trattoria lucca

fantastic true italian. hands down, favorite downtown restaurant. very authentic food, love the atmosphere. the cauliflower sformatino has earned every bit of love it has received. only negative comment is that it can become very loud when full, but once the food arrives, there is no need for conversation anyway :)

poor service. recently my brother and i stopped in for an early dinner and were the first patrons to arrive at opening time. we were told by a brusque server that they had no available tables (we had no reservation) but we could sit at the bar if we'd like. we dined at the small and awkwardly-positioned bar and watched approximately 1/3 of the tables remain empty for the entire meal. additionally, i overheard a server as he came behind the bar (the same who initially greeted us) make what sounded like disparaging comments about a a table he was serving. to their credit, our entrees were good and our server was very friendly and helpful.

a few days later i called the restaurant (not during peak dining hours) and asked for help figuring out the name of a wine that i had enjoyed. the staff member told me that he would put on his "mind-reading headphones" to determine which which wine i had the previous evening.

in my opinion, charleston has too many excellent restaurants to tolerate this kind of service.

parking is a bit tricky. delicious food. they must have taken care of the "liquid" license issue between my visit and the last review. brush up on your italian beforehand or you might have some trouble reading the menu. this is my new favorite place to eat.

i went there for the monday family dinner with 3 friends, one of them italian. food wasn't nearly close to real italian food and the price..... $44/person without taxes and tip!!! the portions weren't enough for 4 people either. service was very bad too. in the end i asked for gelato and they told me they had but they couldn't bring me because it wasn't included in today's menu!!! anyway, i really do not recommend the monday family dinner. i feel it was a scam!

i love this place!. this review is about a year late, but better late than never. i've been three times. the second time i went, a friend and i were debating over which entrée to split. the owner/chef overheard us and offered to make us half portions of both entrees. that was so kind of him and he certainly didn't have to, but it was definitely something i haven't forgotten. i also like the way ypu cam choose appetizers, because i love sampling a little bit of everything. they have great desserts. i'll be back.

overpriced average food. overpriced for less than average food in charleston! i had the blue crab stuffed pasta, with each of the four small sized pastas fishy tasting. not worth a return visit. i'd recommend pan e vino instead! the food simply isn't as good as they think it is, or price it as.

new years eve dissapointment. after a 20 min. search for a parking space in the middle of nowhere and a 10 min. walk back to the restaurant we discovered they had a fixed menu for the evening. decided we could do the grilled chicken breast at applebees for way less than that $$$$150 + wine!

outstanding. great chef. great food. an eating necessity when visiting charleston. fun atmosphere. sit and enjoy your meal.

i have eaten @ lucca 3 times and it has been great. the restaurant is small and a bit loud, but that is where the criticism ends....the food and service have been fantastic on all three visits. the duck is incredible, we had the featured oysters and ordered 6 more they were so good. great place, reasonable prices, just off king st.

rushed service equals unexceptional experience. i was invited to sit at the bar on a busy saturday night. that was no problem. the problem was that i felt rushed. i had not yet completed my appetizer when my main arrived. although both dishes were good, it would have been nice to digest and reflect – let alone breathe - on one plate before the other arrived.

though the staff was friendly and the food was good, i left the restaurant feeling like i had just left a fast-food joint. charleston will never reach the restaurant standards of barcelona or buenos aires with the idea that the ultimate goal in a restaurant is to turn over the tables as fast as possible to get the next customer inside. my only recommendation is that the waiters and cooks simply slow down.

this is the place for italian in charleston!. i came here with nine other girls for my sister's bachelorette party - we could not have asked for a more perfect night. ken came out immediately to congratulate the bride and offer suggestions for the meal. we were wined and dined and felt so special the whole night. not only was the entire staff so friendly, the food was outstanding to say the very least. we were floored at every dish that came out. everything about our night was more than we could have asked for. thank you ken and staff! i cannot wait to come back!!

never again!!! service was terrible! soooooo...noisy! food was good, but in this town that is expected. certainly not the best italian in charleston.

somethin special. been twice in the last two weeks....split appetizer and grouper entre with my wife.....best meal ever in charleston.....can be loud during prime time (8-10) but quiets down late night...staff very knowledgeable and friendly.....owner chef more than willing to engage patrons....simply a treat....only thing i would recommend is a glass of wine priced at the $5.50-$6.00 range so as not to break me.

wonderful!. loved chef ken at the former sienna, now lucca has reinstalled my love of this chef's talents. excellent service by knowledgeable staff, great options in courses...truly memorable and will be back again!

5 more stars for ken veerdinski inside trattoria lucca when i first started out writing this blog i wanted to find those "hidden restaurant gems" that were off the beaten path and simply, incredible. it happened again. nestled in the sleepy elliotsborough neighborhood is trattoria luca. so nestled that if you didn't know if was there you would pass it. we went with friends whose husband is a native charlestonian and he didn't even know where it was. parking is a bit challenging since it's mostly residential, but with a bit of patience we found a spot. the restaurant is lined with windows and very warm and welcoming. we were quickly seated at our four top by a very nice member of the staff. here's where i thought it was going to go a bit south. expediting area our table was directly, i mean directly, in front of the kitchen. it was also where the servers congregated and chatted. top that with a very loud radio and we could barely engage in any conversation. when our server came by i ask