We had high expectations for this restaurant, because of the positive reviews online and by word of mouth. The atmosphere is charming and we were greeted warmly by the front staff, who prepared our table early and ahead of our reservation. However, our service was otherwise inexcusably terrible, so much so that it ruined our evening. We spent 3 hours total in the restaurant. We waited 45 minutes for cocktails. The “featured” cocktail was terrible so we returned it, but were charged (though the server did amend our bill). We waited 75 minutes for appetizers. The server forgot to put in the order for one of the appetizers, which showed up 20 minutes late. The server put in the wrong order for one of the main courses, then weirdly accused us of ordering the incorrect dish. Then he tried to switch the dish with another guest, insisting that HE must have ordered that dish. We sent it back, but didn’t want to wait for another main, because we had already been in the restaurant over two hours. The server then tried to force us to have plates to share the meals, even though we didn’t request the dishes and didn’t want them. We kept saying “no”, and he kept insisting. The server described one of the main courses as being marinara/tomato based, when in fact it was cream-based. We had to return this dish, as well, because our friend cannot have dairy, and even said so when he ordered. In sum, after waiting for more than 2 hours for main dishes, 2 members of our party ended up not having a main dish. Oh, and there are only two single stall bathrooms in the restaurant. Good thing we had plenty of time to wait in line. On the upside, the 2 diners at the table who received their main meals liked them. Batting .500 is excellent in baseball but a disaster when you’re dining in Carmel by the Sea, California.
Rosanna Melhem
Had an amazing experience at Cantinetta Luca! The food was absolutely divine – every dish was bursting with authentic Italian flavors. The environment was so vibey, with a warm and inviting atmosphere that made the whole meal feel extra special. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a fantastic dining experience!
Reena
The Bolognese was delicious!! The pasta was slightly more al dente than I prefer, but it didn't detract too much from the dish. The berry tart dessert special was amazingly good. My Coke was flat, but they quickly fixed the machine and brought another one. Unfortunately, they never came back to refill my small $5 Coke until it was time to order dessert. Highly recommend.
Sumita
It was the worst dining experience! The duck and ravioli from “special” menu never arrived, which we had to cancel ultimately. We were there with our 3 year old son who was getting tired and more sleepy. The waiter kept promising that the food was on its way. They could have been just honest with us that those items would take 45 min+. Very poor communication from the waiter and management.
stephen
The carbonara and bolangnese pasta were underdone and lacked flavor. Neither crushed black pepper nor chili flakes were offered. The expensive seafood pasta dish had 4 small clams, and looked dull. The housemade salumi platter was small but exhibited great quality. Service was excellent; wine list average. If I do return, which is unlikely, I'll stick with the pizza selection.
gina
The food was outstanding!! recommend ordering all the specials the restaurant offers and is known for. You will not be disappointed. An absolute treat to dine there.
Robin
Exceptional service and fabulous food. In spite of having very loud noise level, this restaurant is on our “A” list.
Lisa
The food was excellent, the servers were friendly and attentive. Unfortunately, the room was really loud. As in 85 decibels according to my smart watch. Loud enough to preclude comfortable conversation. If we dine here again (and we might, the food really was good!) I'll try the front room instead of the back where we were, perhaps that might not be quite so loud???
Twinee
So disappointing, as we have been coming for years and the restaurant has improved over the years years EXCEPT last night, when it was the worst it's ever been. We were the first in the door at 5:30 pm, as we had a concert at 7:30 nearby. We told the waiter we needed to leave by 7:10 pm. Service was glacially slow and we had only 10 minutes to eat our main course! Our pizza, usually very good, was almost inedible. Burnt on the bottom and about 8 pieces of salumi; they left off the other ingredients. But no time to send it back. Brussels sprouts were mushy. Drink prices were outrageously high, and NO Chardonnay by the glass. They were “out” so had to settle for a Grenache Blanc. Cocktails were 1/2 normal size. To her credit, the manager comped us our food, which was nice. We still paid $170 for drinks (!!) this restaurant will go off our list for a while.
Patricia
The food was good and our waiter was attentive. However, there must have been a major kitchen issue since my entree came about 15 minutes after all the others at our table of 4 - everyone was basically done eating before I got my pasta. I would have expected that dish or a desert to be comped after such a ridiculously long delay, but that did not occur.
Waited 15 minutes to be acknowledged by our server and a full hour before entrees arrived. Food was good, especially the steak and halibut but service was really poor. Roasted brussels were crunchy and undercooked. The restaurant seemed to be somewhat worn and in need of updating and the acoustics made for a very noisy ambiance. Have dined here in the past and everything was great but this visit will be our last.
CJeatsWell
Consistently good. Had perfectly done octopus for appetizer, halibut and gluten free tagliatelle pasta were also great.Our server was attentive and let us enjoy our wine from Sardinia. Great meal
George
We felt the waiter wasn't knowledgeable about the wine and didn't give us good suggestions for wine by the glass. We felt the Octopus was tough. The chicken was unsalted. The spinach wasn't cooked enough yet the pine nuts were burnt. The halibut was very good but also under salted. The broccolini was excellent. I hope to try the restaurant again and have a better experience.
PattiC
Luca is a favorite when I have out of town guests. As usual, food and service were both excellent. Special appetizer of fig encased in gorgonzola and spreck was divine. Focaccia was the best ever. One of my guests had the New York steak which was cooked perfectly..charred on the outside and nicely pink on the inside...he thoroughly enjoyed it. Margarita pizza is always reliably good here. My only wish is that there were more vegetarian options available. But I highly recommend Luca.
gosaka
We chose Cantinetta Luca for a Monday evening dinner - many other restaurants were closed. Service was efficient and cordial and the food reasonably prepared with fresh ingredients. My Spaghetti Carbonara was well prepared but perhaps a little heavy - just lacking a bit of the liveliness from the pancetta that I was hoping for. My partner enjoyed her fish preparation. Solid but not spectacular in any way.
We had high expectations for this restaurant, because of the positive reviews online and by word of mouth. The atmosphere is charming and we were greeted warmly by the front staff, who prepared our table early and ahead of our reservation. However, our service was otherwise inexcusably terrible, so much so that it ruined our evening. We spent 3 hours total in the restaurant. We waited 45 minutes for cocktails. The “featured” cocktail was terrible so we returned it, but were charged (though the server did amend our bill). We waited 75 minutes for appetizers. The server forgot to put in the order for one of the appetizers, which showed up 20 minutes late. The server put in the wrong order for one of the main courses, then weirdly accused us of ordering the incorrect dish. Then he tried to switch the dish with another guest, insisting that HE must have ordered that dish. We sent it back, but didn’t want to wait for another main, because we had already been in the restaurant over two hours. The server then tried to force us to have plates to share the meals, even though we didn’t request the dishes and didn’t want them. We kept saying “no”, and he kept insisting. The server described one of the main courses as being marinara/tomato based, when in fact it was cream-based. We had to return this dish, as well, because our friend cannot have dairy, and even said so when he ordered. In sum, after waiting for more than 2 hours for main dishes, 2 members of our party ended up not having a main dish. Oh, and there are only two single stall bathrooms in the restaurant. Good thing we had plenty of time to wait in line. On the upside, the 2 diners at the table who received their main meals liked them. Batting .500 is excellent in baseball but a disaster when you’re dining in Carmel by the Sea, California.
Had an amazing experience at Cantinetta Luca! The food was absolutely divine – every dish was bursting with authentic Italian flavors. The environment was so vibey, with a warm and inviting atmosphere that made the whole meal feel extra special. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a fantastic dining experience!
The Bolognese was delicious!! The pasta was slightly more al dente than I prefer, but it didn't detract too much from the dish. The berry tart dessert special was amazingly good. My Coke was flat, but they quickly fixed the machine and brought another one. Unfortunately, they never came back to refill my small $5 Coke until it was time to order dessert. Highly recommend.
It was the worst dining experience! The duck and ravioli from “special” menu never arrived, which we had to cancel ultimately. We were there with our 3 year old son who was getting tired and more sleepy. The waiter kept promising that the food was on its way. They could have been just honest with us that those items would take 45 min+. Very poor communication from the waiter and management.
The carbonara and bolangnese pasta were underdone and lacked flavor. Neither crushed black pepper nor chili flakes were offered. The expensive seafood pasta dish had 4 small clams, and looked dull. The housemade salumi platter was small but exhibited great quality. Service was excellent; wine list average. If I do return, which is unlikely, I'll stick with the pizza selection.
The food was outstanding!! recommend ordering all the specials the restaurant offers and is known for. You will not be disappointed. An absolute treat to dine there.
Exceptional service and fabulous food. In spite of having very loud noise level, this restaurant is on our “A” list.
The food was excellent, the servers were friendly and attentive. Unfortunately, the room was really loud. As in 85 decibels according to my smart watch. Loud enough to preclude comfortable conversation. If we dine here again (and we might, the food really was good!) I'll try the front room instead of the back where we were, perhaps that might not be quite so loud???
So disappointing, as we have been coming for years and the restaurant has improved over the years years EXCEPT last night, when it was the worst it's ever been. We were the first in the door at 5:30 pm, as we had a concert at 7:30 nearby. We told the waiter we needed to leave by 7:10 pm. Service was glacially slow and we had only 10 minutes to eat our main course! Our pizza, usually very good, was almost inedible. Burnt on the bottom and about 8 pieces of salumi; they left off the other ingredients. But no time to send it back. Brussels sprouts were mushy. Drink prices were outrageously high, and NO Chardonnay by the glass. They were “out” so had to settle for a Grenache Blanc. Cocktails were 1/2 normal size. To her credit, the manager comped us our food, which was nice. We still paid $170 for drinks (!!) this restaurant will go off our list for a while.
The food was good and our waiter was attentive. However, there must have been a major kitchen issue since my entree came about 15 minutes after all the others at our table of 4 - everyone was basically done eating before I got my pasta. I would have expected that dish or a desert to be comped after such a ridiculously long delay, but that did not occur.
Restaurantji Recommends
Waited 15 minutes to be acknowledged by our server and a full hour before entrees arrived. Food was good, especially the steak and halibut but service was really poor. Roasted brussels were crunchy and undercooked. The restaurant seemed to be somewhat worn and in need of updating and the acoustics made for a very noisy ambiance. Have dined here in the past and everything was great but this visit will be our last.
Consistently good. Had perfectly done octopus for appetizer, halibut and gluten free tagliatelle pasta were also great.Our server was attentive and let us enjoy our wine from Sardinia. Great meal
We felt the waiter wasn't knowledgeable about the wine and didn't give us good suggestions for wine by the glass. We felt the Octopus was tough. The chicken was unsalted. The spinach wasn't cooked enough yet the pine nuts were burnt. The halibut was very good but also under salted. The broccolini was excellent. I hope to try the restaurant again and have a better experience.
Luca is a favorite when I have out of town guests. As usual, food and service were both excellent. Special appetizer of fig encased in gorgonzola and spreck was divine. Focaccia was the best ever. One of my guests had the New York steak which was cooked perfectly..charred on the outside and nicely pink on the inside...he thoroughly enjoyed it. Margarita pizza is always reliably good here. My only wish is that there were more vegetarian options available. But I highly recommend Luca.
We chose Cantinetta Luca for a Monday evening dinner - many other restaurants were closed. Service was efficient and cordial and the food reasonably prepared with fresh ingredients. My Spaghetti Carbonara was well prepared but perhaps a little heavy - just lacking a bit of the liveliness from the pancetta that I was hoping for. My partner enjoyed her fish preparation. Solid but not spectacular in any way.
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