Lucca — Restaurant in Portland

I had someone visiting from out of town and came here on the recommendation by a friend that it was a “solid neighborhood restaurant,” so I thought I’d give it a try. We had 7:00 reservations on a Wednesday night and on our arrival, the restaurant was full and bustling, but at our particular table, we were able to converse easily and it never felt uncomfortably loud. We started by sharing a Margherita pizza that had a thin, crisp and nicely blistered crust with a lovely chew. For my entree I had the Tagliatelle Bolognese and my friend had the starter of grilled peaches wrapped in Prosciutto as her entree and both were delicious. For dessert, we shared the Lemon Budino and the Affogato made with Gianduja gelato and they both REALLY hit the spot, particularly the warm, luscious and wonderfully tart lemony Budino. High marks on everything we ate.

The food was straight forward and everything was delicious, unfortunately, the only misstep was the service. I had the impression that her section was further away and we were a lone table that wasn’t in her plain eye view and her energy felt rushed and details were missed. It wasn’t enough to fully damper the meal, but it’s the little things like bringing one glass for a large sparkling water, even when I SPECIFICALLY requested two glasses (which really should have been obvious anyway), not having share plates for the pizza when it arrived, food not being cleared before the entrees so we had to play the “you hold this while I put this down” dosey doe, bringing desserts with no silverware on the table and not asking if my friend wanted another glass of wine. Nothing was enough to really affect the meal too negatively and she was nice enough, but as former service professional, it’s all about the details and if the service had been on point, it would have been 5 stars.

Over all, I think my friend nailed it, Lucca is a solid neighborhood restaurant and I can see why it was packed. I’ll be back for the Margherita Pizza and the Lemon Budino for sure!

Side note: we used their less than obvious parking lot located in the back of the restaurant accessed from NE 23rd and NE Fremont which I probably wouldn’t have noticed or known about if I hadn’t visited...

It was a more typical evening at Lucca. All the tables were full, and the energy was good overall. We had a reservation and were seated promptly. The manager poured us water and welcomed us in.

As the evening progressed, however, the noise level rose considerably, which made it hard to have a conversation with each other. And, our server seemed to go missing for long (between 15-20 minutes) periods. When we needed to order wine, for example, we had to keep a lookout. When we saw him and got his attention, it felt like we had to rush to tell him what we needed before he quickly took off.

About our drinks, one of our party ordered a half-calf Americano; it turns out that they had espresso including decaf beans.👍 We also ordered two old-fashioned cocktails. When our cocktails arrived they were missing the cherries we had been accustomed to, and which we thought were a required ingredient. (Every other time we'd come in to order that drink, it contained a cherry. In speaking with our server, he educated us about the origin of the cocktail stating that it did not come with a cherry. This was intriguing but we felt sentimental. Luckily they had cherries at the bar, and he brought us one each on bamboo skewers 🙂 Still, it might have been better to get us the cherries we wanted, and then tell us about the cocktail not having them. It felt like we got "schooled" for asking.

As for the main entrees, one of us ordered the smoked halibut chowder with a side of asparagus (See photo), another ordered the American wagyu beef (See photo), and I ordered the pork loin with guanciale, cherries, and chickories and polenta cakes. The dishes were sizable enough that we did not need to order any appetizers or starters.

For dessert, as we were celebrating, we ordered the chocolate pot-de-creme with toffee cookies, and the warm GF Marionberry crumble with oat and polenta crisp topped with a dollop of real whipped cream and edible flowers.

Overall, I lowered my score on the service. The food was fantastic, tasty, and carefully crafted to order. The atmosphere, always lively, just a bit much...

We Chose Lucca For Our First Experience There Tonight (Valentines Day) and I Made the Reservation 4 Weeks In Advance. We Were Seated at a 2 Top by the Bar (Which was Fine Since I Expected It to be Very Busy and it was) We Received Water from the Busser and a Basket of Bread and Sat There for 15 minutes While No One Even Looked Our Way. There was Plenty of Staff and At Least 5 to 6 Servers Breezed By Our Table Busily, While the Hostess and I Assume the Manager Stood Over the Computer at the Host Stand Chatting While I Tried to Catch Someones (Anyones) Eye. Our Menus Sat Stacked on the Table, Empty Bread Bowl, Empty Waters, and Still No One Stopped to Greet Us or Ask if We Would Like a Beverage. I Finally Was Able to Flag Down a Male Server and Asked (Nicely) If Anyone Was Planning to Take Our Table? He was Very Apologetic and Took Our Order Right Away Since We Had Long Been Decided, But Said that We Were Not in his Section and he Did Not Know Who was to be Serving Us. We Would Have Ordered Drinks or Possibly a Special for Valentines Day, But Do Not Even Know If They Had Any, Since None Were Offered to Us! The Guy I Flagged Down Initially Ended Up Serving Us and Did a Good Job (Very Nice), But the Ambiance Seemed Very Unorganized, Rushed, and Chaotic. We Spent $90 on a Dinner that was Supposed to be Special, and It was Just Meh. Soup served Cold, Waters not Refilled, Scallops Overly Salty. We Ate and Left Quickly As I was Being Bumped AT the Table Every Time Someone Rushed by (We were Sat Next to the Bar and Directly Next to Servers Main Walkway) We Tipped Our Server 20% Anyways (We are Both Ex Service Industry) and He Did a Good Job Stepping In, But Were Really Disappointed in the Lack of Communication Between the Host and Service Staff. Lucca Leaves A LOT to be Desired in the Service Department, and the Food, Although Good, Was Nothing Special. In a City Like Portland with Many Choices for Top Notch Food and Service, Lucca Came Up So Short! What a Disappointment on Such a Special Occasion Where They Could Have Really Shined! We Will Not be Back, But They Probably Wont...