Lucia LA — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I had one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had at Lucia, and unfortunately, it happened on my birthday — a night I had been looking forward to celebrating here because I’ve always loved this restaurant.

I’ve dined at Lucia multiple times before and always had a great experience: smooth reservations, amazing food, great vibes. I even had the general assistant manager’s number and texted her personally three weeks in advance to reserve a table for my birthday dinner for six people, specifically requesting one of the large tables in the main dining room. She kindly said they’d do their best to accommodate, and even offered to personalize the menus with “Happy Birthday, my name” — a thoughtful touch that I was really excited about.

On the night of my birthday, everything went downhill. My reservation was at 9:30, and I arrived early at 9:00 with my group to take photos outside. We checked in on time at 9:27, only to be told our table would be ready in “a few minutes.” Fifteen minutes later, still waiting. Then thirty minutes. By this point it became clear that the large tables I had requested had been given to celebrities who had just walked in — one of them with only two other guests occupying a massive table, while my group of seven was left standing around.

We ended up waiting over an hour past our reservation time. And when I say waiting, I mean literally my entire group of girls — all dressed up, in heels — was just standing around in the crowded entryway/bar area with no clear explanation, getting brushed off with “a few more minutes” every time we asked. We were in the way of people, stuck standing in this awkward spot, while management ignored the fact that we had made a reservation three weeks earlier.

Staff members were dismissive and rude, including the manager, who actually told me it was “not possible” to have booked three weeks in advance, despite the fact that I had text confirmation. Instead of apologizing, they acted like my group was being difficult. The promised personalized menus? Nowhere to be found.

When we were finally seated, it was at two smaller tables pushed together in the main room — except they couldn’t actually be fully joined because of the couch layout, so two of my friends had to sit separately. On my birthday dinner. The server had an attitude, no one acknowledged or made up for the mistake in a meaningful way, and the only “comp” they offered was a single salad for the table. Meanwhile, we lost an hour of our evening, cutting into the rest of our plans, and the entire vibe of the night was ruined.

To make matters worse, my friend had brought a beautiful cake for me. The staff brought out the cake but didn’t provide any dessert plates, utensils, or anything for us to actually enjoy it. Instead, they later just brought out the empty cake box. By that point we were already late for our next stop, so we put the cake back in the box untouched. It was such a careless, thoughtless way to end the night.

Lucia is a beautiful restaurant with great food and ambiance, which is why this experience was such a shock. I had been a regular guest and a big supporter, but I’ve never felt so disrespected at a restaurant before. Giving away a confirmed reservation to accommodate last-minute celebrity walk-ins, then treating loyal guests like an afterthought, is unacceptable. What should have been a special, memorable birthday turned into a complete disaster — and all because management prioritized clout over honoring their commitments.

I wouldn’t wish this experience on anyone, and sadly, I can’t recommend Lucia after how poorly my birthday dinner...

My friends and I were so excited to try LUCIA, as we’d heard great things but unfortunately, our experience was a bit disappointing, and there were a couple of off-putting moments with the service.

One example: when my friend took a photo of her food using flash (because the restaurant is quite dim), a staff member rushed over to tell us not to use flash because there was a “sensitive guest” nearby and they didn’t want this person to feel like we were taking photos of them. It turned out it was Lizzo...we genuinely had no idea she was there, nor did we care at all. We were simply trying to enjoy our meal and catch up as a group of friends who rarely manage to align our busy schedules. After that, we felt a bit surveilled and like we weren't allowed to take photos even though the restaurant is dark. Ironically, the staff member’s intervention drew more attention to Lizzo lol.

As for the food itself, it wasn’t terrible, but I expected it to be more flavorful overall. Several hot dishes arrived lukewarm, including the mac and cheese, which was disappointingly congealed rather than melty. The highlights for me were definitely the plantains, which were so flavorful and perfectly fried. The sauce it came with was delicious! The shrimp toast was a solid runner up. The rolls were solid, but everything else fell flat, especially the loaded rice and peas, which lacked seasoning and depth. The snapper we ordered was also surprisingly tiny for the price point.

Overall, while there were some bright spots, the experience didn’t live up to the hype for us. Major points for the ambience and music, but I think the food and service could be a lot better. Telling us we can't take photos using flash in a dark restaurant at our own table turned us off majorly and set the tone for the rest of our experience. We did not feel valued, maybe because we were not celebrities or as they like to put it "sensitive guests." Maybe they're still working out kinks or I came on an off day, but this was my...

We made a reservation here and the nightmare began when we got there. Our table wasn’t ready, then we were sat in the back room in a tiny corner away from ambience and bar. My friend mentioned to the front host and the server she had allergies, and can’t have certain dishes. We waited a long time until our server finally came and we tried to order drinks which they were out of ingredients for and food which they were out of too. Ridiculous. The menu is already small to begin with. We ordered what we could, disappointed but hopeful. Our food didn’t come for so long, they then came and told us it was taken to the wrong table…… so then they offered us free shots (which we declined) and they still brought them ? The server brought a dish to the table to say sorry about the issues and it literally was what my friend was allergic to….. not OKAY!!!!! We told her again about the allergy, and then a random server brought us a dish again for an apology, we’ll thank god we asked what it was because AGAIN it was what my friend was allergic too!!! This is very concerning, she could have had a very bad allergic reaction due to the carelessness and negligence of this restaurant. I swear they didn’t listen to a thing we said. I asked for the manager which took forever for her to even come to the table, she offered to take care of us and literally took off one thing off the bill for the “inconvenience” and they claimed they haven’t been open for more than a week as their excuse. Clearly no one was trained. We shouldn’t have been charged for anything here. I asked for manager again and she never came. I think we sat and waited around for 20 more minutes. So angry. It’s disappointing when we are from out of town, paid to travel to and from this restaurant and had a horrible experience, left with empty stomachs, and quite shaken up about having close encounter with allergy issues. Please do better and I do not recommend this place, take your money and time...