Buona - Hillside

Stopped by for a late lunch. I tried the cheesy beef sandwich, which is a new (to me, anyway) addition to their menu. It was really nice; I recommend it! Sort of like a Philly cheese steak, but with Italian beef. Came with fries and a drink as part of the meal. Service was good and the restaurant had a lively atmosphere and good crowd (not too crowded).

I had a doctor's appointment right up the street so I stopped at this location. One of the things I ordered was the chicken avocado protein bowl. I opened it and the avocado already had black marks on it like it was already going bad. I know avocado turn somewhat quickly but I was only 10 minutes from my mom's house. It should not have had all those black marks on it so fast. I started to eat and was crunching on something. I ignored the first crunch (there shouldn't be a crunch). I took another bite and it was more crunch/grit than the first bite. It was very gritty like. I started emptying the bowl in a plate to the side to see if I could see anything and came across what looked like dirt (muddy looking). I was totally grossed out and threw it out. If you enlarge the second picture you can see what I'm talking about. I'm not sure if I should stop going to Buona restaurants or just not go to that location again. 🤔 I gave it 2 stars because my mother said her food (beef and pizza) was good. I ended up being the hungry one.

Omg. Julio and Marco are the best. I went to the glen Ellyn location and it was terrible. I gave a bad review on everything. On national beef day I tried out the Hillside location. Wow. Night and day. This location is the best. Atmosphere, staff friendliness, quality of food and experience were 100% better than the other location. Marco told me to come back to make up for the glen ellyn experience. I did, unfortunately it was his day off but the other staff remembered me and Julio kept Marcos promise. I will only go to this location in the future. You should too! Thanks for the great experience!

Tried ordering in their app and it wouldnt let me use my gift card or debit card at all saying to use something else when i just used it the night before and when i tried calling to order they just said nothing they can do. No help at all to try and fix the situation sent me to hold 2x for 5 min before i was able to talk to them at all. I was also not able to use my rewards at all in the app either even though its an option. Horrible service over the phone too. 8/10 would not recommend