When I first saw this place from the outside, I turned to a friend of mine and said, “Look, Tomatobee’s!” The “dancing tomatoes” around the building reminded me of the Applebee’s chain, and for a few minutes, I figured someone had pulled a pretty good satire off and called their restaurant Tomatobee’s (somehow that’s not quite as inviting as Applebee’s…). I still fondly refer to this place as Tomatobee’s, and every so often will take the forty-five minutes to an hour it takes me to get to Yuba City to grab a bite here. It’s Italian fare, I’m not sure how authentic it is, but I do know it’s tasty. A couple friends and I visited 3/19/2010; we started with the antipasto plate and I had the chicken parmesan. The others ordered Pasta Ka-Boom and Pasta Arrabiatta…I’m not opposed to spicy food, but given the opportunity for gnocchi or chicken parmesan I’ll take it every time (in that order). As you may have noticed by the decidedly American spelling, this isn’t going to be high-end Italian, but it is good food.

The bathroom was pretty standard, clean, mostly white, with a touch of red and green (kinda like the Italian flag, leading me to believe the color selection was specifically for that). The Dancing Tomato in picture #4 has horns and a hat (he’s a beefsteak tomato, of course), is on the door into the bathroom (designating “men’s”), and is just one of probably a half-dozen or so Dancing Tomatoes throughout the restaurant. Three rolls for the bathroom plus one-half for the beefsteak tomato.

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One of my all-time favorite “Italian” restaurants is Buca di Beppo. The food is always good, it’s served “family style” (one entrée typically serves 3-4 people), and they have a lot to choose from. Price-wise, it’s pretty good, too; a solid value for what you get. I was here with friends on 2/12/2010, and we had their specialty pizza, Gnocchi al Telefono (I’m a huge fan of gnocchi…especially gnocchi bolognese, but I’m pretty sure that’s not a traditional way it’s served…or if it is, it’s just hard to find), and the Spicy Chicken Rigatoni, with their standard Mixed Green Salad (personally I prefer the Apple Gorgonzola Salad…but I’m just one person, can’t eat that much, and pretty much the only one of the group that likes apples, walnuts, and cranberries in his salad). To clarify, Buca is not high-falutin’ Italian food…it’s meant to be fun and kitschy (and yes, it is a chain). If you have issues with Italian chain restaurants, or are expecting gourmet or food like your grandmother used to make…don’t go! It’s not gonna be your kind of place.

Part of that kitschy thing…is the Pope Room, seating up to 15 people and the bust of a Pope (I believe it’s John Paul II…here’s a photo of the Pope Room, and I know the photographer credits this as John XXIII, so I may be wrong). The other really cool place to eat is the Kitchen Table (literally in the kitchen), where you can watch the food being made, dishes being cleaned, etc. The only down side is the kitchen room (not surprisingly) is the warmest area in the restaurant.

The bathroom is full of photographs (just like the rest of the restaurant), and even features a [locked] cabinet full of hair products. I thought it was pretty funny that the door to the bathroom stall has a painting of the volcano at Pompei erupting. Thanks to the creative bathroom design, Buca gets 4.5 rolls. Sometimes they even have a recording of women talking in the mens’ room (and I assume men talking in the womens’, but I don’t know) so it’s like you can hear the conversation in the other bathroom.

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