we went there to celebrate my wife's birthday. it was the Sunday before Labor Day so it was full. It was a tad noisy but still felt intimate. The good points: great service, fantastic cuisine, and nice atmosphere. The bad points: only one - rather noisy. My wife had the Butternut Squash Ravioli. I had the Mediterranean Sea Bass. Both were excellent. For dessert we each had the Flourless Chocolate Torta. scrumptiou! read more

The food was amazing! I ordered a pasta dish. I could tell the pasta was hand made and cooked perfectly. The service was impressive and knowledgeable. The ambiance is modern comfort. Definitely not hard on the eyes:) Well done Lucente Cucina!! read more

Let me start with the good. Service was nice. My partner had the burger, it was VERY good. Unfortunately the fries were a frozen product, but a pass because homemade pasta. We started with the carpaccio, it was good but needed more vinigar. My wine was lovely. I ordered the pappadelle al brasato on recommendation from our server. The pasta was way over cooked, the short rib was very mushy. Now i know it was braised, I braise short ribs myself, but these had maybe been kept in a steam table or something because also mushy. The tomato sauce was very bland and the whole dish lacked seasoning, especially salt. I was so bummed! We ordered desert, the olive oil cake which was stellar and the chocolate torte, which was good but pretty pedestrian. I mean I can get the same torte anywhere. We will come back, after all they have only been open about a month. I have high hopes! read more

Food. Ambiance. Service! Top notch! 100% recommend this was an incredible dish. Will be going again soon! read more

Lucente Cucina - Market Special - Mediterranean Near Me - Redding, California

TL;DR: Fancy presentation and lackluster food. I would not recommend it and I would not go back again. Go to Nello's for better Italian. Ambiance: beautiful space and decor; felt very pretty and luxurious. Mostly tables, so if you're hoping for booths there's basically one and you're out of luck. The acoustics were horrible--very first observation walking in was LOUD. The restaurant wasn't even full, maybe half the tables were filled, but it was nearly impossible to hear each other when seated. Service: It was okay. Food took a very long time to come out and while the waiter insisted we made great choices ordering and everything was his favorite, we didn't actually get checked on ever until it was time to pay/get boxes. Food: Nothing tasted BAD, but it was very expensive for small to middling portions of food that was just alright. Citrus butter prawns ($26): I think my dining companions enjoyed the flavor, but it was very VERY little shrimp and citrus compared to a bed of what looked like cabbage or lettuce. Beet and goat cheese salad ($24): Astonished at the distinct lack of salad-ness. There were about 4 small crumbles of the goat cheese and then just a smattering of beet slices. Pappardelle al limone e prosciutto ($26): A pleasant lemony flavor and the prosciutto was decently crispy. A little dry. Pappardelle al brasato ($31): I expected this to be a delicious red sauce with the braised shortribs cooked in with the sauce. It was instead pretty dry, clumps of tomato and clumps of beef. The dish tasted fine, but nothing spectacular or rich like I would have expected. Bucatini Carbonara ($26+$8): My brother added chicken to his dish. The taste was again fine, though the sauce seemed very translucent for a true carbonara. I don't know if they have a strange egg ratio or didn't use enough Parmesan or what. The chicken...well, it wasn't fabulous. For some inexplicable reason the carbonara comes with a slice of focaccia, but the other pasta dishes don't. Focaccia ($4): My grandmother requested bread after seeing it in the carbonara and we were brought and charged for a side of focaccia consisting of 3 small slices. It was VERY salty, and had pockets/clumps of dry unincorporated flour. They do not offer olive oil/vinegar for the bread, nor Parmesan for the pasta dishes. Olive oil cake ($12): While the cake has a pleasant flavor, that flavor is "sweet" and generally bland. The syrup is nowhere to be found. There are the saddest tiny smears of cream, but nowhere near enough to save this cake. It was horribly dry, which has never been my experience with olive oil cakes in the past. Think cornbread, but even dryer. It crumbled with every forkful and 3 self proclaimed sweet tooths left a single serving unfinished on the plate. read more

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We came in for our first visit for dessert only for my birthday. Lillianne was our waitress and she was so accommodating. The dessert was excellent. 10/10 recommend the chocolate flourless torta and also the espresso pannacotta. Wow. Best pannacotta we've ever had. Well definitely come back to try dinner! read more

Lucente Cucina - La torta - Mediterranean Near Me - Redding, California

Hands down the best Italian food in town! Definitely come and give this place a try. Love the seascape wall and green tile. We had the Citrus Shrimp for an appetizer and it was delicious! For the main courses we had the Mediterranean Seabass and the Parappadelle Al Brasato (short rib). Both dishes were spectacular. The Seabass was cooked perfectly with a little bit of crispy edges which I like. My new favorite Italian spot in town. read more

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Walked in Saturday without a reservation and was seated right away. The restaurant was modern with an upscale vibe. The dining tables are really too small. We had four appetizers and four glasses of wine, along with four glasses of water. The chicken wings lacked flavor, the wild mushrooms risotto ball - couldn't taste the wild mushrooms. The polenta dish was nice. We also enjoyed the butter shrimp dish. read more

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Zach was our server and he was amazing! Super friendly and took care of everything. We had the tagliatelle, Bolognese and the butternut squash ravioli. The only thing I would say is that the ravioli had a sweet chili sauce and it seemed like it was premade so that might be something that the ownership could change. Other than that, we loved it. Excellent!! read more

It was my wedding anniversary and I had such high hopes for this place! However, when attempting to call for a reservation, I got the Holiday Inn on Hilltop, whose answering system told me to press 4 for the restaurant. I did, and got the message that the mail box chosen was full and I could not leave a message. How frustrating is that! OK, so I went to their web site and poked around. I found the reservation icon and clicked. I was directed to choose a time...easy...but also asked to choose the area in which to dine...Sky Room or Dining Room. Well, there was no info on their site about either room, so I searched more and eventually found their Insta site. Super, I think, now I can learn more and see pics of the two dining areas. I found a vid of one of their chefs prepping a Filet Mignon and watched and learned. Great, my wife's favorite cut of beef, and so I know what I was going to order for her! I still couldn't find any info on the two dining areas, so I DM'd them. They were quite responsive and sent me a picture of each area...nice! I told them about not being able to call them and they said:" yeah, our phone system isn't set up yet, so just use the online reservation system" WHAT! They opened nearly 3 months ago and hadn't yet got their phones working??!! This should have been a sign to pull the plug, but no, I was willing to press on. OK, now I was ready to go back to their reservation page and pull the trigger. I went through most of the process, but before I was able to complete the reservation, I was asked for my CC info. Bummer, I didn't have that info handy, so I paused the process and got my card. Back at my desktop, I found that my reservation work had not saved, and so I started again. Upon doing so, I got an error message that I they were unable to complete my reservation as there was already one in their system with my name and info! What? So I guess they had saved my info, but now I could not pick up where I left off, and could not complete the process...gads! Back to Insta and another DM about my situation. Again they were responsive and told me to cancel the first reservation and start over. Unfortunately, the site had no instructions on cancelling so I was forced to go back to Insta. I told them my problem and they gave me step by step instructions on how to cancel. Again, their site had none of the cancellation path I was given! Now I'm getting frustrated, but it is my anniversary and I'd been fascinated by this new Italian spot and pushed onward. Back to Insta. I was told to just forget the reservation process, as they had checked on their end online and had my reservation in and all was good! Phew, that was stressfull! We arrive 15 min early for our reservation, but we are greeted warmly and told that we are good to go and we could be seated now. Well as it turns out, the two rooms are actually all the same room, but just divided by a short wall and furniture... We are seated and given menus. Our waitress is lovely and pleaseant...this could turn out OK after all I'm thinking. I open the menu and after searching the 3-4 pages, cannot find Filet Magnon anywhere, so I catch our server's attention and ask her to direct me in the menu. "Oh, she says, we don't serve filet Magnon, but we do have a nice rib eye" Now that frustration is creeping back in as I look across the table at my lovely wife of many years and see dissapointment in her face...anniversary dinner, NO Filet Mignon. I guess the vid on Insta of their chef and the FM was a fantasy! OK, just deal with it. After several minutes looking throuh the menu, my wife orders another of her favs, an appetizer of artichoke hearts. "Oh says the server, we don't have those anymore" WHAT?! You've been open just short of 3 months and already an item on the menu is disscontinued?? Frustration mounts. I ask if there are other items on the menu that are not available, and she assures me that all other items listed are OK, and suggests the Arancini. We ask for more time to look at the menu. During this process, (we've been seated for about 15 min) we've been offered water, but there has not been any bread brought to the table. I realize this and ask about not seeing any bread on the menu. "Oh yeah, there is no bread on the menu, but we do offer a bread service for $8...would you like that". Yes, I say, and she asks if we're ready to order. We place the order. A few minutes later, the bread arrives, and it is lovely looking and hot. We dive in and ask the food runner if we could order something other than water. "Oh sure" , and we are given the list of soft drinks. At this point the arancini appetizer arrives, and things are looking up! The bread it good, the arancini yummy and we are less frustrated and settling into our anniversay evening....BTW, no one ever mentioned our anniversary and Yelp has just cut off how much I can write!!! In case you haven't guessed, my review is not good! read more

First trip to this new establishment. Nice decor, service was quick and friendly. Food was real good. Mozzarella fritto which is really just a big ass mozzarella stick. But not salty or rubbery. Quite delicious without the heavy fried feeling. I had the wild mushroom risotto and my wife had the Pappardelle al Limone e Prosciutto. Both very good. The only thing missing was a nice slice of warm bread. Overall we were happy with our experience at Lucente Cucina . read more

First off, the Espresso martini tasted like the real deal!! Wait staff appeared to be inexperienced and inattentive but friendly. For this type of restaurant we expected bread and olive oil at the table while we waited for our meal, but it missed that checkbox. Food was 50/50 as far as flavor and portions. All three of us agreed on giving them 3*. Picks of spareribs pasta, Carbonata and salad with added chicken. . read more

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Ambiance is great, service matched the esthetic. Cocktails were well made and tasted good. Food was mediocre. Started with the crudo, it was lacking flavor. I had the Butternut Squash Ravioli, my husband had the Mushroom Risotto. Both these dishes left a lot to be desired. I wouldn't go back for the price I expected a wow meal. read more

This review should be a "Great" but there was one thing at issue. First, the staff is wonderful. You can have a great place and great food but if you don't have professional staff, you sink. Front desk staff are friendly and welcoming. Chaz, Maya, Alexis worked the bar with ease, care and an inviting manner. Great drinks; all sorts of them being served at the bar! Food: Excellent. Partner had the burger and I had the Butternut Ravioli. Both superb dishes that would hold up as great even in the Bay Area, where we are from. Desserts were stellar. Bummer and BIG mistake: no coffee at the end of the meal. A gal next to me said they only serve Theory Coffee. Chaz, the bartender said they were out. What? You can't go to the market and grab a few pounds of coffee, albeit a different brand? Insider connections is one thing, but serving customers coffee at the end of a large meal should be valued above a good ol boy connection. Let's hope they don't repeat that mistake. read more

I knew it was a new restaurant, but I had no idea they completely overhauled the entire space! It's clear they had a vision and esthetic they were going for and didn't cut any corners! We met with friends there for dinner and all ordered different things so we could try a variety. We had their signature spritz made with in house limoncello, the Palomalfi Coast, and Aperol spritz and a dirty martini. All were delicious! I was worried their signature drinks would be sweet and they were not at all. For food we had 3 appetizers and 3 entrees. Portion sizes were large, presentation was on pointe and the service was super friendly. I'm excited we have another great dinner option in town. read more

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Lucente is a wonderful addition to Redding. The restaurant is beautiful but still feels warm and comfortable rather than overly formal. The pistachio gnocchi is fantastic, and the Bolognese and polenta appetizer is a must. Save room for the housemade gelato -- especially the pistachio. Definitely a five-star experience. read more

I really wanted this place to be great like I've read some other people but unfortunately, it just falls short for me as well. I really expected some traditional Italian food recipes like chicken Parmesan lasagna but it's stewed so far away from that. The service was OK nothing that I would expect for the prices they charge but I will not go back read more

This is my new favorite restaurant in town! The ambiance is relaxing and beautiful, our server Eli was fantastic, the drinks were delicious and our food was so good! My husband and I both ordered a cocktail, we split the pistachio gnocchi (yummm), he ordered the bolognese pasta and I ordered the steelhead. We split a slice of the chocolate torte cake and loved every bit of the experience. We already cannot wait to go back to try to rest of the menu. This is a must-try in Redding! read more

Meal was good. Service was okay but my wife's meal arrived about 20 minutes before mine. She was nearly finished with her meal before mine arrived (I did ask her to go ahead and eat so her meal wouldn't get cold). No apologies from the staff. Just updates that my meal was in line and would be out soon. Unfortunate. Not sure if I will return. read more

Gosh I wanted to like this place so bad! It was for my birthday dinner and we were excited for a new Italian restaurant in the area. Sadly the table we sat at was so small and cluttered with items there was hardly room for our plates. Our waiter was training someone and made it clear he did not want to service our table (left empty dishes adding to the clutter, forgot things we asked for, would walk past us and was busy talking with other staff). It felt like we were the "throw away" table, which did not feel great for a new restaurant experience. The highlight was the trainee, who was super kind. We asked him if he would get our tip but he said he couldn't, and it would go to the other waiter due to him being a trainee. And then the food. We love Italian and I will always enjoy a basic spaghetti and meatballs, but it was subpar especially for the price point (in Redding). But even that would have been "okay" if the experience was worthwhile. Both me and my husband were disappointed because we wanted to get more wine and dessert but by the end, just wanted to leave and go elsewhere. I hope things get smoother as they get more experience but overall, very underwhelming. read more

We had a great experience recently at Lucente! We were warmly welcomed and had really nice server, plus the manager came by twice to talk with us about the food and menu. We are vegetarian and there were multiple options for us to choose from on all the courses. Everything we ordered was flavorful and beautifully presented; we ordered the pistacio gnocci, beet salad, mushroom risotto, and flourless chocolate cake. I also found the atmosphere and decor warm, natural and relaxing. I was wishing they gave a free side of bread so we could soak up all the remaining sauce on the plate. :) Also appreciated they had mocktails on the menu. Will definitely go back for a special date night! read more

Good Food and drinks, great atmosphere felt like I was somewhere else not in Redding. Price was fair. Go check it out, great for a date night. I think our waiter was new, but that's ok. The waiter Wally next us is someone to request for next time. read more

My girlfriends and I tried out Lucente Cucina and left very impressed. The cocktails were amazing, as was the food. I ordered the Bolognese and was very pleased. The service was amazing and the ambiance is top notch. Whoever designed the interior, did an amazing job. The restaurant is absolutely beautiful. I was surprised to see that they didn't have tiramisu on their dessert menu! In my opinion, an Italian restaurant must have a good panna cotta and tiramisu. I am really hoping they add it on to their menu soon. Also missing...Italian red wines. I much prefer Italian reds to those from the US. Hope to see some selections added, I think it's definitely an oversight here at an Italian restaurant. read more

My husband and I went to Lucente tonight and had a great experience! The food, service, drinks and ambiance was spot on. Definitely will be going back and taking friends when they come to visit. read more

They assumed I was dine and dashing and decided to clear my table while I was in the bathroom for 5 mins. Felt so disrespected.

If I were giving a grade overall for this place, it would be a c+ perhaps. Wife had steelhead with beans. I had short ribs. Both were tasty, but not extraordinary. Server was attentive. But no bread served at the table. When I asked for bread, they eventually brought a bread/crackers/fancy butter/olive oil presentation way over priced. Desserts were just ok, but again premium price. Nice try, but c+ is the best I can give. Wish it were better. read more

Went there for dinner on our 50th Wedding Anniversary. Worst service ever. The waitress wrote our selections down on a piece of paper and later came back after a while and asked us what we had ordered as she had lost her paper with our order. Didn't have any suggestions on the wines listed. (Only had 1 white Italian wine and NO Red Italian wines on menu). Asked for bread and none was brought. I was told they could bring us some. When asked for bread to be brought, they brought a piece of focaccia bread. Do NOT go if you are planning to get a nice Italian dinner. read more

The meal was very tasty. The service was great. Jackie was very attentive. The remodel ambiance is attractive except for the strange dried flowers hanging over the bar. That seemed out of place and unattractive. I would definitely recommend having dinner here. It's a classy place. Maybe wear something other than a ripped old t shirt and dirty jeans. We saw people in all different attire. read more

We came here to celebrate my birthday, excited to enjoy some great Italian food, but unfortunately, the experience was disappointing. When we asked our server for recommendations, he simply pointed us toward the most expensive item in each section of the menu rather than offering any real guidance. We were also surprised that the bread service cost an additional $8. When I asked what kind of bread it was, our server looked at it and replied, "a white loaf with tomato." He also didn't know what balsamic vinegar was, which was unexpected at an Italian restaurant. I ordered a chicken entrée. While the sauce was flavorful and delicious, the chicken itself was extremely dry, and that completely overshadowed the dish. Service throughout the meal was lacking. Several staff members passed by our table, but no one cleared my husband's empty plate, leaving the table cluttered. When our server finally checked on us, he started to walk away without clearing it. The manager spent most of the evening near the hostess stand and bar area and only appeared to check on a handful of tables. After that, we didn't see our server again until he dropped off the check. We were never asked how our meal was, offered boxes for our leftovers, or given any opportunity to address our concerns, so we ended up leaving the leftovers behind. The restaurant itself is beautiful, and the atmosphere is warm and inviting. The sauce on my chicken was genuinely delicious. However, the combination of mediocre food, inattentive service, and prices that didn't match the overall experience made this a disappointing birthday dinner. Unfortunately, it's not a place we'll be returning to. read more

I really wanted to like this restaurant. The design and layout is nice and modern but a bit spare based on my professional design tastes. Empty feeling not warm and comfortable. I started with my all time favorite Italian starter carpaccio which I have ordered at restaurants all over the world. The beef was strangely very very dark compared to the bright red/pink I am used too. No toast points to spread the beef on which is pretty much standard. Though the scoop of burrata cheese over arrugla was interesting, I would have preferred the more traditional shaved parm, black pepper and olive oil. The menu promised shaved parm and black pepper but there was none on my dish. For my entre I choose the cioppino. Very disappointing. For an Italian restaurant in Northern California cioppino should be its' signature dish. The chef needs to make an emergency trip to Scoma's or Sotto Mare in San Francisco. The sauce was very bland, just pureed tomatoes with a little red pepper for spice and no depth of flavors. My dish contained one medium prawn, one small bit of prawn, a very small crab leg (no claw) and two tiny pieces of soggy fish maybe scallop??? I could not tell. No mussels or clams. The promised focaccia bread was replaced with a single small slice of what looked like toasted sour dough. The dish for $18 was totally underwhelming. I would gladly pay $30 - 35 for a bountiful bowl of rich true SF style cioppino. I however will return one more time to try the pastas before I strike Lucente from my list. Service was good and very attentive. read more