Luciano — Restaurant in Valletta

Tourist Trap From Hell,

Went here for what we thought would be a nice light dinner on the streets of valetta, Took us awhile to be ‘seated’, using that word vaguely as Our ‘server’ told us to see ourselves to our own table. Then we had the pleasure of having the menus practically thrown at us by him. We chose to have a chicken burger, a portion of garlic bread and the bruschetta, Having been in Malta for the past 5 days we were looking forward to it. All the other restaurants we went to were so nice. Unfortunately the food we sampled at Luciano’s was almost inedible, chips were dry like cardboard and cold, not seasoned either. The chicken burger was distinctly below average, wasn’t moist and for it being breaded it wasn’t crispy either.. the bun was dry as-well, the salad inside doing nothing to help that.

Now onto the bruschetta and Garlic bread, you would assume a place like this would be able to deliver a well-prepared authentic bruschetta and subsequently garlic bread too. However this was not the case. Both items were made from a thick cut bit of bread, obviously stale before it was toasted as it was like eating a giant crouton, the toppings of the bruschetta were just soggy mushy tomatoes not appealing in any way. The garlic bread was completely dry even with cheese melted on top, didn’t help that it was cold. Was turning into breadcrumbs with every bite.

We only had a few bites before we decided we couldn’t eat this, so we sat and waited as we assumed they would have the common decency to ask how the food is but again, we were wrong. It got to the point were I just got up and asked our ‘server’ for the bill where he gave us a dirty look and a simple nod, 15 minutes go by and I was almost about to guess how much it was and leave the cash on the table, but caught him again and he said he’s getting it now, but before he did that he cleared our table very swiftly and aggressively, didn’t ask us if everything was okay or anything. Then on his way back he threw the bill down onto the table on his way past us. Once I put all the money down onto it, he came and in one swift motion he picked it up and nearly barged into my girlfriend.

All in all this place is a disgrace to all the other restaurants in the area,the lovely country and the hospitality industry in general. I advise heavily to avoid this place at all costs.

And to the server, I personally want him to know that after we left, we had a nice snack from the McDonald’s down the road. I never thought I’d say this but it was 10 times the quality of the food...

We ate at this location on two separate occasions, the first time everything was good but the second was a different story

My meal was good but my wife ordered the mussels

Normally it is expected that one or two are empty of meat, but by the end of the meal it turned out that five or six were completely empty

The manageress came to the table, listened to what the issue was and then asked why we had waited until the meal was finished to raise the issue - as if my wife was lying

We explained that we expect a few empty ones but not the amount we had found, and of course we didn't realise until the end

We also showed the manageress the mussels that were empty (you can tell because when a mussels has the meat, there is usually some connective tissue left behind but the empty ones did not have this, hence our assertion)

The attitude of the manageress was one of the worst I have encountered. She was sarcastic, invited us to have an argument and basically showed she couldn't care less and would not even apologise

Eat at this establishment but please make sure you heck your food thoroughly before you eat it, and if anything is not as it should be make sure you raise the issue before you eat anything

I should also mention that the rest of the staff were very friendly and helpful, just beware of the...

AVOID!! Can't believe how many high star reviews there are for this place, literally the worst service I have ever received. Took my parents for lunch while exploring the city - food was average for the price - but each of the three members of staff we interacted with ranged from sullen to outright rude. Our first server made a comment about how he hated the fact we had sat down at a table he hadn't had time to wipe down, despite it being the only free table and there being no indication we should wait to be seated. Server number two hurriedly took our drinks order, which by his attitude seemed to be a great inconvenience, then tried to rush us into ordering food at the same time, despite our having just sat down. Our drinks didn't turn up after 20 minutes so we ordered again with another server. After the meal, which took a long time to arrive, we had to ask for the bill several times before paying. We overheard couples on a number of tables around us making similar comments about the rude service they had received and one gentleman had an extended discussion with a member of staff at the end of their meal due to how unhappy they were. With the wealth of other lovely restaurants in the area, why anyone would eat here...