Luna BYOB — Restaurant in Philadelphia

Luna is a charming and intimate Italian BYOB that comes SO close to nailing it. I like coming here for a cozy and romantic date and am excited to continue doing so, and while many parts of the experience are wonderful there are definitely a few oddities that could bring the dinner down.

If I were only judging Luna on its pasta dishes, this would be the easiest 5-star review ever. Every dish has been richly flavorful, cozy, and just with enough intrigue to elevate it above basic more standard pasta dishes. There is a great variety of quality pasta dishes, from seafood to lamb and there's almost certainly at least one you'll be excited to order when you go. There are also rotating specials that the waiter will let the table know about, and we've had positive experiences there as well. We've only ever ordered off the "entrees" section once and it was solid enough, but my recommendation has to be for the pastas.

The appetizers and sides on the other hand are a bit of a mixed bag, to say the least. On the positive, the calamari app was exquisite with an incredibly flavorful and spicy/briny tomato sauce. On the other hand, the "roasted" beets were almost comical- they were slices of canned beets (uncooked) sprinkled with feta and drizzled with balsamic... I could have made that at home in maybe 30 seconds for the same result. We also ordered a side of asparagus which for $10 we would have hoped had had any salt or flavoring, but it was not impressive. I also have to comment on the hilarious free bread at the start of each meal. It's kind of just 8 bite size cubes of normal bread with some olive oil and it's odd enough and small enough to make me question why they bring it at all.

The interior is cute and cozy- it's a small and narrow space with elegant decorations and modern paintings that I think succeeds in curating a familiar and pleasant atmosphere while still remaining upscale and not pretentious. That said, it is a smaller space and as a result we have been sat uncomfortably close to other tables on multiple occasions. It's alright, but maybe something to be aware of if you are sensitive to having less personal space. The service is also kind of interesting- it's good enough, but a bit of an odd and small crew that doesn't feel quite as professional as nicer restaurants, but it's fine.

Overall, I do recommend Luna BYOB! Great pasta, cozy vibes, and it being a BYO is a big plus! Just be cautious with some of the...

I recently visited your restaurant during a trip to Philadelphia and left feeling extremely disappointed by the lack of professionalism and courtesy shown by your staff. As a fan of Italian cuisine, I was eager to try your menu, especially after a memorable trip to Rome. Unfortunately, my experience fell far below the standard I would expect from a restaurant of your caliber.

I called ahead to place a to-go order since I was traveling back to Baltimore. I asked for menu recommendations and mentioned I couldn’t view the menu because I was driving. Instead of assisting me, the staff member I spoke with gave one suggestion and abruptly hung up, instructing me to “call back when you’re done driving.” I was on Bluetooth and fully capable of placing an order safely. His behavior was not only dismissive but also highly disrespectful.

When I arrived at the restaurant to address the situation, I encountered the same individual. He was a white male with a beard, a flip-over hairstyle, and approximately my height (5’3” or 5’4”). That evening, he was wearing a blue shirt. He admitted to hanging up on me, and when I expressed my frustration with his poor customer service, he interrupted me, brushed off my concerns, and said, “I’m busy here; is there anything I can help you with?” This further emphasized his unwillingness to take accountability for his actions. His apology lacked sincerity, and his tone came across as condescending and dismissive. To add insult to injury, as I left the restaurant, I noticed him peeking out the door at me, which felt unprofessional and unnecessary.

This kind of treatment is unacceptable, especially for someone who was looking forward to experiencing your restaurant and supporting your business. Excellent customer service should be a cornerstone of any dining establishment, and my experience left me feeling unwelcome and unappreciated as a patron.

The male below is pictured.

I hope this feedback will be taken seriously and addressed appropriately. No customer should be made to feel disrespected or dismissed, especially when all I was trying to do was...

2 stars due to lack of professionalism. Ambiance was great, I'm sure the other dishes outside of what we had are much better as our cuisine is limited. Cute BYOB spot.

Made a reservation at Luna as a first time customer with my open table rewards. We wanted to try this restaurant we heard so much about. I initially booked my reservation here for 8pm outdoors, but when I realized it was going to rain I wanted to move it indoors. Because the reservation was made with an opentable reward, it did not allow me to modify the reservation (opentable rule) and instructed me to cancel and reschedule the reservation, which I went ahead and did. The second time I made the reservation, it did not apply my reward, so I had to cancel and reschedule again which I was able to successfully. An hour later, I get a call from someone at the restaurant who opens the conversation with "unfortunately we are not allowing you to eat at our restaurant due to your cancellations". Obviously, I asked why and the waitress continued to tell me by behavior of cancelling was disruptive to business, and that I simply was just not welcome to even come in. Mind you, there were multiple reservations open for that evening as we were going after 8pm. I informed her that I only cancelled the reservation due to OpenTable INSTRUCTING ME TO DO SO and she continued to argue with me and tell me I was not welcome to eat there despite me having full intention to do so. After much back and forth, I am not sure what made me ask her if I was still welcome to eat there, and we ended up going. Never got an apology from anyone despite her knowing it was me (she claimed she would show me the cancellations when I arrived to emphasize how disruptive it was). I Had a couple vegetarian dishes there, and ambiance was nice. In the end they didn't apply my opentables rewards anyways (it was only $10 so it's not a make or break, our bill was obviously higher) but what a hostile way to interact with a first...