Bocci Trattoria & Pizzeria

Bocci serves up solid and home-​cooked portions of Italian food in a cozy atmosphere in Lochmere Village. As you enter the restaurant, there is a large wooden bar on the left where you can see some of the food preparation, have a drink or eat at the bar. There are televisions and seating at the bar as well. The main dining room is to the right of the hostess stand and there is outdoor seating. I like the the windows that let in natural light and the Tuscan warmth of the yellow walls. We like to use the private dining room for dinners at work and Bocci has always done a great job accommodating our parties of 15 or more. Depending on the night of the week, there is a food and beverage minimum to secure the room.
There is a lunch menu offering sandwiches wraps and smaller portions of the classic Italian entrees. The dinner menu offers soups, salads, appetizers, pizza and classic Italian dishes. I had the Old World favorite, chicken Parmesan, and it was the perfect portion and cooked with lots of flavor. The noodles were al dente and the sauce homemade. My coworker had a pasta dish he created himself with marinara sauce and sausage on top of Angel Hair. The calamari, bruschetta, and wings are the best appetizers and complimentary bread and olive oil is also part of the experience. The wind and beer list is a combination of local and Italian beers and wines from all over. I think the prices are great for the portion sizes and Bocci has always impressed me. They have another location in Durham on Fayetteville street and I have been there for the Nonna pizza. Bocci in Cary is perfect for lunch or dinner and is the right combination of casual atmosphere with delicious food.

Went here for an anniversary dinner last week. We arrived about 30min before closing time. We weren’t aware of what time they closed before we arrived. The waiter greeted us with «it’s almost closing time and you need to order quickly». I felt rushed our entire meal and, to be honest, felt like we were a bother rather than a welcomed customer:(Thankfully, my dinner (shrimp and grits) was delicious– but other than that it was a rushed, uneventful experience with a rude waiter.

The food was fantastic, as was the outside dining. We were very disappointed while eating our meal someone at the next table lit up a cigarette. When we said something to the waiter he informed us smoking is allowed in the outside eating area. That is the reason for the lower rating.

Good Italian food at a reasonable price.
If you like thin crust pizza, the NONNA PIZZA is phenomenal with it’s amazing sauce. I highly recommend giving it a try.
We also had the BAKED LASAGNA CLASSICO with ricotta, ground beef, meat sauce, and covered with a layer of mozzarella cheese. The filling was a bit dry for my preference, but some extra sauce over the top helped.
For dessert, we had the CHEESECAKE DEL GIORNO a homemade white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake that was one of the best cheescakes we’ve had. I’d come back just for this.

After reading some of the reviews, I was hesitant to try. I’m so glad I did! From the bread to the salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette and lasagna, everything was amazing. The service was on point, and the staff were all very friendly. I would highly recommend!

Without fail, every visit is flawless. The tomato bisque is the best I’ve ever had (seriously). The pizza is made «your» way and our NY way is as good as NYC … No joke. The people and service are as consistently top tier. Our very favorite place to be!!! Thank you Richard !!

Came here tonight for a bridal shower and was very impressed by this restaurant! First off, if you’re looking for a good space to have a private setting for a large party, this was a great option. We sat in a side room in the back and had one long table. We all had plenty of room and even had an extra table near by to keep presents on. Also, since the room was sectioned off it was the perfect space to be able to open presents and be louder with a big group without disrupting other customers dining experience.
Besides the restaurant space, I was very impressed with the service. Usually with large parties it’s often that things may get messed up with orders or service is slow, but the service was fast. We did wait on a few meals that staggered out at the end to be served, but the waiter was always quick to refill waters. The waiter also was very fast and organized to get everyone to go boxes and separate checks.
The food was delicious and the portions were big. I ordered the Rigatoni Portobello which was very flavorful and good. It came with plenty of mushrooms and caramelized onions. The mushroom sauce was delicious and to top it off it even had goat cheese in it which added even more flavor to the dish. My coworkers got the calamari appetizer that I tasted. It was good and definitely enough for a few people to share. Looking around the table, the lasagna definitely looked amazing and the meatballs were huge! I would come back to try these dishes. If you’re looking for a new Italian restaurant to try, this one should be added to your list.

I got to experience a work dinner recently at Bocci here in Cary. A bit tucked away in a shopping area near Lochmere (go to the inner courtyard to enter), so don’t get worried if you don’t see it from the parking lot. Since Italian is one of my very fave foods to enjoy, I was eager to try Bocci out.
I love the interior and the atmosphere when you come in. Very well done, open and inviting. The bar area is nice, a good place to relax with a cold one. They do prefer you settle your tab at the bar first before you go on to a table, heads up on that one. Once seated, we ordered an array of apps including calamari, Bocci balls (balls of spinach and ricotta that are lightly fried, with tomato sauce, look a lot like meatballs), and Nachos Italiano, all of which were pretty good stuff. The red wine our facilitator selected was spot on, wonderful. I ordered the Pork Saltimbocca (described on the menu as «Prosciutto & Sage Wrapped Pork Tenderloin, Pan-​Seared Gnocchi, Green Beans, Brown Butter, Demi Glacé») as my main entrée. It tasted wonderful, I did enjoy the flavors a lot. So why 3 stars I think you are asking by now… well, I’d give Bocci a solid 4 stars except for the portion of my main entrée. It was not a full piece of pork tenderloin as I thought it would be, but around 8 small coin-​like medallions. Small enough that at first I thought it was a mistake or there would be a second plate with my meat selection on it until I took quick inventory. As I was pretty hungry, the portion was really disappointing to me. However as I said, the flavor was great. Service wise, our server was attentive, very polite, and helpful. If and when I get the opportunity to come back, I will probably make a different entrée choice to make for a better experience.
Bottom line: Bocci has a very nice atmosphere and pleasing diverse Italian menu. Great flavors in the items I tried but unfortunately lost a star in the very small portion of pork in the Pork Saltimbocca I ordered, pretty disappointing. I look forward to coming back sometime in the future to see if another entrée can make for a more enjoyable experience but for now, I think Bocci is A-​OK, 3 stars.

Excellent old world standards and fresh new entre menu with delicious fresh from farm to table recipes. Calimari was fresh, hot, and crispy with a nice marinara dipping sauce. Risotto de Mare’ was big enough for two full of shrimp, clams, mussels, scallops, calimari, in a tasty sauce, with perfect risotto.

The lemon panna cotta: that’s AMORE! This is such a refreshing and light dessert perfect after a big & bold Italian meal. Despite being stuffed to the gills, this was amazing!
For dinner, we had pizza to share and some pasta for kiddos. There are several styles of pizza here which is really intriguing and we’re tempted to try some of the other styles after our first pie from this spot. The cheese was plentiful and toppings seemed nice and fresh too. The quality of the meats and veggies were spot on. Definitely a high quality pizza spot! The pastas were flavorful, even kid sizes were plentiful (good for larger kiddos too!).
Several of the desserts sounded like they had such potential, but I’m a sucker for lemon desserts so that panna cotta won the decision and I’m so glad. Seriously, it was my favorite part of the meal. My carnivorous husband had a taste and he loved it instantly too! Not too sweet, very balanced, a nice crunch from the toppings and fresh, sweet strawberries played nicely against the not-​too-​sourness of the lemon.
Overall, this is a solid restaurant. Definitely worth giving a shot, and we’ll be back too!

Had a family group Saturday night, including 2 kids. We always have a good meal at Bocci. Good cocktails, very good food and excellent service. Lauren took great care of our group with special attention to the kids, 8 mos. and 2 ½. This place is one of our favs!
I have one minor quibble, at dinner, I wish they had linen napkins, since I managed to slop up my slacks, my fault!

Another awesome dinner at Bocci! Not only is the food amazing, but the staff is wonderful too! Tonight Lauren was serving us. She was attentive, made great suggestions and was very friendly! I was celebrating my birthday with my family and she made sure we were having fun! All of our dishes were delicious and Lauren boxed up our leftovers and even boxed up the cupcakes we brought but we’re too full to eat. Great service and delicious food! Can’t wait to come back!

My dining partner has been wanting to try this place since it is close to where I live, but I have been hesitant. It turns out that my hesitance was spot on.
We visited on a Sunday evening and they were bustling but not crazy busy. They were offering half price wine bottles but we did not partake. We sat inside towards the rear right corner of the restaurant which was partially sectioned off from the main room which houses the bar but still very noisy. It was much noisier than I was expecting. The music is higher than it should be which forces the diners to talk louder. There are paper napkins wrapped around the silverware so that should give an accurate reading of the type of restaurant this is.
Service: Kai (sp?) was very friendly but maybe a little too busy. He greeted us promptly but it took a more than a few minutes to get waters, and quite awhile before he could take our order. However, he was definitely working hard, the food all came out promptly, and he did fulfill any of our requests (more bread, more water, etc) within a reasonable amount of time.
Food: We ordered the Bada Bing Shrimp to share as an appetizer. It was very good but a little pricey since we literally got 7 large shrimp over sad arugula that had been sitting under the heat lamp for $ 8.50. Honestly, the plate was way too big for the size of appetizer which made it look like an even smaller portion.
My dining partner got the penne with meat sauce. It was huge portions but not very tasty. He said it was very sweet but still bitter like maybe they use canned tomato sauce and burnt the ground meat in the pot. I got the pappardelle fiorentina. Again, huge portion but just really bland and not good. The «sauce» was more like broth from soup. It was very runny and light. None of the vegetables or chicken had any flavor and it didn’t help that they were way overcooked. Much more cooking and the vegetables would have dissolved. I think I had 4 bites but I just couldn’t keep eating something so bad. It was definitely not freshly made. The best thing was the bread, which wasn’t phenomenal but decent.
Towards the end of our meal, Kai checked on us and I told him that I did not like my dish at all but I did not want anything else. He did take it off the bill, but the manager never came to the table. He didn’t even ask my dining partner about their dish even though they ate maybe ¼ of it, and we didn’t wrap up anything.
I would not recommend for anyone. Unless all that you want is a whole lot of food, no matter how crappy it tastes, I would stay away.

We really wanted to fall in love with this restaurant. The service is always amazing, but the food is just not our favorite. Everything is swimming in olive oil, covered in cheese, or both.

My family came to celebrate Mother’s Day but it was unfortunately anything but a celebration. We had reservations for 7. We arrived 10 mins til and were immediately seated. The place was empty so reservations weren’t necessary. However, it was extremely loud for being empty. Lots of plates and trays being dropped and the music was cranked loud. We had to shout to hear each other. (BTW… I’m not some fuddy duddy that is sensitive to loud noise.) We sat for 15 mins before the server came. Then it was another 15 before he took our order. He also was rather curt and rude. He didn’t even say «hi.» He returned 5 mins later to let me know they were out of what I ordered. He didn’t have a menu so I asked for one… another 5 mins goes by. He came back with the menu hen left for another 5 mins, took my new order and left. Came back and they were out of my second order. 3^rd time was the charm but I went for safe… a salad. Food came out after 20 mins. The salad was uninspired, bland, and very watery. I had 3 bites and couldn’t stand it. My husband said his lasagna was just OK. My kids (5&7) were fine with their kids meals.
The whole time 3 other tables near us were seated after us and served before we received our meal. Also, the manager stopped by every table but ours. We were the only table with kids under 10 in the area we were seated. Perhaps that was taboo, but simply state that on your website and we won’t bother bringing our children.
This was our first time there and it was certainly our last. If you are going to have a prefix menu for and event like Mother’s Day, you certainly should have enough food to last you the day. I don’t think 7pm is late for dinner.
I really had higher expectations for this place. What a waste of time and money.

We have been back many times since my last review, but I have to say our last visit was by far our best. Bocci put out a specials menu that had quite a few amazing options. We ordered two of the appetizers. One was an avocado one, which was delicious, but we were blown away by the scallop on potatoes au gratin appetizer. We loved it so much we had to order another one! We hope they put this scallop appetizer on the menu for keeps!

Hubby and I had the clams and Bocci salad. Great perfect light dinner while at the bar watching football. Great waiter, delish food, and A+ atmosphere. Will come back with kids soon to try dinner menu.
I didn’t expect to see so many people. This is definitely a local dining hangout. We live a block away. Glad to have it so close.

We really want to like this restaurant. But out of 4 visits we have been disappointed 3 times.
First time we were there the pasta was not completely cooked.
Second time we had pizza. Cooked on the outside but soupy in the middle — yuk.
The third time we had another pasta dish .very tasty!
After this positive experience we decided to stop by around 9pm on week night. Big mistake! We were seated at an open table and ordered salad and pizza. The waited mostly ignored us and and while waiting for our pizza — they turned the lights off at our table. We mentioned this to the waiter and then the lights were turned up full — obviously they were closing and preparing to clean up.
The pizza came and although we ordered a minimum number of ingredients in an attempt to ensure the thin crust was firm — it was again mushy and soupy in the center — yuk! A real shame too because the flavor of the cooked portion of the pizza was excellent.
After the pizza was delivered we didn’t see the waiter again until I tracked him down to get the check.
I don’t know why it’s so difficult to cook a thin crust pizza. I think even the grocery does a better job!

It was amateur hour at Bocci this evening. The actual food wasn’t bad — we ordered the ravioli bolognese and the seafood pasta. However, the service and the general behavior of the staff was awful. Or waiter was completely inattentive, not noticing when our drinks were empty or when we were finished with our meal. My boyfriend ordered another beer as soon as our food came, and it sat at the bar until the end of our meal. Our waiter finally brought it over, and my boyfriend said he didn’t want it anymore, to which the waiter replied, «Ok, I’ll take it off the bill for you.» As it should be taken off the bill. Beyond that, the hostess was sitting in a chair at the to-​go station, and the rest of the staff could be found gathered at the hostess desk flirting.
It’s unfortunate because the ambiance is nice and the food is pretty good, but the wait and hostess staff makes it unbearable to be at.

Super busy on a Saturday night but we still had good service.
Beautiful bar where you can enjoy a glass of wine or a martini while your table is being prepared.
In our party of four, two of us ordered the Salmon Monaco entrees. I’ve posted a picture of both of these entrees that were delivered to our table that night since you may get a kick out of it like we did. Granted, I didn’t take the photos from the exact same angle but the real live version of these entrees were noticeably different. We exchanged a few jokes about the salmon sizes and then dug in.
The salmon was perfectly cooked, the lentils and veggies were flavorful. Delicious on all counts. I must say that I felt a little guilty eating my over-​sized portion especially considering how scrumptious it was.
My hubby ordered his steak medium rare which should have a warm red center but it was more on the medium well or well done side. I tried one of his fries expecting to taste something similar to fried potatoes but was surprised by the polenta. I didn’t realize until writing this review that these were Truffled Parmesan Polenta Fries. You can make up your own mind about these if you try them. I was not impressed although I will say I am not a fan of most things fried either so you might still find them tasty.
Our server was relatively new and he actually commented that he had never seen the restaurant so busy in the couple of months he had worked there. He was swamped but he still managed to keep up with our drink refills and other requests.
Overall, I would say this visit was probably more like 3+ish stars since my hubby’s steak wasn’t right and there was the distinct salmon portion distortion. However, I’ve been here before and the meals have always been delicious, service has always been friendly and efficient, and prices are reasonable for a relatively nice ambiance. Considering how busy it was on this night I am rounding it up to 4 stars anyway since every prior visit was easily 4 stars.