrine to Frank Sinatra. Our table was situated under a photo of five debutantes eating spaghetti...without using their hands. The walls everywhere had interesting photos of famous people while other photos were just “regular” people. The music was familiar as I remembered a lot of the tunes were songs my mom and dad used to listen to.

After a short wait, our meal consisted of huge portions of food along with delicious garlic bread with Mozzarella cheese. It was fun to sit, talk about nothing important, admire silly photographs and enjoy a delicious lunch.


After lunch, Michael seemed amused by the photographs in the men’s restroom. Not sure what they were of, but they gave him a chuckle.

Lunch at Butler

It has been a while since I have been to General Butler State Park for lunch. Today I decided that is where I wanted to go.

As we drove for less than an hour to get there, I remembered the other times that I had been there.

Immediately, I fondly remembered when the whole family, Jimmy and his kids, my children, and even my mom drove to Carrollton for lunch. Amy, just a teenager, being there. Katie and Philip were toddlers and behaved so well in the lodge. I can only smile to remember that happy day.

I can also remember going there with Jimmy and McGehee so many years ago. They were both in law school at Chase at that time. I remember watching in wonder as they had a bet who could eat the most fried chicken from the buffet. I would have bet on Jimmy, being that he is a man that really enjoys his food. Also, I had to consider that McGehee was a tall, slender fellow that really didn't care much about food, so I couldn't see him eating more than 3-4 pieces, tops.

To my surprise it was McGehee that had Jimmy beaten by two chicken pieces, with a grand total of 19, compared to Jimmy's mere 17 pieces of chicken. I shake my head every time I remember those two guys eating all that chicken!

As for today, we were finally there. We sat down to the buffet, not only to eat and enjoy each other's company, but to perhaps make another memory at the General Butler State Park.