The worst service on my Birthday!! Â The food is awesome but the service was terrible. Â I went with a friend who shares my birthday (9/19). Â She's not from Chicago and I bragged this place up. Â Needless to say, we were treated like crap. Â What happened to service with a smile? Â The big guy taking orders was very rude. Â We spent almost $30 on two dinners but was refused a small cup of jerk sauce. Â
I will never brag this place up Again or go back. Â Man, another one bites the dust.
I remember when Chef Luciano's used to be a dive (I don't know if it was a different restaurant before or not) - I went once years ago and had no desire to go back. They went through major renovations, and they have made some major improvements.
When you walk in, you can choose to go to the Gourmet Chicken side of the restaurant to the right or the Chef Luciano's side to the left. I went to the Chef Luciano side, and ordered the Jerk Chicken and my friend ordered the Piri Piri.
Skip the Jerk Chicken. They use some kind of sauce that does not taste remotely like Jerk Chicken. The sauce reminds me of those commercials for the salsa where they say, "New York City?!?" - well the Jerk Chicken sauce tastes like it was made in New York City. Just don't.
Now the Piri Piri on the other hand was off the chain. Delicious. Surprisingly good. I would absolutely get that again. It is a bit spicy, but also has a smoky flavor, and it is seasoned very well. Piri Piri is an African dish, which features peppers along w/okra and carrots. This is a great hidden gem. If you want something different and tasty, get the Piri Piri. Take my word for it - you won't be disappointed.
To say this place is fantastic would be an understatement. Keep in mind it is primarily a take out place but it could be the best take out place in the city. The jerk chicken is incredible and it comes with 5 sides that are all very flavorable. The cajun catfish is also very tasty. Everything I have had at Chef Luciano's has been tremendously tasty and they give you a lot of food for not a lot of money. There are lots of high quality down home cooking places like this in New Orleans, but very few of them in Chicago. This place is exactly what Chicago needed. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
Review Source:I've gotten take-out from here multiple times in the past as it's only 3 blocks from our place and I think every time I've ordered the Jerk Chicken. Â I'm a big fan of properly jerked chicken and Chef L does it right. Â The meal is easily sharable or is good for a lot of leftovers as you get a heaping plate of chicken, black beans and rice, potatoes, plantains, stir-fried veggies, and a huge piece of garlic bread. Â The veggies are usually decent, sometimes the broccoli can be a but underdone, but the rice/beans mix is pretty consistent that the few plantains tossed on the top are always so very tender, I'd rather have a heap of these than the potatoes!
Since they remodeled the entire place it's now less confusing with a single entryway, you just have to decide to turn right for fried stuff and left for spicy and savory stuff :) It's also great for dine-in now as there are a few tables where before I think there was literally one table. There is also one little private room with a table that seats 4 or 6 and can be reserved. Â They have fresh-made lemonade but it doesn't taste juiced, more like from a mix from what I remember.
I've also sampled the Piri Piri chicken which was a touch on the spicy side and have been meaning to try some of the fish dishes as well, I just can't say no to the jerk chicken though :)
I was really excited to go and try the enormous chicken wings that I had heard so much about. Â When walking in, you can turn left for the Italian food or turn right for the wings/Cajun/Creole food. Â We went right and tried the 3 wing combo and the fried chicken combo. Â In terms of fried chicken, it was good, not great. Â The piece was huge, but the breading was quite bland. Â I needed to dip it in the hot sauce just to get some flavor. Â The wings were also large and good, but not great. Â I'm not sure if they are lacking seasoning, but it was just bland. Â Don't get the potatoes wedges, they are also bland, and flavorless. Â Instead, get the fried zucchini - it was great! Â You can walk in to any bar in town and get better wings, but they won't be as big. Â If we go back, I think we will try the roasted chicken. Â Everyone else there was eating that, and it looked AMAZING! Â If you get nervous in bad areas, go during the day.
Review Source:I absolutely love the food here. The jerk chicken isn't the usual grilled & dry variety, it's braised in a spicy sauce which goes great with the rice and beans it comes with. Â I also love the vegetable sides which are steeped in garlicy goodness. Â I usually call in my orders for pickup, or get it delivered.
Review Source:So delicious. Â I had the seafood pasta with oil and garlic sauce. Â The shrimp had a cajun seasoning that made the combo very tasty. Â Bf had the chicken alfedo. Â Very different with the cauliflower and carrots in it. Â Both come with garlic bread and the portions are very generous. Â The homeade lemonade, spiced iced tea, carrot cake and german chocolate cake are also good. Â Going back to try the Gourmet Chicken part.
Review Source:Hands down, the best chicken I've ever eaten!
I stayed at the Hyatt Regency in South Side Chi, my friend and I were exploring, walking around and just caught the aroma coming from Chef Luciano's place. So we had to check it out. Ordered the 1/2 roasted chicken with pilav rice. The rice is not over cooked, perfect texture. The chickens juicy and full of flavor! They also brew their own lemonade, not too sweet, not too bitter, just right! Â The curry menu's really good too!
If you're ever in Chi, its well worth the trip into the South Side.. and China town's across the street :) FYI.
Management emailed me regarding review and apologized for my experience and said he'd look into the salt issue and invited me to give them another try and to meet with the chef. I appreciate their gesture to show me they really are a good place to eat at and that my experience was a fluke.
Review Source:Best of southside delivery, my favorite is the chicken curry.
As another review called out, the lemonade is definitely not juice. However, as I said in my review of the Chef's other kitchen Gourmet Chicken, you might find yourself limiting your intake of it. I can easily put down a bottle.
Will never ever ever eat here again. I arrived at 8:00pm door was still open. I arrived at the register, reviewed the menu and then the male cashier informed me they were closed. As I am standing at the register what the heck! I go to the other side looking for the manager . The manager then decided to make the cashier/cook/prep/cleanup guy take my order prepare my 4 chicken wings I had ordered and then he begins to mop the floor. Once he decided he thought he should prepare my take out paper items he never washed his hands!!!!! Salmonella, disgusting bacteria from the mop handle and other germs. I asked for a refund and will never ever ever ever ever return.
Review Source:My co-worker had the Caesar salad and I had the rice and veggies...oh my WORD!!! Seasoned to perfection and I received a free water with the order. Let me tell you something else.... THEY DELIVER!!! If you've never been here before, you can order almost anything and fall in love! Call your order in for faster service.
Review Source:My guy opted for the lunch special - pasta with boneless chicken in alfredo sauce. I wanted to try the jerk chicken.
The pasta was pretty good.
The jerk chicken box was packed and weighed like 3-4 lbs. The jerk chicken tasted more like a wet BBQ chicken. It was ok, but I didn't care for any of the sides that came with it.
While it might not be that impressive looking from the outside, the food is great and the chef/owner seems to usually be there working himself. Â Stop on by and try some of the great roasted chicken. Â It's a little spicy and definitely better than anything you'll get at the grocery store.
Update: They have remodeled/rebuilt the whole place and it looks much nicer now. Â Chef Luciano is still around, but his son is involved now too and is responsible for the updates.
i love this damn place ( my mouth is watering as I type)!. the salmon is the ish!. Its actually some of the best salmon  i have ever eaten!. seasoned really well,nice and  juicy. I normally get the dinner that comes with the rice pilaf type thing & cabbage. it is def worth it. my guy gets the tilapia W/ an extra side of black beans. be prepared to eat up & take a nice nap, because it will def put your ass to sleep. yep, the ITIS will be in full efffect.
Review Source:I'm not going to give away all the secrets I've learned about this place but I will let you know that you MUST EAT HERE, the food is spectacular and the people that work here are incredibly friendly and helpful. Â The most recent (and fantastic) things I ate here were pesto pasta with shrimp, fried plantains, curry chicken and peri peri chicken and they were all totally off the hook.
Review Source:I am visiting Chicago for a conference at McCormick Place West. Â After experiencing the food court there yesterday, I decided I had to try to find something else for lunch today. Â So I figured the best chance I had of finding food was over near S. Michigan. Â Immediately ruling out the nearby Burger King, I looked further down Cermak, saw signs for a restaurant, it was Chef Luciano, so I decided to give it a try.
While it looks like there are a couple tables, it is mainly a takeaway and delivery place. Â It was pretty busy on a Tuesday, and I got the impression that most of the people there were regulars.
There was a wide range of food options, mainly chicken and seafood. Â There are also some pasta options; it is a pretty extensive menu.
I decided to try the Jerk chicken. Â I have to confess that, having been to Jamaica a few times, I have a serious opinion of what constitutes proper Jerk. Â Like so many restaurants in the US, this wasn't it. Â But this was good.
For $12.95 I got a big, big helping of takeaway food. Â There was a good quantity of chicken, in a spicy red sauce. Â The chicken was nicely cooked, very tender, and just peeled off the bone. Â The sauce had a little bit of zip to it, but was not too hot (but then again, I like hot food so if you are not into hot stuff, take my comments with a grain of salt). Â Along with the chicken there are generous portions of potato, stir fried vegetables (cabbage, carrot, broccoli), plantains, and black beans and rice. Â And some bread with some sort of butter/garlic sauce (it had a bit of a reddish tint to it, unlike most garlic bread that I'm used to, but it tasted good). Â The plantains were in the jerk sauce, and were good. Â Heck, it was all pretty good.
So to anyone at McCormick West, it's just a block past Michigan on Cermak, just a couple blocks from the north end of the building. Â While my meal was not cheaper than what is offered at the convention center food court, there was a whole hell of a lot more food (I'm a big eater and I couldn't finish everything). Â The food choices are definitely a lot more interesting than the food court.
It is certainly not the best food I've ever eaten, but I quite enjoyed it and would certainly go back if I ever have another conference at McCormick Place West. Â And I have to confess, I do appreciate the quantity of food I got. Â I won't be hungry any time soon.
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