Lumi Restaurant

Made a reservation here, and then tried to call the 2 days before — no answer, website down, etc. Contacted opentable, found out it had closed 4 days before (mar 27?)

Were looking for a place near Hunter college after the Bronx opera performance. First I ordered a drink at the bar and then two friends came along and we tried the zucchini soup and the gnocchi. Both were out of this world. A little pricey but good for a special night out — very elegant décor and attentive service. My daughter is a great gnocchi fan — it was probably the best gnocchi I had in NYC — can’t compare with my mother’s-in-law of course

Stumbled onto this place by accident tonight, but had a great experience. My first thought was, whoa the bartender is CUTE! Second thought was this is the place that Charlotte goes into labor in the Sex in the City movie. It’s a cute little place, the drinks weren’t as expensive as I thought they’d be, and the service is great (again, biased by the cute bartender).

It’s hard for me to write a review on this place because the service was so different from the food. My fiancé and I had been strolling around central park and the general 5^th avenue area when hunger struck. Being gfree (well, me being gfree), means we couldn’t just stop anywhere to eat. So we opened up my «find me gluten free» app and Lumi was one of the options that popped up. We decided to go there instead of the pizza joint down the road — Once I hear pasta, I need pasta, haha.
I had (gluten free!) pasta with spicy sausage and my fiancé had chicken. I wish I remembered the exact names, but I don’t! We were both stuffed when we left and more than happy with the taste of the food!
The downside? The service took FOREVER! And considering that at the time of our order we were the only people actually in the restaurant, the 40 minutes that we had to wait for the food didn’t make sense. The waiters also barely visited our table — This isn’t to say that I like having waiters harass me throughout my meal, but it’s nice if they check in to see if you need more water or something.
Overall we were satisfied enough with the food that the relatively subpar service didn’t affect our willingness to go back if we find ourselves back in that neighbourhood in NYC.

After a long stroll in Central Park, my boyfriend and I (well, mostly me) were craving a glass of wine and stumbled into Lumi on our way to the 6 train. One glass of wine turned into two glasses of wine and two appetizers. We shared the steamed mussels and the tri-​color salad and both were delicious, although I usually prefer my tri-​color salad less «chopped.» The mussels were awesome though. The service was great and our bartender gave us two free shots — one for simply agreeing to slide down at the bar to make room for others. An unnecessary but well received gesture!
I can’t give an exhaustive review since we didn’t eat a full meal but I can say without reservation that I am happy we came upon this place by accident :)

I’ve been to Lumi two times now and both occasions were up to par. The restaurant was particularly helpful last night, when we had a big group for my sister’s birthday. They were very attentive to our table, and we never had to wait long for drinks, appetizers or food.
As for appetizers, we shared the caprese and peppers, and grilled octopus, and arugula salad. The grilled octopus was really good, the others were pretty standard for what you’d expect for an Italian restaurant.
As for my main course, I had the pumpkin tortelli in cinnamon sauce. This was delicious! I imagine this was seasonal, and not something on their main menu. My sister had the fettucine bolognese, which was also very good.
As for dessert, I had the chocolate ganache, which was a little too chocolately for my liking. If you go, you’re better off getting the tiramisu. I’ve tried a lot of tiramisus in my short life time, and this one was probably one of the better ones.
All in all, this was a great little spot to go for a birthday gathering. While I wouldn’t come back here every month (since it’s a little pricey), I definitely would keep it on my list of places to bring friends.

I had a very pleaseant lunch at Lumi. The service was too slow in light of being one of only 3 occupied tables in the place. The service we did get was cordial and pleasant. The food was pretty good, but not up to the standards of Pino’s other restaurant like Centolire. The fetuccini bolognese was delicious, however my fish was poorly seasoned. The tri-​color salad that came with my fish was beautiful and fresh, but woefully under-​seasoned. Perhaps I’m being a little harsh with a two star rating, but sister restaurants should be complimentary of one another. In light of the fact that there were only 3 other covers, the chef should have prepared each dish meticously, thus my disappointment. Centolire is a solid performer, and Lumi should be as well.

Was looking for some italian food near our hotel and found this place. Was pretty good, not amazing but good.
The cavatelli wasn’t very good.
Caprese salad was very good.
Has gluten free options. The gluten free spaghetti was very good.
A little expensive but definitely a great gluten free option and drinks are great too.

You need to stay away during the summer. and this was just May!
Hot evening but just as bad inside. We moved to the back at the behest of the staff as it was «cooler».We also saw another party grimacing in the heat as they were seated. and advised to go upstairs.(not sure how that would work)
After several requests the air did come on in spurts once or twice but soon it would end we were sweating again
I was dripping in sweat and I was wearing shorts.
Not sure I have ever experienced this in a NYC restaurant before
Im a garlic lover but the spaghetti w clams (one of my favorites which I have eaten all over the world) was all garlic. so much so and way too strong that one couldnt taste the clams or a trace of seafood.
Other 3 dishes were OK but the four us were extremely uncomforatble all evening and wouldnt come back until the chill is back. even then, its unclear why?
Management could have been upfront about the lack of air conditioning but elected to keep us in the dark until the wine was poured, etc.

Very nice cozy restaurant in the upper east side. Service was terrible! No menu’s for 10minutes, which was the same ncomplaint that the people next to us was saying. Waiter having a bad day blabbing to the bartender about co-​workers and forgetting our drink orders. Never brought butter for the breads and not paying attention to our questions that we were asking.
Will give 2 stars only for that the busboy and the hostess were very nice.

They offer a GF menu! AWESOME!
The pasta has really good flavor, as does everything else. We brought the boyfriends parents here and they are super picky eaters (they dont like anything out of the «ordinary») and they loved it.
The portions can be a tad small but the taste is well worth it. We always make reservations before we go.
Must try! And they filmed some of Sex and the City here…

The only good thing? The outside seating in the sun.
The food — terrible!!!

Came here with a friend on a spring night after searching the neighborhood for a good place to eat outside. The service was great– we were seated right away outside and our order was taken immediately. The food on the other hand was pretty sub par. We shared the Caesar salad to start. It came as a giant hearts of romain but the dressing was so powerful I could barely taste anything else. It had way too much garlic in the dressing and it was so rich and creamy I felt kind of horrible after eating it. The pasta was also extremely over salted– I was drinking gallons of water to get through the meal.
Overpriced meal for not so excellent food.

If your going to go… have HAVE to get a Caesar salad made my Micheala (spelling?). Never thought I’d recommend a salad but this is truly one of a kind.
Plus great wine and atmosphere.
Falls one start from 5 based on their main courses not being the best. I’d go for the made to order Caesar and a bottle of wine any day though.

I eat out a good amount, so if I can say without reservation that this is the worst service I’ve ever received in a restaurant, that’s saying something.
I went here with a friend after a very long day and we hadn’t seen each other in a long time. Granted, we did not have a reservation, so I was fine with them giving us a table outside, as it was a fairly nice night out. After sitting for a good 10 minutes without any service, we went inside to get the waiter and to try to get some menus. Given the lack of lighting outside as it was getting dark, we had to use our cell phones to read the menus.
After another 10 minute wait, a server came and took our order begrudgingly… we probably should have left at this point, but we were both hungry and had a lot to catch up on. Our food eventually came, but it really lacked flavor. I had a salmon appetizer that had no taste and my friend didn’t care for his salad. From there, we both had to repeatedly go inside to get any kind of service. My pasta was too spicy for my taste, so I kept needing more water… there was a point when I wanted to go inside and bring a jar of water to our table, as we were not getting served at all. After we were done with our meal, we had to go inside to ask for our check. I have never thought about just running after a meal, I have to admit that I was tempted at multiple moments.
Stay away from this place… unless you want to be agitated for your entire meal and pay for average overpriced pasta.

The food at Lumi is terrific, don’t get me wrong, but Bella Blu is just a block or so away with not only food of the same caliber, but also a peppier vibe. I have to withhold that last star for that reason alone. I’m sorry, Lumi.

I am very disappointed with this place. The only positive thing I can say about this restaurant is the food was good. The portions were a little small for the price but I enjoyed it.
I had my bridal shower here and the owner was rude and unhelpful. She double booked our party… we wanted the private room but we were sat in a tiny corner for 20 people. Our party started at 5 and the tables were not set up. There is only one co-​ed bathroom for the entire restaurant so there was a line. I can’t stress enough how rude the owner is. Don’t have a party here.
But my bridal shower was AMAZING so thank you to my family!!! Love you guys.

I’ll admit, the real reason I came to the restaurant was because my friend mentioned it was in the SATC movie. Which is cool, BUT
Lumi is seriously overpriced!
I got the scallops which was literally 4 scallops and a pile of maybe 6 asparagus, my friend got the lamb chops which looked okay (nothing too special), and we shared a bottle of sparkling water. The bill came out to around 85 $ with tax and tip. I wouldn’t mind paying that much if the meal was really unique or flavorful, but nothing stood out at all.
I walked out of there hungry and unsatisfied.

I don’t have much to say yet about Lumi, except that it’s a very nice place, with competent staff, and a full gluten free menu. I had a wonderful bolognese pasta with GF noodles. Very expensive. But we sat in front of a «fire». My friend eats there often for dinner, so it much be good.
Also, fyi, we walked in, without a reservation and in jeans for lunch on a Saturday. But dinner is more formal attire and reservations advised.

Lumi is one of the worst Italian restaurants in NYC not just the Upper East Side. The service sucks, as the waiters may come around when they feel like it.
I ordered the salmon that I think they only over seasoned with salt, disgusting. The waiter was kind enough to provide me with a warm bottle of San Pellegrino water on a hot day. Their table bread is sliced bread, sliced bread. Yes, supermarket bought slice bread that they bring around on a try and drop on your table.
If you are in the mood crappy food than go to Lumi and pay their high prices. I am tired of places like Lumi trying to portray that they are trendy, but they forget the one most important rule about running a food establishment. The food has to taste good, it is about the food this place might as well become a lounge.
The only thing Lumi is good for is sitting down and talking about real Italian restaurants.