Buona Restaurant & Catering

We had the most delicious Italian beefs here. AND they have a gluten free bread option that’s fabulous… The best I’ve had. Bravo to this establishment.

Better than Portillos. Better quality food and way more consistent. The Italian sausage though– no good. The combo — no good. The beef, salads, burgers, sides– all good. One more thing, the position of the drive thru and the entrances at awful. But I can’t hold that against them!

You know what goes great with everything? FRIES!
How do you seriously keep your doors open as a quick serve restaurant when your only fryer is «down»?
Epic fail…

There’s a really nice delivery guy who, I think, may be Russian or Eastern European? He is reliable and fantastic. The food is really tasty. Good old Chicago style Italian beef sandwiches. Nice cannolis.

I used to come to this location years ago regularly. I have not been lately. I was there the other day and ordered a burger to go and by the time I got home the burger still was completely pink in the inside.
I immediately called the location to let them be aware and that was when I was told that there was nothing they could do unless I drive over 30 minutes to show them. After arguing about this they finally stated I could get a free meal the next time I come back.
I came back another day and talked to a manager who would not assist at all and basically stated he could give 50% off my meal. The meal I never had the chance to eat in the first place due to their unhealthily standards of cooking their meat.
The cooking standard has gone downhill… The communication between employees and managers are non-​existant… There is a Portillos, Wendy’s, KFC, Pizza locations, and more near by. I would not recommend this location to anyone anymore. If you are hungry, do yourself a favor and just skip this location.

Salteeeeeee!
Wow that’s what I get each and every time I have tried their food and right now as I type this my mouth is tingling and dry and I need to rinse the salt out of my mouth.
For some dumb reason I keep giving them another chance I have only myself to blame (busy day, in a hurry and need something quick plus their down the street) but it’s not quick I’m the only one in the drive through it’s empty inside from what I can see and my sandwich and fries takes over ten minutes. (They probably spent those ten minutes dousing my food with salt) which brings me back to the overuse of salt, this includes burgers and beefs, hot dogs, fries and paninis and the sub! I think I’m done with this food and with this review and with buona

Second choice next to Johhny’s in Elmwood when it comes to italian beef. This one is the one of the more consistent Buona restaurant around. Staff is always walking around asking how was everything etc. I always enjoyed their beef sandwiches and price standpoint is good as well. They offer free wifi which is a plus. However their drive thru is a bit complicated. Haven’t tried to many of the other items on the menu but will certainly do so sometime soon. Don’t forget to sign up for their buona card, it’s well worth it.

CUSTOMER BEWARE! DON’T GET RIPPED OFF!
My family and I often go to Buona Beef. A few times I have gone to the restaurant to get the «Game Day» pack to take home. Over the past 6 months the prices jumped from $ 19.95, then to $ 21.95. No big deal. When they last raised the price they also cut back on providing pasta with the package. Again, no big deal. I would stop at the Jewel deli and pick up a good size container of slaw at a good price. In the last week my wife and I decided to get the «Game Day» pack again. When I walked in the door, there is a huge sign on the counter that advertises the «Game Day» pack and what it contains. I order it and to my surprise, the cashier rings it up for $ 25.95. I said to her, «this is wrong». The sign shows $ 21.95″. She gets the Assistant manager and I tell him and show him the sign. He can hardly speak English and gets the manager. The manager comes over and I repeat the same thing again to him. He then tells me that, «well that’s for members». I tell him there is nothing on the sign that says that and I tell him I am a regular customer here and buy the «Game Day» pack and I have always been charged the price that you advertise which is $ 21.95″. He then walks away from me.
I left with the pack and of course, I’m not a happy camper. So I went to the Buona Beef web site and sent a message to them explaining my concerns. It’s been over a week now and no response from Buona Beef. Obviously something is going on here and I will not be part of it. Looks like we go to another restaurant for beef.

This is my «work» Buona, and probably the one I visit the most.
The food is fresh and they smile. A few of my former students have worked here. Oh, and I love how they cook the fries here: crustier outside and steamy fresh on the inside. *foodgasm*
The manuvering around the building is a PITA, kind of like Portillo’s. Like Portillo’s, expect orange cones at peak times.
It’s yummy though. So yes. Buona = win!

Buona beef is by far THE BEST place to get THE BEST ITALIAN BEEF Sandwhich!
Italians and Sicilians I know agree.

I had the buena beef original and I was pleased. I found the bread to be crispy and fresh. The amount of Au Jus was perfect, the sandwich was moist but not overly soggy like Portillo’s. While the cheese fries were decent, I have to say Portillo’s fries are much better and they also give you a lot more. The ambience and layout of this Buona location is great, there is a decent amount of seating and in my short dine-​in experience I saw multiple employees walking around and asking people how their food was. I liked the fact that the environment did not seem hectic at all unlike most Portillo’s locations.

I love this place! One of the main reasons I love this place is because of the staff. They are friendly, courteous and are as quick as they can be. Yesterday, I even gave an order wrong and the restaurant manager was very gracious about it.
I usually place a phone order to pick up because let’s be real, this isn’t McDonald’s and the food here is real, so it takes a little longer. I don’t mind waiting because I haven’t gotten a single item I don’t love. The biggest plus for me is the gluten free bread. I have to say in almost a whole year of going GF I hadn’t had a cheeseburger until by chance I saw on their site they offer gluten free bread. I’m grateful because Buona Beef helps me have a taste of my favs and not get glutened. I’ve had the beef, Italian sausage, the combo, chicken artichoke panini and pollo pomadoro. I even love the fries. Not sure about how it’ll affect all Celiacs but I’m happy to say I can dine here.
My hubby and kids even love this place, which is not an easy task when it comes to American food. My daughter doesn’t care for Portillo’s fries but eats the fries and her hot dog asap. My son prefers this chicken sandwich over to Portillo’s too. My hubby has fallen in love with their double Angus burger. He usually gets it customized, no pickles, provolone cheese, mushrooms and bacon and thinks its delicious. Again, you can tell this is real food and not processed by products of some of the cheaper fast food places. The biggest plus is that they have coupons, if you sign up for the primo club they email them to you. So saving money for my fam is a plus. :)

They are known for their beef so I ordered the Maggiore. Bun was soaked and the beef and peppers overcooked. Beef was bland. Fries were decent though.

Love this place! Beefs are better than portillos ! My wife loves their Chicken Ceasar salad ! Can’t say enough !

I always forget about this place and then we were driving by yesterday and stopped in for a late lunch.
This might be blasphemous but I like this place better than Portillo’s from the standpoint of the flavor of the food. I like the beef and the giardinera on the beef sandwiches better and, while others will swear that the hot dogs are the same, I am pretty sure they are not, and I prefer them from Buona over most of the other local places. And they have much tastier fries.
So why the three?
The portions are a lot smaller than I remember. As a result, it’s a bit overpriced. I remember getting at least 50% more fries than I got when we were in this most recent time and the husband remarked that his beef sandwich was a lot smaller than he remembered having, even for the medium size.
Hopefully the pricing/​portion issue will be resolved. At some point, I’d like to go back as it is rather enjoyable otherwise.

Food is always freshly made and good. Only wish is that their drive-​thru service was faster. It doesn’t matter what location or what time of day, there is always a wait. Drive-​thru speeds is one area their competitor has down to the tee.

It’s like that potato chip commercial…“You can’t just have one!”
I first came here as a recommendation from one of my colleagues and I must say that you can’t go wrong with this place at all. Any thing you order will be awesome. I get the combo juicy with hot and sweet! If you try it you’ll know what I mean!

Very good salads! I loved the sesame ginger chicken salad– it was a great portion, delicious, and didn’t have too much dressing on it– the perfect amount. My friend loved her Tuscan Harvest salad too. There are many options to choose from here and the quality is very good. Nice looking restaurant inside with comfortable seating (though sometimes a little too close to other customers). Reminder– They don’t sell pizza at this location.

My parents both grew up near the original Buona in Berwyn, so as a result, I’ve been eating Buona my whole life. Sure, I love hot dogs and pizza too, but as far as Chicago food goes, the Italian Beef sandwich is just as good!
I always order my beef juicy/​dipped with both sweet at hot peppers. In my book, there is no other way to get it. The juices make the meat so moist, so full or herbs and spices. The hot peppers add a slight kick (nothing crazy) with a good mix of tastes and textures — olives, celery, etc. The sweet peppers add a nice, cool crunch to the sandwich. The flavors and textures of it all together is perfect.
As far as the rest goes — I’m not a huge fan of the fries, but that’s a personal opinion… I’m sure many people love them. The place is usually clean, it’s usually (though not always) quick, and the people are friendly enough.

Might be the best I have had for Italian Beef.
The right amounts of beef, au jus, and in my case both sweet and hot peppers… was just delicious.
The bread was very good and not a swimming pool of au jus… that is was ramekins are for… if you like soggy bread.
Rant…
And no… there is nothing Italian about au jus soaked buns or French about a French Dip. America just bastardizes food to death. How about some freaking ketchup on your beef as well? Yikes!
End rant.
The Parmesan chips were also tasty and I would love to have them warm or hot just to see how that would be.