Pizzeria da Felice — Restaurant in Lucca

This place seems like a proper local pizza spot. It had been recommended a number of times however the negative reviews scared me a little but I was happy dealing with the "poor service" to try some of the highly rated pizza.

As said in some reviews, we were asked to pay cash as a tourist, whereas the locals ahead of us paid by card. We didn't question it as it wasn't an issue for us and didn't want to upset the lady behind the counter, but she wasn't rude, just straight to the point.

The pizza was great, the sauce was sweet and full of flavour with a crisp base. We ordered what we expected to be two slices of Margarita but we received two plates of two slices. You pay by weight here, not by the slice. So I expect we unintentionally ordered two portions of pizza. We also got a bottle of water and it came to €6.50. The price seemed more than fair, however I can't confirm if, as tourists, we paid a different price and that's why they wanted us to pay cash. The price on the menu at the time was €14/kg. So I think it's correct.

The location is a small local spot. Not somewhere you'd stay for dinner, just grab a bite and go. Perfect for...

I am sadly forced to change my review a few years later, as the Michelin guide did for Jiro's sushi spot, because the "cecina" this place was so famous for is never available. It seems there is never some cooking and they don't take orders anymore. The rating has therefore gone down a lot, since the pizza is decidedly average.

Old review: This place is an unmissable stop every year for me. We usually go during the Lucca Comics days so the review might be biased as these days are amazingly crowded. The pizzeria has very good margherita but the reason we go here is for the "cecina" or "torta di ceci". This is the picture below. The dish is very simple to make, but cooking is the difficult bit and it's not easy to find outside of selected areas. This is among the best I've had and in my opinion worth the trip...

I had read about this pizzeria on a few blogs before we arrived so had to check it out. Situated near the Church St Michele, this family run pizzeria has been around for 100 years! There are photos dotted around the small interior showing the family making the pizzas in their firewood oven which is always a nice touch.

They serve pizza by the 100g (€1.40) so just say if you want a large or small slice. You can choose from Pizza with proscuitto, wurstel, margherita, mushroom, spicy salami and four cheeses. They also have a selection of foccacia and you should also try the Cecina which is prepared with chickpea flour. They also offer beer, wine and soft drinks in a relaxed no frills environment. The pizza was absolutely delicious so we ended up ordering more – definitely...