Buca Di Beppo   

Compared to the rest of the world, Americans have some serious problems with portion control. And nowhere is this phenomenon more obvious than at Buca di Beppo, a family-style restaurant specializing in immigrant Southern Italian cooking. From pizzas "as big as bathmats" to meatballs "as big as your head" to the chicken cacciatore (alternately titled, "Seven Pounds of Love") the Buca is all about strapping on the feedbag. Entrees, which include the usual lasagna, spaghetti, ravioli and chicken, are meant to serve two to five people, though doggie bags are the norm. The food isn't the only thing that's big at the Buca. Though you wouldn't know it from its non-descript brick exterior, Buca's interior -- homage to the Italian-American supper clubs of the '40s and '50s -- makes a huge impression with floor-to-ceiling photos (Sophia Loren is a popular subject), tacky travel souvenirs, and more crusty old tchotchkes than your grandmother could collect in 10 lifetimes. With incredi-bubbly servers and themed tables like the Pope's Table and the Kitchen Table (located smack-dab in the middle of Buca's kitchen), even the atmosphere is larger-than-life. -- Kerry Speckman