Lucca Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Benicia

We decided to try something new for my birthday so we went here after seeing pictures and reviews. Eh, it was ok. We sat outside in the beer garden, which was..... unique. The setup and concept was great, but the execution lacked. The furniture could use an upgrade (our metal table was lopsided and the chairs were hard plastic). It's major selling point are the market lights they have draped everywhere which turn on at night, and the dainty firepit and mini stage area. They were playing 80's music over their sound system and a random person brought plastic light up swords, was dressed in some leather robes and was dancing and lip syncing along (also choosing to hit that really high note on "Take On Me"). Turns out, this isn't a planned performance - he just buys food and drinks and decides to do his thing. I admired his courage.

Food was decent, depending on what you get. I ordered the half chicken and a side of garlic fries. For the chicken, it's only served as is so if you want a side, it's extra. My husband ordered the burger and a side salad. Chicken was fine, cooked fully and had season, but nothing spectacular. It came with BBQ sauce to dip in which was just meh. I skipped that. The garlic fries were disappointing. You get a massive mound of fries and a sprinkle of garlic. The fries were unseasoned. They gave you a tiny cup of ketchup to dip it in. My husband's burger wasn't great. The burger was dry on one side and they didn't provide any extra sauce to put on it. He had to use his salad dressing which didn't go over well.

We also ordered drinks - a mojito and a rum and pineapple. Mojito tasted fine - like an average mojito. The rum and pineapple was way too strong. We let all the ice melt, plus added more water to it and it didn't get better. We left a full glass on the table.

We skipped dessert.

Staff was somewhat friendly. When we walked in we were greeted multiple times. When we sat down, we were mostly ignored. Our server came to us less than a handful of times - placing food/drink orders, to take a patio umbrella, to hand us a check. It took a long time (over 30 minutes) to get our check. He never checked in on us to ask how our meal was, and actually never served it to us either. Otherwise he would have seen how unhappy we were. Another server addressed my husband as "bro" when he saw our keys on the ground. It didn't bother us, but some people might not be fans of the casualty. We did mention we were celebrating a birthday but he just pretended he didn't hear us. Meh, it happens.

COVID procedures - there was a decent amount of social distancing. Menus are on QR codes that you scan with your phone. The menus lagged and some pages were unavailable. If you're not tech savvy, you'll have some issues. While there is cleaner nearby, we hardly saw staff use it to wipe down tables and chairs in between guests. Thankfully, we brought our own stuff. We saw a staff member bus multiple tables without washing their hands. They have an outdoor bussing station right next to their clean silverware. Our table was within arms reach of it. They do put condiments in single use plastic cups and have nothing on tables aside from the QR code. There were masks worn and signs posted.

Overall, it wasn't the greatest place but it wasn't the worst either. There's a lot of locals here & you can tell this is their spot as they were almost too comfortable there. It does have a nice view of the water if you take sidewalk seating and it's in a nice area. However, I'm confident when I say that we won't be...

This is a review of the bar area only. It's reminiscent of the ol' wild West saloons without the gun belts and horses.

Few weeks ago, on a Friday evening, we were stunned and disturbed when a little man/possibly the bar host shouted angrily "Get the *Hxxx out of my bar" at a distinguished gentleman sitting at the bar.

The gentleman (Arthur, a friend from church) quietly got up and gracefully walked away towards the main door, while the little man was left behind holding the side door open...

We caught up with Arthur few days later and asked what happened. It turns out the bar host approached Arthur from the back while sitting at the bar waiting for service, and started questioning him about moving from a table to the bar. Arthur being under the impression the questions are in good faith answered a few until he started sensing the host is becoming more belligerent with more questions. Arthur then turned away, kept quiet, snubbing the disgruntled host to avoid any escalation.

The host got a little irritated and remarked out loud in a angry tantrum: "If you are not gonna talk to me, get the Hxxx out of my bar".

In my long practice field of clinical psychology, that is a CLASSIC EXAMPLE of a man who suffers from low self-esteem; a man who gets enraged and throws a tantrum because he is being ignored and snubbed, in this case for acting as a hostile bully.

Psychology 101: "You feel rejected when you are under-confident about yourself. Deep inside you, there is a emotionally weak and low self esteemed mind, that is telling you that you are being snubbed or rejected."

Yes, rejection can often trigger anger in people with low self-esteem, as they may interpret rejection as further confirmation of their negative self-beliefs, leading to feelings of frustration and a defensive response that manifests as anger.

HOSPITALITY is the act of welcoming and treating guests with kindness, generosity, and warmth.

Those with a nature that can't or won't honor this mission, should step aside and allow those best suited to fulfill and satisfy this noble function.

Hostility and Hospitality belong to opposite camps.

Hostile bullies are not welcome and do NOT belong here.

In conclusion, and as in our prayers, "... we forgive those who trespass against us..." and wish them good mental health.

This review is approved by and in collaboration with the gentleman at the bar.

Happy/Safe 🎄Holidays to all.

This is unprecedented and extremely uncommon in this friendly first...

My go to in Benicia is Lucca. They are probably the only restaurant that regularly updates their menu. Living here, one can grow tired of the same menu every time you visit a restaurant. I do like Lucca for atmosphere and the service is always nice. Their cocktails are usually pretty good; I've never had a complaint. The food however has gone downhill.

I usually stick to the small plates and appetizers because I enjoy sharing but the past three visits (in the past 6 months), I've ordered an entree and it hasn't been great. I can't remember what I ordered the first time but the vegetables were horrible and the potatoes were basically a rock. Not creamy at all. I joked with the guy next to me about the vegetables because he had the same thing. Not good at all. Like they were either thrown in the microwave to defrost or just steamed and thrown on the plate. No love.

The second time I had the bacon wrapped meatloaf. I hesitated because it came with veggies and mashed potatoes but thought I'd push my luck. I lost. The vegetables were again so bland and the potatoes... I could pick up in one piece like a softball. The meatloaf was very bland as well. I'm starting to noitce that Lucca does not believe in salt or pepper. The friend I was with is a chef andI told her the food had no punch. She said, salt... poorly seasoned.

So I ordered a burger the other day, which I've enjoyed in the past, but again.... where is the salt? The patty was bland. I considered going to Burger King but decided on Lucca. I really should've gone to BK. Nothing special whatsoever about this Lucca burger. Unfortunate. If I left this review 2-3 years ago, it would have been a better review. *In the past, I've really enjoyed their Famous fried chicken and chicken sandwiches.

My recommendation, stick to the small plates and cocktails. Salads are good. I wish I could've given a better review because I really enjoy visiting. Apparently I just need to be more careful with...