Pizzeria Santa Maria — Restaurant in Lucca

6.22.18 - ORIGINALLY POSTED ON TRIPADVISOR this is my first review on TripAdvisor, but I mainly post on GoogleMaps, which is next. This is damn good pizza, but I have nothing to compare it to in Italy because these are our first pies.

The staff/management/owner are welcoming, patient, and thoughtful. I first asked for the Capriccosa and the Quattro Stagioni, but they said it is the same pizza just organized differently. So I ordered the Capriccosa and the Capers&Anchovies. This is some serious eats. Everything was made with fresh quality ingredients; the front of the house (outdoor seating) was packed; the staff smiled at me constantly; no one was gruff or impatient with me after reviewing the menu for 10 minutes; nothing was burnt or overcooked; the pizza pie maker dude said goodbye to me on my way out; amaze-balls.

We ate our pizzas like savages in our room. They didn't cut the pie, but we scavenged knives and forks and the pie cut like butter. This was unreal. In NYC, the pies would probably not cut the same, and I can't say for sure, because it never happens.

Do yourself a favor and support this place when you visit Lucca, if not for the food, then for the people who make the pizza pie and serve you.

I'm not a bot or a paid reviewer, and trust me, I go into everything 'hating', because I set low expectations. Originally I gave this 4-stars because I reserve 5-stars for repeat offenders to my low expectations to make sure they deserve 5-stars, but these guys are so good at making pizzas and providing good service it was only fair to rate them 5 stars. Is that snobby? Sure it is, but you're still reading this review, so phooey on you 😝!

I could be completely wrong and they are average compared to the rest of Lucca's pizzeria, but I don't care if I'm wrong. The truth is, their pizza does not suck AND it's really good. Did you get that double positive? 'Does not suck and it's really good'. It's not your $1 slice NYC pizza, this is legit good and at $15 (average) a large pie, it shames NYC pizza, but is that fair because I'm in Italy? Of course not, so what, it's true. Need it...

We arrived here at 2.45 on Sunday. We went to the front of the restaurant and looked at the menu where the waitress seen us and said hello.

After a brief look at the menu we decided to eat here and took a table outside, we waited approximately 25mins for the waitress to bring us the menu over for us to make our decision on what we wanted to eat.

The waitress was busy cleaning plates so I walked back to the front and lifted the menus to bring to the table and said to the waitress if she could take our in 5mins.

A further 10 minutes pass, when the same waitress seated at least two more tables taking their orders, where the waitress then came and said the resturant was closed, despite seeing us sitting there for over 30mins and seeing us look at the menu when we first arrived.

There was tables sitting around us eating and drinking, so we were shocked and annoyed we had sat so long without our order being taking to then be told they were closed. Wasn't even given an option to buy bottled drinks or pre-made sandwiches which were in the display cabinet.

Despite the owners reply, this is not a fake review and is very much our real experience from two Irish holiday makers on our day out to Lucca. The fact the owner has came back to say it's fake has added more annoyance give our bad experience at Pizzeria Santa Maria in the...

Pizza ok but expensive (adding coperto of 2.5 EUR). Very loud music. Unfriendly service. Charged us higher price then shown in menu. Even when I challenged that they did not react. Only when I took the menu again and showed them, they adjusted the bill. Was that an exception or is that the rule of dealing with tourists?

To add: I was expecting below comment. It apparently is the tone of the house. Some of your comments below are not true. I guess you know that, but I do not have the time to argue. Most important: no we did not change any order but you just charged the wrong price. Even if only small amount I do not like to be cheated. Do not worry. We are not depressed. After the experience with you, we spent a wonderful night in various locations and enjoyed la Notte Bianca....