Buco Pizzeria + Vino

So Buco’s is an amazing new resto in the old Holes Garden in north east St. Albert. The name means «holes» in Italian which is a cool throw back and as a side note all the tables have a small hole in them. The layout is spectacular. My familia and I were in for a bday party this evening and I was just in awe of the spacious open environment. The place was a buzz of all different types of diners from the young to old and the kitchen (also open concept) was buzzing. Service amazing and the menu fairly broad with mostly pizza and then classic Italian dishes as more of a side note near the bottom of the menu. Half our party had pizzas which looked amazing, I however (trying in a probably vane attempt to cut back on carbs) tried the Porcetta. Very flavourful but pretty dry, took a little more knife work than I would have liked. The only really strange thing for me was why a salsa verde sauce was an option to go with any of the non pasta/​pizza mains. It was a good salsa verde but totally out of place for this guy. Anyway liked the whole experience a lot and would go back for sure. Would just caution the diner looking for a straight Italian joint this isn’t for you. This is more like Famoso on steroids. Cheers

I decided to give this place a shot. Got a pizza to go for $ 12 good deal!! The pizza was good. Very simple, thin crust, light sauce. not over filling. Good service.I would try again for sure.

Pricey for what you get. Had a pizza not the greatest. Still better at BP and cheaper.

Tried Buco for the first time. I had the funghi pizza. Was pretty good. I liked that the crust wasn’t burnt like it can get at Famoso or Italian centre. I went during the 3pm-​5pm happy hour so the pizza was only $ 10. I would definitely return during happy hour to try more of their pizzas. It’d be hard to convince me to go there other than happy hour and spend $ 20 on a pizza. That being said I likely wouldn’t go anywhere and spend $ 20 on a pizza. The pizzas are similar style to Famoso. Our server was friendly. Bathroom was clean. Restaurant set up was fine too. I’d recommend trying this place.

What a great addition to St. Albert and the space is gorgeous. Our first visit was amazing start to finish. First and foremost, this is a shout out to the staff, in particular the chefs and manger. We chose to sit at the bar which gave us a view of all the pizza making action– it also made us want to order everything that came up. The staff were so friendly and inviting and made our experience so wonderful. We started with an order of mushroom bruschetta– delish, then moved to pizza– which came out so quick and cooked perfectly! To our surprise our night ended with our pizza chef serving up an incredible pizza-​dough donut desert– on the house and the manager brought us by some peach grappa– an after dinner sipping liqueur. It was a great evening out, and I would absolutely recommend checking them out! The menu is extensive with lots of options and they offer great specials!
Thanks Buco– see you soon!

I’ve only gone to Buco during their pizza happy hour. Between 3pm and 5pm on weekdays they offer all of their pizzas for $ 10!!! That’s just crazy cuz the average regular price pizza is $ 17 and the most expensive being $ 21. During that time they also have specials on their appetizers and a few drink (Peroni on tap and mimosa).
Their pizzas are classic Italian thin crust done in a brick oven that is wood burning. The crust is appropriately chewy and crunchy but my concern is the toppings. Although they sound good on the menu I’ve been disappointed by the flavor and balance. The sauce is lackluster, the cheese bland and the meats minimal and missing flavor. In my opinion, the toppings is where the money should be spent in a pizza joint. And my expectations are even higher in an Italian pizza place.
I do like the atmosphere of the room. It’s a big open rectangle with a decent sized bar and open kitchen concept. There is also one booth which is elevated and would make any diner feel like they’re on a pedestal.

My boyfriend and I went to Buco for lunch on Saturday. First impression was good. Restaurant looked clean and trendy. We were greeted within 2 minutes of walking in and and seated at our table. It wasn’t overly busy and there was 1 server and what looked like a manager/​bartender working.
We were approached by our server upon sitting down and she was very sweet and explained the specials of the day. We said we needed a minute and she offered us water. We decided on a Peroni and a glass of Prosecco. We were happy with the 20 oz. Pints and the glassware was very nice. We ordered the prosciutto wrapped dates, a large Cesar salad and the Parma Prosciutto pizza to share.
The prosciutto wrapped dates were okay at best. The cheese in the middle was still rock hard and didn’t really seem to belong. They also resembled «testicles» as my boyfriend pointed out and it kind of turned me off. I usually love date appetizers and was quite dissapointed with these.
The Cesar salad was 12 $ it was extremely underwhelming. It was like they grabbed a Ceasar salad kit from the grocery store and plunked it on a plate. The croutons were hard and just like they were out of a box. The dressing honestly tasted like it came out of a jar. I could make this at home for roughly 3 dollars. For an Italian style restaurant this needs to be addressed.
And finally, the pizza. Again, underwhelming. Nothing particularly wrong with it just not great. The arugula and tomatoes were fresh, the cheese wasn’t skimped but the crust wasn’t well done enough. It was rather soggy. We used the chili oil and an ample amount of salt and that helped. For a pizza place we were surprised by how average it was. We were still pretty hungry after.
Overall, an average meal. Nothing spectacular. I would prefer Famoso. For 3 drinks and the food mentioned above we paid 60 $ plus tip. Way too much to have to go home and eat again.
Bathrooms were nice. No complaints there.
Clean. Nice restaurant.
Great service.
Sub par food.

This was my second visit to Buco.
Place sells one size of pizza. It is about 10″ in diameter. Twenty One dollars for three toppings on a thin crust wood fired pizza. Toppings were good quality and mine was cooked perfect. Pizza tasted very good when hot. Crust got VERY chewy as it cooled off and the rest didn’t taste as good cold either.
You want to go on the bring your own wine night as the menu prices for mediocre wine is high. Fifteen bucks for an average size glass is pretty ritzy for the quality served.
Service was very friendly and attentive but there were not many in the restaurant at 2 p.m. on a weekday.
Would go back but there are other pizzas I prefer, like Tony’s which is in about the same price range though not wood fired and there are many lower priced places like Famousa that serve thin crust wood fired pizza,.
P. S. Gluetin free pizza my wife had was a pretty good crust.
Visited January 2016

Went for lunch today and had THE BEST panini ever. Awesome bread, awesome sauce. Had the veggie panini with side misto salad which was on the lunch menu. So delish! Will definitely be back for this one.

Don’t get it. Given all these good reviews thought I’d give it a try. Had a disappointing experience. Went with a friend. Got a few bruschetta, a pizza and a pasta. Everything felt way more expensive than it should. Must be good.
Got Pancetta Bruschetta, as recommended. Says great for sharing, but the irony is that they are individual orders. Doesn’t make sense. In any case they were expensive for what they were. Bread lightly toasted, didn’t really matter. Felt soggy biting into it. Not to mention overloaded to beyond bite size. Lost half the tomatoes on delivery.
We also had spiedino (2x skewers with 2 chunks of meat) — bland and tiny. Don’t bother.
Pizza time. Expect to compare it to Famoso. Verdict: Don’t get why I’m paying so much for something that is soggy and underwhelming. Famoso wins on flavour, quality and price. Maybe if you got to happy hour ($ 10 a pizza vs $ 18) — it might be worth while.
Pasta. Friend had the pasta but had a taste of it. The lasagna was freshly made but again underwhelming.
Service was very nice and attentive.
Maybe because we skipped the unreasonably expensive wine and drinks, everything simply didn’t taste as good?
Not recommended.

I have eaten here a couple of times now and it is definitely one of St. Albert’s hotspots right now. They don’t take reservations, so be prepared to wait for a table. The first time I came, I didn’t have anything to drink, and between my friends and me, we shared a bunch of appetizers, had full meals, plus dessert. The food was pretty good. It wasn’t like blow my mind good, but it was definitely enjoyable. I had pasta, and it was tasty, but it was kind of expensive. It was very busy in the place, even on a weeknight. After a couple of hours, we basically rolled out of there feeling very full.
I returned to Buco a couple of weeks ago on a double date with some old friends. One of the first things that I noticed was that the drinks were actually very expensive. The wine was so unreasonable, that I actually opted for the beer that was on special, even though it wasn’t my preference. Like the prior time, we ordered full meals. The four of us shared a large charcuterie board, which was good, but they definitely didn’t give us enough bread pieces for the amount of meat and cheese. I don’t feel like it was worth $ 25. It was hard to get our servers attention if we wanted to ask for more bread. When our entrées came, I had decided to try the pizza this time. It was decent, but I don’t know if I would say that it was better than Famoso, especially for the price. I ordered the same dessert as I had the prior time — the chocolate mousse. As a warning, this dessert is pretty caffeinated and you’ll be up for hours if you eat it too late in the evening.
My take on this restaurant is that it’s a little more expensive than it’s worth. It’s definitely more expensive than Famoso for pizza, and I would say that it would be more accurately described as being a three dollar sign restaurant. Apparently, on Mondays you can bring your own wine, which would be a huge bonus considering the wine prices here are pretty ridiculous. If the prices were a little bit more reasonable for what you’re getting, I think I would be a bigger fan of this place. In reality, for pizza and pasta there are other restaurants where you can get much better value for similar food. If you’re not aware, this place is owned by Sorrentino’s. The restaurant itself has nice ambience, but it’s honestly sometimes killed with how busy it is around the dinnertime.

We sat at the bar and couldn’t stop ogling the gorgeous meat slicer they have! So cool and they shipped it all the way from Italy!
The pizza is delicious! Such a crispy crust and fresh toppings!
If you go after 9 they have an incredible deal! 3 $ bruschettas! We of course had to try one of each! The sopprasata with onion jam was our favourite. Tasty!
Only thing is the service was a bit slow and it took quite a while to get our drinks.

I had heard good things about this place so my friend and I decided to swing by and grab a bite to eat. I immediately liked the look and feel of the place. It is very contemporary, warm and has an open kitchen so you can see the chefs in action. It is a great place to have a glass of wine with friends but it is also very family/​kid friendly.
We ordered the prosciutto wrapped figs and the polenta fritta for appetizers. The prosciutto wrapped figs were absolutely delicious. The polenta was ok but I have had better. I like spice but everything was spicy and that kind of overtook the dish. For our main meal we had the parma prosciutto bianca pizza and it was excellent. There were generous amounts of prosciutto, flakes of parmesan cheese, tomatoes and arugula on the pizza.
Unfortunately our server seemed a little out of sorts and didn’t take our order for some time. We were rarely checked on which didn’t contribute to the experience. With that being said, she could just be having an off night and it wouldn’t prevent me from going back.

RETURN of BUCO
Monday Night
We came for bring your own wine night. Such a brilliant idea on this business’ part for Monday’s. They opened and poured our bottle of wine to sip on the patio this evening (no corkage fee). We devoured the appetizers of prosciutto wrapped figs, calamari fritti, beef carpaccio, followed by wood fired pizzas (Verdura, Calabrese, Funghi) and tasty desserts. Buco was really busy this evening. It seems that this hot new business has had a fabulous turnout from the moment the restaurant opened on the long weekend in August 2015. I noticed a couple who came in and discovered it was bring your own wine night. They promptly left and ran across the street to Hick’s Fine Wine Shop purchased a bottle of wine and returned to enjoy it with their pizza. It’s great to have the Shops at Boudreau supporting each other. The Buco staff were super friendly and pleasant to deal with. Definitely an awesome neighbourhood pizzeria in a lovely location. We shall return with more friends. Wishing this business all the best.

I had the pleasure of visiting buco on Monday, which was BYO Wine night, and tried two of their gluten free pizzas. And I have to say that I’m a fan – of the food, the atmosphere, and the restaurant in general. The pizzas were delicious, though a little crispier than I’m used to (but not at all salty or with a cardboard texture, like many other gluten free pizzas), and the BYO Wine special is a brilliant idea. We started with the warm spiced olives – perfect to share between three people as an appetizer, but be warned, celiacs… it does come with bread on the side (you don’t have to eat it). We then tried the Ananas pizza (pineapple, prosciutto cotto, basil, fior de latte, pomodoro sauce) and the Pepperoni Funghi pizza (pepperoni, mushrooms, fior de latte, pomodoro sauce), while our gluten tolerant friend had the Pollo pizza (chicken, sun-​dried tomato aioli, goat cheese, fior de latte), which she really enjoyed.
The ambience at buco is perfect – whether on the patio or inside the restaurant. It’s open concept, but you never feel too crowded next to other tables. And you can really tell that the staff is like a family; everyone seemed happy, our server was lovely (and very honest, which we appreciated), and the manager even brought us complimentary shots of peach grappa (probably because we were there for so long). Everything about this visit was lovely and I’ll definitely be coming back!

The culinary needs of St. Albertans are finally being met, thanks to Carmello Rago and the other restauranteurs setting up shop in the Shops at Boudreau. Buco, the newest edition to the Sorrentino’s group of restaurants is exactly what St. Albert has been waiting for. No longer do we have to leave our safe haven and venture into the big city just to find a pairing of good food and equally good ambiance.
I have been to Buco three times already and have really enjoyed each experience. Tonight we dined at the pizza bar where we had the pleasure of viewing the kitchen at work. The staff described each dish that came out with excitement.
The ingredients are all really fresh. Sitting at the bar, you get to see the meats being sliced to order for the pizzas and charcuterie boards. The one thing that impressed me most was probably something that not everyone would even notice. The bowls of Parmesan for the pizza were high quality freshly grated cheese. Huge impact!
Of course it will take a while to work out the kinks in service as it will with all new establishments. However, our server asked us for constructive criticism at the end of our meal and genuinely took it to heart. All you can ask for, in my opinion.