Bado’s Cucina

If you are expecting high volume /​medium quality — go elsewhere. If you like small, perfectly cooked Italian plates in a quaint atmosphere, you’ll love Bado’s. Big plus is BYOB. A little on the pricey side, but well worth it. Staff is friendly and attentive. Will happily return again with a large appetite!

I ordered wrong? Steak and eggs. That’s what I was told by my accompanying dining party. Well I was starving and I did not want a wussy breakfast meal full of soggy textures, I wanted a beefy, powerful meal to take on the day. I also make steak and eggs myself for breakfast quite a lot as I love it. It was the first steak and eggs I could not finish, due to the seemingly very low quality of meat and the shells in my eggs. Not very appetizing, even for a carnivore like myself. I typically wipe the plate clean along with however many additional side orders I am craving.
Kind of disappointing as I was looking forward to sampling Bado’s and desperately am looking for a breakfast place to enjoy consistently. Service was okay. Although I love grungy breakfast places (they’re the best), I could not help that the atmosphere felt dirty down to the details.
I am sure that I will go back one way or another. But maybe I will order an omelet next time as my party was raving about them. Not seeing it! But at least the service was not rude, and that is always appreciated!

I’ve dined here twice so far, once with my boyfriend and once with my mom. Both experiences were wonderful! The staff was efficient and polite, the food was delicious and perfectly-​timed, and the atmosphere was cozy and relaxing. We enjoyed the tapas style menu, ordering a dish from each section of the menu (antipasti, 1^st course, 2^nd course, salad, and dessert). It was the perfect amount of food for two people. Their bread pudding is one of the best desserts I’ve ever had, and they even substituted apples in the bread pudding when their special of the night was blueberry (my mom hates blueberries). We will certainly be returning!

Warning: credit card information stored in reservation book (that all employees can access).
I called recently and they asked for a credit card to secure a reservation. I had no problem with this but was worried about where they stored the information (knowing this is a small place). They confirmed that they write the card #s and expiration date in their reservation book. And confirmed that employees have access to it. When I asked to talk to the owner– he confirmed the same. I voiced concern about this and his response was to cancel my reservation. Really disappointing that 1) they see nothing wrong with paper copies of customer credit cards information and 2) they turned me away because I was concerned. I was a loyal customer and was planning to take family next weekend. Extremely disappointing. I get that they can’t lose money to no-​shows —but they can’t use this as an excuse to put customer credit information at risk.

Extremely underwhelming in consideration of the cost, portion size, and taste. Service was friendly and the atmosphere is nice (albeit a luxury fixer upper décor). There is a 4 dollar surcharge for bread (butter included), which felt like highway robbery. The portions are notably small, 3 items will leave most people wanting more. The menu is structured to encourage the ordering of at least 4 items (calling it «tapas» style — loosely). I think this place must only be afloat because of what appeared to be a strong demographic of affluent late aged white folks lacking taste, hunger, and budget restriction. I would only recommend this place to enemies, or satirists looking to burn cash at the expense of a comedic internet review.

Fabulous food and quaint atmosphere. One of our favorite places to dine since moving out from California. The staff is wonderful.
A few things you should know before dining. It’s BYOB, limited dining area (tight squeeze when the house is full), and portion may be smaller than most people expect.
I highly recommend going on a slow night or avoid peak hours. It can be a bit tight when the house is full.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about this place! The waitress was awesome. The food AMAZING! My father in law was very nervous about going out to a restaurant after losing his leg. It’s small and intimate and he relaxed right away and had a blast! Will definitely be visiting frequently!

The chef is engaging and his food is fantastic. Went here for a girls’ night out and loved it!

There are a limited amount of adventurous dining experiences in Peters Township so I encourage you to go to Bados. The duck is always excellent but I got a a treat this evening with the veal that will be on the fall menu.
Bado’s is a small intimate restaurant that can get busy at times but it is worth the wait. Enjoy this treasure in our little burg of Peters.

This restaurant was another Groupon discovery, but as soon as I mentioned I had dinner plans at Bado’s Cucina, all of my friends were like, «I love that place!»
I thought I was buying a Groupon for Bado’s Pizza, but as I live for Italian food, I wasn’t too disappointed when I realized it wasn’t the same thing. After looking at their website I felt like they should rename the restaurant: Bado’s: You’re Not Eating Anything Here wo a Reservation.
I called on a Wednesday and had no problem making a Friday reservation, but when we were there every table was full. This restaurant is small, you need to book a table ahead of time.
It’s a lovely restaurant, and I loved the big wood oven grill in the center of the room – and props to any restaurant with an open kitchen. Bado’s is also BYOB with a minimal corkage fee. When we were there, we realized we forgot our wine. The table next to us overheard me and gave us half a bottle of their wine.
ITS OFFICIAL: BADOS HAS THE COOLEST CLIENTELE EVER. I DARE you to come up with a better fellow patron story than mine, as mine has free wine.
Okay…so the food. Everything is served tapas style which I didnt like bc Italian food should be family style, in my opinion. I’ve never been led astray by a chefs tasting menu, so when the waiter suggested it, we went for it.
We had mushroom truffle flatbread which was so good I didnt want to split it with my friend, but he made me share :(, and we ended up ordering a second one. Its like sex in your mouth, in a way you’d like. Just trust me.
Then we had crab cakes which were very good. And salmon, which was very good but kind of unremarkable. Then we had banana pepper ravioli and manicotti, which were excellent, however the cheese filling was kind of gritty and not smooth and creamy which is how I like it. The salad came last.
Then, the bill came, and it was around $ 120 pre tip.
Here’s my problem with Bado’s: the food was good, really good — but it’s NOT as good as the food at, say, Centro Anni. I’ll gladly fork over $ 100+ there. Bado’s is more on par w Picolo Forno or Il Pizaiolo, and those restaurants are much less expensive.
I enjoyed my excellent food but I’ve had equal food for less money. However, I’ll be back for sure. I feel like it was a major FAIL that we did not try the pizza. The pizzas looked AMAZING.
Try this place but make sure you’re not buying.

Very very quaint ambiance. I loved how the courses came out separately. They were the right portions for a couple to share. It is BYOB and we brought a bottle of our favorite wine which worked out well for me and my girlfriend. I would definitely go back to this restaurant :)

The server Victoria was the epitome of rude and unprofessional and nervy to intentionally antagonize the customer.
While seated, some battle ax blonde came out from nowhere stomping over to our table with an unmistakable attitude and seemingly looking for battle. I’d presumed she was the one saying that we weren’t changing tables or moving seats. She proceeded to start pulling our table closer to the hostest station while simultaneously stating that our table was in the way and my seat was blocking her throughway between tables. (Please note we never moved the table, only the chair and I weigh 130 pounds, not 230). I knew there was room to get because I used to be a server myself so when I sat down I looked behind me to ensure there way space, albeit tight, to get through. She was so unprofessional, unfriendly and flat out angry, rude and completely inappropriate in her approach that I grabbed the table back and slide it to its original location and told her very quietly and calmly (i was furious) we were comfortable where we were and weren’t interested in moving closer to the door and thanked her for her understanding. Can someone really be justified in being that irritated when a valid and common question, can we move to another table, can we move the seat, is posed. Cleary this woman has issues.
I thought she would just go away but she proceeded to stare and glare me down gripping the table with white knuckles and seemingly shaking with fury – which my aunt too noticed. She was obviously fuming but i didn’t care – we weren’t moving to the table’s new location, especially the way she didn’t ask and demanded and proceeded to pull the table away from us. A few minutes later, I saw her glaring and rolling her eyes while shaking her head after looking at our table. She either didn’t know, or did and didn’t care that I witnessed this. So, I called out that there was no need to roll eye and shake heads that we were just trying to enjoy our table and our visit. She actually shouted over «ARE YOU DONE?» To which i replied «I’m sorry, what did you just say?» To which she responded «I SAID, ARE YOU DONE?»
As if this weren’t bad enough she later interrupted, physically and verbally the feedback I was providing to her boss about our experience. Had the gull to goad me when she stepped right in between not only our conversations but our physical being to confront my complaints head on. Something that could have easily landed her a push and shove on the outside. Like I said, she’s got issues.

The food was great but couldn’t make up for the rude waitress. I would smile at her and receive the stink-​eye in return. She ignored our table most of the time and was relentlessly nasty and annoyed when required to serve us. We felt like second-​class citizens for using a groupon (and yes, we always tip on the full cost of the meal so there was really no need for her to be treating us this way). We don’t go out for date night a lot, so was it too much to ask for kind and decent service?
Also FYI — they charge a $ 6 corkage fee, even if you bring your own screw-​top bottle of wine and require no corkscrew.

This used to be a great place, but the new ownership and chef just haven’t been able to keep it the same, much less make it better. It’s ok, but certainly better places for the money in the area.

Always a nice treat!

Update: Just tried the pizza the other night. Phenomenal! Gives Il Pizziaolo a run for their money. Sorry south hills natives but it’s true.
Why have you not been to Bado’s? Stop reading my review and start driving! Bado’s Cucina is one of my favorite places for Italian. I’ve been here about four times over the past year and I have never been less than impressed. As other reviewers note, this is a very small BYOB restaurant with an open kitchen and a wood burning oven. The single chef cooks all of the menu items in the wood burning oven. The menu is also divided into courses with each item ranging from about 10 – 15 $.
Last Friday, my husband and I ordered the «rustico» for our first course to split. The «rustico» is an antipasto platter with Italian meats, cheeses, olives and dipping sauce. Yum. I also enjoy the cheese fondue with bread and apples to dip. For our next course we ordered the pumpkin tortelloni in the vodka sauce. I was looking forward to the fall menu because the pumpkin tortelloni is always to die for! This was no exception. The sweetness of the pumpkin matched well with the tangy vodka sauce. Though, I also enjoy when the pumpkin tortelloni is done with a lighter, white wine based sauce. For our entrees, I ordered the pork with cranberry sauce but was a little disappointed when our server informed me that they were out of pork. So, I decided to indulge in another pasta for my entrée, the manicotti. The mannicotti was also flavorful and hearty. My husband ordered the duck and raved about the crispy skin and the juicy meat. He’s a big fan of the quail which was not on the fall menu. We then decided to skip the salad course and go right for the desserts. Although I’m a sucker for bread pudding, pomegranite and blackberry did not entice me. Instead we decided to try the cannolis for the first time. Another great choice. The cannolis were delicious and just the right amount of sweetness to end our meal. In conclusion, Bado’s is well worth the drive. My tip: come hungry and bring several friends so that you can order and try many of the different menu items.

Loved the intimate ambiance. Kitchen and dining room sharing one space, the oven sending warm light into the room. Tapas-​style menu, BYOB. Service was bad, food was ok.
This was my first visit (and probably last), perhaps a case of bad timing:
Waitstaff short at least one person, the owner apparently taking up some slack. We were seated (with our 2 bottles of wine) and sat for close to 10 minutes. We had to actually stop the waitress in her tracks and request water, wine glasses and corkage. A table seated after us got immediate service. Not cool.
We sampled a flatbread (mushroom truffle), large enough for each of the 4 of us to have a piece about the size of a playing card. Was delicious, maybe light on seasoning, but not over-​truffled. Also tried the Verde antipasta which is roasted veg, olives and a few slices of cheese. Disappointed that the skins were left on the roasted peppers.
Sadly, my first and second choices for entrees were not available. Choice #1 Pork Ragu on Papperdelle, kitchen was substituting orichette for the pappardelle. I declined. Choice #2. Lamb Chops. just sold out. Not cool.
Ordered lasagne and a grilled Caesar salad. Lasagne was ok, but 2 – 3 bites had eggshells included, the salad was small and odd.
For dessert, I ordered Tiramisu. No surprise, they were out of it. Had an apple bread pudding that was over-​the-​top sweet – even for bread pudding – and whipped cream added.
By far, the most disappointing thing about our evening was the service. Our server was throwing the plates at us – clanking them down so hard that we were all jumping. At one point she announced to us that she was going to get the water pitcher to refill our glasses, but never came back.
Unilocal needs half stars so I could give this one 2 ½!

I ate here this past Friday night with 5 dining companions. The décor of the restaurant was nice and you could see the brick oven and much of what was being done in the kitchen. What surprised me was how intimate it was as you could probably only fit about 30 people in the dining room.
Since myself and the dining companions were all good friends, we decided to split the first two courses in order to have a better sampling of the menu. We started off with an antipasta (rustico), fondue and the white bean dip. I thought that all of the appetizers were very good and worth getting. We followed that up by once again splitting 3 dishes, the Gnocchi with truffle, spinach ravioli and pumpkin tortellini. This was my favorite part of the meal and the pumpkin tortellini was absolutely amazing. After we had finished the first two courses the waitress let us know that there was another reservation for our table at 8:30 even though it was only 7:45 at the time. We had ordered everything at the beginning and were not eating at leisurely pace either so we did not know what to make of it. Ironically, it would take another half an hour before our main dishes were served and so the warning became a joke to us. For my main course I had a dish that could be considered a paella. After the first two courses I was eagerly looking forward to it but was left disappointed. There was not anything wrong with it but it was not nearly as good as the first two courses. Finally for dessert I had the Pecorino Romano which was a nice combination of savory of sweet.
The bottom line for me is that I would not actively seek out another dinner here but also would not decline to go either. This restaurant had some great dishes that were worth the price but also had some that were merely so-​so. It is a tapas place and so I would recommend it if you like to try new things but as with most tapas place, expect to leave with your wallet quite a bit lighter. It was also nice that it was BYOB.

What a lovely place. Actually, my new favorite place. This intimate, warmly lit BYO is in an unassuming location on Washington Road and conveniently, just 10 minutes from our home. There are some amazing vegetarian options and the plates are all small — which is GREAT because you can practice some portion control here. Although, portion control is difficult because the food is sooooooo good. We came on a tuesday night and the place was full so I suggest making a reservation.

It’s a shame that so many reviews are done by individuals who obviously choose a restaurant out of their range of experience. Bado’s is not about how big the $ 14 pizza is — try Pizza Hut if you’re looking for big, cheap pizza. Bado’s is about unique dishes made with fresh local ingredients. The ambiance is second to none, and the wait staff, as well as chef Sam, make everyone feel like family. Tapas, by definition, are small portions, and the idea is to order several to sample and share. If you’re on a $ 20/​person budget, head to Applebee’s down the road where you can get an appetizer and two entries for $ 20. Use the left over $ 20 for some cheap beer. Bado’s caters to those who can afford to spend $ 50 or more a person and enjoy the meal with a fine bottle of wine.
Bado’s is packed with regulars on the weekends — folks who appreciate the quality of the experience. Menu items change with the season and there are always nightly specials. All of the food is exceptional, but the bread pudding is to die for. Served in small All-​Clad dishes, hot from the wood burning oven, it is simply sinful