Cafe La Buca, Pompano Beach

Ever since reading Worst Pizza's very positive review of this little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant in Pompano Beach, I've been itching to try it out.

Today I did some research and found that it got generally favorable reviews in Chowhound, although they do seem to be a little dated excluding this recent thumbs up comment entered by The Chowfather...

This place is a great authentic little spot. Tried their wood oven pizza is easily one of the best thin crust pizzas I've had in South Florida. Loved the taste of the dough and sauce. All of their pastas are fresh. Their rigatoni was cooked perfectly al dente and the accompanying pesto was very nice. Their gnocchi paired with delicious sauce and cheese was another winner.

Must do for all pizza and pasta fans.

Florida Keys Girl seemed to enjoy it, with some caveats...

Overall, La Buca is fun, if kitschy. It reminded me of La Mela, in New York with it’s no-menu-get-whatever-we-have attitude. Here, however, the food was much better. Would I go again? Sure, but I wouldn’t go out of my way. The food is good, the service is surly and it is in a really inconvenient (for me) location.

And Urbanspoon and Yelp reviews are positive. In December of last year, the New Times visited and relished their home-style experience.

With its few execution snafus easy to overlook, Cafe La Buca could undoubtedly expand and still draw droves of eager customers. There would be lines out the door. But the Spinas are satisfied with the current pace of business. "We serve 800 people a week, easy," Marco says. "Imagine if it were busier. We like it quiet."

We did too. And that's they key to the café's charm: It's a humble trattoria where you can celebrate good food and be treated like you're home — even if you're far from it.

I'll let you know what I think once I finally make it there.



-photo via Worst Pizza

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