Luna's Italian & Latin Cuisine Restaurant — Restaurant in Boston

Growing up in restaurants, my family and I know the full weight and the harm a bad review can do. Having never written one before, I do this with a heavy heart because the service from the manager and experience at Luna’s was THAT terrible.

My dad and I ordered the nachos and paella. Nachos were nothing special but fine enough. In the paella clams were bitter and on the verge of going bad, but one of the muscles was flat out spoiled. Not just a little fishy smell or a little off like the clams, but it stunk. Undeniably a “definitely will give you stomach ache” sort of smell. We hate sending food back, but food that can get a customer sick needs to be brought to attention, at LEAST for the safety of the next customer. We called one of the waitresses and politely told her. Since there was a large party sitting behind us, my dad very quietly suggested taking the plate to the back to smell it to confirm. The waitress was very nice and took the bad plate away. Thinking it was no big deal, my dad and I considered just ordering something else. After awhile, the other lady, the manager Paulina, came back with the same plate but with the bad clam now gone and replaced with a different one. This is when it went downhill.

The manager’s bad, extremely defensive and distrusting attitude was immediate and obvious. It was clear she thought we were “trying to get a comped meal”. She starts explaining to us that seafood has a type of smell and it was suppose to smell like that. Red flags up. We explained, fishy yes but the muscle served was NOT fishy, it was rotten. We’ve eaten/cooked/served seafood all our lives and at our own businesses, we know when it is has undeniably gone bad. Her defensiveness builds and she pushes back again INSISTING that it is how its like, claiming it was ordered fresh every single day. We get more irritated as she continues to hammer this point with her distrusting tone without even hearing us out! We are now clearly upset and attention draws. She then rudely asks if we are going to order anything else but we explained we initially were going to, but no longer want to with the terrible service and how she handled it.

Was she thinking we were trying to get a free meal?! How horrible to think the worse of people!! As things continue to escalate with her, we find out she doesn’t even eat seafood herself! Yet she was teaching us exactly how it is supposed to smell/taste/be like. She then tries a different angle and makes up the excuse that there was confusion due to the other waitress not being able to speak English, which was a clear lie as we have had a full conversation with her! The manager also states it was her chef’s that told her to say the seafood is “that way”. Never once did she apologize or admit for the spoiled food. Upset and very very offended to be treated in such a way, tensions rise. Now we just want to pay and leave. Clearly avoiding us, we had to go up to the counter and request for a check so we can go. Her rudeness and sharp tongue continues, claiming she will give as a free meal since we “were dissatisfied.” We are SO offended. She completely missed the point of sending the plate back! The bill was never the point, we were willing to at least pay for the nachos because we did eat it, its the fair thing. But she again rudely said “your food is free now, you can leave the restaurant.” We left shocked.

To the manager, you should never assume the worst or think so ill of customers before even assessing the situation. We understand mistakes happen, but own up to them.

Not every customer that sends a plate back is trying to be cheap and get a free meal out of you. Sometimes, we just don’t want...

UPDATED - PLEASE READ FULL REVIEW

ORIGINAL: Please, either: 1. Answer your phone, or; 2. Update the information on your website/Google search to reflect if you are either permanently closed or have hours alternative to those posted. It's ignorant and neglectful to simply leave it as is AND have no answer to phone calls. If anyone knows the status of this restaurant, please advise. Thank you.

UPDATE: Although still confused and disappointed that I could not get a phone answered before heading to Luna's - once we arrived we were treated very well. Every accommodation was made to service us to our liking. The foods were varied, fresh and delicious!! You could tell the chef and staff take great care and pride. The place is IMMACULATE!! A must for me when dining out. I loved the Latin cuisine infusion to traditional dishes. The servings were ample enough by my measure [I'm not a glutton and understand portion control] and aside from being delicious everything was fresh and prepared to order. Unlike many who commented here, we did not find rude, neglectful staff on hand; nor did we find the prices outrageous for these "Biden's - Build Back Better" out of control inflationary times. If they put on a general recording on the phone to answer FAQ, this would be a huge help. But answering the phone is even better!! We merely needed to know if they in fact were OPEN and hadn't succumbed to a Biden Administration induced demise. We were happy to learn they hadn't!! Thank you for excellent food, outstanding service and...

Just left not even 5 minutes ago, ordered cheese pizza for child, as well as a chicken cordon Bleu for myself and it was a chicken cutlet with a deli slice of ham and a sickening amount of deli cheese melted on top with a creamy sauce I asked for extra and got charged 5.00 for !! Anyway my child didn't touch the pizza as it wasn't even edible due to the amount of cheese and I politely asked for it to be taken off the bill so I can order her something else, I also mentioned I would take everything but the pizza to go and I would like for it to be taken off the bill I was told no, that a manager would be out, the chef came out proceeds to tell me the manager is not there and it's good pizza and cannot be taken off the bill, ok well if I have to pay for pizza I didn't take a bit of it will be coming out of the tip, I was told that's fine and in no time I was brought over to go Styrofoam and a bag and obviously felt unwelcome and rushed out so quickly due to politely asking for the pizza to be taken off the bill, I will not be back that's for sure, food is Nothing to write home about, the arepas are delicious so I figured give them a try for other items and that's not their strong suit, but that's how my experience went, hope yours isn't as uncomfortable as mine trying to enjoy after school lunch...