Osteria LuCa — Restaurant in Huntsville

My husband and i, along with our teen daughter, came to this restaurant for the first time a couple weeks ago.

Upon arriving, we were very impressed w the atmosphere and the reception. The menu looked good… but definitely on the over priced side. I ordered the halibut at market price. My fish was good. Not exceptional. It was supposed to be served w broccolini. It was served w 3 large broccoli pieces. I was SHOCKED that we were charged $48.00 for halibut. I pay less for exceptional Chilean Sea Bass in very nice restaurants.

My husband ordered a pasta w lamb sausage. It was very tasty… but also very salty.

Our daughter substituted chicken for prawns w her pasta dish, yet we paid the prawn price. Her meal was also good. Not exceptional… and we paid over $30 for her dish.

We would have thought twice before returning at this point.

It was after the meal when the entire experience tanked. My husband ordered a bourbon drink … it was very good. But when we received the check… we were not only over charged… there were “hidden” charges. This we take wit offense.

We raised our concerns to our waiter. Whom, by the way, was exceptional! Very professional! He attempted to take care of the issues we raised. Returning w a 1/2 resolution.

We asked to speak w the manager. He arrived after about 15 minutes. Long after our dinner had been completed. And basically told us the “ hidden” charges ( we were charged additional for blue cheese stuffed olives in an over priced ( double charged again) vodka martini. This whole meal had now become a terrible experience. He continued to tell us “ all the restaurants charge extra for blue cheese olives, and removing that $4.00 charge was ABOVE HIS PAYGRADE”. He refused.

Then we pointed out the bourbon drink on the menu . Menu quoted $20, we were charged $25. He blamed the computer for this over charge, and did agree to remove the overcharge of $5.

He was everything, arrogant, cocky and clearly un knowledgeable about local restaurants…he lacked compassion, grace and professionalism. He then added “ we don’t disclose the up-charge for blue cheese olives as most customers take offense that we even bring it up”. Really???

Because my husband pushed the issue … he reluctantly removed the soda charge for my daughter’s drink to offset $3.50 of the $4 olives… claiming he can’t remove fees for food served.

Customers should not feel like their check has to be scrutinized carefully after a dining experience… and then spend an additional 20 to 30 minutes sorting it out. It’s embarrassing and definitely a buzz kill!

We left over $150.00 lighter… and very upset.

Needless to say, we will not be returning. We come out to dinner to relax, and unwind. We have no issues paying for meals we order. But when there are “ hidden” charges and over charges on already overpriced items… the wind is removed from our sail.

Again… in summary…

Atmosphere was lovely! Greeting staff also lovely! Waiter was impressive, attentive and amazing! Food - ok but way over priced Menu- interesting but overpriced Management- off the charts unprofessional and unwelcoming. Watch for over charges...

We tried this place on a Saturday. After looking at the menu online, we decided we preferred the dinner menu. Since their website said dinner started at 3, we made 3pm reservations. We ended up getting there a little late, but that wasn't a problem as there were only two other couples seated.

After we were seated, I noticed they gave us lunch menus. When the server came over, I asked about the dinner menu. She told me dinner didn't start until 4. I advised her that their website said 3pm. A good server would have apologized for the confusion. A great server would have checked to see if we could order off the dinner menu early since it was already 3:30 and the restaurant was completely dead. Unfortunately, we didn't have a good or great server. We had a server who insisted I was wrong even after I showed her the information on the website. It didn't even have to be a big deal as we were okay with the lunch menu, but I don't appreciate having a server argue with me and imply I'm either lying or stupid.

We should have left then, but we had really been looking forward to trying it out and hoped the quality of the food would make up for the lackluster service. We ordered the gnocchi and a pepperoni pizza as appetizers, the pappardelle bolognese, and cavatelli with lamb sausage & rabe. The gnocchi was a risk because, while it's amazing when it's fresh and made well, pre-made gnocchi is usually tough and pasty. The gnocchi and pizza came out suspiciously fast. So fast they made it to the table almost 10 minutes before our sodas did. I love prompt service, but it was so fast it didn't seem possible it was made to order. Sadly, this was bad gnocchi. It was covered in a cream sauce with slices of leeks and crispy crumbles of prosciutto. The sauce was tasty and distracted from the thick, gummy gnocchi, but it was way too salty. The red sauce on the pizza was also good. However, there was too much cheese (and I love cheese). As a result, the crust was soggy with cheese grease, so it would flop when you picked it up and all the cheese/toppings would fall off. The sogginess was a bit of a surprise since the bottom of the crust was fired so hot it was burnt in spots. I'm a big fan of pappardelle pasta and mine was cooked well. Unfortunately, the bolognese sauce was nothing special. You could make a better version at home with some nice pappardelle and Marcella Hazan's bolognese recipe from the NYTimes and serve the whole family for half the cost of Osteria LuCa's lunch portion. I found the dish dry and salty, but my husband preferred it to his entree as his cavatelli was bland and extremely salty. Interestingly, there was no bread served with the meals, which is an odd decision seeing as bread + sauce are a perfect pairing.

All in all, Osteria LuCa was a disappointment. The restaurant looks nice and is in a good location, but the food and service were subpar. Like Amerigo, this restaurant is a chain, so I guess it shouldn't be surprising that it was underwhelming...

Great Food, But the Service? A Total Disaster.

Summary: The food was solid, but the service was easily some of the worst I’ve ever encountered. From botched reservations to disappearing servers, rude management, and chaotic table service—it was one mess after another. The kitchen staff deserves credit, but the front-of-house needs a full reality check (or a visit from a restaurant rescue show).

Full Review: I’m visiting from Dallas and met up with friends who recommended this place for the food and atmosphere. We had a reservation for 6 with a specific request for a patio table. Instead, we were trying to be squeezed inside—where it was incredibly loud—and it took way too much drama to eventually fix it.

Once we were seated, things went downhill fast. Our server disappeared after taking drink orders (just wine and beer—nothing complicated), and we had to beg another staff member just to get water after 10 minutes of waiting. When the server finally reappeared, he still had no drinks and plenty of excuses.

Appetizers and salads showed up before the drinks (??), and everything was chaos. The server kept saying, “Who had this?” and guessing. My salad wasn’t what I ordered, and when someone I assume was a manager came to “help,” he was hands-down the rudest person we encountered—condescending, smug, and not remotely interested in solving the problem.

The food itself? No complaints—it was tasty, and the kitchen should be applauded. But the service was so disorganized and unprofessional that it completely overshadowed the meal. Orders were mixed up constantly, staff had no idea where dishes were going, and we even had to send food back that didn’t belong to our table.

No apology was ever offered. Just blame-shifting and attitude.

Bottom line: Go for the food if you must—but go in with low expectations and be crystal clear with the staff from the jump....