La Cucina Ristorante & Pizzeria

Great place for a good Italian meal. Loved the lobster raviolis. Have gone back and hope to many more times.

Stopped by on a whim. The food was delicious presentation by awesome and the service was great

We hemmed and hawed about coming here for a long while and we finally made the move and WERE NOT disappointed! We started w the chicken soup (excellent) and chicken wings (nice and crispy) and then had the house salad (could have used more dressing but was very tasty) and then my husband ordered the gnocchi bolognese and I ordered the chicken Marsala. YUM TO BOTH! We ended with carrot cake (not so good– probably bought) and house made tiramisu that was awesome! I would highly recommend this place. Our waitress was lovely also! I can’t wait to go back to try more dishes!

I stopped in with a friend for take out slices. We ordered 3 meatball slices and a plain cheese slice. Our order was placed right at 12 noon. There were 2 tables seated. Our slices arrived at 12:15 we paid and went to our work truck parked outside. All four slices were served at room temperature, at best. The slices were large in size with a heavy dough. At $ 6.50 for two slices, and a 15 minute wait, I would have expected the pizza to be served hot and fresh. Rather, I received two cold slices with the meatball slices just placed on top.
I’m willing to bet that a pizza straight out of the oven at this location is probably very good. This visit, 4 thumbs down. The only reason for my rating of 2 stars is because the young lady that waited on us was very personable and appreciated our $ 5 tip.

Pasta was good, don’t order something other than pasta or pizza though. One of the people in our party ordered seafood And was still frozen inside. Service was very slow also.

Outstanding food! We had the butternut squash ravioli special and it was delicious! The Shrimp Rose was so tasty. The shrimp were so fresh and the sauce was a little spicy which I love. The Veal Caruso was meltingly tender and the cavatelli is homemade. The gnocchi is also homemade and delicious. Our waiter was Dan. He was kind and knowledgable and very efficient. This is our new favorite Italian restaurant and we will be back often!

Ambiance: pretty close to zero if you’re looking for a nice, quiet candlelit dinner out. Noise travels easily and when families gather, it gets even louder; HOWEVER!!!
The food! The food is really good! We got the calamari which was not overly fried, although the sauce was a bit… ketchup-​y tasting… the stuffed mushrooms were very good. Appetizers= were very good but not the best we’ve ever had ever… but we both had pasta dishes; my husband had a gnocchi bolognese and I had farfalle ala vodka with pancetta and oh my word! I had a hard time stopping. My husband also ordered a side of meatballs which Were TO DIE FOR!
We finished off with a torte-​like chocolate-​on-​chocolate cake and it was awesome!
Verdict: we will probably come grab take-​out at their window. The prices are mediocre, not cheap but not the most expensive for the good food you get but for the lack of atmosphere, I’d rather eat in the comfort of home.

Not a good experience. The Clam Chowder was colored water with a couple of piece a of potatoes and Clams not worth the price. You could buy a can for a couple of dollars and it would have been better. Then the bread came with butter and there was hair in it!!! I told the waitress she had no comment and so I asked to speak to the manager but he was to busy making pizzas to come to the table. The waitress was slow and at most times not available. This was my first visit and I am not impressed and won’t return. Think twice before going I was very disappointed.

Absolutely the BEST pizza around! We drive by several pizza restaurants to get to La Cucina and do it with the knowledge that we are gonna get a GREAT pizza. We have never been disappointed! Their crust is amazing and the ingredients fresh. If you haven’t tried them yet, do yourself a favor and end your search for your go to pizza place!

I’d have to say this was the best chicken parmigiana meal I’ve had in a long time… hopefully it wasn’t a fluke…

Food is always very good however the service can be mixed. Tonight the service was terrible. The place was not that busy however we waited for our salads for 15 minutes despite the fact they were sitting right there on the counter. Food finally came, they brought out my gf’s meal, told me mine would be ready shortly. 10 minutes later my dish finally arrived.
All in all we usually have a good meal here at a decent price. Perhaps tonight was just an off night

Took. Random trip here for the first time and I don’t regret it at all ! Food was excellent, had the fried calamari for an appetizer, really good.
Then had the surf and turf for my main course and loved it also. The stuffing in the fish was excellent. Lots of food portion wise.
Would go here again for sure

When you and almost everyone else in the restaurant has to put on jackets maybe they would get the idea to turn the air off or up so people can actually enjoy their meal. And bathroom was pretty gross too.

Stopped in here because there was nothing else open in Torrington on Memorial Day, and was pleasantly surprised with a fantastic meal!
We had the eggplant tower appetizer which was truly phenomenal. It was a special that night, but they should definitely add it to their regular menu. Huge portions, nice wine selection. We will be back for sure.

Great food. Good desserts. Quick. My favorites are the pasta fagoli soup and the chicken parm.

Stopped for take out — small cheese pie for the youngin and a large margherita for us. Cheese pizza was good, but margherita was beyond bland.

Stopped in today at lunchtime for a couple of pizza slices — one sausage, the other pepperoni. They were alright, I have had better pizza slices, but I’ve also had worse. Basically, «middle-​of-​the-​road». I imagine the pizza would’ve been better if it had been made in the oven fresh, rather than one sitting on the counter and re-​heated w/​the toppings added on before the re-​heating process.

Torrington needs a restaurant like La Cucina. Four stars goes to helping revive a city that does not have much going on, especially towards dining. A few highlights of the restaurant are: the very friendly staff, great/​quick service, and suggestions of the most popular italian items on the menu, including the specials (which a few people in my party ordered, and enjoyed)!
All of La Cucina’s dishes with egg fettucini are hand made pasta plates! I was very happy with the spinach/​egg pasta I ordered, it came with a light cream sauce and pancetta. The portions of pasta are gigantic, and I didn’t come close to finishing i.e. leftovers. All of the other pasta dishes are not handmade.
Some of the menu items drift from traditional italian cuisine, with surf & turf plates and the extra thick pork chops. We shared, and I must say everything was tasty, cooked well, and settled great! For the price, this is a fantastic place to come with your family to have a dinner out for any occasion.

As an out of town visitor, I couldn’t help but notice that Torrington is packed with Italian restaurants. They range all the way from delicious holes in the wall to the higher end, white table cloth settings.
La Cucina has somewhat of a misleading atmosphere which lead to lowered expectations for my dinner. You sit down to a very plain, standard table covered with paper place mats and expect a styrofoam or plastic plate with mediocre food. So, naturally, imagine my confusion when I open the menu and see options like, oh I don’t know, Lobster Ravioli. THEN, imagine my shock when I order this lobster ravioli and receive a long white plate piled with huge lobster ravioli topped with a thick red cream sauce studded with chunks of shrimp and lobster and fresh basil. What just happened here?
The ravioli was amazingly good and I would never have expected a meal like that to be served in a restaurant like this. I was beyond impressed and when I come back to Torrington you can rest assured that I will be patronizing this establishment.

When this place opened I was like «Hmmm, just what Torrington needs, another Italian place.» The culinary landscape of Torrington primarily consists of about a dozen Italian places, Subway, oodles of Dunkin Donuts, crappy fast food, Applebees and 99. EFF THAT NOISE.
After finally coming here — I’m aggravated that I wrote it off so quickly. (I’m pretty sure they share ownership with Salerno’s which should speak volumes — in a good way!)
Sure, the prices are more than you’re going to pay at 99 down the street — but the portions are enormous and the food is delicious. I paid $ 18 for Veal Milanese and took more than half of it home. So essentially dinner cost me $ 9 for that meal. FINE BY ME. Even the fiancé, who is a human garbage disposal took half of his veal parm home.
I also love what they did with the place. Once upon a time it was a Friendly’s with a weird kitchen running down the middle which made it super cramped. They ripped out the weird kitchen, put it in the back and the interior is opened right up. It’s not «uninspired» as another reviewer said. (Heh, pet peeve of Unilocal: uninspired is such an overused word. It’s lost all meaning. Try again.)
I felt like the service was a *little* slow, but it wasn’t worth complaining about. The desserts looked great — they have examples out on a platter which they bring around to the table, but we were so stuffed that we didn’t even entertain the idea.
The pizza prices seemed a bit steep, but I’m sure based on the food we had they’re worth every last penny!
To think the original suggestion from the fiancé was «Oh, let’s go to Twinco.» — Um, yeah… glad I suggested otherwise!
Dear Torrington,
We need more places like this. Not necessarily Italian. But non-​chain, good food, that’s a step up from crappy 99 and Applebees. Stop complaining when your entrée is $ 15 instead of $ 8.99. Support local restaurants.
Love,
Foodies in Northwestern CT