Lucia

Best spaghetti and meatballs I’ve ever had! Great date place, kid friendly, affordable, may need reservations if going on a weekend evening.

I have to give Lucia a enthusiastic 5 stars. But I am also saying that I am incredibly disappointing that it is closing on November, 2015. This is through no fault of their own because the building they are in is being destroyed. I am leaving this review to thank the owners of Lucia’s for their past service and let them know that I very much hope that they open a new store on the East-​side in Kirkland or Bellevue or somewhere close. Thank you for running this fabulous restaurant since 1988 and I hope you find a new location.

I found out about Lucia because they were offering a discount on Groupon. On a 7 p.m. Thursday night, it was pretty empty, but there also was a Seahawks game on. When you come up to it, it doesn’t look like anything special on the outside. It’s right across from a QFC in a parking lot. The moment I stepped inside, I was immediately wowed. I’d call this place trendy with some old school elements. There’s a massive black and white video projected on the wall, and it is the quality of some trendy bar you’d find in Bell Town. My boyfriend and I ordered a calamari appetizer, salmon salad, and pepperoni pizza. The salad was great, but the salmon was a little salty. The calamari breading didn’t stay together very well, but it was pretty tasty. The pizza tasted pretty good. It is thin crust. The service was great, but I think it’s slightly on the more expensive side. Our total was just under $ 50.

Great food even better bartender. The food came out fast and was at a great price and the bartender was very attentive with great customer service

Torn on this review. I’ll start with why I haven’t given a full 5 stars …
I haven’t been back to Lucia in Kirkland in over 5 months bc the past few times on a Fri and Saturday night my boyfriend and I have gone around 9 – 930, we have been turned away bc they were closing early, due to lack of customers. The website clearly states their hours but we have been told «we are closing early» twice. This is very frustrating especially on a weekend night and we are excited to have good food.
We enjoy the truffle spaghetti and a few other items but I refuse to return there, due to the lack of customer service and hours they are keeping, which don’t match their website. Sad, bc I used to go there quite often. Hope the owners monitor who’s in charge, if they are now more so at the Greenlake location.

Disappointed in the service. Came in to Lucia to get an appetizer while waiting for an appointment at the barbershop a few doors down. After the hostess seated me, I waited for 20 minutes, without a server even coming by my table or acknowledging me. Four different members of their staff walked by and saw me sitting at the table, but no one offered help or service. I could be more understanding — to a certain extent — if they were busy, but there were only about 3 – 4 other parties in the entire place, and they appeared to be staffed just fine. Bad experience — I won’t be back and will recommend to my friends/​family that they do the same.

I really like Lucia! Every time I go there I wonder why I don’t go more often!
This time it was Tuesday ½ price wine night. Had an amazing Sauvignon Blanc for $ 15! I tried the fresh corn and roasted tomato salad and it was just delicious. Really every time I go there the food is super flavorful. I also like the vibe which is cool, trendy, and friendly. Not what you would expect in ParkPlace mall!
I may make this my regular Tuesday night out!

Lucia hits the mark with the two necessities: great service (friendly bartender) and fantastic happy hour menu.
Ordered the bolognese, stuffed mushrooms, and spicy meatballs. The bolognese was FANTASTIC. I love Italian food more than anything so it’s not that I was skeptical, but I wasn’t expecting much. But to my surprise, it was like a warm bowl of freaking love. I could have eaten 5 more bowls, but the portion was perfect. The stuffed mushrooms were a little lackluster. I think it sat at the pass for awhile. The spicy meatballs were OK (I had to compare it to List’s spicy meatballs and it was nowhere near, but the marinara and bread that it came with was good). Overall, great menu, good service, and good music too. They could do away with the pillows — felt a little old and overused but other than that, two thumbs up.
Location is a little off putting because it’s right next to a grocery store but I don’t mind given that the food is as good as it is.

Walked by on Mothers Day to ask if they were open and they said they don’t open. Internet says 3 and the people were obviously there for work. We walked by again and they offered cannolis to a woman but when my father asked what was said the lady just said huh what and turned away. Not the best feeling in the world.
Edit in response to comment: I understand if you have a gas leak but when we come to ask you say: we aren’t opening due to gas leak instead of «we don’t».

Good variety of Italian themed cuisine, beautiful interior and away from the hustle and bustle of the boulevard.
The bar features a selection of liquor you would expect; nothing too fancy or unique. They offer a small beer selection and no guiness. The wine selection is where they shine.
Reserve an outdoor booth if you can when it’s nice out; very comfy seats and the natural light makes it a perfect spot to enjoy your drinks/​meal.
***My Drink: «Fancy Pants»: I ordered it with Hendricks Gin instead of Beefeater, which made it better in my opinion. It was topped with a HUGE basil leaf and was bitter/​sweet enough to have two. I would order this again.
***My Food: Crab Cakes (off the appetizer menu): were very tasty, moist and held together well. I thought it was a bit odd that they topped it with candied bacon bits… a little unnecessary and it didn’t mesh well with the richness of the crab. The sauce was very tasty though!
My menu was practically ripped in half…
When a large group was seated next to us, it left little room for the waiter to manuever…
They accidentally threw away our leftovers…
Most of the menu options had truffle oil… I love me some truffle oil, but it was overused.
Overall, a great place to bring a date and eat American style Italian food.

I’ve been coming to Lucia pretty much since I’ve lived in this area (2007). I haven’t updated my review in forever and figured that I am due.
The owner, Michael, seems to truly care about his business. You can see him there at the restaurant many days a week.
Service: the service honestly can be hit or miss. Last week we sat in the bar and the service was outstanding. 4 weeks in a row prior to that we (not sitting in the bar) eded up with the same, not so great server. Even when I’ve received crummy service, for a few reasons I still come back. I’m not going to talk about the crummy server because I feel it have already addressed that and everyone knows what bad service is like. Hopefully the owner knows who she is (Wednesday evenings) and will deal with it.
Food: YES!!! Their food is pretty flipping great. Their basic bread that they serve you for free is reason alone to come here!!! The bruschetta is THE BEST bruschetta EVER!!! The size & amount of bread for the bruschetta varies but it always tastes the same (which is the important part). I love the blackened salmon salad. I’ve eaten it like a hundred times and I think only once or twice did I think the salmon was too done. If worried about it, you need to have good communication with the server that you don’t want it over done. Those are my personal favorites but my friends always love the food and they order completely different things than I do. I’d say they are great on selection and pricing. The portion sizes are perfect, not too small or big. ;)
Wine: I always get the «house white». It’s a pino gris & it’s great! :) I don’t remember price per glass, but if I don’t remember it must be a decent price. ;)
I love Lucia, I will probably be a lifer if the food stays awesome. I recommend you check it out! :)

What makes this place special is all their neat events that they host. I attended one of their Bachelor ABC show viewing parties during Chris Soules Bachelor season. You can see their latest events by checking out their facebook page. When I went, they had two of our local successfully married couples who met on the Bachelor/​Bachelorette series there to mingle and answer questions about the show (Jason & Molly, Chris & Desiree) while watching the latest episode live on their TVs. There was no additional cost besides what you ordered off the menu, and both couples were extremely friendly and genuine. It was such a fun experience for a girls night out! The food is all enjoyable but nothing remarkable. I shared the crab cake appetizer and the gnocchi with short ribs. Short ribs were perfectly tender but the gnocchi did not taste homemade. Easy location for parking.

Very disappointing! Too loud and food wasn’t edible.
I ordered the Halibut picatta ($ 24) and it was terribly overcooked… to the point that it wasn’t even edible. It was so overcooked that it was actually stringy! It came with veggies and potatoes and they actually serve it on top of both. I’m not a fan of that either. Had I known I would have ordered it differently. It was so loud I didn’t want to «scream» or «yell» a request to the waitress and as a result we only had one drink each.
It was extremely akward because of the noise I couldn’t even talk to my dining companion. When you walk in the ambiance is really nice… just unfortunate you can’t have a nice conversation over dinner. I had been there before for happy hour and it was noisy, but not as bad as a Friday night with a packed dinner crowd.
The one star is for the wine. The wine was great!

I love the intimate feel right as you walk in the door! Their food is amazing! I love the ceaser kale salad. Pastas are great as well! You don’t want to miss the Happy Hour!
Jack and Michael will take care of you like family!

Food was good, service was fine — but someone apparently wanted to get home. Though many tables were filled with people enjoying their meals and each others company — at a certain point they just turned up all the house lights as if to say, «GTFO».

My husband and I tried this place tonight and we loved it! Nice, romantic place. I can’t wait to go back! I was told that they have the best chicken parmesan in town. My husband being a huge fan of said dish had to try it. Holy, crap was he not disappointed! I loved my shrimp scampi dish too. Not only was dinner completely satisfying, my husband loved the complimentary bread that came with our meals too. Our server was fantastic! We will be going back again SOON!!!

I’ve been to Lucia at least a half dozen times over the past 18 months. So obviously it’s good enough to go back but it also has to do to the fact it is a one block walk from where I live.
The atmosphere is dark colors, low light, high ceilings with old black and white movies playing on a big screen near the bar (there theme is old movies/​actors.) The menu is mainly classic Italian fare and fairly diverse but not huge. I’m not sure if they’ve raised their prices in the past 6 – 12 months, but it’s a little on the pricey side (the same or slightly more expensive than Purple down the street) but not outrageous for Kirkland (even though it’s in the aging Park Place with a view of QFC.) Pastas and Pizzas are in the $ 15-​$ 20 range. A lot of the other entrees are in the high $ 20’s. They do have daily specials every week: Monday=2 for 1 pasta, Tuesday=half price wine bottles, Wed=$ 5 martinis, Thur=drink specials.
Food is generally good, one favorite of mine is the Sausage Truffle Mushroom Pizza which is enough for two people to share. Their bolognese isn’t bad either if you like meat sauce. Although most items are 4-​star, not everything is a that stellar though so you just have to be careful about your selection. I tried the chop salad last visit and was dissapointed as the lettuce was discolored on the edges (hard to see in the low light though) and the meat was cut up lunch meat slices instead of chunks. This was probably the worse thing I’ve ever eaten here though.
In recent weeks the place seems to have a musty smell to it, possibly mainly in the bar area which is frankly starting to give it a tad of a ‘divey’ feel in the bar. Not sure what that’s about. Has a pretty young staff that at least on my last visit failed to greet me as I entered and proceeded to the bar or say thank you for your business when leaving. Bartender was friendly and service has always been good in general though.
All things considered I’d give it 3.5 stars overall, but 4 stars on their 2 for 1 pasta or half price wine bottle night.

My friend and I came here for dinner. It was a long past due grils night out! I thought she was picky about where to go but it turned out I was the one didn’t want to go anywhere! Well, I am glad she took me here!
Between two of us, we ordered Fig & Kalamata Olive Tapenade Crostini, Lucia’s Signature Spaghetti, Potato Gnocchi w/​Boneless Short ribs, and a bottle of red wine.
I loved the crostini with fig and cheese! Probably one of my favorite of the night! Loved the sauce for spaghetti. However, the meatballs were a bit cold. The short ribs dish was spot on as far as the flavor and taste went. However, gnocchi wasn’t a bit mushy! The wine we ordered was off price special. Overall, it was very nice for our girls night out! We couldn’t eat dessert!!!
I definitely would love to come back again! :-)

Even though it’s tucked away in a shopping plaza, Lucia has a classy atmosphere that hypes you up for some amazing Italian food. We started with the calamari fritti, which was way over battered in my opinion. The amount of breading was equal to the width of the squid, making the entire dish too heavy. I had the shrimp scamp, which was surprisingly light and flavorful purely with the fresh capers and garlic in the wine sauce. The fettucine and shrimp were both cooked perfectly! My boyfriend had the spaghetti bolognese, which was a much larger portion and packed with meat. Overall, the food was good, but nothing particularly special!

I saw a groupon for this place and decided to go for it since I’ve passed it multiple times and the restaurant seemed inviting.
For dinner, we had the Calamari Fritti for appetizer, the carbonara, chicken cannelloni and sauté spinach for the main course. We didn’t realize the portions would be so big and our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomached since we had plenty of leftover. Overall, we found the food to be too heavy, salty, and lacking in flavor other than the saltiness. The best thing about this place happens to be free! Their complimentary cheesy bread was one of the best I’ve had. The raspberry? rhubarb? jam they serve the bread it definitely added to the treat, it provided a freshness and a hint of sweetness to the bread which went very well together.
Our waitress (her first day on the job) was very nice. We would be back for their 2 for 1 pasta deal on Monday nights to give it another try.