Review Luce Restaurant & Enoteca - New York City

We went there as a group with 23 exchange student from Michigan and Ohio. Setting the reservation was the beginning of a Wow experience because the manager was actually on an international trip out of the country when he called me back. He made everything a great experience from the first phone call all the way until we arrived with our setting for 26 people well placed and waiting for us. We all had an enjoyable dinner with wonderful service and a grand assortment of delicious desserts. As one of the coordinators and my 1st time to New York, this was absolutely amazing. After dinner we walked down to the Met right on time for our show. I am looking forward to coming back without the exchange students to enjoy a romantic dinner with wine and a evening on the town. The atmosphere was beautifully relaxed and warm. I misplaced my papers and was trying to remember the name for years and just ran across all my travel documents and there was all my notes about Luce... I remember it like it was yesterday... I will be back again! Thank you for an enjoyable and wonderful meal that was well organized with outstanding service.

I had a wonderful experience at Luce .It was a Thursday lunch with my boss and both of us were very happy with the food ,atmosphere ,and outstanding service. I had grill Salmon which was cooked perfectly and my boss had Ravioli.This is my new favorite restaurant. I can't wait to go back.

My husband and I were looking for a good Italian lunch in the city after visiting the natural history museum. We chose this restaurant off of open table based on menu items. The food is tremendous everything is fresh and if we lived in the city we would frequent this restaurant once a week.

Excellent place to dine outside, enjoy a glass of wine and people watch. We’d go with the Goat Cheese Salad, Marinated Baby Octopus and Black Linguine.

Great endive and fenel salad. Delicious espresso. The little terrace was delightful. Would highly recommend overall.

Luce is in my neighborhood-close to Lincoln Center. I love the food and service. Branzino is my favorite. I will keep coming back.

Just what you want a good meal. Really good options and from what we ordered great flavor. I will come back.

I had a Sunday brunch with my wife and we fall in love with Luce. The service is fantastic so it is the food .We can't wait to go back. THANKS LUCE .

Great salmon dish. Reasonable prices for lunch and very good waiters.

I’ve always like their food. They never disappoints me

Food was great and the service was excellent every visit.

You know, there was a time that if you tried to get me to eat mushrooms, I’d probably drop kick you! Just putting that out there!. Today, my friends from Project Enye invited me to meet up at a bar. I was hungry, and suggested a change of location. They approved and we moved on. Enter the mushrooms.

You know, there was a time that if you tried to get me to eat mushrooms, I’d probably drop kick you! Just putting that out there!. Today, my friends from Project Enye invited me to meet up at a bar. I was hungry, and suggested a change of location. They approved and we moved on. Enter the mushrooms.

You know, there was a time that if you tried to get me to eat mushrooms, I'd probably drop kick you! Just putting that out there!<br/><br/>Today, my friends from Project Enye invited me to meet up at a bar. I was hungry, and suggested a change of location. They approved and we moved on.<br/><br/>Enter the mushrooms.<br/><br/>We came to Luce, and were considering starting with some mussels, but then the mushrooms came up. I am still slightly biased against mushrooms, I ain't gonna lie to you. Though truth be told, over time I have come to appreciate them. However, due to the years of "not liking them," I still pause when it's brought up as a food item.<br/><br/>Well, it would appear that once again my food prejudices are way of the mark. We tried the seasonal mushrooms dish which was sautéed in garlic, oil, arugula, and it had some cherry tomatoes topped with mozzarella. Oh man this dish had a fantastic flavor profile! It was so good! Hmm. I think the Enye crew also approved as well!<br/><br/>I used to think that biting into a mushroom felt weird, it had a strange texture to me. Meh, go figure. But the mushrooms we ate today, they were soft, no weird texture, and oh so delicious.<br/><br/>In the old days I'd drop kick you, today I'm recommending them! What is the world coming to?<br/><br/>For the main dish I went with the Red Snapper Filet, almond crusted, sautéed with white wine, lemon, served with sautéed vegetables. If the mushrooms were good, the Red Snapper was even better! When they first brought it out, I was a bit worried because it looked extremely drenched in sauce, and I was expecting maybe grilled or something. But once again my worries were unfounded, this was an amazing dish. It was tender, tasted delicious, and really satisfied my palette.<br/><br/>Sorry Denise, next time you gotta move faster if you want to try my food. I eat fast! Thank you and your crew for the great invitation and the great company!<br/><br/>We sat outside, and the seating and ambiance was very comfortable and great for us to get to know each other. The service was outstanding and I think I speak for all of us when I say that this was a great dinner.<br/><br/>Great meeting you guys!

Snooty service, tasty food. We came here for lunch to break up a day of shopping. <br/>We ordered a Bolognaise Penne and Creamy Mushroom Ravioli. Both were delicious. Our service though, whilst professional, was not warm and seemed snooty. He wasn't rude, but after experiencing a week of friendly, genuinely nice New York hospitality, we were disappointed. Especially as I think he was the restaurant manager.<br/>Worth trying though as the food is good.

Lovely atmosphere when I came in late at night after a very long day. I'm no food critic, but the grilled salmon I had was delightful and I continued to find myself saying "mmm" after every bite.

Overpriced for mediocrity. I was blown away when I received my dinner--and not in a good way. The risotto was bland and required salt to make it palatable. Tasted the steak and it was decent. Fish was also good. Ravioli was okay. But everything was bland.<br/><br/>If you like paying high prices for mediocre food, then this is the place for you.

Consistent, Really Good. Luce has never disappointed us. The food is so good yet understated that you wonder if they are simply having a good night or if they are consistently good. Answer: Consistently good.

Do not recommend!!!. Glorified fast food joint!!!!! We had dinner there tonight after ordering a 5 course meal wine desserts for 7 people we were asked to hurry up and pay the bill because they need to give our table to the next customer we weren't even finished drinking our wine or eating our desert as they cleared the table the owner himself came over and told us we have to hurry...Food was nothing special for the price but the service was outrageous... We are still in shock!!!!!

Waiters are truely aweful. Had read other reviews and ignored them, but they are. Mixed review on the food. Some good some not so

True, the prices are not bad, the portions are generous, and the food isn't bad. However, take the time to walk a few blocks off of Broadway and you could be rewarded with better quality, better flavors, better execution for not much more (if any more) money.<br/><br/>Looking for a great place to have dinner before an event at Lincoln Center? Then pick a place that offers truly excellent quality even if it takes extra time (just go early!). If the event is special, as most events at the Lincoln Center are, then why gamble on a rushed dinner?<br/><br/>My wife and I had dinner at Luce on May 2. The experience wasn't had, but it was, like the smell inside the restaurant, antiseptic. The whole place felt like it was designed to serve the herd rather than to serve quality food.<br/><br/>The wine list, like the restaurant, feels sanitized. It is inexpensive, for the most part, but it also lacks adventure, and flavor. I had an unremarkable Montepulciano; however, it was one of the better options on the list. You can't make a mistake ordering wine here, but you will not find any options that are not already familiar.<br/><br/>My wife had a roasted beat salad with arugula dressed with lemon, olive oil and sea salt. A very solid offering. I had a baby octopus salad with sundried tomato on fresh greens. The problem with the salad wasn't the execution, it was the ingredients. The octopus wasn't fresh octopus that had been marinated or grilled. It was a conserva (marinated canned or jarred). There was a ton of octopus, probably too much for a salad course. However, the salad would have been much better if the quantity had been reduced in favor of quality.<br/><br/>As a main course I had ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach in a mushroom cream sauce. Again, well executed. The sauce was very good and contained fresh wild mushrooms. The ravioli was a different story. It was no better that anything you can buy in the refrigerated section of your neighborhood market. My wife had pappardelle with duck ragout flavored with rosemary and olives. The ragout was flavorful, the duck was tender and moist with a light rosemary scent. The problem, again, was the pasta. It was gummy, like it had been cooked in simmering, rather than boiling water, and for too long. The result was tough, gummy pasta. Worse than overcooked mush, worse than undercooked, hard centered pasta. It was almost like the kitchen had never prepared pasta before and didn't know what the desired end result should be.<br/><br/>Again, don't get me wrong about this restaurant. The food isn't bad, the service isn't bad and the atmosphere isn't bad. But, there are more than 200 Italian restaurants on the UWS and Hell's Kitchen, many of them in proximity to the Lincoln Center. So do yourself a favor if your trip to the area is for a special occasion; take extra time, arrive early and consider other options. If you just happen to be walking by and want to give it a try then by all means do. I don't think you will have a bad experience, you just wont have a memorable one.

Our dining experience was ruined by our extremely RUDE waitor who made us all uncomfortable by arguing with us about what we ordered. He would not even allow another waitor---who believed we were correct--- to help us. Instead, he ignored us the entire time and mumbled to other servers about us. Terrible experience and I will NEVER return!

I went there with friends and had a terrible service experience. We were ignored and had a very obnoxious waiter who ruined our evening. I wouldn't return there.

Pre/Post Lincoln Center. A+. I've now been twice to LUCE and it's worked swell for me both times: They combine an intimate dining space (that's not cramped) with good service and a menu that's varied with not-too-decadent pricing.<br/><br/>Absolutely wonderful pounded-flat veal chop, covered in spinach, fresh beets and topped with goat cheese. It was the perfect portion size and left me full, but not wishing I hadn't eaten it. Most of Luce's menu is like this: Not too much, not too little... Just right.

Go if you're in the neighborhood & need a quickie but like quality. Generous portions of fresh and flavorful veggies, such as arugala salad, brocolli rabe. The squid salad with pear was delicious, and large enough for lunch although it's only an appetizer. Small place w/ decent atmosphere.

Cute place, but poor customer service. Before going to the NY Philharmonic, my friends and I made reservations to have dinner first here at Luce. We had an 8pm show and made 6:15pm reservations but when we got there the restaurant didn't have a table available for us. We waited at the bar for an additional 30 minutes before finally sitting down. You cannot be late for the Philharmonic, otherwise they will lock you out, and therefore we had to leave 15 min before the show. The entire dinner we were rushed and weren't able to order some of the dishes we really wanted because of our time constraints. <br/><br/>The food was really delicious, however I had to eat it so fast that I could barely enjoy it. Although we expressed our concerns to management, they didn't offer anything to show their apologies for making us late. <br/><br/>We made it to the Philharmonic just as they were about to close the doors (pheww). I believe the restaurant would have been a really great place had they a) not messed up our reservation and/or b) showed us that they cared.

A perfect choice near Lincoln Center. Where to eat around Lincoln Center? Don't want to spend a fortune but still want a special meal? I suggest you try Luce Restaurant and Enoteca. The atomosphere is cozy yet smart, the staff warm and attentive and the food is really good. I had the Ceasar Salad which was delicious and my husband had a large bowl of well prepared mussels in garlic and wine. For mains I had a Chicken Soprese- pan seared breast coated in Parmesan accompanied by artichokes, peas m potatoes, carrots and green beans- perfect if you don't want any pasta and love your veggies. My husband really enjoyed his gnocchi and I loved them, too (and I have never liked gnocchi). We had no room for dessert but I had a coffee which they served with a tiny plate of anise (?) cookie- delicious. With a nice bottle of wine ($40) we had a very good meal for just over $100, not including tip. We will recommend the place and return there ourselves.