I really hate to do this; I've rated Luciano's very highly in the past. But they have been on the downward slide for a couple years now, so I'm updating my review to reflect the current situation.
Our family likes our pizzas "Neapolitan" style, where the crust is firm, a little chewy, and there is some searing going on on the top of the crust. You know, like you get from a traditional wood fired pizza oven? We understand that Luciano's doesn't have wood ovens, but to compensate we've been ordering a large pizza: "Well Done, Thin, Crispy crust."
On our last four or five orders the center has been coming out consistently under-cooked, limp, and soggy. (To the point that our previous to final order needed to be reheated on a skillet to "firm up" the crust enough to hold a piece to eat!)
My wife, the baker in the family, suggested that maybe they just couldn't get the center of a larger sized pie crisped up, despite our asking for "crispy" and "well done." We decided to do a test: Two smaller pies, ordered the same as per our usual: "Well Done, Thin, Crispy crust." I added a note to the online order to the effect: "Don't be afraid to burn the top a little; we like it that way".
When I picked up the pizza they popped open the boxes for inspection. One was fine; nice and caramelized on top, exactly as I hoped. The second was (supposed to be) a plain pepperoni. While it was cooked as ordered, it did not have one single disc of pepperoni on it; it was just a plain cheese pizza. The guy in the kitchen said send it back and I'll fix it.
Let's look at some of the options he had available:
1) Remake the entire order to give the customer two fresh, hot pizzas as ordered.
2) Remake the pepperoni pizza, giving the customer one fresh, hot pizza as ordered, and another one that's been sitting under the heat lamp for a few minutes.
3) Offer a coupon for complimentary pizza of the same size on my next order, if I'd take the 'plain cheese'.
4) Offer to 'comp' the faulty pie.
5) Offer a discount, say ( 1/2 off because it's missing the meat) on our next order.
6) None of the above.
He chose "None of the Above" and put pepperoni slices on the already well-well-done pizza and tossed it back in the oven.
The problem with this is that a) the pizza went from "well done" to INCINERATED, while at the same time, b) the pepperoni didn't cook much at all and just sat there, looking forlorn on a bed of burnt cheese.
When I got it home and gave it a good look I was appalled. It was so burnt that we ended up throwing half of it away and could only pick out spots here and there that were barely edible. And having to pitch a large portion of a $20 pepperoni pizza is unacceptable.
And both pies suffered from the same limp crust as ever. Luciano's claims "New York Style" pizza, but there's no way one can fold a slice in half and eat it New York style; it's far too limp in the center.
So: sayonara, Luciano's. You've been our go-to for pizza on many a Friday night, but the quality you're providing is inversely proportional to the prices you're charging. The prices keep going up and up and up while the quality and value (and focusing on customer expectations!) are sliding toward rock-bottom.
Also, Luciano's, if you're reading this: I wish you'd stop pressing customers to add a tip to the bill before they have received any product or services. In cases like this, there should also be an option #7: Give me my tip back! read more