Buca di Sant'Antonio — Restaurant in Lucca

Location: in a quiet alley

Vibe: I was there at dinner on a Sunday good mix between locals and tourists. There many tables with families.

Seating: Very few tables outdoors and lots of indoor seating. Not too noisy, as there r many rooms and a couple of floors. There are several private dining rooms.

Setting: This has a romantic setting, with many of antiques on the walls.

Service: The service was faster than the usual Italian pace. The Staff was reserved, but professional

Dress Code: most people are in casual clothes.

Food: Food was tasty. We started with the squash soup, then Rabbit Sugo, Seabass w beans and wild hen with potatoes . Their menu offerings had a greater Tuscan slant that, is 7 Antipasti (custards, soups, pate), 8 Primi (Pasta, Risotto, Gnochi), 7 Secondi (Goat, Beef Hen, Lamb). It was really nice they published the allergens contain for each item. There are several items from each category that a Vegetarian could eat. Dessert menu was limited. They could seasonally and when I was there Porcini Mushrooms were in season.

Beverages: There is not a “bar” in the classic sense, but they seem to have a fully stock liquor area. They have a separate wine list. We had the local white sparkling wine, Franciacorta, tasted somewhat like ...

There does seem to be a lot of hype about this restaurant. Perhaps this is why we left somewhat disappointed. We thought the restaurant was a Michelin Star restaurant (our mistake) but it isn’t. We were warmly greeted and farewelled and it was lovely to receive a complementary Prosecco and nibbles. The dishes were also very nice but I think the waiter - at least at our table - let the team down. It’s unusual at this level of restaurant not to have your wine topped up at any stage and not to be offered another bottle of mineral water when the bottle stood empty on our table from the time of the entree onwards. When a different waiter came to our table on one occasion (a waitress), she was much more engaging. Good but certainly not outstanding and not sure it lives up to the hype. Perhaps we were not as enthusiastic about Buca San Antinio because the night before in Florence we went to a family run restaurant which unexpectedly proved to be a hidden gem and the highlight of our trip and which served traditional Tuscan dishes with love and pride and generosity (massive serves) and with waiters who we could chat to about the dishes and their provenance and...

This place was highly recommended by our local Lucca tour guide and our B&B host, and it did not disappoint. We had an amazing dinner experience with great food and great wine. Super friendly servers and host, and we met the legendary chef that has worked there for over 70 years!!! The porchini mushroom risotto is a great starter to share and the truffle beef carpaccio is fantastic. As is the small but tasty lamb chop “lollipops” with an amazing taste, but they come a bit rare so note that when you order. Wonderful experience and make a reservation as this is fairly small and it gets busy...