The food here is really good! I have just two of the dishes shown here. The frutti di mare was absolutely amazing. I love the different seafoods mixed in with the vodka sauce...just so good! The restaurant is a bit small, at least in the area we got sat. I did ask to move because of how narrow the walkway was between our table and another party plus the chair behind me was directly up against my head so if somebody sat right behind us it would have been awkward. The only other thing I've noticed was that they were very slow to greet us and get our order...took around 15 minutes for that. No other complaints besides that! I'm only given it 4 stars just because of the slow service and the seating arrangement being very awkward but they were nice to accommodate and move us somewhere else! read more

Lucca Ristorante - Chicken Alfredo - Italian Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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My boyfriend and I came here for our anniversary and loved it. Amber took great care of us! They have a varied wine selection at different price points. The caprese pasta was delicious and my boyfriend liked his chicken Alfredo too. We sat outside on their patio and it was comfortable despite a windy day. read more

Lucca Ristorante - Caprese Pasta - Italian Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Had a wonderful work holiday meal at Lucca! I didn't even know this place existed. Everyone's food looked great and everyone enjoyed their cocktails as well. The service was good - she was very busy and could have used a hand when there were several parties and we were a bigger party. I had the sausage and mushroom risotto which was delightful! I really enjoyed the sundrjed tomatoes on top and felt like it could have been throughout for a little brightness, just because it was so rich. Also thought it was a little light on the sausage. I enjoyed the hazelnut crunch cake but wasn't wowed by it. I might be back if someone else is paying! A little steep to be a regular! read more

Lucca Ristorante - Hazelnut Crunch Cake - Italian Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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New and untrained server was assigned to our table. She was nice, but missed several givens for a good server (knowledge of the food and wine menus, clearing dishes between courses, filling water glasses, periodically checking on the table, etc.). The food was average, but overpriced. The wedding soup was lukewarm. Bread was provided with no butter or oil/spices, but when asked oil and vinegar was brought to the table like we were dressing a salad. The molten lava cake and cannolis were hilariously bad. The outdoor patio had small wobbly tables that viewed the Indian market clientele, not a recommended seating option ... but, a coin flip compared to the dated, dark, and musty inside dining area. Hard pass on a return visit! read more

Absolutely what we were hungry for... homemade noodles, tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce, made with veal and pork. Noodles were delightful. Another entree was the gnocchi, covered, and I mean covered in marinara sauce with bites of tomatoes. Added was slivered Parmesan cheese that melted with the heat of the sauce. The gnocchi are soft and light, I love them.This is not our first time here, and the Italian bread was as good as I remembered, hard and crispy outside and soft and moist on inside. It is served with olive oil, and my only request would be butter. Ted was perfect and so was our wine, by the way! Very enjoyable evening. Can't wait till next time. read more

Lucca Ristorante - Wine suggested by Ted, our waiter...delicious - Italian Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Imagine Pittsburgh in 1998 ... oh wait, but you don't have to. You can just come to Lucca Ristorante, where the restaurant and bar appears not to have been remodeled since the Lewinsky scandal and the chairs have 26 years of sag in them. Speaking of scandal ... how about risotto made with Birds Eye frozen peas and carrots? Reminds me of what my mother use to throw together on a Wednesday night before Catechism class. Or the bruschetta ... the level of scandal here puts the Lewinsky affair to shame ... the bread was soft and rubbery because it had been toasted only slightly and was probably stale ex-ante ... also, cumin enough? Speaking of ex-ante ... our meal could readily be characterized by the before times and the after times -- that is BEFORE the loud wedding party came in and cackled, chortled, and drunkenly cavorted in the back room before saying some god-forsaken prayer everyone else in the restaurant had to sit through. AFTER they came in nobody could hear anyone but them, which is probably fine because who wants to constantly be listening to people complain about their food, the atmosphere, the ambiance, etc. At least they all appeared to be enjoying themselves, though I didn't pin them for the type that would know any better ... But seriously Pittsburgh ... could we get some decent Italian restaurants? It's as if everything is still stuck in the plastic-covered-sofa era, and the food so imbued with poverty, one can almost taste the steel mills of yesteryear closing ... I'll give it a 2 because we used a $50 OpenTable voucher, so at least we didn't pay full price. read more

Lucca Ristorante - The short rib with risotto that clearly is made with frozen peas and carrots. - Italian Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Before a show at CMU (if you're reading this while Godspell is still playing, GO SEE IT!!!), my mom and I came here for a quick lunch. We had a nice experience! It was very easy to make a reservation--there were very few people at the restaurant this particular Saturday. Dustin was impur server and he appeared to be the only person running the restaurant. He was great! Very funny, prompt, and attentive. The restaurant's interior is beautiful, and the chairs are super comfortable. Our food was good! I enjoyed the short rib risotto, although the risotto needed a little more creaminess. The meat was succulent but a tad dry. The salad and soup were also tasty! Overall, we had a good experience here. If you'd like a relatively elevated meal in Oakland, this is the place to go! read more

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I would give it 4 stars. But the staff toom away from the experience largely. Our server was not very attentive, and not very professional. We traveled an hour and twenty minutes to eat here. Knowing it was move in weekend for several colleges right next to the restaurant my husband called and asked about parking. We showed up. Parked down the strew and it was getting ready to storm so we headed in. We were early but happy to sit at the bar and have a date night cocktail. We explained this to them at the door and they were kinda of snappy with us and pointed to the bar that had stuff all over it and said they could just seat us now. They took us to a table that you would have on your personal patio we had to play Tetris to have stuff on it. My left overs had to sit on the floor. We got fresh bread which was delicious and ordered the meatball appetizer. They were great. The bread that comes with it could break your teeth. It was while we were eating our appetizer someone called on the phone and also inquired about parking. When they hung up the staff a man and woman started making fun of the caller and the woman started saying things like "how about you be a big boy and figure out parking when you get here like everyone else" and other phrases like that. It was not pleasant to hear and I'm sure they made the same comments about our call but we were driving an Hour and a half to eat here we needed to know parking. We got our entrees I did the Asiago chicken gnocchi the gnocchi were amazing the chicken needed a saw blade. Husband got the salmon the lemon risotto was the winner here. His salmon was sub par and like warm. We finished with the almond cake which paired with the espresso martini were perfect the martini was the stand out of the whole meal. The food was good. The service needs worked on. read more

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It's okay... I have been waiting to try this place. But I was a little disappointed. The atmosphere is great. The service is on point. The food looks good. The taste? Meh... I ordered bruschetta, except it wasn't. The bread was chewy. The basil sauce and oil was good but it was not what I expected and the bread definitely ruined it. I could not eat it. They have already served regular bread before we ordered because the bread that cane for the "bruschetta" was no good. We ordered 2 pastas Spaghetti and Meatballs and I think Shrimp Scampi. The meatballs were small and did not taste anything special. They were just okay. The pasta sauce was sweet. The shrimp was good. The noodles were thick and didn't taste good. The sauce was better than the other pasta sauce but it was a little too spicy. I east spicy food a lot but I still think it was a little too much. We did not order desert because were already disappointed. If you are hungry and want something to eat, then yeah it's not too bad but for the price, I think it was not good enough. I had better pastas/Bruschetta for sure. I don't think I will go back there to be honest. read more

Lucca Ristorante - Shrimp Scampi - Italian Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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Lucca was the perfect spot for my birthday dinner. The ambiance is cozy. The staff is super friendly. I ordered a delicious martini to begin, then went for a Sauvignon Blanc. It was the perfect compliment to my amazing mushroom pappardelle with shrimp added. This dish was everything I wanted and more! The pasta was so delicate. The shrimp was cooked to perfection. The portions are large, I brought some home and enjoyed it later in the evening. (I never eat leftovers, but this dish made the cut!) My man ordered the filet mignon. It melted in your mouth, it was the perfect cut of meat! Lucca has been in business over 25 years. Get yourself over there for some amazing Italian food. We will be back! read more

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The ambiance was so nice and it's a beautiful restaurant. We had a nice date here but both were so disappointed with the food here! We had been dying to try this place. I wish we had just gone to our longtime favorite next door- the Union Grill After months of walking by this place we finally decided to make a reservation and dine here. Mistake. My meal was soo disappointing. I had the shrimp scampi which was soo garlicky and drenched in lemon. It was so overwhelming and a super unpleasant flavor. The shrimp were good but the rest of the meal was a flop My boyfriend had the pesto chicken gnocchi. He didn't like it. The gnocchi portion was so small he ended up eating half my dinner (fine with me as I offered it after not liking it) his meal was 50% pesto sauce, 40% chicken, and like 10% gnocchi. He kept saying how he wished he got something else For dessert my boyfriend wanted cannolis because he was still very hungry. I personally did not like them but he loved them! So I was at least happy about that Wouldn't be back to eat here unfortunately read more

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This was my first time coming to Lucca. I had been wanting to go for some time because im on a personal quest to try every Italian restaurant in Pittsburgh. Upon walking in I paused and just gave myself a second to feel the ambiance. It felt cozy--even thought I wish they incorporated a little better lighting. Our waiter was very kind, respectful, and generous when giving recommendations for dinner. We got an appetizer and I got the tagliatelle bolognese. I wasn't too impressed with the tagliatelle personally but it wasn't awful. I think it was the specific spices they used that didn't really fit the flavor profile I was looking for. The drinks were just okay as well; however, I did not go in expecting greatness when it came to my drink selection. I was more concerned with the food. Overall, I'm glad I tried it. I just wish it would have been a little better. read more

I came here a while ago to eat for a friends birthday dinner. I enjoyed the mushroom pasta and the enjoyable atmosphere.

Final visit before leaving Pittsburgh, I can never speak highly enough of my favorite pappardelle bolognese. The chocolate cannoli takes the top spot on the dessert memu, which is the best version I have had so far. The tiramisu is also a must try, which tastes smooth and not cakey or too sugary. read more

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Stay Away from This Restaurant if You Are Concerned About Your Health and Longevity! I was shocked to learn about a consumer alert issued by the Allegheny County Health Department just two months ago, only days after our family dined here around college move-in time. According to the inspection report, the restaurant had serious health violations, including rodent droppings found throughout the kitchen and dining room, stagnant water used to store in-use utensils, and mold in the ice machine. These violations suggest a concerning lack of hygiene and food safety. How is this place allowed to operate under these conditions, and did they even post the required yellow warning sign? It's alarming, especially considering how many families dine here during college move-in week. Cleanliness issues aside, I'm so shocked that I can't even bring myself to comment on their rude staff. read more

Lucca Ristorante - Consumer alert for the Lucca Ristorante & Wine Bar on South Craig Street in Oakland for multiple health code violations. - Italian Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Health Department issued a consumer alert An inspection on Monday September 9, 2024 revealed mouse droppings in a silverware holder, on top of a pan, on the counter holding the deli slicer, on the counter holding the pasta maker, on the shelf holding a grinder, in a container holding sauce bottle, at the server station where the glass racks are, on the shelf holding cutting boards in the kitchen, and a shelf above the 3-bowl sink. Mouse droppings also were found around the perimeter of the basement kitchen and upstairs dining room, in all cooler evaporators in the kitchen, under the 3-bowl sink and food preparation sink and in the cabinet at the server station. In-use tongs were sitting in stagnant water on the cook line. An in-use ice cream scoop was sitting in stagnant water on top of the microwave. Scallops were observed resting on a dirty wiping cloth. Old, dried food residue was present on the blade and guard of the deli slicer and on the can opener blade. The ice machine was encrusted with a black mold-like substance and the inside of the microwave was soiled. The inside of both walk-in coolers encrusted with old food residue, including the shelves, walls and ceilings. read more

Came on a weekday when it wasn't busy and a lot of tables looked open. Hostess told us that they couldn't take us without a reservation so we went online and found an available reservation. When we came back we received attitude about coming back and were then informed that they were short staffed that day. It would've been ok if she just told that to us the first time instead of turning us away for not having a reservation when there were a bunch of available reservations online. Food was pretty good, I had come here before with family and enjoyed it. Their handmade pasta and seafood quality is very fresh. Sitting on the porch is also a very nice environment and our waitress was very nice and attentive (despite them being short staffed that day) read more

Lucca Ristorante - Frutti di Mar con Rigatoni - Italian Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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One of the best restaurants in Oakland, hands down. I've been here several times with my girlfriend and other friends and have never had a bad experience! Order the Brussels sprouts for apps, you won't be disappointed! I would say the bread they give complimentary is underwhelming because it comes cold or room temp, and I had the chicken Marsala for my main entree, came with asparagus and side potatoes, every part of my dish was delicious, recommend and for the price point was one of the better deals. The service is always outstanding, waiters and waitresses very accommodative to adjustments! Food: 5/5 Service: 5/5 Time to get food: 22 min read more

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We stumbled upon Lucca for an early bird dinner after checking out the History Museum and I'm very glad we did! The atmosphere was adorable and the food was delicious. My husband got the vegetarian lasagna and claims that he would have a hard time ordering anything else because it was so good. The salt level was perfection and it was not watery with the zucchini layered in. I went for the special of the day which was scallops with Brussels and a white bean puree with romesco sauce. This was also delicious. I'm also looking very forward to my daughter's leftover spaghetti and meatballs! read more

Lucca Ristorante - Capesante special with Brussels sprouts, porchetta, and white bean puree. - Italian Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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It started pretty normal just wanted to take my wife, kids and my in-laws for my wife's Birthday Seated quickly. My wife order her cocktail and I was looking at the wine list. pretty impressive lists of wine. we waited ten minutes to get my wife's cocktail. It happens no big deal. we ordered our appetizers and food. Another fifteen minutes to get our appetizers which was ok not good. our server didn't check on us which bottle wine do we wanted. I tried to get my server attention but nowhere to be found. Then came the food under cooked risotto my wife's pasta overcooked no taste at all and no wine still. Sorry it would be my first and last time to go to Lucca. I asked for a Manager but I got my check firs. We paid and left. Wonder who owns this place? read more

I have stopped here 3 times. The first time had a reservation but the place was empty. Food was good. Went back 2 times. Both times many open tables but refused to take a walk in party of 3. Went online and could have made a reservation for that time but felt if they didn't want our money we'll move in. Third time completely empty and still no walking taken at 7 pm when they closed at 9. Said a large party was coming. Who cares. They certainly don't care about making money. Thing I'm done trying. Plenty of other excellent choices in the area. read more

Food was a solid 4, but the service was a 1. Sometimes even a good chef, with a good menu can't overcome what happens at the table. One of our party spilled water on the floor when the glass condensed enough to make it slippery. The guest felt bad. But our server decided no mop was needed to clean up as it would not be a good look and refused to help us switch chairs or get new napkins. Adding insult to the injury he took a few moments to scold our guest for their fault in the spill. In the end, we moved tables. Frankly I'd have left but we had already placed our orders. The final bill came with a 20% tip that could not be removed. For a group of 5, that was a surprise. Usually you need to be 6 or 8 or more before automatic gratuities are added. And there was no indication of this on their menu or website. Our group had collectively been to Lucca 3 times prior, but this is our last visit. There are many good places nearby to spend your time and money. read more

I'm giving this restaurant two stars because the drinks and appetizer were actually both very good. However our main dishes and the service were both horrible. Our waiter had his pants so low you could see his entire butt cheeks, crack and all. When we got our food it was easily the worst meal I've ever had from a restaurant. We both ordered the shrimp scampi which was supposed to come with angel hair and white wine sauce, we received neither. Instead we got overcooked spaghetti noodles, no sauces and 5 extremely overcooked shrimp. Overall would not recommend this places unless you like looking at a plumber's crack while you dine. read more

Lucca Ristorante - Shrimp Scampi - Italian Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The good: service is always pretty good and the ambiance/interior is neat and cozy The bad: I think the food is absolutely not worth trying. If you're a CMU student and you have to eat somewhere close-by, I get that Lucca is one of the few options available but otherwise, I would avoid Lucca. Take their seafood risotto for example (which I've had 4 times now). Sometimes, they'll take the effort to arrange the shrimp and scallops. Sometimes, they'll just toss them on top and call it a day. But always, everything is overcooked including the rice. In my second time, I asked waiter to make it specifically al dente (which I shouldn't have to specify). It still came back mushy. One time, somehow it was both mushy and incredibly dry. I made an effort to try their other dishes. Something was wrong with all of them although I haven't tried them enough times (scampi tasting just unpleasant and gross, meatballs being dry, etc). I will definitely not be returning. read more

Lucca Ristorante - Italian Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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Tried it a year or so ago. So comically bad we thought they were just having a terrible night. Used to be a lovely, elegant place called Cafe Azure. Decided to give them second try. Same deal: Dry, ill prepared food. Very slow and indifferent service. Can't sit in the pretty room. Wildly high prices. And now dingy and unkept. Everything about the experience screamed "we don't care." Run. read more

So... Lucca. I gave it 3-stars for a few reasons. I'll say our waiter was very kind, and with the business of Mothers Day afternoon, he did really well and I appreciate him for that. The three-stars is mainly because of the decor. Lucca feels very.... outdated. Especially the back room with the faux glass windows and godawful carpet. Seating needs to be reworked because there was a table in the far back, as far back as you can go, in the farthest corner out of every possible sight, if I had been asked to sit there I would leave, that's basically nook for storage. Yeah.. the place definitely needs a facelift, Including the menu's that were faded, hard to read and felt kind of gross to hold. The food was also.. just ok. Where is the basil? Where is the parm? Sure the pasta was well made, and I appreciate the San Marzano tomatoes sure.. but it was very bland. Again, where is the CHEESE?? Where is the PARM?? Like it just needs more "ooomphf". The portion size was pretty good, and I'll say the prices are pretty good.. but I'm having my leftovers today and you better believe I added seasoning and more to it. Appetizers were also good sized which is rare. Lucac is in a great location, and unfortunately their balcony seating was closed off. This place has potential to be a very high-class go-to spot for out of town parents visiting their kids, or a dinner spot after a day at the museums. There's so much potential for this place.. but for now.. there's plenty of other Italian restaurants out there to try. read more

I'm truly happy my mom and I found this place. We were looking for an Italian restaurant that was open on a Monday and Lucca exceeded our expectations! I have discovered that in Pittsburgh a lot of restaurants are closed on Monday. I do not think this is due to covid-19, I think this is a normal thing that I never really noticed before. This restaurant is following the covid-19 guidelines and has hand sanitizer available for the customers. The servers are wearing their masks the whole time, and require you to wear yours as you walk about the restaurant. Of course, once you sit down, you are able to take the mask off and go about your dinner. Lucca is located on Craig street and what a great location too! You get a great view of the Cathedral of Learning. There is outside seating as well as inside, but I suggest sitting outside if its nice out, the entourage is comfortable and cute! As you can see from my pics there are murals on the walls and lovely brick on the exterior of the building. My mom and I ordered red sangrias and the calamari appetizer to start. DELICIOUS homemade marinara sauce which came with the calamari. I was very impressed. After the app, we were given homemade Italian bread with oil. For our dinner, my mom ordered the chicken parmesan and I ordered the Frutti Di Mare which had delicious shrimp, scallops and crab meat mixed in. Very tasty rosa sauce! The prices are higher, but the food quality it high, so you get what you pay for! Kyle was our server and his colleague Dustin was quite charming as well! Kyle answered all our questions with ease and helped out narrow down what we wanted to eat. I was impressed with both of their professionalism and class. I am thankful we were able to experience these kind of servers on our first visit. The restaurant itself was clean, as well as the bathrooms. I liked how our table continuously was being cleared and cleaned as we navigated through the dinner. There is usually a happy hour mon-Friday , due to covid I am unsure if they are still utilizing this, but I would call in advance to ask. I had a great experience and highly suggest anyone looking for a great Italian restaurant, this is your place to be! read more

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I've been to Lucca several times over the years, and it never disappoints. I recently attended a dinner, and the food was divine. Yummy, huge, seasoned portions of food came out of the kitchen, one by one. I started with the arugula salad without the goat cheese because I'm not a huge goat cheese fan. The salad was fresh and bright. I had the truffle Pappardelle pasta, which was so decadent. I finished off with their pistachio cheesecake. The icing on top is very sweet, so if you are not into sweets, you might want to choose another dish. I loved it though! Our waitress was so sweet and very attentive without being over bearing. I also really love the ambience in the restaurant. It's super cozy and inviting. read more

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Lovely ambience. Our server was friendly albeit a bit overwhelmed - I think he was taking care of the whole restaurant. Salads were decent - burrata and Fall harvest. The tagliatelle Bolognese was SUPERB. Go for some hearty Italian fare. read more

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We had a reservation for table of 7. I have to admit our seating set up is wasn't ideal. They squeezed 4 adults into a couch seating area with 3 adults on chairs on the other side. We fit, but it was not comfortable. I have to imagine there had to be a better arrangement possible? Nonetheless, the drinks from the bar we're good and timely so that was a plus. Our server was great very attentive. When the food came out, it was kind of a mixed bag. One person asked for a medium rare steak that came out on the well Done side. Another person's pasta was more room temperature than hot. But the flavors were good. So take it for what it is I guess. I have to say that the prices for the overall value aren't there. It's not worth the cost of the meals. Check the menu and make your own decision. read more

Lucca exceeded our expectations! Their wine list is large and affordable, so we got a bottle of Chianti. The menu sounds so good, it was tough to settle on one entree. My husband ordered the bolognese, to which he cleaned his plate. I ordered the seafood risotto, which was absolutely delicious and a great portion size. The service was great and the people were friendly. This was our first time dining here but we both can't wait to go back. read more

Lucca Ristorante - Italian Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

All I can say is we would off been better off going to the Olive Garden. Food was tasteless and the service was terrible. The place hardly had any one dining there and our waiter would disappear for long period of time. We had to ask for bread because he never brought and sadly to say it was hard as a rock when he did bring it. This is not true Italian food. Would not recommend this place. read more

Food was decent, but not worth the price. The server with the Mohawk was incredibly rude and acted almost drunk. He the absolute bare minimum even though it was a very slow lunch day with few other guests. He blamed us for a drink spill, and made us clean it up and change tables ourselves. The real kicker was the included 20% tip despite having a normal sized party of 4 adults and a child. Absolutely do not recommend read more

I only ever got delivery from here and I lived pretty close by, so I don't know what the service was like. My brother did take his fiancee there and they both loved it. Oakland and Shadyside are filled with pizza places who also sell pasta. I love fettuccine alfredo but pizza places used jar pasta sauce. Lucca makes their alfredo sauce from scratch (you can tell based on how buttery it is, and the sauce hardens when it cools off - which means they also use freshly grated cheese). This is the best place to go if you want actual pasta but don't want to go out of the immediate university area. I also really like the wedding soup! read more

Don't waste your time if you want to enjoy a nice meal and wine. The service was terrible and the food was cold. We chose this restaurant because of their beautiful patio and that was the only positive thing about my experience. The waitress would barely take our drink orders. I had to ask her 3 TIMES to understand what each person wanted - it was only 4 of us! We soon ordered our meal and that's when the waiting started. We watched as table after table around us not only got their meals but finished their meals before we got anything. To add insult to injury the waitress never came to check on us. She would walk past us to serve the other tables. When the food finally showed up 1 hour and 20 minutes after we arrived, it was just as I expected it to be COLD. My pasta was lumped together and the other dishes were subpar. We complained to someone (I'm not sure if they were the manager) and though they provided a discount, it was clear they were not very sympathetic at all. My friends and I are newer to the area and enjoy a nice meal. Good food, wine, a nice atmosphere. We are ok when spending money on a great meal, but after leaving here I had to stop at McDonald's. I would give this place no stars if I could. read more

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We made reservations for 11:30 am. We arrived a few minutes early and hung around with another family until they opened. When they did open the doors, the hostess told her that the chef hadn't shown up yet and they would seat us but no food would be provided. My sister asked when they thought he would arrive and we were told "he was supposed to be here 30 minutes ago but we haven't heard from him". We then asked if there was anything they would be able to serve and were advised no so we made the decision to go to Union Grill. read more

I'm very sad to write this because I was really looking forward to trying this place. My mom and I had a reservation for lunch today. We show up, no one greeted us and no one was at the host stand. We waited and a server walked by and dropped off menus, we told them we had a reservation, they walked off and never acknowledged us again despite seeing us standing there for a long time. The phone was ringing constantly and never answered. Every single table had no food... so we ended up walking out to avoid waiting forever and eating somewhere else which was a bummer. I get being short staffed but management needs to fix this or they are going to have a serious problem. Hope to try it again in the future. read more

It's hard getting advance reservations to a lot of the most popular restaurants in the city these days! I have a favorite Italian restaurant in the Strip, I must admit, but getting in there for my birthday, even trying several weeks in advance, was impossible. I know someone who recently had a positive special occasion dinner experience at Lucca, and their outdoor patio looked beautiful. I'm very partial to eating outdoors during Covid times as I have an autoimmune disease myself and a senior mom coming along, so I reserved here a few weeks in advance. We arrived promptly at 5 PM and didn't have too much difficulty finding street parking relatively close to the restaurant, even on a Saturday. We were quickly seated on the patio which is absolutely beautiful, and quickly acknowledged by our server with water and an offer of drinks and appetizers. Even the water glasses here are a thoughtful detail, with heavy cobalt blue glasses that feel special. I ordered a red sangria. My mom mentioned that she was recently hospitalized and worried about alcohol and the server offered to make a mocktail using flavors she liked. Very thoughtful! The thoughtful details continued when we mentioned splitting a house salad and it came plated that way. The salad was fresh and delicious, with a light and very tasty Italian dressing. For entrées, the spaghetti and meatballs made with fresh pasta was the highest pile of spaghetti I've ever seen and made with San Marzano tomatoes, and when I asked for vegetarian recommendations between the couple of items that would work for me, our server recommended the truffled pappardelle with mushrooms because it's unique. Also made with fresh noodles, it was outstanding and I finished every bite. They also offer a complementary dessert for a birthday person and I chose the dense and delicious tiramisu. Overall it was a fabulous dinner experience, with a fantastic atmosphere and service! The only flaw came when we were just getting our check paid and ready to leave. We hadn't been served our food until almost 6 PM, and were commenting that it was taking a while, especially for everything being pasta dishes. At 630 on the dot, as we were packing up half of an entree and dessert due to being happily full, we were politely told that they didn't mean to rush us but there's another party waiting for a 630 reservation. I know restaurants are trying to turn around tables quickly these days, and I have seen many with signs on the table indicating that they ask you to limit your visit to two hours. But I thought 1 1/2 hours was aggressive for a timeframe, particularly when we weren't served our food until a few minutes before 6. The expectation was to eat our entrées and desserts completely within a half hour? That was kind of disappointing and tarnished the experience a bit. If we would have finished our entrées and dessert, we would have needed longer than that. Also, my mothers recent hospitalization was for a G.I. emergency, so feeling rushed through a nice meal is definitely not the best experience. Thank you for the lovely meal, Lucca! This was a big milestone birthday for me and I enjoyed my visit here. read more

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Came here after an event at Pitt. I was not a big fan of anything to do with this restaurant. Most everything in this restaurant was super outdated, which set off the tone. Most of the food we ordered was hard...over or undercooked. Especially the risotto 3/3 of the orders on the table were not cooked. Also wouldn't recommend drinking anything here... the beer and wine were warm and the martinis were not remotely tasteful. read more

Worst table service I have ever received. We went on a Tuesday night. Party of 2. Walked in around 6:45 without a reservation, didn't get served water for half an hour then another half for drinks than another half for bread. B.R.E.A.D. Manager(? Blonde man in glasses) walked up to us asking how we're doing. I said "We haven't eaten anything yet, so not great" and he responded "Have you been to a crowded restaurant before?"The restaurant was at most at 50% capacity when we walked in. I mean it was a Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, like come on! Most terrible attitude I had to deal with. The food finally came out around 8:30. We waited almost two hours to get two pasta dishes. The actual food - shrimp slightly overcooked. Scallops just weren't fresh at all. Pasta a little too al dente. Sauce, whatever. My friend got a "truffle pasta" - oily as hell and maybe a droplet of truffle oil. Couldn't really taste the truffle. It also came out with hella white mushroom. I expected actual truffle on top, but I guess I was expecting too much. Overpriced for the quality of food IMO. Drinks were nice, though. The outdoor space was quite nice as well. Looked so promising, only left me with disappointments. Mediocre at best. Will not return. read more

Lucca Ristorante - Frutti di Mare Con Rigatoni - Italian Near Me - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania