LUCA - Lancaster (PA)

5 /5 William Clark: What a great vibrant place to go to for great food, friendly staff and a very hip, swank atmosphere. You’ll see everything from formal wear to casual blue jeans. Prices are comparable to other high end restaurants so it’s worth a visit if you’re in the mood to have some fantastic food and fun times with friends. It’s not a place for an intimate first date due to it being in probably an old warehouse so you get a lot of echoing from other patrons so it can get pretty loud. Drinks are plentiful & flavorful. They even make their own wine. The Apples to Apples is a seasonal drink & of course tastes like ummm apples. Very tasty & puts you in the holiday spirit. Small plates I went with the crispy potatoes which were phenomenal and the rosemary makes these potatoes sing. We also tried the smoked squash which was absolutely delicious. You can really taste the smoke which compliments the squash perfectly. For my main, I picked the gnocchi with mushrooms. The only thing I didn’t enjoy about the dish was that it ended. I could have easily ate another plate of these perfectly prepared gnocchi and the brown sauce left me wanting to lick my plate clean (no I did not lick my plate, but I definitely wanted to). Staff are super friendly & helped us select just the right meal & drink. Would highly recommend Luca to anyone looking to have a great time with some friends & have some absolutely amazing and delicious food & drinks while doing it.

5 /5 joseph mattera: This place is is a must try. The ambience is warm with a rustic and light industrial feel. Very thoughtful lighting and an open kitchen. One thing that is very cool is that they proudly display a photo of Anthony Bourdain on the kitchen hood. I recommend doing what we did. We brought a group of 6 guests and ordered literally half of the menu to share. This way, we were able to try so much. Every dish we had was spectacular. I highly recommend the chicken, hanger steak, flatbread and the bolognese. We tried every single desert and they were all outstanding! The service was top notch. Our server was Alison and she was fantastic. She was very attentive and always made sure we had what we needed. To top it off, Chef Nate came out to our table to greet us and share his passion for cuisine. He’s a very bright young man and rich with talent. It shines through in the food. When I say that Luca is a must try, I mean it. I highly recommend.

2 /5 Teresa: Honestly just okay. I’ve had better pasta in the area. Portions are small. The desserts were super sweet. And be sure to pay attention to your bill. There’s a 3% kitchen appreciation that’s added that they don’t bring up. Parking lot is small and during their busy time, there’s no spots. I had to park on the street right in front of their restaurant and still got a parking ticket at 8pm at night. Very inconvenient and not worth it. Don’t think I’ll be back.

5 /5 Andrew C: The food was great! For appetizers we enjoyed the pane de recco and little gem lettuce. The pane or focaccia was very unique, had great cheese and garlic flavor, and the texture was crispy. The salad was very flavorful and not an abundance. The lettuce leaves were not chopped up so they acted as scoops. Our server Holly was very familiar with the food and wine. She recommended various wines and let me sample some before I went with a Lambrusco. I don’t drink alcohol, so she was very helpful helping me find a wine that didn’t bother me. For our main courses we had the Luca chicken and Tagliatelle bolognese. Both were very good. The chicken was served over various mushrooms and a leafy green. Each bite was a different experience. The bolognese egg noodles were made fresh and the red sauce flavor was unique and good. Maybe next time ill try the rabbit white sauce ragu dish. I enjoyed sitting at the Chefs counter, it was entertaining watching each dish get prepared and cooked. The kitchen works very hard. The photo of Anthony Bourdain above the kitchen really hit home for me, I was a big fan and love that they look up to his kitchen and life ethics.

4 /5 Kiara Moravec: Easily one of the BEST lattes Ive ever had, and I dont give that compliment lightly. Everything we had was delicious, from drinks and apps to the main entrées it was all well made and high quality. It was pretty busy when we got there (8 pm on a Wednesday) which was surprising but we had a reservation so there was no wait and it mostly cleared out around 815. The only thing that took away from the experience was how little we saw our waitress, wish she wouldve checked on the table more after it cleared out.