Trattoria Baffardello "Da Andrea" — Restaurant in Lucca

I know that tourists (if they are in large numbers and are Americans) can be annoying, especially if they are loud and make no attempt to speak a local language or adapt to a different culture. I (as an American) used to ignore some of the loud ones myself, when I lived overseas. However, my experience at this restaurant was typical of what my family and I have discovered at a number of restaurants in and around urban areas in Italy (including Lucca). Namely, they provide inferior quantities and ingredients/menu items to us (tourists, Americans, or both). We know this because we have observed tables of Italians (at multiple restaurants in Tuscany) being treated to significantly more generous pours of the same drinks that we have ordered, nicer olive oil, etc. I.e., the “same meals” are not the same meals, when provided to Italians. The meal that we had here was, in brief, overpriced. The seafood soup that I ordered was, although tasty, not worth 14 Euro. It had a sparse amount of seafood and a few tablespoons of broth. My wife’s small bowl of lettuce (only that ingredient) was far from worth 4 Euro. The pasta that we tried, although good, was no better than fresh pasta (at a similar price) back in the States. I spent several weeks studying Italian before we flew to Italy, and I have made a polite and conscientious attempt to use what I learned every time we have eaten at a restaurant, including this one (yes, I know that it can be a drag to have to deal with many people every day who don’t speak ones language). All in my party have been good-humored and respectfully soft-spoken at our tables. If the people who own/run this restaurant, envy or resent Americans, then I can understand why. If they think we are easy marks because many of us are not worldly, then they are probably correct. However, this particular American did everything he could to present a positive side of American culture, and he was not rewarded with the same in kind from this establishment (or others in the area). I do not, in particular, plan on eating here again, and generally have been put off of the idea of visiting Italy again. As much as I believe that it is important for Americans to make an effort to travel, and to do so “diplomatically,” I want to feel good during my vacation, and there are plenty of places in the U.S. where I can get that for a much lower price and aggravation than I did here. ...

A very huge disappointment.

• Note after reading other comments and photos: this is totally not at all what we experienced. It looks like everything has changed now from what I read from few months ago. Don’t go there *

The place and staff is really nice but the rest is really not worth the price. This is one of the most expensive restaurant in the area, though, quantities were really really not enough: plates are tasty though, at least the starters and first plates, but come on: inflation don’t excuse everything, it is more expensive for the quantities than a good restaurant in Paris. They have been telling us that fish is nowadays very expensive in Italy which we understand, but come on, just raise the price and offer acceptable quantities, it is not normal to be hungry after taking first and second plates. Note that the fish of the day was totally not a entire fish but a (small) portion, though ok, but I was also expecting really more tasty from a specialized in fish restaurant.

Conclusion: if you want to test fish in the area, just go somewhere else, it looks like the owners just want to benefit from a previous reputation which is definetly not...

We ordered there pasta and risotto which were delicious and raised our hopes up. For the main course we both took seabass and we were informed that in this case we can share a big fish between each other. I expected a fish of a solid size, however, it was a tiny fish divided into half. I just got the tip of it for the price of full fish. For 18 euro for main course per person I expected a bit more that a tiny piece of fish, that should in fact be served just one per person, 2 slices of aubergine and 3 slices of zucchini. Thus although it could be a good experience, the feeling of the rip off ruined it completely. Very friendly...