Sunday trip from Sacramento to see something different. Â Nice, slow main street with some interesting shops. Â Stopped here for lunch. Â The service and wine choices were very good. Â Wish we could say the same for our caesar salads. Â Dressing had lots of mayo and was ho hum at best. Â I asked for chicken with my salad and rather than the expected "skinless, boneless charbroiled chicken breast", I got 4 small pieces of brown chicken meat, complete with skin and lots of fat. Â Not sure I would recommend lunch here.
Review Source:Was in Benicia on a mini getaway and came here for lunch. We had kind of a dingy waitress but either the manager/owner was backing her up and made sure we were taken care of. We started with the lamb sliders- flavorful, fresh, and delicious! My husband had the burger, perfectly cooked, very good flavor. I had the fish & chips- light, fresh, hot. We really enjoyed the food and presentation- service could use a little work. We tried to compliment the chef and it seemed like the waitress could give a crap.
Review Source:The good:
The best thing on the menu as far as I can tell are the jalapenos. They're stuffed with cheese (not quite enough  by the way) and wrapped in bacon. Fantastic!
The staff is friendly.
The beer is cold and there's a good selection.
The bad:
The fish tacos sounded great even with salmon.
Unfortunately neither the avocado puree, the salmon nor the breading was seasoned. Good texture between salmon, puree and fennel. Way over priced for three mini flour tortillas.
The wings are deep fried without breading which I appreciated. There was no way enough hot sauce on them because the did a pour over instead of a toss so they weren't fully coated. The sauce while having a decent standard flavor wasn't very hot. The blue cheese dip was incredibly thin but did have good flavor.
The bar is laid out with entirely too much room behind the bar compared to the customers.
In the end - way over priced for the appetizers portions
They're only nice to you if you're old or have a dog. Our family of 3walked in and found plenty of seating. Hostess asked how many in our party, saw our 8 year old and said " oh it's a twenty minute wait." So we decided to go elsewhere and she immediately sat the party of 4 older women behind us outside, which is where we wanted to sit. Just remember that kids grow up and dine out.
Review Source:For a bar and grill, we enjoyed fantastic appetizers. The bar is in the back. We never made it that far and were seated in the front. They had Summer Shandy beer, which is what sold us on stopping in. We ordered the poppers, steak fries with garlic roasted aioli, and the BBQ wings. The poppers and fries were amazing!!! The wings were good but could use more sauce. We would definitely come back, but would probably head to the back to sit in the bar area. Service was really attentive, but our waiter obviously didn't like his job, at least not today.
Review Source:WHERE'S MAH BACON?!
There might just be bacon-vodka at this place, but we don't know for sure. I probably would have given two-stars for our experience at the bar but the restaurant in the front may have great food and service and it's all one yelp page. Â
Myself and three others walked in through the restaurant and found ourselves at the bar in the back. Just what we were looking for! We sat for a few minutes and ended up just picking up the list of specials (there were 3 drinks on it) since we hadn't yet been even offered a menu. When we placed our order (Bloody Mary's all around) one of us was holding the Specials Menu. It featured a Bacon Bloody Mary and we all wanted one. Long story short, we ended up all getting regular Bloody Marys. To be fair, we had not asked for Bacon, but all of us thought it was pretty obvious, since we hadn't even seen that they had a baconless one (no drink menus before ordering) and we were holding the Specials list in hand.
It was halfway through the drink that we started talking about it. I remember saying I'd ask the bartender how strong the bacon flavor was....if he came back our way. Â Service was slow and half-hearted. Our drinks were baconless. $7.25 for an average to small sized Bloody Mary. When we finally did ask about it and got the bad news, no attempt was made to make the situation better even though the bartender could tell we were all disappointed. Yes, it was partially our fault, but a miscommunication works two ways, and it wasn't our job to right the wrong. It was Lucca's.
I would say that in the bars I've previously worked at, most managers (and all owners) want the clients to leave happy. While you can't make everyone happy, it doesn't take much to make bar patrons happy. Had I been bartending, I would have offered a small taste (half shot) of the bacon vodka we all missed out on. Â It wouldn't cost the place much and would have given us what we had ultimately hoped to try.
We traveled from San Ramon to Benicia hoping for a different scenery on a Saturday, just 2 adults + 3 children.....we were starving.  hoping to get some food@ Lucca's.  all of us were seated promptly.  sadly nothing happened after that.  after 11minutes server said he would be with us shortly.  shockingly he served an already table filled with spirits & food.  So sorry Lucca as us foodies like service and tip very well......we had to walk out as our feelings got hurt and walked to another restaurant nearby who actually liked us and our $$$$  We were @ Lucca's 3/16/13  3pm  #perhapsanotherday?
Review Source:One bad waiter is all it takes to leave a lasting impression. I believe his name is Tim. One evening he was serving me and my boyfriend in the bar. I was trying to explain a drink I liked that another gal that works there has made for me. Before I could even finish my sentence he cut me off with a "well she's not here tonight". How rude is that ????? I don't think Tim cares about the customers at all. He always seems rushed and under stress every time I come, that he is not polite to the customers. I will make sure to never tip him every time I come to Lucca. Because that's how much he offended me with his snide remark.
Review Source:I wish there was a way to split the review into two, because Lucca really is two separate places. The front side AKA the restaurant and the back side AKA the bar.
So... I'll start with the restaurant. We ate there a while ago, my date had a burger, and I had a salad and the mac and cheese. the food was Meh and it felt like we waited a really long time considering we were only one of two tables in there. But the service was friendly.
The bar however, is another story. It's your typical bar, but they are part of the benicia Bar Hopper which means if you're out in Benicia and you get too drunk to drive home you tell the bar tenders at Lucca that you need a ride home, and the Bar Hopper takes you to your place! This is so clutch! and it means that we usually end the night at Lucca.
It also means that everyone ends the night at Lucca, so after 1:00 am when everything else is starting to die, Lucca has a standing room only crowd, and gets a little rowdy.
If I could rate the bar separate than the restaurant I'd have given it 3 or maybe 4 stars, but the restaurant definitely is only a 2 star rating.
I was skeptical, given the name "bar & grill" I was expecting the typical bar faire. Â I was pleasantly surprised to find a full menu with many healthier options like roasted chicken, grilled sea bass and flank steak. Â
I got grilled vegetables to go with my flank steak, which were chopped small and covered with oil and char for a smooth flavor and soft warm bite. Â The flank steak was presented nicely, sliced like ahi tuna across the serving board. Â I should also mention that it came cooked a perfect medium rare, exactly as ordered. Â My wife got the fish tacos, which turned out to be a great choice as well. Â The fish tacos were simple, not packed with a lot of extras, but had enough sauce and minimal toppings to perfectly compliment the large piece of fish placed in the center. Â One word of caution: let the fish tacos drip a bit before you take a bite, they're quite juicy and it's a bit too much for the tortillas to hold. Â
The ambiance and decor was also a pleasant surprised, the dining area up front was completely separated from the bar area in the back, so I didn't feel like I was eating dinner at a bar. Â
Service was friendly, and prompt, and the food was great, we will definitely be back.
Lucca is my weekly lunch spot and I especially treasured their wonderful fries, where they truly put the "french" back into the process. They always came with my favorite garlic aioli and the Sinatra Margarita (all blue, of course) was a wonderful relaxer for the post-lunch walk.
However, I am only giving them two stars as they just changed their menu, and it wasn't for the good. The wonderful fries have been replaced by fat steak frites....which is fine if you live in Barstow or frequent sports bars. They were very salty and I couldn't finish them or even bring them home for the wildlife, as I didn't want to give them high blood pressure. I tried the new beef stew, but it wasn't a stew at all and EXTREMELY salty...even the pastry on top had salt. WTH?? Not good.
I'm always surprised when eateries start messing with success. They're too suburban American now.
The noise level in this restaurant is much more than average (posted in the restaurant info). Â Went there last night for dinner and had to shout to have a conversation with my friend. Â I realize there was a large table so must have been a party but maybe they could make their acoustics a little better somehow. Â Don't think I will return. Â Couldn't wait to leave.
Review Source:always a win! every time i come here i leave satsfied.. the food is always prepared to order and fresh. Â their ny strip steak is mouthwatering. the drink selection is choice.
i like that the bar is in the back so the two are separate. i don't always want to feel like i'm in a bar when i want to have a quiet dinner. glad they give you the option.
design gets five stars on its own. it's classic. love the brick wall and modern furnishings. Â i just love that look.
when i'm in benicia you'll probably find me here trying something new with a smile on my face.
On the plus side: atmosphere is nice, service was quick and professional, prices are pretty reasonable for everything.
But for me the food was a bit on the average side. I don't have a problem with a simple menu, but if you're going to do that then do it really well and impress me. Our courses saved me a night of cooking but I could have produced equal or greater results in my kitchen. So just didn't meet my expectations as a restaurant I'd frequent.
Really like coming here. This place is a little more pricey due to its location on First Street and also because of the atmosphere.
Best part about this place is the food. It takes a while to come to your table, but its always really good no matter what you order. I always get the burger with avocado and bacon, and it comes with pickled onions and other burger classics. Really tasty. I also order an extra thing of fries and ask for the garlic mayonnaise. Haven't had fries that good since I was in Belgium.
Alfredo was tasteless. The pasta was good with the vegetables, but the sauce was flavorless. The steak was excessively salty. Very low quality beef for high prices. The Angel hair pasta is good for what it is. Garlic noodles with tomatoes and olive oil. The sauteed vegetables were very well cooked, tender and crunchy. The drinks were also good but I give this place a lower rating because the service is not up to par with the prices. If I am going to pay high prices for food, I better get service with it. The busser had the best etiquette of all of them. He was the only reason I enjoyed my meal.
When we first arrived and sat down, there was a fight that happened at the table next to us. A woman approached the table and was yelling at a man to give her her paycheck. They were physically wrestling at the restaurant and the hostess asked them to step outside. They continued to wrestle and made a scene inside and out. The staff did not seem to care about their patrons on the in the restaurant. They all followed them outside and took a long time for them to return to take our order. After finally taking our order, our appetizers came, food and then our drinks from the bar took the longest. I asked several times to check on the drinks and no one knew or followed up with us. Generally drinks should come first so that we can order more.
We finished our food only with a few sips of our drinks and then our check came shortly after. There were only a few other table of 2 tops that the waiter was serving and he was running around with his head cut off. It was making me very uncomfortable and anxious. This place is very pretentious and I do not recommend this establishment as a place for fine dining.
My boyfriend, our dog Range, and I had a free Sunday and decided to walk down to Down Town Benicia for Late Brunch and we've been wanting to try this place out and walked right to it and found a table outside. Â We were helped right away and served the bottomless Mimosas. Â It was a nice place and day for "people watching" especially during the car show they had down the street.
Our food took a little while getting to us, but it was pretty busy. I wish they refilled our Mimosas, but we only had one glass. Guess it wasn't bottomless after all. LOL. The food was delicious. I had the Eggs Benedict and with some sauce, that was soOo good, I ate it all. LOL Definitely going back here again for Brunch, or drinks, and probably bring friends to join us next time.
I had lunch at this "bar and grill" today with a friend and we were very disappointed in the food. Â Before I get to the food I must say that our waitress/server was the only good thing about our experience, ohh and the decor is cool too but lets be real, you come to a restaurant for not just those two things but mainly the FOOD.
Okay, well. Â I ordered the ALT sandwich and upgraded my fries to garlic fries. Â My friend ordered the fish tacos. Â
ALT sandwich- I can make this 10 times better at home. Â The price for this was $8.00 plus $2.00 for upgrading my fires with some garlic, so $10.00. Â Â I was very, very disappointed. Â The fries were just warm and there was so much oil on them that I didn't eat hardly any of them. Â The sandwich was worse. Â The bread was toasted but seem very very dry like it was already dry before they toasted it, basic iceberg lettuce and only two small slices of tomato. Â Okay, the worst part of this sandwich... Â Its an ALT right??? Â So there was only three small and thin slices of avocado in this sandwich. Â Barely enough for me to tell it was an ALT. Â
Fish tacos - two tacos and no sides for $10. Â The tortilla's were dry like they were stale. Â The fish portion of these tacos had more fried coating than fish. Â They were topped with a cabbage slaw and there were two sauces provided....Come on we have Rubios nearby and this is what you call a fish taco?? Â My opinion, is if you have to give sauces with tacos, you want us to cover up for something missing (flavors, or in this case fish) .
Our drinks were a coke and an Arnold Palmer. Â Those were good but that's probably because they came out of the bar, which had a few people in it. Â I guess you come here to drink, then eat or just drink.
The only thing I remember saying to myself, besides how bad the experience was how one of the two "cooks" in the kitchen was deciding to buy a new computer or a guitar because there was a lot of chitter-chatter coming from the kitchen. Â One of the "cooks" walked outside through the front entry but he didnt look very enthused to be there (no smile or acknowledgment of patrons). Â
I do like the industrial decor and again our waitress was very nice but it does not match the decor, the area or my standards.
Sorry Lucca family, we are not coming back.
My wife and I ordered a simple lunch, Cobb salad and a shrimp po-boy. While waiting 30-40 minutes for it (way too long), we noticed the couple at the table next to us. They got the bill and observed they never received a certain potato dish. The servers rushed to give it to them... after they were done with lunch... but naturally they declined. The server comped their meal.
We finally got ours. My Cobb had painfully dry chicken. My wife's sandwich had not a trace of the promised aoili. About halfway through the meal the server finally returned and asked how are things. I noted the dry chicken. He looked stricken and offered to have a new chicken breast cooked. Like I want to wait for that? I said no. He harangued and hassled me about accepting it, enough that nearby diners were nonplussed. My wife chose NOT to mention the un-dressed sandwich because "I didn't want him to hassle me!".
In the end the waiter comped the salad, but who cares?! If you can't get the food right, a do-over will not please the customer, Even a freebie does not help. Just shut down the restaurant until you can produce the dishes on the menu, then re-open and do things right the first time.
BAR REVIEW**
This place is the first bar I've been to in Benicia, and I actually had a really good time (maybe I had low expectations due to the reviews). Came here for a classmate's birthday get together, and we pretty much occupied a large part of the bar in the back. The bar is clean, the bartenders were attentive, the bathroom (it was a single stall per gender) was clean also. Drink prices are standard, they have a few beers on tap and a full liquor bar, plus some wines!
Met some non-creepy/shady people which is always a plus. I also met a manager from a different bar down the street, and he recommended Lucca as a casual place to grab a drink with friends. Bar advice from a bartender/manager? Can't be a bad thing =)
This review is for the BAR ONLY. I've never eaten at Lucca, so I can't comment on the food.
I've been to Lucca multiple times- and all and all, I like the place. The bouncers are friendly, the crowd can be quite eclectic, and the drinks are delicious and reasonably priced. (I especially like the Passionfruit Lemonade!)
There's nothing that shouts out "You must go to Lucca!" but there's nothing that keeps me away- except the crowd from time to time- which can be a little "rowdy" for my taste.
Do keep in mind, fellow Yelpers, this is Benicia. Not New York City. It's a quaint, small down that doesn't boast about a raging night life. If you keep it in perspective, Lucca is a decent go-to bar.
I stumbled on this place by accident. Â Had I read the reviews first, I probably would not have tried it.
I had the calamari appetizer and the slow roasted pork for dinner - loved them both. Â I have given up ordering calamari because when it's bad it's really bad... but my brother ordered it and I was pleasantly surprised. Â The pork was done to perfection as were the mashed potatoes and veggies. Â My sister-in-law ordered the steak and loved it.
The flat screen in the corner - kinda strange :)
I will definitely go back!
I would give this 0 stars if I could. I'm usually not very picky on food but this restaurant was horrible.
Sat in the bar area because the place was full up front. Could be part of the reason why we didn't get our water refills.
We ordered calamari but never came and we were left waiting for awhile for our dishes. The menu was very limited and none of the choices seemed good. I ordered the meatloaf. Looked very yummy at first but once I took a bite I could tell that it wasn't fresh, probably just reheated. My mom's spaghetti and meatballs was horrible as well. Sauce was tasteless and meatballs were hard too! Even the meatballs at trader joes is way better! Never come here. It's a terrible waste of money.
This one of the best places in Benicia. I've been twice and not dissapointed at all. I don't know how they have such a low rating at this time. (2.5 at the moment) These Yelpers are rough on Lucca.
I'm listing what we've ordered the two times I've been.
Bloody Mary was strong.
The Artichoke Spinach starter dip was ok and came with a bunch of chips which they offered to bring more.
The French Dip was good. Â The waiter allowed me to add a ceasar side salad instead of fries. Â
The cup of chili with the works was awesome. The "works" consisting of onions, cheese, sour cream, & avocado. It also came with tortilla chips to dip.
The Cobb salad is awesome as well and not a small one at that.
The mac and cheese starter was delish, any mac and cheese fan can ask for a larger order to make it an entree size.
I could see how the service might be slow if packed. They did a good job on a semi busy Thursday night with 3 people working the front area and outdoors. They have outdoor seating that people seem to utilize often. I hope they get better reviews to reflect what they deserve.
Some friends and I ate here in July. Â The food was OK, but the service very slow.
Went back for dinner yesterday. Â We waited 20 minutes for someone to take a drink order and decided we had better order dinner too. Â Another 20 minutes and no drinks. Â Finally when they came out, my drink was missing! Â After another 10 minutes, I asked our waiter for my drink. Â She impolitely said she was busy and would get it when she was able!
I ordered the pasta and it was terrible. Â I tried putting salt on it just to give it some taste. Â The other two people ordered sandwiches which they did not even finish.
If I had been paying I would have not given even one cent for a tip!
There are other places in Benicia that are worth going to.
My girlfriend and I were strolling down Benicia's 1st Street looking for a place to have dinner and stumbled on Lucca - it looked clean and modern so we decided to give it a try. The menu was short, simple and totally standard American fare, with not even a hint of imagination, or even an attempt at creative descriptions to tempt the palate. We ordered the chicken wings "naked" with BBQ sauce on the side. The wings arrived hot and fresh, but unfortunately pretty bland. Even the BBQ sauce seemed watered down so I was glad we didn't get it on the wings.
For our main courses we ordered the slow braised pork and rib eye steak. Again, both dishes were served hot and looked aesthetically pleasing but fell short on taste. I thought both were under-seasoned and the pork didn't seem tender enough to have been slow braised.
The service was pretty good but we all know it's all about the food for return visits - so in this case, there won't be any!
Revised: 07/10/10.
I just learned that their former chef is no longer there and they have since changed their whole menu. Â The one big reason why I used to eat here was for their Truffle/Parm fries. Â Their French Dip is gone as well as the California Jack. Â Even their fresh baked cookies for their homemade ice cream sandwiches were removed from the menu. Â The choices are now way too limited. Â I was way disappointed when I brought my clients in for lunch.
Sad.
I wouldn't had expected this place to feel as though I was in San Francisco.
The modern decor is a nice vibe in the town of Benicia. Having lived here for a year, I always thought this town was a retirement place. Who would had know that retired people can go out and enjoy a great hot spot.
The food and drinks were all nice. I will definitely come back again.
3.5
Walked over after settling up my bed for my new place. I remember passing by and telling my boyfriend, "oooh full bar!". We walked in to their bar and I was impressed with their decor, dark and simple. The bar area is decent. I wonder what it would look like crowded. The service is meh, in terms of our bartender wasn't as friendly or bubbly except when talking to his co-worker. I mean there was not a lot of people in the bar and its not like its uber ritzy to be stand-offish. That is just my opinion.
My boyfriend ordered their Luca Rita and I ordered the Green Tea Lemonade. The Luca Rita was definitely yummy, but their Green Tea is evil delicious. Its very sweet but there is none of that bitter aftertaste of alcohol that usually make it hard to drink. We ordered to share their Truffle and Parm fries ($5). It wasn't served with ketchup, as we had to ask, and it seemed just alright.
HOWEVER...
They feature some items on their menu that me and my boyfriend will definitely be ordering in the future *COUGHcremebruleeCOUGH* I'll definitely give this place a chance as it is in the neighborhood and I enjoy supporting the local businesses in Benicia.
Lucca FR has so much potential and yet... Â the food preparation leaves so much to be desired!
My wife mentioned this new establishment and when my mother & stepfather were in town, we figured we'd all grab a nice lunch there. Â The decor is awesome with lots of bright orange colors and a very modern feel. Â Â Benicia very much needed a place exactly like this and I can only hope it will bring new trendy restaurants and shops to the area. Â Â They have a bar in the back that seems pretty well stocked... Â A quick glance showed me they had Bombay Sapphire and Hendrick's Gin, so at least I know I can get a solid Martini here if I ever come back.
IF.... That's really the big problem. Â While they have a very nice lunch menu and the prices are completely acceptable, the food was definitely subpar. Â Â The ingredients themselves, actually, were quite good and fresh. Â Clearly though, someone at Lucca doesn't know how to fry food.
Take, for instance, the calamari appetizer I ordered for $8. Â Now you actually get a very generous portion for that price, and the seafood itself was clearly very good and fresh, not rubbery like it often is. Â Clearly it was fried in warm oil, or not long enough, or whatever... because the batter was oily and limp. Â There was no crunch factor there!
Same thing with the French Fries. Â In fact, and this is clearly a big huge red mark, my stepfather was so disappointed with the french fries that came with his burger that he requested a new batch, more crispy. Â Â Well guess what? Â They brought a new dish with fries that were even *less* crispy than the original ones! Â In fact i gotta say one of the fries I tasted was limp and almost raw. Â Â My stepdad also mentioned the burger he ordered medium was actually way overcooked.
I'm still giving this place 3 stars because I truly do not want it to go away. Â Â I'll give them a couple of months and we'll try them again sometime this Summer to give them the benefit of the doubt. Â If, however, our next meal is as disappointing as our first one, I can assure you that's the last time we'll ever dine at Lucca FR, regardless of how cool the decor looks.
First off these people need to learn how to fucking cook meat...
Rare = Bloody, may have grill marks
Medium Rare = Mostly bloody but seared
Medium  = Pink on the inside, but mostly cooked
Medium Well = Seared and cooked, very little pink
Well Done = Thoroughly cooked, possibly dry, no pink.
So to start it is lunch time, I ordered the hangar steak to go, and unfortunately forgot the say "sandwich ".
The lady taking my order asked how I wanted it cooked, to which I replied "medium-well". I also decided to try the Parmesan Truffle Fries, on paper these sounded awesome.
What I found in my box's when I got back to work:
10$ worth of red bloody meat called "Steak Frites"
An ice cream scoop worth of  "ok" tasting spinach
Oily fries with some cheese sprinkled on it
$22.76
The funny thing is that they said it would take a while to cook the meat... I think they forgot... Sadly though, this is one of the nicest restaurants Benicia has going for it...
Don't waste your money, unless like me you are that incredibly sick of Benicia food and are reaching for a glimmer of hope...
Be prepared for disappointment though.
I agree with a lot of the comments here.... I have experienced better, and I'm hoping Lucca is just going through a refining process in the first month it has been open.
I'll sum up here: We see a play with comfort food, such as fish sticks (I would hope for a more appetizing descriptive) and french fries, and then steamed mussels and cheese plate. I would call french fries and the potato skins a side, not a starter.. The meatloaf.: Unnecessarily spicy, taking the comfort out of the comfort food. With the Lucca FR (FR indicating French), I definitely struggled to find the French connection with the faire being offered. (Maybe spicy Spanish.) The menu needs to be updated with more accurate descriptions. There were a lot of unexpected palette surprises.
For the bar, I kindly suggest for the mixologists to fortify their abilities to produce traditional drinks consistently. The several times I had tried their drinks, I was disappointed for the under par quality and the lack of core bartending consistency.
Using the potato skins as the start, I found that the dish was, as I'm trying to be polite, too simple.  You have a Yukon Gold or fingerling halved potatoes that have been either steamed or boiled. Thin ribbons of cheese are sparingly laid over the potatoes, then melted with bits of bacon and garnished with coarsely chopped green onions and served with a surprisingly spicy Sriracha Yogurt. There were about 7 - 10 pieces  on the plate, and for $7, I will say it offers a very generous profit margin for a underplayed dish. I would suggest offering a bolder serving or more impressive use of the potato delivery to help preserve the assumed characteristics of the dish.
The cheese plate was to be expected: Very good. My only reservation was on the apricot compote. Slivers of apricot with a syrup base, or Apricot Compote. While this fulfills the definition of 'compote', it does it without be particularly spectacular, and becomes more of an attractive garnish rather than a prominent accompaniment to the cheeses.
My mixed greens salad was good, with the expected spring greens mix. I was curious when the server announced Thousand Island dressing, so I chose that to come with my salad. Expecting sweet and tangy, indicative of a Thousand island dressing, I was more than confused when I experienced a very cooling but then spicy sensation of hotness from the dressing. It was the same sauce that was used with the potato skins. Normally a pre entreé salad is supposed to offer a palette cleansing experience, and this does not offer that opportunity. Much rather the opposite. More clarity should be given when people order 'standards' such as a dressing.
The ribeye was pleasing. Ordered medium-rare, it was prepared to expectations. Topped with 6 oyster mushroom slices (that were sparse but quite tasty) and topped with four crumbles of blue cheese (which was either incorrectly described on the menu as Blue Cheese Butter, or the four crumbs on the ribeye were too small to create a significant impression of the flavor intended.)
The meatloaf was in an experimental stage. It was unexpectedly (and unnecessarily) spiced hotter than the week before.
The potatoes au gratin were given a touch of crispiness, giving a more robust flavor.
The cocktails I saved for last. I ordered a mojito, tried the Lemon Drop, a standard cosmo and blood orange cosmopolitan.
Mojito: The server was good enough to catch that the mojito was made with flat soda water. Kudos to him. He was actually awesome. Having bartended myself, that drink should have never left the bar mat it was made on. Â Sadly, the mint was barely present.
Lemon Drop: The glass rim had sugar on it, but the drink itself was no more than vodka and straight up lemon juice or bar lemon juice. Tasted no sweet and sour and I didn't see any sign of bits of sugar dissolved in the drink.
Bartender's standard cosmopolitan was more of a pink tinged drink. While the vodka was quite good, I tasted no tripple sec, there was less than an ounce of cranberry juice and the trademarked lemon twist was conspicuously absent.
So, you know, I really want to delete this whole review. The place is beautiful, aside of being a little noisy. But hey, it's a restaurant, not a recording studio. So, I hope that Lucca turns around in the next few months!!
I really, really, really wanted to love this place...
Being a devoted fan of O'Leary's and Sonja's Long Island Ice Teas, we were really excited for their new venture as LuccaFR. Sonja has now become general manager, but she said she had trained her staff to make her famous long islands...uh, I don't think so...
We ordered parm and truffle fries, crab cakes, and fish sticks. The Parm and Truffle fries were soggy and there was no truffle flavor to be found.
The crab cakes were the only decent thing, but for $12 for 2? Kinda a rip off...The fish sticks were HORRIBLE. They said they had a battered crust and all I got were slivers of fish fried WITHOUT any batter. When I complained to the bartender, she asked someone and they said, "the batter is just different tonight..." uh, I think not! There was NO batter to be found. They were very gracious to replace it or give me something else, so I opted for the calamari....Again, consistently Horrible food. Oversalted, overfried, dry calamari. I was starving by that point so I just ate it...All in all, the WORST $35 I have spent.
The group I was with even ordered fries and calamari again later that night and the fries were again oil ladden and soggy and the calamari was sooo salty and overcooked. Like I said, consistently bad food.
I should have ate at Nation's before I came there. I also had a lemon drop which was too sour and my Long Island, was not a Sonja's Long Island...
I do hope this establishment works on making their food consistent or getting a better cook for the evening hours. I won't be eating here again, but I will come back for the bar. The ambiance is really cute and cozy. Will I be ordering long islands? Not for $8 and only if they are made by Sonja.
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