Lucca Grill

Passing through town, saw this as we drove by the old downtown. If you’re looking for atmosphere, this has it. It’s been here since the 1930’s. Awesome old building, tin ceilings & memorabilia. We had the A La Baldini pizza, the one they’re known for. This was one of the best pizzas we’ve ever had! I’m sad that we don’t live near Bloomington.

The A La baldini is the best thin crust pizza in town. Tony that runs the place is a great guy. Every time I stop in he comes to our table to say hi. Nice work Lucca!

I walked past the restaurant on the sidewalk and read their hours on the door, thinking I’d like to check the place out for dinner in the future, only to hear a voice behind me a moment later yelling in a very condescending tone that the restaurant was closed and that I should not even think about approaching the door. I later learned that this rude person is the owner of this establishment. Don’t worry, Tony — keep closing a half hour early and yelling at people who dare walk past the building — you’ll never see my face in your restaurant, or that of anyone who takes my advice about where to eat in bloomington! I’ve heard only nasty things about his management and poor treatment of guests.

Busy every night one of the oldest Italian places in Bloomington.

Nice old fashioned ambiance, good service, and ok food. Food was definitely not what I have come to expect when a place has 4 stars on Unilocal.Spinach and artichoke dip was worth 4 stars perhaps, but the pasta primavera was fairly bland and boring bringing my overall impression to 3 stars.

THE place in BloNo for pizza. Traditional wafer-​thin crust pizza (and a variety of other Italian-​American dishes). Great atmosphere. Reminiscent of an old corner bar in the big city. Professional staff.

Sausage and peppers fettuccine was outstanding. Stayed at Hampton Inn and followed their recommendation.

Showed up at 9:56pm thinking kitchen closed at 11pm but discovered it was 10pm. Staff was falling over themselves trying to let us know it would be their pleasure, it was no problem, and they’d be happy to help.
I had baked Ziti, wife had small pizza… both DELICIOUS! Food came out fast and hot, service was awesome, waitress came over within 3 bites for us both and made sure everything was perfect. Manager, Tony, came by, sat down, made sure we were happy and everything was perfect. If we lived in Bloomington, this would be our new hangout.
GREAT JOB, LUCCA GRILL! WE’LL BE BACK!

Best place for a beer and pizza in town. I stop there every time that I am back in BN!

Why only two stars when I actually love this pizza? Service. I’ve been eating this pizza two or three times a year for 20 years and the last couple years I have to prepare myself ahead of time for the attitudes. Tonight we were treated like an inconvenience. The owner was most especially rude (per usual as we aren’t regulars or known). We had to go to the bar to get our own drink refills. The waitress only checked on us once and it was blatantly obvious she was pushing us to leave. She was in such a huge hurry to clear or table she actually HIT a small child on the head with the pizza pan after removing it from our table. She apologized to the child but, maybe if she had some help it would not have happened. Not a single employee had a smile on their face, not one. I still LOVE the pizza though. I just wish they would treat people like they’re happy to see them!

Still great entries, still disappointing bread basket, still has great value carafe of wine & a salad that is nothing to write home about. Stopped in on a Sunday evening without reservations, won’t do that again. We ended up at the bar and the bartender (we assume the owner) did not make us feel welcome. Definitely geared to the locals as he greeted them all by name. Not that he didn’t take care of us, just the attitude left a lasting impression.

It pains me to write this because I have loved this place for years.
Something was immediately off from the beginning, the waitress was gone for very long periods of time and was apologizing to us and other tables for the wait. Where does she keep disappearing to, this is a small restaurant?
Anyway, ordered cheese ravioli and drinks to start. Meat ravioli arrived and she argued with us that it’s what we wanted. No, our table of five confirmed we were pretty clear about what we ordered.
While waiting for our pizzas, some young kid went in and out of the tiny men’s room. Not sure what happened in there but owner Tony was pissed about it as usual and made sure everyone was aware of it as he donned rubber gloves and yelled across the quiet restaurant.
The wilted salads came with the sour dressing (can salad dressing ‘turn’?). And then the pizza. Two were burnt to a crisp. The third one was underdone. She agreed that they were making a replacement for the worst of the burned one, and that I’d have to ‘let her know’ if mine was too burned to enjoy. I’m thinking, if it looks that bad you should have made the judgement call to replace mine as well.
I watched her interact with and bus several nearby tables. She appeared very ‘out of it’ and was maybe just having a bad night. Owner Tony proceeded to belittle patrons who arrived without reservations and tell them he could ‘maybe get them a table in 35 minutes or so’.
Awful. Couldn’t wait to leave.

A la Baldini pizza is where it’s at! Thin, crispy pizza crust. Perfect blend of toppings, sauce and cheese. Whole peppers on top are also a nice tangy touch.
The fried ravioli is also amazing. Great crunchy outside and nice meaty filling. Also a decent portion for an appetizer. Could feed about 4 people. Yum!

This is such a cool little restaurant, started almost 100 years ago now. The décor in this place is really cool I’m going to post some photos of the ceiling, not to mention the food is pretty banging too! I had a grilled chicken Caesar salad for lunch there and I have never seen croutons so big, and the Caesar dressing is homemade which is incredible! Friend of mine got the hot Italian sub and he said it was phenomenal as well. This is such a nice little place in the heart of Bloomington, if you’re in town don’t miss it for a quick lunch.

We love thin crust & tavern/​bar ambiance. Service has always been good and pizza is delish. Recommended!

Never have I ever been so disappointed in a restaurant. Service was awful, and the manager was beyond rude. The food was decent, but nothing came out on time. We were supposed to get salads and breadsticks, which we had to ask for multiple times only to receive a few salads halfway through dinner. The staff and managers disgusting attitudes didn’t help with the awful service, and I would not recommend dining here. Ever.

Lucca’s friendly servers gave us just the right amount of attention that we wanted.
It looks like they have a great selection of beers on tap although I was in the mood the night we visited for an «old standby».
As others mentioned, the crust is quite thin, but I wanted to mention that it had a delicious and delicate buttery taste. I feel that there is room in the pizza world for some crust diversity, and I enjoyed Lucca’s change of pace crust.
I also agree with the previous comment that the pizza we ordered was quite light on toppings except that the «half» we ordered with sausage had the amount that we expected.
I felt it was a fun experience in what appears to be a hockey/​sports theme bar in the arts area of downtown Bloomington. If I lived closer, I’d probably be a regular.

Stopped for pizza on our way home. Called ahead and ordered a pie… Was hot and ready when we got there.
Pros: Cold beer and hot pizza
Cons: The pizza is paper thin and when we left we were still hungry

Lucca Grill is a tradition in Bloomington. Either you love it or you hate it. As a kid my family didn’t dine at Lucca, but as an adult I’m a regular.
As an appetizer we ordered the Spinach Artichoke dip. It arrived at the table with a very hot temperature and was creamy. I know that this dip is a common appetizer at mediocre restaurants, but Lucca’s is delicious. It’s a perfect blend and the homemade chips are fresh with a great crunch.
Pizza is the order on every visit. Our first choice is the A La Baldoni. It comes with savory sausage, pepperoni, ham, onions, mushrooms, green peppers and pepperoncini. It’s a great and filling pizza. Order the large and there’s plenty to take home. (I make everyone order their own pizza so I can enjoy my leftovers later at home).
I prefer the Meat Combo pizza when I’m not in the mood for a lot of vegetables on my pizza.
The food arrives quickly. The restaurant is always busy. The service is better on the main floor. It seems to be either too hot or too cold on the second floor. There’s a side entrance that allows you to go up to the second floor without going through the crowd in the bar area.
They have a great selection of beer, too.

I think it’s fantastic that they have gluten free pizza and pasta. However, gf pasta noodles have to be removed from boiling water more quickly so they don’t fall apart. I was literally served a bowl of mush. The noodles were in 1″ pieces and all stuck together in tasteless, unappetizing clumps. The meat sauce, which the extremely kind waitress described as «finer» than their other sauces was pretty tasteless and had a large piece of gristle in it. Also sampled cheese gf pizza. It was sweet and chewy. Not my idea of a good pie at all. I give 2 stars for the helpful waitress and for the fact that they are obviously trying. I like the divey atmosphere. For a moment I could forget I was stuck in a small Midwestern town wishing I was elsewhere.