Bucatini Palm Desert

Absolutely delicious Italian food. My wife and I found this place while in town for a concert and gave it a try. It was a stifling 116 degrees and as we poured our way through the door looking for relief from the heat. The place is tucked away in a corner of nice little shopping center. The staff is friendly and the place is cleananf kempt (minus a fidgety front door ? with an Italian/sports bar feel. It presents itself as an Italian place without all the stuffiness one might expect from a high-end place. The menu was pretty big with what seemed like a lot of authentic Italian dishes. I settled for the homemade beef short rib ravioli and my wife got the tried and true chicken parmesan while starting with some garlic flatbread. I 'll be honest, I was concerned because sometimes when local restaurants claim everything is homemade, it can be difficult to live up to that promise, especially when the place isn 't super busy, which this place wasnt, on a Friday night at 5 pm. The flatbread came out and within just a few minutes it was gone. Remarkably flaky dough, thin and crispy but soft with just the right touch of garlic and butter. It was absolutely delicious and it makes me regret not getting a pizza if that 's similar to how the crust is. My ravioli was fresh, had amazing flavor and perfectly cooked vegetables. My wife 's chicken parmesan was exactly the same. The food was so good! Great flavors with an obvious nod to being homemade and authentic as they didn 't taste as one-dimensional like typical american-italian places we are used to. We aren 't in this area often, but will for sure go back just to deep dive into that menu. If your in the area, you need to give this place a go, the food is fantastic!

RAVING ABOUT THE CHEF Went to Bucatini's last evening, haven't been since before Covid, and we were blown away by the food, so much so that I had to go to the kitchen and kiss the chef! Started with some perfectly prepared Calamari, then split the VITELLO EMILIANA 29. Veal scaloppini breaded Milanese Style, golden fried and baked with Alfredo sauce and Mozzarella. Served with a side of penne tomato vodka cream sauce. The place is a tiny bit well used, but oh my gosh, our new fav!

First time here and we loved the atmosphere, friendliness of the staff and most definitely the FOOD. Everything was great but the bread ? it was just too cheap tasting to compliment the delicious food they cook here. Sam's club sales good hoagie bread that would go perfect with the meals.Food: 5/5

In all fairness, I like to give a restaurant a few tries before writing a negative review. I went to Bucatini for the third time last night, and it will be my last.The atmosphere and service have been good, but the food is mediocre at best. The toasted bread they bring to the table is the best thing I have eaten there.I've tried the lasagna, and it was mushy and the sauce tasted strangely sweet. Just not very delicious.I tried the chicken fettuccini one time, and it was flat in the flavor department and not very delicious at all.Last night I gave the chicken parmigiana a try with very mixed results. The flavor was awesome, but the chicken was really difficult to cut as it was very stringy, very overcooked and dry. Seemed like it was old and reheated, not fresh.What a bummer. I am just not willing to drop any more money on food here after giving them a few chances.

Our family loves eating at Bucatini. The food is always fresh and wonderfully prepared and flavored. Gabby is a great server and the staff are all very accommodating and helpful if you want more of the delicious bread with olive oil ?Food: 5/5