Lucca: User Reviews
Lucca
420 E. Locust St. - Des Moines515-243-1115
We go out to Lucca with friends or as a couple eight or ten times per year. The staff is professional,. Everything on the menu is delicious. They have the right sized restaurant where you aren't a number. Des Moines needs 10 more places like this one. Five stars all the way!
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My wife and I have dined at several world class restaurants throughout the country, and we are comfortable paying a substantial amount of money for an excellent meal, keeping in mind we are in Des Moines and not a major metropolitian city my expectations were not extremely high but we heard the restaurant was worth a visit. Our dinner at Lucca however was subpar. For a restaurant the claims to have a full bar, strike one against the restaurant was the lack of a drink menu (my wife and I are not bartenders). The waiter explained each item on the food menu very quickly never pausinig for any questions and rarely making eye contact which was somewhat awkward. I asked for a further explanation of the cut of steak and all the waiter could do to explain it was gesture toward his chest region. For my main course I decided to try the steak which came with potatoes and spinach, the steak was fatty and the gristle on the edges of the meat was charred, and a few of the potatoes were completely burned. I pushed the burned steak and potato items to the edge of my plate hoping the waiter would notice and say something voluntarily, which he did not. I didn't make a big fuss about my meal hoping my wife was enjoying hers as we were out on a pre-Valentines dinner and I did not want to make a scene and upset the evening by complaining. Also on the same plate was a pile of overcooked spinach which was heavily over salted which was also left unfinished on my plate. To start my wife had the risotto which was good but not excellent, and for her main course she had the chicken with asparagus which was unique, but not excellent either. In my opinion Des Moines has much better restaurants at much more reasonable Des Moines caliber prices. Not a good value in my opinion, I would not bother trying the restaurant if you have not been, and I will not be going back. Following our Saturday evening dinner I phoned the restaurant and got an answering machine and left a message to return my call. I later attempted to access Lucca's website to see if there was an email address since they still have not phoned me back and now their website which I have previously accessed now appears to be unreachable.
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It's been awhile since I've eaten at Lucca's for supper. I ate on a Thursday so the ambience is'nt the same as the weekends. The food was excellent as always, as was the service. BUT, I was surprised to find out the one price menu no longer includes the dessert. Plus the wine is way over priced for a glass, especially when it comes less than half full. I usually eat at Lucca's at least once a year, occasionally twice. I will now consider trying another upscale restaurant, as i't's no longer the same value compared to before.
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Has this restaurant closed? Their website is down and phone number is temp unavailable.
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My husband took me here for Valentines, and it did not dissapoint. The food here is in a category of it's own. I love the open kitchen in the middle, the very smart waitstaff, and the ambiance in general. I really feel like you get a perfect meal here. I have had 2 of their salads, both left my mouth very happy. The scallops were the most velvety pieces of heaven I've ever had. My mouth felt alive just getting to nibble them off my fork. Lucca has got a great thing going - I wish we could afford to go every week!!!
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I think that this is just one of those restaurants that you know you'll be impressed with, especially if you had eaten at Basil Prosperi prior to Lucca opening. Owner Steve Logsdon is often seen walking around the restaurant, cooking, and chatting with guests, something that I always appreciate. The atmosphere, although rather contemporary and trendy, can be quite warm, with a piano player playing in the evening on my most recent visit. The pasta is fantastic, mixing things that one doesn't typically think would go together. I also had the pleasure of eating asparagus covered in an egg, which sounded odd enough for me to be intrigued into ordering it. It was the best appetizer I've had in a long time. If scallops are on the menu, order them - seared perfectly, although once you finish the three that the plate comes with, you will feel quite sad that you have no more. Drinks are made well (try the Lucca Manhattan - it converted me to a manhattan fan). My one complaint, and the sole reason Lucca didn't get 5 stars for ambiance, is the chairs - you can maintain a contemporary, chic, trendy restaurant without resorting to what seem to be cheap (although I doubt they were), uncomfortable chairs.
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Such a great experience! The service and food were wonderful.
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Review Summary
The following scores represent the average rating submitted by 46 users:
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