lucio pizzeria

you have to be joking!. i have just had the worst pizza in my entire 48 years of life. the pizza was undercooked, the tomato base was a raw sludge and the toppings were at best thrown on to the base by someone who obviously had no care in what they were doing. the finished result was a soggy, oily mess.

what on earth have all of the previous reviews been thinking? have they been paid by the owners of this joint to write glowing reviews? i have just had what is barely passable as a pizza and paid over $20 for the privilege! how thisplacescores such a high rating by critics is a mystery. lucio's however portrays themselves as traditional napolese pizzeria and take it from one that has some idea as to what that is, lucio's simply does not pass muster. avoid theplaceassiduously for there are many other venues in sydney that will make a pizza that is far more worthy of your spend.

restaurant 2nd visit lucio pizzeria. 7/10 oh wow, this was disappointing. last week i came here they wow-ed me. so i came back but the same lucio pizza... had thin layer, not so chewy, and it was salllltyyyy... the side dishes were good though, we got the calamari and the rocket salad. i am gonna try going again next week... hoping the lucio i ate last week would come back...


-----19 may, 2011-----

restaurant lucio pizzeria. 9/10 darlinghurst oh my gosh. didnt expect it to be this good!!! the crust is not too thin and crispy, dont really like that type, but it is, as my friend said, was truly napoli style!! very chewy and tasty we loved it!! one pizza is good to share among two ppl, and maybe another dish from anti pasti or salad with it. we had the lucio, which was half margarita, half ham calzone which was truly scrumptious. theplacegot busy after 7pm so better go before that if u wanna be sure. its next to the famous vietnamese place, phamish. i must add that the service was great too. the waiters were all really lovely! seriously, i really want to go there again tomorrow. thats how good it was ;)

an italian friend took me here, telling me thisplacehas the best pizza he has had since coming to sydney. he was not wrong! i absolute love pizza, tried many different places, and this is definitely my favourite. we got the tartufata, bufalina and another which i can't remember the name of, but they were all amazing, though my favourite was the tartufata. drizzle your pizza with the chilli oil provided if you want some spice.

the pizzas came out really quickly, and it's a nice and quiet space with indoor and ourdoor seating.

i have dined at both venues but i always love to come back to darlinghurst, as it reminds me of being in a tiny pizzeria in napoli.  the atmosphere and vibe is always lively and fun.
now lets talk about the food.  antipasti, myself and my husband shared an antipasto platter for 2 and it was more than substantial; grilled vegetables, arancini, soft potato croquettes, fried mini pizzas and much more italian delicacies.
pizzas are traditional napoletana pizzas, the ones you find if you have the chance to travel to italy.  i got my  favourite buffalina, i simply cannot go past it.  also, love the diavolo, for a bit of spice.  dessert. hubby got the pear and ricotta cake- lite and delicious, i even got a chance to try some.   i got the tiramisu- coffee filled goodness!
finally i want to touch on the staff.  attentive and friendly and always inviting, especially the big guy at the front of house who always goes that extra mile.a goodplacealso for the kiddies. they can eat and once finished run around the piazza while mum and dad enjoy a vino!
thank you for a lovely evening lucio pizzeria

being a student in sydney can have its toll, especially on the weekends. but when it came to this pizzeria i was exceptionally glad to splurge my savings. arrived here in the most italian car possible (fiat 500), so obviously the need for authenticity was high.

ordered the bufalina pizza and truth be told i have never had pizza this good. the crust, the cheese and finally the sauce were in one word; perfection. would highly reccomend thisplaceand have been recommending thisplacefor a pretty long time to anyone travelling to sydney.

the outdoor area is a big win of thisplaceas well as the staff, always checking if everything was good. service was really fast and food was flavourful - the crust looked and tasted so yum!! we had a calzone and a bufallina. the calzone wasn't what i expected, but the balance in bufallina and the delicate taste were very very good! overall, a great experience!

delicious, authentic italian wood fired pizza served hot! every single flavour is as good as the next and i would highly recommend thisplaceto any pizza lover.

poor service lets thisplacedown badly
can't handle busy periods
ordered pizza and pasta. pizzas came out first. had almost finished them and enquired about the pasta. about 10 minutes away was the response. after 20 minutes enquired again. still another 5 minutes away. have a new chef and he messed up the orders was the explanation. was offered a complementary dessert but insisted on two main pizzas.
a real debacle.

voted in the top 10 pizzerias in sydney and for good reason, thisplacesubscribes to the old school style of wood fired pizzas

staff are just delightful and accommodating, would recommend to all

after reading the glowing reviews of thisplaceon the site, a friend of mine brought us here for dinner. ordered 3 pizzas which all came out doughy and soggy instead of the thin and crispy base everyone else on this site seems to be getting, had a miserable amount of topping and was incredibly bland overall. we just felt so bloated eating tasteless dough we didn't even want to finish them and decided to go to mcdonalds instead. save your money and go anywhere else, just not this ridiculously overpriced and terrible 'pizzeria'.

theplacehas been getting a tonne of press lately with all the big name italian chefs – armando percuoco, adriano zumbo, alessandro pavoni, and giovanni pilu for starters – showing up and giving it a plug. with a metre long pizza for $60, as opposed to criniti’s $95, they pack them in night after night. there’s also a fantasy pizza (they really must change that name, sounds like a bad movie) every night, which is a random that pizzaoili feel like whipping up ….if you can, whisper to one of them find out if its the one with a heap of fresh seafood on it. so does it get my vote? my favourite is still lucio’s at darlinghurt (sorry luigi, but i still want to know where you got those briscola themed espresso cups) – the base, the quality of the toppings, the lucio half pizza/half calzone – devine. the antipasto platter is great too. via napoli in my view has the stone oven – brought in painstakingly from the motherland – temperature just a little too high, which can lead to a bit too much charring around the edges for my liking, and a softer centre. but its still on my list. i also like the calamari and the croquettes here. there’s also rossopomodoro at balmain (don’t ask for an ‘alf and ‘alf, or pineapple, or any additions or changes for that matter, you’ll get a death stare from these pizza puritans), popolo at potts point (on my to do list), cavallino at terryhills, and pizza mario in surry hills. i also used to be a fan of la disfida at haberfield, but i have not tried it since it changed hands. in other news, no need to go to melbourne any more, movida has o

i just saved $1600 and 30 hours of flying - my favourite pizzaplaceis no longer in monza, italy where i lived - lucio's in sydney reigns supreme. the fresh tomato passata has that familiar sweetness and the wood-fired oven crisps the soft base perfectly. mouth-watering toppings are in just the right proportion for a truly authentic taste that takes me back instantly. my pick is the capricciosa - the rightful addition of artichokes (unlike many pretenders) makes the pizza a perfect 10. if chasing true italian in sydney, this is definitely not one to miss.

best pizza in sydney?? not sure if i'm totally convinced...willing to give it another go though!. have wanted to try thisplacefor ages and finally got my wish by suggesting it as a venue for a girly dinner. despite the cold and rain, the plastic covered alfresco dining was actually quite cozy and inviting.
wine list very italian influenced, but the lovely waiters were very helpful in answering our questions. having said that, some wine orders did strangely seem to take some time to deliver to the table? but we weren't there for the wine.
the antipasto platter for two was very impressive and nicely fed four. risotto balls, freshly baked bread sticks, croquettes, olives, roasted capsicum/eggplant/courgette, pizza breads, parma wrapped melon, and a very moorish creamy spread-concoction... highly recommend.
pizza was fume and filleto. my pick would have to be the filleto with the perfect combo of parma, mozarella, parmesan, cherry tomatoes and rocket. light and fresh. fume was provola, speck and mushrooms... not bad, smokey taste, but just a little too bland for me. the mixed salad and rocket salad were perfect accompaniments, with the pear and rocket salad ranking slightly above the mixed.
coffees were standard, nothing to write home about, but i did have a few spoonfuls of the panacotta which was light and berry sweet, and also food perved at the tiramisu at the table next door (definitely on my 'to-order' list for next time).
i think it beats rosso pomodorro for its coziness and pizzas were nowhere as oily... but i dunno, the jury is still out on whether it's 'number one'. i'm more than happy to keep searching and sampling!

great pizza in sydney. thisplaceis such a great casualplacethat serves excellent pizza. the pizza is old skool and so good. it is so nice to sit outside facing other restaurants. we love this place!

pizza as it was intended. i was quite shocked to see that the only other review for this restaurant was extremely vague and negative, so here are my thoughts. the art of making pizza has been lost in amongst the fast food revolution. lucio pizzeria is pizza making at its most pure form, minimalist, rustic and extremely tasty. nestled in a small enclave of restaurants in darlinghurst, you'd be forgiven for not guessing this was an authentic italian pizzeria with it's white modern decor, it has thankfully avoided tacky italian stereotypes of design. the menu like the restaurant itself is simple yet elegant, i recommend starting with the antipasto plate, it says its for two but is easily shared among four, it includes wood-fired breadsticks, assorted meats, roasted veges, ricotta, olives and prosciutto wrapped rockmelon. there are salads which look to be quite nice but i must insist you focus on the pizzas. don't expect a grocery list of ingredients on these pizzas they are quite basic which emphasises the old axiom 'less is more'. if you're like myself and not a big fan of ricotta cheese don't be perturbed it is excellent on these pizzas. when you receive these wood-fired marvels you can really sense the detail that has gone into the dough and red sauce base, it really provides an amazing canvas with which to create a pizza. the taste and aromas are nothing short of divine. also worth mentioning are the deserts, for the fans of the affogato they are not be missed, consisting of two scoops of vanilla bean gelato served in a tall glass with a shot of espresso and frangelico, this is my staple dessert when dining out and i can honestly say lucio do the best i've had. i've also tried a wood-fired chocolate tart (desert special), served with gelato, sporting a molten-chocolate centre this tart was quite a special end to an amazing meal.

there is a good selection of italian beers menabrea being a personal favourite and the wine list is short but sweet.

expect a wait for a table particularly on weekends, there are plenty of good bars nearby to pass the time so its no drama. the service is quite attentive, at busier times you can go unnoticed for a short while but this is completely forgivable.

aplacefor pizza junkies and purists alike or those simply looking for what is one of the best pizzas in sydney.