Luna's Restaurant — Restaurant in Gainesville

An exceedingly disappointing experience. I sat at the bar and was quickly greeted, and placed my order. I received my drink quickly enough, although the bar is somewhat lacking. I ordered the crab cakes to start, and although they were quite literally tossed onto the bar in front of me, I was grateful to have food. I was forced to demand silverware, and a napkin after being tossed my appetizer. The drink was mixed well, although dressed with an incorrect garnish. The crab cakes themselves were okay at best, toeing the line of undercooked. I sat back to take in the atmosphere, with live music. The setting is on the cozy side, although it resembles what someone's idea of an upscale living room would look like more so than a fine dining establishment. The music definitely caters to a certain crowd, and is so-so. Technically speaking the music is passable, however it can frequently be off-key. I moved on to ordering an entrée, the chicken marsala. While the dish itself was visually interesting, all of the components that matter were lacking. The whipped potatoes taste very strongly of instant mashed potatoes, although more bland and unseasoned than what you could buy at the store. They lacked any real flavor, or even a hint of butter. The gravy that the entire dish was swimming in seemed appetizing at first glance, but was in truth sickly sweet, and did not complement the "whipped potatoes." The chicken breast itself was completely unseasoned, bland, was not in any way improved by the sugar gravy. The crowning jewel of the dish was truly the julienned vegetables on top, and most likely the only fresh item on the dish. I quickly noticed the level of service I received or did not receive in comparison to my counterparts. Waitstaff was eager to approach tables to bus, refill, or simply carry on a friendly conversation. I did not receive similar treatment. I eventually reached a hard stop on my entrée, and then had to ask for salt and pepper to be made available to me. I was finally approached by waitstaff and was able to communicate my disdain for the dish, and was quickly able to return it to the kitchen. I was pressured to order something else, but felt no desire to continue this experience. Fortunately, I was not charged for the entrée. Overall, I regret even coming to this location, and would have more so enjoyed an evening at Longhorn for the same price point.

If you want honesty, I cannot be more clear than this: If you are white and affluent, you will enjoy this experience, and perhaps the food. Otherwise, you'll get that zoo attraction feeling, as other patrons and staff attempt in failure to hide their staring, and veiled disapproval of...

After reading some great reviews of Luna, my husband and I decided to give it a try on a Monday night. We were staying in Gainesville for 2 nights (we're from Texas) and thought this looked like a great option for upscale dining.

We both ordered the same thing, the filet mignon with fried lobster tail, vegetables & puff potato cake. We split a wedge salad before the main dish.

First, the good: Vegetables, potato cake and lobster tail were cooked very well and were delicious Orders were accurate. We requested the wedge salad come with different dressing, no onions. The service in the bar area was handled by 2 very nice waitresses

The bad: Steaks were medium rare (more rare, then medium) rather than medium as we requested. They came covered with béarnaise sauce so sending them back didn't seem right. We ate the outsides that were more cooked. We definitely were not fishing for a free meal. We ate the majority of what was served and expect to pay for it in full. Which we did. To be fair, when we pointed out the issue with the steaks, the waitress agreed that they were definitely under cooked per the order, we were offered a complimentary dessert, which we declined because we were full. It was a nice gesture. The wedge salad, which is typically 1/4 of a head of iceberg lettuce, was really just 2 thin cross section medallions of the iceberg head. It was not chilled and, oddly, had no green leaves. It was just the yellow-white part. Here's the kicker… We were dressed casually. Jeans, sweat shirts. When we asked for a table for 2 the owner greeted us and then took the hostess aside to talk with her. When she came to seat us, she ushered us across the hall to the bar rather than the main restaurant. Apparently, we did not meet the dress code requirement for the main dining room. We asked her if we weren't dressed for the main restaurant, which she reluctantly confirmed. Which was completely fine, but she didn't want to tell us we were under-dressed, it was awkward. We both thought that the situation was handled in a way that could have been more transparent.

Basically, the food was good and would have been memorable if it had been cooked to order. The salad was just not appealing. The owner should have been forthcoming that we did not meet the dress code rather than quietly shuffling us off to the lounge with no...

Always great food and service. Quiet atmosphere. Most of the customers are older, and the decor reflects their old-world taste. However, it is a fine place for a date or a special occasion. I recommend a reservation on special occasions. Luna's also has a piano bar across the hall from the restaurant proper that has lots of comfortable seating and you can order almost everything on the menu there. The drinks are honest, and the bar is dark and cozy.

By "honest" I point out that in Georgia a bartender can put whatever amount of liquor in a drink they want--no minimum amount is mandated. Therefore most drinks in restaurants in Georgia are watered down by any objective standard known to man. IMHO many restaurants water the liquor down before they short shot the drink too. Juan does not short shot the drinks or water anything down.

Wherever you eat/drink in Gainesville, don't drink AT ALL and drive because the City of Gainesville cops literally stalk EVERY "watering holes" in town after 9PM and follow every vehicle and stop everyone they can for any reason they can dream up. Start by checking your lights (headlights, turn signals, tail lights, brake lights, and tag lights) before you leave the house.

They once followed me to the city limits after dinner. We both were hoping I would get pulled me over. ;) (I'm a lawyer, so we had different reasons for same hope.) They have pulled over my kids for spurious reasons after hours too. I've represented plenty of people who were followed from downtown to the city limits before being pulled over then put things in the report not on the video. You might beat the rap, but you won't beat the ride downtown. Don't say you...