luce ristorante e enoteca

owner was so rude. kids missed their prom because their d salad took over 1 1/2 hours the got no dinner. adinnergot spilled on one girl's prom dress and it wasn't even her dinner!!! owner didn't even apologize!!!!

the best. also,the veal scallopini, penne pasta and the fresh filet of halibut just was perfectly prepared ,a good choice of quality wine which we truly enjoyed and a tiramisu for everyone which was the best i ever had fro every corner of the globe. mr. buonincontry, you have our votes and patronage for ever. seating on the patio, light breeze and well chosen background music, so relaxing.thank you again for a perfect experience to my wife, kids and grand kids.


-----10 may, 2010-----

the best. on mother's day, haddinnerat luce with my family.first impression,most important, greeted and seated by the owner himself, mr. joe buonincontri who kept an attentive eye on a flow less service. the food was perfectly prepared served fresh and at the wright temperature, simple but elegant presentation. a true italian experience.the mussels in spicy marinara sauce was different from the norm but very tasty.from the polenta.eggplant, meatballs and caprese

best authentic italian outside italy. are you looking for authentic italian food? look no further, luce’s in san antonio has the best and i mean the best authentic italian cuisine i have come across in the united states. i have traveled to italy at least once a year for the past three years, and enjoyed the beauty of italy its people, as well as their wonderful food. when i visit luce’s i feel like i am back in italy. while all of the food in luce’s is outstanding, joe buonincontri (owner and chef) specializes in the southern italian dishes which are my very favorite. the aroma and taste takes me back to my childhood growing up in brooklyn new york, havingdinneron sunday after mass with my family. every italian boy and girl always looked forward to a pastadinneron sunday with homemade gravy (that’s tomato sauce) sausage and meatballs. this was and is still heaven on earth. so please if you want to know what real italian food is like, visit luce’s, meet joe buonincontri who is always there to greet and speak with his customers and enjoy a real italian dinner. for a real treat, attend one of joe’s “wine dinners”. you will experience not only the best italian food but also the best wines italy has to offer along with an education on wine by a certified wine specialist. i attended one of these on may 5th and i will definitely be back for the next one. i won’t tell you the price he charges per person for this mouth watering extravaganza because i don’t think it is enough. i will tell you he could easily charge $20.00 more than his current price and you will still be getting your monies worth. i hope to see you at the next wine dinner, where you can thank me for recommending luce’s in san antonio for the best italian food outside italy (maybe even inside italy).
thanks joe! my family and i are never disappointed when we visit. see you again soon.


-----04 sep, 2011-----

this is your italian restaurant!. the food is fantastic and the service excellent. i have traveled all over italy enjoying great italian cuisine, but when i am back in the states luce's is the place for me! this place is suitable for either a family dinner, a gathering of friends for a good bottle of wine form the best wine list i have ever seen, or a night out with that special someone you are trying to impress. this place has it all, and i highly recommend it.

still a wonderful dining experience. this was our 2nd trip to luce after about a year. we had early reservations, were seated at a great table and had wonderful service. the bread was so good! our meals were excellent. i had the linguine mare chiaro and it was filled with tons of seafood. my dining partner had the special that was a fish filet that was very good. the atmosphere is really nice and well worth the price.


-----08 dec, 2013-----

wonderful italian fine dining. we finally decided to try luce after 4 years of thinking about it. what a pleasant surprise. we were blown away by the extensive menu. for appetizers, we had the polpette alla napoletana (meatballs) and arancini di riso (italian rice balls). both were full of flavor and literally a meal on it's own. but we didn't stop there. we had the paccheri pomodoro (large shrimp & large tube pasta) and braciola alla napoletana (beef with pine nuts, etc). both were excellent. all the pasta is imported from italy. french press coffee to top off a wonderful meal. the portions are true italian size and can be shared. we waited 4 years too long for this. we will return, especially for happy hour or adinneron the beautiful patio.

hidden gem. it's not often i enjoy a meal enough to brag about on social media, that being said, this place is awesome. both the manager and waitstaff were very polite and attentive, and what a treat it was to meet joe (the owner), a very humble guy who you can tell really cares about his customers and the quality of his ristorante. we've been here several times and never had a bad experience, whether it be a nice romanticdinneror family celebration. my favorite is the pollo carciofi, deeeeelicous! who woulda thought such a nice restaurant would be hidden in a corner of a strip mall. beautiful ristorante, nice people, deeeeelicous food, and good wine, it's got it all.

going to dream about the lasagna from luce tonight . the perfect blend of hearty meats and tasty cheese mixed in with a robust red sauce. all sandwiched in between layers of pasta perfection . greatdinner, excellent wine, fabulous service . for a few hours we thought we were eating in a trattoria back in italy!

large party, mostly all good!. let me preface my review with some needed information...

not the normal dining experience as i was with a large party of 16 and haddinnerin their private room. the owner joe and manager rudy did an excellent job in making arrangements. the ambiance was pleasant and mildly sophisticated without being pretentious. we received a warm greeting on entry. i was seated at a simple table, set nicely.

we only had one server for 16 aided by what appears to have been a trainee. service was good overall. food delivered hot and mostly at the same time. what the server presented in efficiency, he lacked in a personable nature. (i inject my own preferences of wait staff here perhaps unfairly). the only negative was the long wait to have the bill split out. it took the server approximately 30 minutes after we were done dining to present the bill.

i sampled a wide variety of apps and they were all tasty. notables were the polenta, mussels and rice balls. regular cocktails were well made. i do not recommend the strawberry basil mojito...most thought the basil was overwhelming. the bellini was well received. fordinneri had the valdostana, (sautéed chicken breast, prosciutto, fontina cheese, sage, mushroom demi-glace, fresh egg linguine). everything was, for the most part, fresh and flavorful. presentation was appetizing and portion was perfect. i also sampled several other people's dishes, all reasonably good. others did note that with the lobster ravioli, pasta was undercooked and hard in spots. also, there seemed to be a a consensus that the herbal elements in the various sauces were a bit too strong, sometimes overpowering the overall tastes. most of my group said they generally enjoyed their meals when asked.

the bottom line:
drinks and apps are a "definitely"
dinner - i would say "go try them out"

very good food with questionable service. we had an 8:30 reservation on a tuesday night. we were seated promptly and that was when things got a little weird. the person serving water said he knew nothing about wines and then proceeded to wait the table(wefoun out he had been there 2 weeks). the bread was brought with no butter, and the 3 bread spreads did not arrive until requested. the waiter later told us that the kitchen ran out, but it was clearly straight from the refrigerator. the food was much better and worth a return trip. we ordered 2 appitizers the steamed clams and an order of rice balls, the clams were decent, the rice balls were awsome. rice balls are a rare find and are seldomly done well. the secret here is that they are made with risotto and fantastic red sauce. we then split a very good, though a little tough, with a nice tomato basil cream sauce. no dessert this time. in alldinnerwas about an hour, an hour and 1/2 would have suited us better, but the service seemed somewhat pushed.

a gem.. what a great experience! the atmosphere is classy yet comfortable, the food was incredible, the presentation was 2nd to none and the service was on point.

we ordered a bottle of pino noir and settled in for dinner.

started with the ravioli di ricotta with asparagus and butter, the round ravioli served on a stark white square plate decorated with asparagus pieces and melted butter was beautiful and just as tasty.

we were served home baked bread with an assortment of toppings to choose from - whipped butter, cheeses etc. and a crudite type tasting plate with celery, carrots and a tapanade of olives, garlic and eggplant.

hubby then had the pasta fagioli. what a delicious soup! again, served in a stark white dish, brought to the table covered with a lid. the pasta was soft, the tomato broth was comforting and the garlic was very apparant - so best for someone who likes garlic.

we split the gnocchi di gorgonzola and the kitchen sent it split plate. neither of us could finish and we had the remainder of the dish boxed for us.

we ordered the strawberry cheesecake which was out of this world and probably the best italian cheesecake i have had - trumps the italian cheesecake that stole my heart in nyc last month - it was that good!

topped off the night with a magnificent port paired with the cheesecake.

we sat on the patio and had the space all to ourselves. there were four other tables in the intimate dining room when we arrived fordinnerat 9pm. by 10:45 when we left we were the last table in the place - they close at 11.

we will definately be back.