Maggiano's has been described as Buca, with more expensive food, and less fun. I don't know if this is true, but that is the impression hereabouts from friends of mine who have gone to both.

Maggiano's is more upscale.

Maggiano's is expensive! The family style dinner is $25 per person... granted it's a lot of food and it's good, it's still a lot. The atmosphere is pretty upscale - so probably not as much fun as a Buca. I need to check one of these places out!

Maggiano's is owned by the same company that owns Chili's.

I have recently been to both. I keep forgetting to mention, Jacquelita and I ate at the Buca that Jimbo parks in. Both were pretty good and it appears they have found a winning formula. Boy I can't consume *anything* without working out their business scheme. Anyway here's what I think:

~ Every chain restaurant out there serves the same shit on a different shingle. They do this because every item on their menu is processed to the point where someone cooking it can't screw it up even if they are a moron. Such restaurants do not hire "chefs", they hire minimum-wage lackeys to put together your steak tips in sauce. Most of these restaurants are served their entrees by service firms such as Sysco who deliver them in big trucks. Blarg.

~ Some chains have noticed that there are a few foods that can be made by the same lackeys, without really messing them up, but not require so much processing. So far, the foods they have discovered are: one, steaks, and two, pasta and sauce.

~ The pasta and sauce restaurants have figured out that the pasta is actually the cheapest thing on the whole spreadsheet. Cheaper than the decor, the service, the lackeys, the real estate, etc. and therefore:

~ As long as you have gotten people to the table with your marketing, and gotten a nice young lady to bring it to the table, you can pretty much fill that plate she brings with as much pasta as can fit on it and the math looks the same at the end of the day.

But the cool thing is, both places produced outstandingly tasty pasta and sauce, enough to take home and eat the next day (which I gather is PART of the whole scheme), which made it seem like a tremendous deal. (Hey two meals for the price of one!)

I'd definitely hit either one again, and knowing me I probably will.

Jim had a breakfast meeting at Buca a few mornings ago and said it sucked. Apparently bacon and eggs are not their forte.