Lucca Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Bay of Plenty

Really want small business in waihi beach to succeed but was so disappointed and shocked by rudeness. Wanted to do something special for grieving 88 year old gramdma. (Pops passed away 6 weeks prior) she has what I call ‘old ladies stomach’. You know can’t take too much spice or garlic. Asked to switch the way the potatoes were prepped, from spice roasted to mashed, something that was on other menu options and was refused. Saw waitress ask chef, who was watching and heard the whole conversation, also didn’t really even consider it. Just said ‘no’. Should have walked out then, but options are limited in waihi beach over the Christmas break. I went with lamb, she with chicken breast. Mine was unevenly cooked, and her chicken breast was so dry she kept putting it on my plate. For a woman who usually boils her broccoli until it is yellow, for her to say something is tasteless is quite surprising. As mentioned really disappointed for what was meant to be a...

Wow the prawn and mushroom fettuccine I had last time we dined at Lucca was the best Italian dish I’ve eaten! I had to try not to hum ‘mmmmm’ with every mouthful 🤪 It was so hard not to order it again tonight but decided to try the chicken breast with Chardonnay sauce and mushrooms and wasn’t disappointed, it was mouth watering delicious! The mash (just how my dear old dad Alex loved it, well seasoned and extra creamy) which is something I wouldn’t normally order but loved the balance of this meal with the scrumptious medley of vegetables. Waihi Beach is so lucky to have this little treasure with Italian food that’s better than we ate in Italy! BTW the wines are reasonably priced (my lovely glass of Shiraz was $8.00) and we love their limoncello. We both highly recommend Lucca...

Booked a few days ahead on line and entered comment a quest was gluten intolerant. As requested confirmed day before. No mention of this at arrival. Told we had to sit outside. We should have been advised when booking was done. As it turned out one of us was facing into the bar next door with the sun glaring into his eyes for an hour. Not pleasant.No atmosphere at all. Service and was pretty mediocre and food over priced. $47 for small portion mashed potato, and a few very plain vege’s and steak covered in gravy with a few sliced mushrooms in it. Half way through our meal our bottle of wine was being offered to the people at the next table. Fortunately we noticed it. Waited for 30 mins after main for dessert menu. Never came. Won’t be...