Stopped by during a quick trip to downtown Boston. The restaurant was pretty empty and we were sat right away. They served us bread and olive oil which tasted freshly made. For lunch I went with the tricolore that is listed as serving 2 people. In reality it could have easily served 3 people. You get a plate of spaghetti, tortellini, and gnocchi. Each one has a very distinct flavor and tastes like your Italian grandmother made it. It's a no frills dish, just good and hearty pasta with a subtle sauce. As someone who spent multiple summers in Italy, this is an authentic Italian experience. For dessert I went with a cannoli because why not. I could've easily eaten a plate of these but luckily I was full from my entree. The cannoli is not overly sweet and the shell is airy. I absolutely loved everything about this meal. read more

Lucia Ristorante - Cannoli - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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I came here with my travel companions after a long and exhausting day at our mushroom endive convention at the Marriott Copley Place (review coming soon, avoid like the bubonic plague. I'll also be contacting the CDC regarding what appeared to be a Stachybotrys chartarum infestation) We arrived hungry, tired, and hopeful. We were seated and initially greeted by a kind server who, unfortunately turned sinister. We ordered our cocktails and a caprese salad to start. I blinked, and suddenly our appetizer had arrived... practically splattered on my lap and face. Our server walked by and practically launched the caprese salad onto our table with such force that the plate landed with a sound that could only be described as Hiroshima. Tomatoes scattered. Mozzarella shifted. My travel companion, who was recently diagnosed with cerebral palsy, sat there in stunned silence trying to process what had just occurred. Boston has approximately 47 Italian restaurants per square foot, so there is absolutely no reason to subject yourself to this one. Pasta can be found elsewhere. Mozzarella can be found elsewhere. Shut it down. Signed BOSS & CEO read more

The patio was lovely and our server was fun but the food was pretty disappointing. the caprese "salad" was two slices of tomato and a ball of mozzarella with thin shreds of basil, certainly not worth the price. i was stunned when it came out. I got the quattro formaggi with chicken and it was awful. the chicken was dry and cold, barely edible. the pasta was stiff and lacked flavor. the other diners in my party said their meals were also lackluster. a pricey bummer. read more

The clam pasta had flavor and plenty of sauce. The eggplant parm was stale, not soft, not enough sauce. read more

Lucia Ristorante - Eggplant Parm - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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Food was barely okay. Couldn't stomach half of the meal, all ingredients tasted like poor quality and the wine glasses seemed to be chosen for the optical illusion of it looking like they poured you a full glass when it was really a half glass. Would not recommend coming. Service was fine, food was bad. read more

Lucia Ristorante - Gnocchi - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Meh, the patio is basically the only reason to come here. I had the four cheese pasta and my husband had amatriciana. My pasta was largely tasteless, and his amatriciana, which should be packed with flavor, was the same and seemed to be made with something like ham vs. Guiancale (or at the very least pancetta.) For two drinks and two meals we paid $100, which was NOT worth it. read more

Lucia Ristorante - Quattro Formaggi - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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Came in about an hour before our reservation and definitely thought we wouldn't get seated because of how packed it was but NOPE! We got in! Absolutely wonderful staff, genuinely impressed!! They are doing a great job from the people in the front to the people in the back! Now...I know my picture of the bread isn't good but let me tell you what IS good--THE BREAD!!! Delicious and perfectly salty, great appetizer to the pasta! The pasta...just what you want--delicious it Italian pasta is what this place gives you and what you get!!!! And of course, the vibes and the ambiance inside is just gorgeous...definitely coming back soon and going to get another glass of that Moscato! read more

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In the area and decided to try them again. We had the fried calamari as an appetizer. It came out crispy and hot. Very good. It was just me and my son so we split the chicken parmesan. It was plenty for the two of us after an appetizer. They do charge a $2.00 split plate fee. read more

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Errrr not impressed by my experience here. Firstly we were seated at a weird table that was right in front of the door in the basement so it was singled out from the rest of the dining room and had a draft hitting us the whole time. Pollo focaccia was weirdly sour and tangy, dry fried chicken, only ate it because we paid for it. Seemed like a bizarre combination of ingredients. Mare e monte (linguine and clams) had like 2 clams on it (the rest were empty shells), so the dish was mostly mushrooms and pasta (and the 'rich tomato sauce' was not generous as menu claims) Bread is cold. Service is good enough. I suspect that if we had ordered more standard dishes I would have liked the food more. Oh well. There are other spots to go! read more

Lucia Ristorante - Pollo Focaccia - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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Horrible service and food is even worse. Honestly Olive Garden is better. These guys are busy due to overflow from other restaurants ( very difficult to get last min reservations on the north end ) . Go elsewhere . read more

What a cute North End restaurant. The service was great and we really enjoyed the vibe inside. The food was pretty basic to be honest, nothing really blew us away. It was good but for me not really worth the money. We ordered the daily soup, the gnocchi, the salad, and orange sorbet and daily special dessert( strawberry shortcake ) . The best things were the gnocchi and the orange sorbet they were pretty good. The salad was not worth $18 as it had like 2 small pieces of salami, but the fresh cheese on it was great. The daily dessert was kind of dry, and the soup was good but nothing to write home about. read more

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Lucia has that classic North End charm and a cozy, inviting atmosphere, but overall my experience felt a bit uneven. Est. 1977 and seems their menus are from the same year!! Almost all menus had many items wiped off they were so old! The food was lackluster--my pasta dish was ok but not at all memorable or anything special and portion sizes were on the smaller side for the price. Call me crazy but going to a restaurant in the North End, is it too much to expect house made fresh pasta? If yes then I'd rather stay home and make boxed pasta myself! The service was friendly & attentive. It's a nice spot if you're strolling through the neighborhood and want a traditional sit-down Italian meal, but with so many amazing restaurants in the North End, I'd say Lucia is just ok. read more

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Pretty good dishes! Pasta was good and the minestrone Fagioli was also good. The side dishes of pasta are kinda perfect for a lunch portion and price. The real standout here was the ambiance and the service. Granted, we were the only ones in here on a Thursday at 12pm, but it was awesome! read more

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Walked here and came in as a walk in. Was great! Seated outdoors right away. Food was amazing. Tiramisu wonderful and in a little cup. A plus. read more

The lasagna is ! Wine is excellent! If you want good Italian in Boston this is the spot. Service was wonderful!! read more

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Very warm and cozy place for lunch. Service was very good and the inside is nicely decorated. Started off with Fried calamari and main dishes were Rigatoni and my daughter had Gnocchi. All our dishes were very tasty. read more

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Food was just ok. I got the chicken parm and I've had way better, Service was fast...but almost too fast. It left me feeling like they wanted us out quick and had pre cooked parts of the meals so it was not fresh. We asked for parm cheese and it never came. Got a got cocktail and it was just ok--seemed watered down. read more

Came here with friends a few weekends ago to celebrate a birthday. We snagged a last minute prime time reservation and weren't sure what to expect. Everything was delicious! We ordered chicken, seafood, and pasta dishes and everything was fantastic. Service was excellent. Vibe was casual and fun. The space is beautiful. Definitely a new North End favorite for me! read more

Tried this place on our trip . Have excellent location and outdoors seating . Laid back ambiance , service while friendly , runs on the slower end especially when busy . Food is not the best in north end , overall little bland . 5 stars for the location/service and 3 stars for the food . Good place for drinks and appetizers. read more

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We were there mid week for a late lunch. We sat outside. Attentive service. I had a most excellent dish. My wife had a cheesy pasta dish that was actually pretty plain. She always picks the wrong thing. I had a delicious glass of wine as well. I think it was the super Tuscan. read more

Lucia Ristorante - This pasta dish was so fresh and delicious. - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

I visited Lucia Ristorante for the first time this week while my friends were in town. The ambiance and interior were nice, creating a cozy dining atmosphere. Upon being seated, we were given bread and butter-- the butter was pre-packaged, and the portion of bread was just enough for one slice per person. While the prices themselves weren't unreasonable, we found the food didn't quite live up to them. Also, the menu has some rules, like a $15 minimum per person and a $2 per-person charge for sharing a plate. My fiancé and I shared the Cozze e Gamberi Cacciatore ($28), and unfortunately, the seafood didn't taste fresh--he even got a bad-tasting mussel. My friends ordered the Pollo Lucia ($27) and Pollo Focaccia ($27), and we all agreed that the flavors were lacking for the price point. On the positive side, the service was good, and I had no complaints in that regard. Overall, while the restaurant has a nice ambiance and attentive staff, the food quality and pricing didn't quite meet expectations. read more

Lucia Ristorante - Menu - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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Another great find we had not seen before. It's further down Hanover Street where we had never been before. We decided to walk down one side to look at menus and then cross to go back where we had already planned to dine at a restaurant that is by Mike's and Modern Pastry. Just as we're about to cross at the crosswalk, I look up and see this name with a sign that said to join them for lunch. So we decided to walk a little further and looked at the menu. This was the place we decided to try and it did not disappoint. The staff are all very nice and extremely attentive. Very helpful and explained some things without us asking, which helped us decide what we wanted. The restaurant was nicely decorated, wasn't too warm, more roomy and not as dark than some other Italian restaurants in the area. The calamari is THE BEST I have ever had. Many restaurants will add peppers or other foods to their calamari, which is really good, but this place did not add anything. It was so fresh, hot and very, very tasty. Their homemade pasta is fantastic. Best part is that they were not that expensive, either. Check them out! You won't be disappointed! They exceeded our expectations. read more

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We came here as a party of four and unfortunately, the experience was just okay. The food was not what I expected -- it tasted more like something pre-made, almost with a plastic-like quality, rather than a freshly cooked meal. Definitely not great. Service was also slow. I first asked another waiter to send someone over to take our order, and even after that, it still took about 15-20 minutes before our server finally came. I expected more attentiveness and fresher-tasting dishes. read more

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We unfortunately had a very poor experience at Lucia's. We had a reservation and were sat as soon as we walked in which was the only positive of the experience. We then waited 20-25 minutes for a server, we had to grab the hostess in order to get the server to come to our table. Our server took our drink and food order. About 10 minutes later he returned apologizing because he forgot our order. So we ordered a second time. He offered to comp our drinks. He returned with our drinks about 5 minutes later. We got our salad, it was great. We waited another 40 minutes for our food. When he brought it out, he had forgotten half our order! At that point we told him how horrible the experience was and left. We also informed the hostess. Very disappointed. read more

We specifically chose this restaurant because the menu on the outside of the building stated they had gluten-free bread and pasta. We were immediately informed they don't have gluten-free bread... the main reasons we chose this restaurant- as many places are able to accommodate gluten-free pasta. no issues, we move on from this - then I was told they were not able to accommodate my soy allergy on basically any g/f pasta in the facility. When restaurants use this amount of soy, it tells me A LOT the quality and freshness of their foods. Most authentic Italian restaurants do not use soy oil at all. This restaurant was loaded with it. I would not recommend it in the north end if you're looking these reviews, for an authentic high-quality Italian restaurant. The waiter was wonderful, however, I was completely dismayed when the restaurant manager didn't come over at all to have these conversations, especially after asking why gluten-free pasta would have soy on it. Again, no alternatives offered, and I sat there and didn't eat the entire time because it was too late to leave for my guest as we had already placed his food order. Very disheartened by this restaurant would never recommend it in the north end. They're much more higher quality places to choose from. My guest had a basic pasta with grilled chicken on top and one glass of wine, I had a decaf coffee and with tip it was over $60 for lunch. I would expect more for this type of pricing. As you can see, they also had stained dirty napkins. I should have looked at these reviews before we picked this restaurant. Seems to be quite a pattern that their food lacks quality & consistency - clearly they're not homemade and clearly they choose cost cutting measures, but yet charge authentic in-house made prices. Again, very disappointed for the North end. read more

The service is very slow even for lunch and we had to ask for the complementary bread. Pollo Francesco and mare e monte were delicious. Lasagna Lucia and meatballs were bland. Overall there are better places in the north end for the price read more

Lucia Ristorante - Meatballs and Lasagna Lucia - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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Overall, bad experience -- particularly with the hostess who lacked an ounce of hospitality. Was in town visiting and had one night to experience the North End. Our reservation asked for a patio seat or nice booth. When we arrived, we were told we had to wait (which was 20 minutes). Then we were sat in a dark basement that was about 15% full. We reminded the hostess that we wanted to sit in the dining room or patio. She seemed surprised by such a request and told us it would be another 30-45 minutes. Because it was a busy night in the North End and already 8:15pm, we decided to stay. Food was okay but not memorable. Unfortunately, we did not experience an enjoyable dinner in Boston, and it was frustrating this hostess and restaurant didn't honor the request in our reservation, attempt to try or even care. Lesson learned -- get up and walk out if this happens again, and never go back to this establishment. There are so many fabulous restaurants in this lovely town to experience so don't waste it! read more

I really enjoyed the food here! Place was packed on a Saturday, chilly night. I ordered the Ammazzafame pasta dish. It was delicious!! ($23) Penne rigate, Porcini mushrooms, sausage, broccoli, sun-dried tomato and capers. The sausage had so much flavor and were like large chunks. Everything mixed so well together. Others in my group had the lasagna and Chitarra Al Tartufo pasta. We all enjoyed our dishes. Menu is extensive. Lots of chicken options here. No pizzas. I would skip on the garlic bread though. This was nothing special and was a pretty small portion for a table of 4. Service was friendly and efficient. Place was decorated nicely for the holidays. Would come back if in the area! read more

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Delicious meal in The North End of Boston. Excellent service. Small interior but larger outdoor eating area. The menu has a great selection of true Italian entrees and appetizers. I highly recommend and hope to return soon. read more

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We ordered the limoncello spritzes, the caesar salad (not gluten free) the mare e monte, and the gluten free chicken parm. All was excellent the gluten free pasta was chewy and delicious and the chicken part was definitely the star of the show! The server, Grace Lyn was absolutely lovely and attentive to us and communicative about dietary restrictions and allergies. Lastly, we sat outside and the music from the nearby park and general ambiance was just lovely! Definitely recommend as a north end spot! read more

A cute patio in Little Italy was a nice place to have lunch. Service was a little slow and inconsistent. The complimentary bread was delicious but ours only came with butter, not oil like the table across from us. We didn't see much of the server so we didn't get a chance to ask. The calamari was lightly breaded and perfectly cooked, paired with a spicy red sauce. The caprese wasn't what we're used to seeing, served with a round ball of mozzarella, thickly cut tomatoes and not much basil or balsamic but it was still tasty. Pappardelle Bolognese pasta was fresh and had a nice chew and the sauce was good. Brigante de Penne was ok. It was strange that there was some cheese included somewhere in the pastas because it wasn't listed but showed up on the end of your fork. Wine, sangria and beer only on the patio but inside was a full bar. There is a $15 minimum per person and a split charge to share entrees. Bathroom is in the basement. read more

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The staff was so friendly and quick to seat a party of 3 outdoors. One waitress even kindly brought a water bowl for our dog. The food was truly delicious and some of the best Italian we've had since traveling to Italy. The carbonara was so delicious just like everything else, including the tasty dessert afterwards. read more

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Meh. Service was pretty awful tonight. Food was decent. My young male server was pretty much MIA

We walked through Hanover street on a busy Thursday evening and found seating at Lucia. Actually at St Stephen's church across the restaurant location, which I assumed is basically "holy" ground. The main restriction we were told was no hard liquor, only beer and wine :-) Beautiful September evening outside. Had the Carrozza - awesome cheese and Prosciutto starter. Ordered the Harpoon IPA beer and was given two half-warm bottles (not stored long enough in the fridge), but got two ice cold replacements. :-) read more

Lucia Ristorante - Carrozza - awesome cheese and Prosciutto starter - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Food was amazing! The decor inside was beautiful, definitely will be going back. They gave my mom a free dessert for her birthday which was nice! read more

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Rant: Some of the reviews for Lucia are mind-boggling to me. I get that service can really derail a meal, but the blatent blasting of the quality of the food makes me question what kind of food these people actually enjoy. The one thing that I was able to correlate was the complaints were primarily lumped in 2 major categories: service and lunch (sometimes BOTH). /rant Lucia lived up to it's roots - a 1970s mafia-capo-approved restaurant. It blends traditional with modern touches in the space and makes you feel like you are in a true trattatoria in Rome, Florence, or even Venice (minus the smell) when they have the windows and doors open. The food is perfection: pasta with a firm texture, calamari dredged and fried to perfection, meatballs that my Italian wife approves (not many places get that approval), and the sauce that accompanied my buccatini and my wife's gnocci tasted as if it was simmered from the day before. The price is inline with the North End, but one of the few places I don't actually mind paying the price for this type of quality. The menu boasts house specialties FROM Italy, not bastardized American versions of Italian classics. We shared 6 different dishes that were paired with perfect Italian wine selections (super Tuscans and montepulciano wine d'abruzzo, which makes sense since the theme of the place is the d'abruzzo region). While the service was not necessarily superb, it didn't leave us walking away begrudging the experience like a lot of the lower ratings ranted about. Could it improve? Sure. Enough to draw away from the amazing food and ambiance? No, not at all. Lucia moves at the pace that things do in Italy, it's a bit slow and not overbearing. The entire feel of the place transported me from Boston to Italy in an instant. While it may not be for everyone, there is nothing negative I have to say about Lucia - but that's because Italy is one of, if not my favorite places in the world. It's not America, it's not rude and fast-paced, but that's WHAT I love about Italy AND Lucia. read more

Lucia Ristorante - Maccheroni Amatriciana - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Service is slow despite them not having that many customers. We sat down for 30 mins without 1 person asking us anything. We had to stop someone and ask when we would get help. He took our order on the spot, which means he could have done it a while ago. They were chilling by the register just talking. I got the chicken parm, it was ok. My husband got tortellini pesto and it was good. Next day both of us super sick. Maybe coincidence but I'm not testing it to find out. Also, the hostess at one point was brushing her hair at the hotess stand and talking about some guy she's dating and their drama. Not appropriate. read more

It's rare that I leave a less than 5 star review, but occasionally it happens. This was one of the most disappointing lunches I've ever shared with my daughter. We were seated promptly and water was poured for us pretty fast while we looked over the menu. My daughter wanted to split the "Tricolore" dish, which on the menu says it's a portion for two, but I say "Nay, Nay!" It was $39 for the dish and the portion was barely enough for one person. It was so tiny!!! So, we decided to order some calamari when our waitress came back but she didn't show back up until we were completely done and sitting there staring at each other for a good 5 minutes, so opportunities were lost. We looked at the dessert menu but decided against it, since we were beginning to feel unwelcome. I just paid the bill and we left. Very disappointed and still hungry. I am sad... read more

Lucia Ristorante - It's supposed to be a portion for 2, but it's not even enough to fill up 1 person! - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Not sure why ratings are on lower end. Quintessential North End Italian. Great food and service.

We strolled from the hotel into little Italy. I had seen the review on how the food was amazing but the service wasn't. This was not our experience at all. On entrance to the building we were warmly greeted by the two staff members. One so kindly escorted us to the patio for seating. Within minutes we had fresh water at the table. Given a few minutes to review the menu our waiter come over for our drinks, and appetizer order. The Pollo Lucia is amazing and the carbonara was one of the best we have ever tasted. Made me wonder if Nonna was in the kitchen!! I forget his name but our server was a really cool young guy working closing shift last night. He found out it was our honeymoon and brought us a delicious desert. He told us all the cool places to be sure and check out. read more

Lucia Ristorante - The chocolate pudding desert. - Italian Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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