Lucca Italian Chophouse — Restaurant in Shallotte

We had a reservation for a special occasion last Saturday night. We were seated promptly and our waiter came to take our drink order shortly thereafter. We waited for him to return, which he did almost 10 minutes later, but without our drinks. He took the rest of our order and left the table. We thought for sure he must be retuning soon with our drinks. Less than 10 minutes later, an expediter from the kitchen brought our appetizer and asked if we needed anything. I told him that we would really like the drinks that we had ordered a long time ago. He didn’t seem to know what to do, and he went on his way. Then within five minutes the salads were delivered to the table… yet still no drinks. When our waiter returned to check on us, I inquired as to the status of our drinks. He was a very nice young man, and he apologized and went to check. When he returned he told us that our drink order had not gone through to the bar, and he apologized again. He returned a few minutes later with our drinks. So it took almost a half-hour for us to get our drinks, and almost immediately after we received them, our dinners came. So at that point we had all of the food on our table as we had not finished the appetizer or our salads, and had not had any time to sip our drinks. I did tell the young man that I was not really happy with the timing, and asked him how the system there worked. My family had owned a restaurant before and I had worked in restaurants for several years and we had been trained in how to time the delivery of food and beverages so customers could enjoy their meals in a leisurely fashion without feeling rushed. The young man did not seem to have any understanding of that concept. If he has not been trained, what occurred is not his fault. I did not see any evidence of a manager there, just the hostesses at the door. We were all finished with everything in 50 minutes flat, and at that point just wanted to leave. It’s too bad because had our drinks been delivered on time, we probably would have had another drink, and we probably would have ordered dessert. We just felt really rushed...

we live in OIB and have visited Lucca three times since they opened. The first time was excellent. Service and food were great!

The second time we sat at the bar and waited for service for a bit as the bartender was busy cleaning the bar and tending to the servers drinks. Then when we asked for napkins all we got were bar napkins. No silverware.Also the spaghetti noodles were VERY undercooked so we had to send it back. No big deal it happens.

Tonight when we arrived we sat at the bar and the manager was bartending. First off she had a very bad attitude and this wasn’t the first time we witnessed it. When we sat down she immediately greeted us, meaning she said “welcome in”. Then it took over 6 minutes for her to ask if we wanted drinks, only AFTER she verified we were there to eat and not just waiting for a table. We gave her our order ( 2 tap beers along with dinner) and asked for bread too. We then waited for almost 5 minutes for the beers as she was tending to cleaning and the ONE ticket she had come in for a server. After close to 10 minutes we asked a server to get our bread, as the bartender was too busy talking to staff. I finished my beer and asked for another and 10+ minutes went by and still no beer. I even left my empty glass at the edge of the counter to gently remind her but she STILL kept chatting with servers or making drinks that casually came up for the servers, so, I asked AGAIN. She was VERY condescending and acted as if I was interrupting her night. So after needing to ask another server for bread, and the delay in our initial beers and overall service, SUDDENLY when it was time for the check, she gave it to us. IMMEDIATELY. So she could care less about her service to us but she was all over getting her tip! So in all the food there is good most of the time. The bar service however is terrible and needs work. Speaking as someone who spent many years in the restaurant industry, it is imperative to tend to the guests that are right in front of you. Don’t ignore them to chat with employees or do dishes. DO BETTER LUCCA! This isn’t your...

I've been wanting to come here for a while, as a friend of mine said it's one of her favorite restaurants.

Another friend and I had lunch yesterday.

I ordered the eggplant lasagna with a Caesar salad and dressing on the side. My friend ordered the ravioli caprese which had a pomodoro sauce; and the Caesar salad.

While waiting for our food, we enjoyed the warm fresh baked bread. The salads were very good! Nice, fresh, crisp romaine lettuce and a delicious dressing.

As for my entrée, I was very disappointed. The eggplant, sliced extremely thin, was heavily breaded that I couldn't even taste or feel any texture of the eggplant. I called it, "bread-plant lasagna." It had a mushy texture from the breadcrumbs. I couldn't taste any ricotta at all. After just a couple of bites, I gave up.

My friends ravioli looked deflated. I've seen many a ravioli that was a lot more plump than these. She did enjoy them.

The waitress never came to the table to see if we liked our food or needed anything. When she showed up, I asked for a box, although what was I thinking? I wouldn't eat it at home and I know my husband wouldn't either. The waitress came with a box and I told her I wouldn't take it home. I explained what I didn't like about it and she said, you could have asked for something else. Not easy to do when she never came to the table when we were eating.

She was nice to remove the lasagna from my bill and only charged me for the salad. I appreciated that.

It's a nice place but the background music was very loud. It was difficult to talk to my friend.

Will I come back? Maybe. I definitely will not order the "bread-plant...