While our waitress was very nice (and made a small adjustment to our bill) the service was atrocious. The table beside us was seated after us, ordered the same meal, and finished it before ours arrived. After sitting 30 minutes, I reminded them I had ordered wine - "Sorry". Then after realizing it had been 60 minutes since we arrived, we asked about our meal "Sorry". Ten minutes later the Totelli Lucchi arrived. It was delicious (5 stars). Ten minutes after that the recommended aromatic steak arrived with long beans in tomato sauce. The steak was good, though we could not taste the "aromatics". Some beans were tough and others overcooked, as if the dish had been sitting for the hour plus we waited for the food. Mecenate was recommended by our host, the place was packed, and the reviews are good, but our experience was not. I can't go above 3 stars. read more

The food here is incredible!!! This is one of those places where you're supposed to order multiple courses because the portion sizes are small. I had the pasta and the sponge cake for dessert. It was all amazing! The owner was an older man who cashed us out. You can tell this is a family place, and the atmosphere and service were both great. I recommend this place to anyone coming to Lucca! read more

See all

We are so glad we found out about the special restaurant on the last day we were in Lucca. and very grateful they made a table for us. The owner of this place finds all of his products all around his local region and makes them into authentic dishes. Each dish we had there was superb and reasonably priced. read more

Bello ! Molto buono ! Perfetto ! I take off my hat and bend in front of the Tuscany tastes of IL Mecanate A Lucca. This place was one of the best tasting adventure in Lucca which is a very attractive, little historical town in Tuscany during my 5 days of vacation. I have been in this restaurant twice during my stay. In all aspects the place deserves 5 stars. The concept, the interior environment, the friendliness of the staff, the food, the taste, wine, cost and many more. The most interesting part of the restaurant was that they follow slow food movement which is promoted as an alternative to fast food. Slow food movement strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. Therefore the restaurant develops the menu according to slow food concept which means they use daily fresh products. They use the products found in the local markets. Therefore there is only a small refrigerator in the restaurant indicating that they don't need to the vegetables in the refrigerator since they are very fresh and they consume before they loose their freshness.. They don't store the food for next days. That's why everything I tasted was awesome. We ordered variety of food in small portions and started with "porcini crudo" which is fresh porcini dish. The Italians use different types of herbs that give special taste and flavor to the whole dish. Second we had "manzo crudo" which is very thin sliced curved meat. Beef stuffed artichoke was the next delicious dish. I love artichoke and this was the first time I had it with meat. Porcini is the mushroom type that I love and I had the chance of tasting different types of food prepared with fresh porcini while I was in Tuscany. "Maltaliata con porcini" is traditional pasta with porcini and was heavenly. It isI highly recommended. The red wine was so delicious that I and my friend drank the whole bottle and we didn't had headache or anything the day after. As a final we concluded this tasting festival with orange cake with chocolate sauce on top. On my second visit to Il Mecanata A Lucca, we had prosciutto dish with variety of procsiutto, roasted vegetables, different kinds of herb dishes and "tagliata di manzo" which is thin cut beef. The light colored prosciutto was very fatty and heavy for me that I couldn't eat. Nevertheless, I fell in love all the food I ate there. This time we had house wine which was cheaper than the first wine we had but still it was extremely delicious, smooth, tasty and easy going. The ambiance of the restaurant is very unique. The city of Lucca became prosperous through its silk trade that began at the end of Middle Ages and this building was one of the laundries in the city which was used to wash the silk. The building is by the water channel of the city. They kept the ancient equipments and tools of the laundry and used in the interior design of the space. The restaurant is located on the side of the water channel which had been used to wash the silk in history. The restaurant is more like a house with the decorative elements such as porcelains, tools, old cupboards and wines. The old refrigerator which is the unique refrigerator of the restaurant is used as an decorative element. As a conclusion, I loved every bite I had at this awesome place... read more

See all

We were very disappointed to say the least. This is a highly recommended place on the town map and by the person at the tourist center. Sitting in the plaza on a warm evening was nice but that was about all. We were 4. 2 ordered salads and the burrata was quite good. But the others main courses came out at the same time so two of us had dinner while the others ate salads. Awkward. We ordered nettle ravioli and taconi pasta. Both were very bland and just warm. The pasta was over cooked. The food just lacked flavor. Salt, pepper and olive oil didn't add much. The taconi are wide strips of pasta and were mixed with tomatoes and a seasoned butter sauce which was lacking. We felt prices were a bit high for what we got. Service was meh and food unimaginative and bland. The view of the plaza and dining al fresco was nice but not worth it. read more

Incredible food with an iconic Italian setting! If weather allows, sit outside and take in the views of the church and square.

This place was truly exceptional. It was my idea of what an authentic Italian experience would be. I had the homemade pasta. The portion size was perfect, not too much. It was extremely tasty. The staff was attentive and I would absolutely recommend this to anyone stopping in Lucca. read more

IL Mecenate A Lucca - The homemade pasta. - Italian Near Me - Lucca, LU

By far the worst food we had in Italy! I have no idea, why this place is listed in the " Osteria d' Italia", because normally , when you choose a restaurant from there, you always get great food . But not here. First of all , the service was super slow, half an hour before someone took our order, another hour for the pasta to arrive. If the wait would have been worth it, I wouldn't mind waiting , but it was so tasteless and boaring, I had much better paste everywhere in the world. Btw, we tried four different pastas. I give two stars only because the tagliata we had as secondo was ok, but seriously , this place is not worth a trip , plus it's too expensive for what you get. Sure you can eat better in Lucca. read more

What a gem! Stumbled on to this place not far from where we were staying early in the evening (eating with the chickens they say) and what a fantastic meal! One of the best we had in Europe. A very authentic experience and our gluten free needs were well accommodated. I highly recommend this place! read more

We came to Mecenate from our B&B host recommendation, she reminded us about Lucca local style, and wow we loved the food! We've been in Italy for about a week, and I have to say this is the best dinner experience so far. Very relaxing dinning atmosphere, nothing can beat a bit of wine/pigeon/fish/pasta taste under cool sunset breeze, after a hot/humid summer day trip. I can understand why this place is absolutely a local favourite, recommend to anyone who want some place to relax and enjoy Lucca style, ciao! read more

IL Mecenate A Lucca - Millefeuille, the dessert delicacy - Italian Near Me - Lucca, LU