luce cucina italiano

depending on what yourorderfood isn't too bad. don't go there for lunch because even though they are never busy it takes forever. i'm third generation italian so i'm a little biased but the only thing that we like there is the grilled chicken spaghetti. the first thing we always test at an "italian" restaurant is the meatballs- luce's are premade frozen from somewhere and super salty. the side salads are made in advance which you can tell by the fact that then onions inside have been in there long enough for the lettuce to become infused with the flavor. the wedding soup is the same as you would get at the grocery store in can from campbells or progresso - which isn't a compliment unless you like processed meat and soups. the reason for the 1 rating is mainly because a couple of weeks ago we ordered the usual chicken spaghetti and an appetizer of the spinach dip, the spinach dip wasn't really a dip at all- more if a can if opened cream of whatever soup with some thawed spinach in it- we couldn't eat it because it was super salty. i love salty stuff way more than my wife and if i can't eat it you better believe it's salty. i called the restaurant as soon as we tried this and was assured a credit for my next order. i attempted toordertoday and was told by the owner "tito" that my credit was only good for another super salty spinach dip- even though when i logged my initial complaint there was no stipulation. why would i want another disgusting appetizer that we can't eat? when we initially tried the meatballs in the restaurant and sent them back "tito" came out and "hand made" me some fresh ones which were just as salty and processed tasting as the first. so "tito" kudos to you for loosing a customer and his entire large family of $7- i've been in business for almost 20 years and we always stay true to our word and do our best to make things right. i'm about to spend almost $40 on pasta and some chicken and you can't honor what you said you would do? sad sad sad. lexington is lacking in the restaraunt category but no one i know will ever spend their hard earned money at your establishment again. 

i wish antonina's would come re-open.

great food you can't always count on the cooks though.it takes forever just to get anorderout

marginal quality-try all star instead. i reviewed luce's back in may, and since then have found the wonderful all star italian restaurant just down the street which is an all time favorite. wound up at luce's on monday when all star is closed hoping the management fixed the issues reviewers on this site have listed. unfortunately, the place was empty, the service was still slow (but friendly), and the food was marginal at best. spaghetti sat in a plate of water and the garlic knots were raw in the middle. good iced tea is a staple in all southern restaurants and here it tasted as if it had sat in the dispenser for a week. iceberg lettuce salad doesn't work in a place wanting to be known for fine food. this place is a big disappointment yet again.


-----27 may, 2013-----

ok food, terrible service. been to luce's several times, usually am one of only a few in the place so don't know how it stays in business. the food is decent, not great, but the service is lousy. expect to sit for awhile to get your food and you will be lucky if yourorderis accurate. almost every time they are either out of something or it isn't as described. the portions are good size except for dessert and forget using coupons or deal savers. you will get a hassle trying to use them and all the exclusions are not disclosed until youorderas they are not on the coupon. i won't be back as it is too much hassle to eat there and the food isn't worth the trip.

bad experience again. not sure what is going on here but always willing to give a second chance.
we used to be regulars here, not so much anymore. last time the stromboli was missing my requested ingredients. we took the family sunday evening and the garlic knots truly were not baked. they waitress took the knots back minus the 3 that some of us had taken to eat. they put them back in the oven & burnt them, returned the partialorderto the table and didn't replace the under cooked knots ones that were on the table & remained uneaten.the alfredo sauce on the noodles was missing the cheese on one order, on anotherorderthe marina sauce on the pasta noodles had a vinegar taste (bad??) the owner / manager should have taken the price of the garlic knots off theorderat a minimum, given a credit for the least expensive meal, offered dessert.....but nothing. we still have gift cards for the restaurant and i will most likely let them expire. i will spend my time and money right down the street at a good all star italian eatery.

poor service. we used to eat at luce's a lot. over time, the service has really diminished. about two sundays ago, i called in a pickup order. i was told 20 minutes. 25 minutes later i showed up to find theorderstill on the counter. no one apologized, and i said i would be back in 20 minutes. i showed back up with a 10% coupon, which said "good for dinner only", which i did order. i was told by the employee that the coupon was dine-in only and it was deceiving. i was further told that even if it was good, the manager was gone and would not be back. what if i was going to be dining in with it? lastly, when i got home, the basket sampler was not even complete. ever since this location was remodeled, it has gone downhill. they have wonderful food, and the service makes it a shame. we will not be going back.

i do recommend it for the food, but not the service.

good food poor management. i went to luce's for the first time soon after it opened and was very impressed with the food. that's what kept me coming back. but after several bad experiences, i have to find good italian food elsewhere. after wrongorderwith a fly, slow service and my friends waiting 2 hours to be served (don't know why they waited) just because they had a group of 15, the food is no longer enough to bring me back. very poorly managed restaurant.

i just ordered my food in it was bland and tasteless.... i will notorderfrom there again.

quick update. still have the same old cash register! takes too long to decipher the bill. that being said....darn good food! best calzone ever! great pizza! i drive ten miles from west columbia to meet my in-laws here for lunch. well worth the drive. only other thing you might want to bring with you is crackers to eat with your salad. they run out a lot. just say'in.


-----09 apr, 2010-----

great pizza. my in-laws talked us into going here last night. i have been searching for a good pizza in the lexington/columbia area for years. well, finally found the place, luce cucina italiano. the restaurant is not fancy, but decorated in a very low key kind of way. the wait staff is very friendly. we ordered our 16 inch pizza with three different items and asked that each item be split into thirds. i like mushrooms, wife likes onions and oldest daughter likes pepperoni. the waitress said no problem and the pizza came out perfect.

the hand tossed pizza had the right amount of sauce, cheese, onions and pepperoni. (loved the onion slices) outside crust was just right, not too hard and not too soft. great flavor. we will be back!

only minus to the evening was trying to pay the bill. there were four folks in front of me when we went to check out. it took 15 minutes to process these four tickets. when it was my turn, it took another 10 minutes for the cashier to try and enter the info into the 1980 style ncr register. she could not come up with the correct total. at one point she started to dress down our waitress right in front of me on how not to write up aorderticket. sad. a $499 point of sale computer could solve this issue.

terrible. i am still amazed at the way my daughter and i were just treated at luce cucina at lunch today. we both ordered their lunch specials which were cheese ravioli and spinach ravioli which came with garlic bread for $5.99. we decided to add a side salad to eachorderfor an additional $2.99. mind you at dinner it includes a salad for $8.99. with that said, our meals arrived on plates covered with sauce and cheese...when we dug into them for the raviolis we found 3 each. you get more in a chef boyardee can...this was ridiculous. when i mentioned it to the waitress she did not care but rather laughed about it...like she had heard it before. she said well you did get the lunch portion. i have eaten at this restaurant before for lunch and there were at lease 6 raviolis on the plate. she told me she mentioned to the manager how upset we were and he didn't even come out. she asked if we wanted to speak with him and i refused as obviously he didn't care anyways. so sad. love this restaurant when it first opened. will no return again. left there paying $19.82 and was extremely hungry. the salads were terrible as well...you get better italian dressing out of a bottle. now i know why the place is empty whever we drive by. don't give it very long at all.

brenda. i picked up anorderfor my business meeting today. my guests loved their food and send their compliments to you. thank you again for making the customer your key focus.

the best of italy!. how you doin?

growing up in northern new jersey just over the bridge from the big city of bright lights, enabled my family and i to enjoy authentic food in the homes of our friends.

most of the families in our neighborhood had grandparents that migrated here from the old country and the conversations in those homes as well as the food was authentic old school.

ive been in the columbia/lexington area for 7 years now, and have attempted to sample various cuisine that is available in the area, but i have fallen in love with luce cucina italiano. this is the authentic taste of italy.

ive taken it upon myself to sample everything on the menu...one meal at a time. when iordera meal there i know the portions will be massive and the cost minimal. ive actually ordered meals and split them in half just so that i could have more of that plate the next day. its that good!

this is the real deal...in fact it may be possible that the only english you experience here is on the menu. fuggedaboutit!