Lucias Tavola — Restaurant in Ayer

Rating received an extra star based on the excellent service.

I was rather disappointed in this place especially after reading the hopeful reviews. My husband and I dined here for the first time for a date night. We got the arancini as an app. I’ve never seen it before served as bite sized balls - usually it’s one big one. And it wasn’t that great. Tasted like something you could just pick up at Trader Joe’s. We didn’t eat all of them.

For the meal I got a Greek salad and butternut squash ravioli app. I know — who goes to an Italian restaurant and orders a Greek salad?! I wanted eggplant parm but they do not serve it with pasta so I got the salad instead. The salad I only had a few bites of. The lettuce wasn’t fresh and the amount of dressing on it made the salad a soup. The butternut squash ravioli was very good but again I could only have a few bites as the rich and creamy sauce there was way too much of. You couldn’t even see the ravioli with how much sauce it was buried in.

My husband got the chicken parm with meatballs on the side. I don’t know how he ate what he did (maybe half of the entree). It was disgusting. The chicken was wet. I’m not kidding. The chicken parm breast was wet and soggy. I didn’t try the meatballs as he cut one open and the color alone told me it is not fresh and handmade. He only ate one.

We quietly told the waitress that our meals just weren’t great. She profusely apologized and sent our message along. We then were followed up with two other employees about our experience. My husband and I both agreed that even though our meals sucked the service was excellent and it sounds like they want to make it right in the kitchen. We were given complimentary cannolis for the issues we had and those were excellent (and I’m not the biggest cannoli fan). They took the chicken parm off the bill which really wasn’t necessary as my husband did eat enough of it.

I definitely won’t be running back here. My husband is willing to try it again. And again I am floored by the amazing reviews as this is not a quality...

We went here last night, we did not have reservations. The staff was amazing and very professional. The hostess came and offered us three types of waters before we decided on 'iced tap'. Our server was Stephen. Stephen was patient and attentive.

The freshly made bread (in house) was fabulous. We ate our whole basket before our starter came. Our starter was a trio of fried olives with risotto ball and stacked eggplant parm. All 3 of them were delicious but the fried olives were our favorite.

For the mains, we got the Pasta Perfect with salmon and Terra di Mare (spicy).

My partner was pleased with the Terra di Mare, I tried it as well it was cooked nicely and tasty.

The salmon Pasta Perfect was a huge disappointment. I literally took about 2 bites before I decided it was not for me (pretty uncommon for me). The salmon was grilled and way overcooked and had char marks on it. This was not described on the menu (that it would be grilled). The pasta dish which was described as being a fettuccine base with peas and shallots and cream, sounded wonderful. I imagined that the salmon would be pan fried with butter or oil and fall apart perfectly on top of a bed of fettuccine pasta- yum! I was greatly looking forward to it. I was very disappointed with this dish. It just tasted 'off'. Perhaps it was the shallots perhaps, it was the burned salmon (see photo). I hope the chef reconsiders this dish.

Besides the salmon dish, everything else was wonderful and the service was great. I could tell that the staff here takes great pride in caring for their clientele. The bartender herself was very attentive (we did not sit at the bar but I could see how she was working), friendly, and professional.

We will definitely be coming...

overpriced for tiny portions of mediocre food. they were AMAZING when they first opened but I've been several times now over the years spending $100+ on take out and each time it's like they care less and less. This last time I called in an order for three meals totalling $80.00+ I was told 20 mins. I showed up 30 mins later and stood awkwardly in the way as there is no place to wait almost an hour before I got my order. when I first walked In someone talked to me right away and took my card to pay the bill and said it would be right out. after about 20 mins someone else was nice enough to acknowledge my existence by asking what I was waiting for, he went to check and 5 mins later a different person came out and said it wouldn't be long, that was now 35 mins AFTER they said it would be done, 55 mins after I placed the order. I then stood unacknowledged, for another 20+ mins until I was given my order, no explanation, no one ever gave me an explanation like, sorry we forgot your order, no, they made me STAND there waiting at the counter in everyones way for OVER AN HOUR. someone did apologize for the hour long wait and gave me a whole $10 gift card for "next time" ya right, like there will ever be a next time. The order was for co workers who got a great pizza from the cottage while waiting for me to return, what a giant waste of time and money. oh and the food was gross and...