Luma Wine Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Mt. Lebanon

July 2024 == We had a disappointing experience compared to our last time, six years ago. The place has not changed, but the quality of the staff and food certainly has, and to the negative side. Four of us came out to dinner. We sat down and perused the menu. Just as we sat down, one of us had to take a call. He went outside so as not to disturb the rest of the people in the place. The waiter came to tell us the specials. We asked him to wait for our last member, who was on his way back in. However, he chose to walk away after telling us he’ll be back in 20 seconds. We watched as he wandered around the restaurant and spoke with five or six other tables before coming back to our table 15 minutes later. He told us the special and we ordered an appetizer. It was the Crispy Buffalo Cauliflower which we thought was OK. It was just as advertised with the standard Red Hot wing sauce coating the dried cauliflower florets.

When we ordered the main dishes, we asked our waiter whether he was comfortable pairing wines? He said he was, but then recommended a wildly inappropriate wine for the dishes we told him we were ordering. Needless to say, we did not order the wine he recommended.

The next negative surprise was the food itself. As it turned out, three of us ordered the stacked panko chicken dish. When they came, all three were different from each other! One was good, it was hot, and it had a good amount of sauce on the chicken and the couscous as well as mushroom chunks. That’s the one I have a picture of. The second one was cold, had no mushrooms, but was sauced properly. The third one had no couscous and was swimming is so much of the sauce that it looked like a soup. We sent that one back – when it came back, it was lukewarm chicken served on a bed of couscous with absolutely no sauce at all! How is it possible to have four or the same dish come out of the same kitchen during the same service in four different ways? This lack of consistency is a really bad sign.

The other dish we got was the Baramundi. It was served on a bed of Basmati rice that was tasteless. It was dry, and then some butter was mixed in to try and cover up that problem. Really, making rice properly is not that difficult!

By the way, after we gave our orders, we never saw our waiter again. We were served by several female waitresses and someone who appeared to be a lead or manager. The male waiter was there, he was just wondering around and talking with other tables.

Spending $50 per person for these kinds of experiences? No, just no.

Between the food and the service problems, I am downgrading my rating from a five star rating to a two-star rating.

Previous Visits == Quiet place with very good food. Menu has a little bit of everything and all is well prepared. It's off the beaten path and has an interesting light arrangement that changes colors all the time but subtly. Good wine list to boot

Second visit showed an updated menu with the same ambience...

Luma at Mount Lebanon

No music or ambience, servers does not involve herself with the guests, I can hear the buzzing of the a/c constantly, my water has floaties in it. Servers are grunting while they walk, not interested in anything but getting you out, no upselling, no knowledge of the dishes they present.

Jumbo lump crab cake appetizer The jumbo lumps are all broken up, the plating needs a lot of work, seems like an amateur drizzled my plate, crab is mid, too much mayo, the aioli makes does t compliment or brings any kind of balance to the dish.

Buffalo fried cauliflower No crunchiness or crispiness at all, very soft texture, overcooked, harsh reality but the one at Get Go is better than this.

Bacon Brussels sprouts Either old or very low quality goat cheese, Flavor on it, is not there, texture is sandy instead of being creamy and fluffy, honey-balsamic doesn’t add almost anything to it, it’s too loose too, like they literally grabbed honey and balsamic and mixed it together instead of putting some effort behind it. Brussels sprouts not crispy, the flavors you’re going for are good just very bad execution.

Ahi tuna Never been to a restaurant that was bold enough to not season their asparagus and their mashed, which btw is the weirdest pairing for tuna and wasabi, like, tha F. This is cooking laziness to its full potential. Cannot taste the pistachios at all, the wasabi is way too overpowering, it honestly tastes store bought instead of using a nice wasabi powder. The tuna sear is excellent and that’s the only one thing I can say was good about this plate. Honestly the parts that are not completely drenching the tuna with wasabi are tasty, good umami flavor and can actually taste the pistachios which I think is a great pairing, scratch that, the part I ate after removing 20 oz of wasabi from it was perfect, great concept and idea, bad execution.

The only drink I had was a maple old fashion which was excellent, amazing, so good I stayed after dinner to have another one.

Overall 5.8 out of 10

Great idea, great menu build up, looks of the restaurant are great, just very poor execution on their dishes not just presenting but flavor wise too. None of the servers seem interested in making sure you feel welcome, they just ignore you unless you need something.

I’m new to the area and this was my first time at this restaurant, while researching this restaurant I saw great reviews and great pictures of the food I ordered tonight, all of the looked delightful. Today, I’m not sure if it was a day off, the chef is not in the building, or they changed chefs, or if the chef just decided to not give an absolute f anymore, but this restaurant really disappointed me. If it is the same chef, please relight your inner fire, get some good food out, and plate like you’re putting your whole life into this one plate, I know as Chefs we can get lazy at times, but not this lazy, you have to be more consistent and...

3.5 stars more like it. We had dinner on a Friday around 6pm and the place was empty but by the time we left it was full. There is outdoor parking that isn't very big and I'm not sure it fits enough cars for when the restaurant is busy but we went early and didn't have problems. The entrance is small with a greeting desk and a small bar on the left. There are indoor tables and an enclosed patio with heaters in winter. The interior is cool and elegant and every surface (bathroom too) was squeaky clean and shiny. The service was outstanding, our server was fast, friendly, and professional. The runner auctioned out food instead of knowing the order and the server had to correct him but maybe he was new and learning. Unfortunately, the food was ok for the price. I really wanted to like this place. Without going into details, the menu has a lot of potential but the execution of most of the dishes was lacking. Many of the dishes were pretty dry. The presentation of all the dishes we ordered was not that of a restaurant with those prices. Honestly it felt just like I was eating a dish made someone who cooks well. I was moderately happy with it but, again, the price tags can't be ignored. The desserts were delicious! They don't have much choice of cocktails and I was surprised they didn't even have one cocktail with gin in it but that's ok, you can always ask what you likw. I got a campari spritz and a maple old fashioned and while they were good they were very light and average. My husband and I love searching spots with great cocktails and comparing to some that I have had at the same price or even cheaper these were not at the same level. Overall it was a nice experience and this place really has a ton of potential and they really need to just improve a couple of things; but, at the moment, the prices are very high and I'm not sure I can...