Lucca Back Bay

Lovely ambiance, the meals never disappoint although I will say that the service could have been more attentive, especially when compared to other visits to this establishment and other restaurants in general. I had the scallops (fabulous) and my companions had the Tagliatelle and Salmon respectively (also wonderful). We were never offered fresh ground pepper for our salads and needed to ask for it for our dinner, when ½ was already eaten, I might add. One of our party’s wine glass was removed (no idea why) during the salad portion of our meal and never replaced with a fresh one. Very odd. Despite this, I may possibly return and hope that the restaurant and server take this under advisement.

I tried to get an appetizer and drink at the bar and we got turned away without question which is totally inappropriate because I was trying to take my parents to a good late night bar and your staff didn’t let me

Impressive service, plating, and taste! We came here for an early dinner with my brother and father-​in-​law before a concert at Boston Pops. I was blown away with the quality of food and service from start to finish. Definitely worth the price, which is not cheap, but you get what you pay for here.
My husband is vegan, which means that sometimes he gets shafted on dining choices, even at fine dining restaurants. The server very kindly presented him with some options, giving him freedom to customize and request. I have to say, I think I liked his dish the best and wish I could have had more than a few bites! I don’t know what to call it, because it was custom made, but it featured super fresh peas and asparagus perfectly cooked, on a very tasty bed of farro or some other grain. Well done and graciously served.
I’m pregnant and avoiding beef/​undercooked meats at the moment. After a week of eating too much seafood, I chose the tortelloni ricotta pecora filled pasta with wild boar because it was one of my only options left that fit the parameters. It was SO GOOD. My brother-​in-​law had the rigatoni, and my father-​in-​law ordered the scallops. We all shared a few antipasti — verde greens, carpaccio, etc. All equally impressive. No complaints whatsoever; every bite from every plate was scraped up.
We’re from out of town, but if we came back I’d love to come here again. Nice ambiance, great service, natural light, high ceilings, and nice décor make it a cute date spot or occasion dinner.

We had an excellent experience at Lucca. It was marathon weekend, so they were very busy. This didn’t impact our dining experience at all! Our waiter was attentive, personable, and efficient. The food was wonderful! We had reservations and were seated immediately. Since I was running, we shared the verde salad, simple but delicious. Never had a prosecco vinaigrette, and it was delicious! For carb-​loading, the pasta selections were limited, BUT the waiter highly recommended the squid ink pasta dish. It was excellent!!! Would definitely order it again. It was in a spicy tomato brodo, and he asked the chef to go easy on the spice. Yum! Hubby had the osso bucco, and he also was extremely please with his meal. Tender meat, great sauce. No dessert for us, but we would return again!

Holy moly! I came here solo after a long conference day at Copley Place. I wasn’t sure what atmosphere to expect from the Unilocal reviews but I was trolling by and thought I’d duck in. So glad I did!
I’m not a big guy so I don’t eat a lot, but I could’ve gone deep — REALLY deep — at Lucca Back Bay.
I’m also not a pasta guy, which begs the question of why I’d stop for Italian food. I ordered a side of meatballs from the appetizer menu and an order of arancini with a spicy passata. If you’re Irish like me, you have no idea what that means.
It turns out that arancini is a rice and cheese ball deep fried. Passata is a spicy tomato sauce that it’s bathing in. It’s fairly dry by nature, so accompany it with something moist and meaty. (Hey! Keep it clean!)
That’s why I paired it with the meatballs. The menu promised that they’re tasty and they were indeed. A fragile palate may be offended by the spice level. I love super spicy stuff and the sauce the meatballs lounged in was very flavorful. The meatballs themselves had a lot of rich flavor and a great texture.
I washed it down with a «meh» beer: the local Blue Hills IPA. It was serviceable, but not memorable. In retrospect it probably offset the rich, spicy Italian food pretty nicely.
Lucca would be a great date place. I was here on a Thursday evening and it had a mellow, decent crowd. I’d definitely recommend it to a friend.

Food was great, service was lacking.
The hostess was far from friendly. She kind of gave us the once over to size us up when we first walked in and did not seem to want to be there at all. Borderline rude.
We ordered the beef carpaccio, squid ink pasta, and rigatoni. All of it was really delicious, although the food did take a long time to come out even though it wasn’t even that busy.
Would love to give this place 5 stars because the food was really delicious, but between the hostess’ attitude and timeliness of the food, I can’t.

Service was excellent, food was okay.

I wasn’t overly impressed. The bartender recommended drink wasn’t that great was supposed to have soda but I think it was an already opened can so flat. 1 extra star is for the beet salad that was pretty good and for the bread and white bean dip. Margherita pizza was descent but not over the top good I would say. Overall a good place but may be not great

We’ve gone to Lucca Back Bay for 3 years now for a celebratory dinner after the Boston marathon. The service is great with knowledgeable waiters in both food and wine. We had the charcuterie platter for an appetizer (pâté, cheeses, dried cherries, stuffed cherry peppers and crackers, and a couple of cured meats). Everything was fresh and there was plenty for 4 people. I ordered the lobster gnocchi. It was delicious! The gnocchi was fluffy and the lobster was tender and tasted very fresh. Most of us had the trio of gelato for dessert which was also very good. Highly recommend.

Delicious! I was in town for business and looking for good food close to my hotel and I lucked out with this spot. The Tagliatelle (Squid ink pasta, wild white shrimp, La Quercia farm guanciale, spicy tomato broth) was amazing! The service was excellent and the wine recommendation was perfect with my meal. Next time I’m in Boston I’ll return!

With chic décor, excellent service and plenty of room Lucca is a great option for dinning in Boston.
Located in-​between the Marriott Copley and the Colonnades, Lucca is a wonderful option for Italian/​modern American cuisine.
Our party had some requests for vegetarian and were accommodated with no fuss, service was outstanding, food was incredible, special halibut was the bug winner tonight although everyone enjoyed their meals.
All in all, a great restaurant.

My dining experience at Lucca was great. The wait staff was friendly and very knowledgable about the menu. The atmosphere and décor was impeccable — everything was clean and classy and the music was tasteful and at an appropriate volume. I had the fish special, which was absolutely delicious. The fish was cooked perfectly — tender and tasty. The dish came with mushrooms and asparagus, which I gobbled down, and fingerling potatoes, which I didn’t eat because I’m one of the rare few who don’t particularly enjoy them. The wine pairing was perfect.
My only complaint is the price. Although I rave about the tastiness of my dish, I could have cooked it at home. The value of the wine, too, didn’t correlate with its price.
I remember coming here a couple of years ago and having the carbonara dish and being extremely impressed. I’m a carbonara fiend and this dish was the second best carbonara I’ve ever had (save for a restaurant I stumbled across in the middle of Madrid that I will likely never find again).

It was XOXO’s birthday… so of course we had to celebrate with all the girls. Walking in, we felt a little out of place considering everybody else was much older and wasn’t dressed to go clubbing. We knew it was going to be expensive, but not as much as it actually was. Yes we are all working, yes we are all several years out of college, but we certainly weren’t at the status of everybody else there.
I wasn’t impressed with the food, especially with the prices comparable to some of the fancier places in the city. I ordered the rigatoni bologenase, which lets just say I didn’t remember getting this until looking at the menu again. Thus, it was not memorable, and certainly was not quite worth the high price. The meals weren’t the best anyone ever had, and the general consensus that it was just «good», but not anything special, and not worth the bill.
For what it was, it wasn’t the best Italian in Boston and the atmosphere is lacking, it just feels like you’re in a classy establishment but doesn’t have specific character. I don’t know if I would recommend it to anyone or come back.

Ate dinner here at the bar. Bartender was nice enough, good atmosphere, easy to talk to people. The Tortelloni was amazing. A few nice local beers on tap. The pasta alone is reason to come here, very succulent.

Lucca is my go-​to spot for wine, delicious food, and a relaxed, classy atmosphere. I came across Lucca when visiting after work at another local restaurant, but have stayed around now that I am no longer in the industry.
I prefer to sit in the bar/​lounge area, with a nice glass of red and the specialty pizza of the day. I have never been disappointed by any of the food I’ve tried, but I must say the meatballs are to die for. They are a great size to share with friends and rival those I have had in the North End, all in the comfort of Back Bay.
Great beer selection for those of you who aren’t swayed by a extensive wine list, and they even have a $ 5 list which includes many local favorites. You can’t go wrong with Lucca.

Lucca is an authentic Italian restaurant in the heart of Back Bay in Boston. The tone of restaurant was candlelight dinner — intimate and romantic. The restaurant has a private dining room upstairs next to the kitchen. The restaurant is decorated with wooden club lights, oil painted portraits on poles, and wine storage. The staff were friendly, polite, and professional.
In short: I was recommended to check out Lucca during Dine Out Boston. Last night, my parents and I visited Lucca for Dine Out Boston. For those who aren’t familiar with Dine Out Boston, you can enjoy a three-​course meal for $ 38 during this week. It was a good portion for a three-​course meal. For drinks, we ordered iced waters and iced teas (which came unsweetened but with sweetener on the side). After ordering our beverages, a gentleman presented us with butter and two slices of bread onto our bread plates. The butter was different than most — it was garlicky and tasted like spam.
For my first course, I selected the Zuppa while my parents selected the Carciofi.
The Zuppa consisted of baby fennel, smoked prosciutto, and fennel pollen on the bottom of the bowl. The fennel and potato cream soup was poured on top from a round white teapot. I liked how the liquid form, rich, and creamy.
For my second course, I selected the Pollo Milanese while my mother selected the Capellini Con Vongole and my father selected the Consigli Di Bistecca. All of these entrees were well presented and delicious. The Pollo Milanese consisted of a tender, roasted, bone-​in chicken breast served over spring ventura insalata (consisting of pear, zucchini, carrots, celery, onions), chive polenta, ricotta salata, and egg yolk crumble. My mom liked how the Capellini Con Vongole wasn’t extremely buttery but rather light in seasoning. My dad loved the Bistecca, which consisted of tender, medium-​cooked prime filet served whipped potato and sunchoke, shimeji mushroom, and leeks in a sweet wine sauce. Besides the steak itself, the Shimeji mushrooms were our other favorite dish accompaniment. It reminded us of large enoki mushrooms but tasted like an oyster mushrooms.
Since I had a chocolate craving, I selected the Torte Di Cioccolato, which consisted of a flourless chocolate torte, hazelnut-​cocoa nibs spread, and vanilla bean gelato. My mom selected the Panna Cotta, which consisted of lime panna cotta, pear, barrel-​aged gin sciroppo, juniper sugar, and mint. A lime panna cotta with a mint sauce was certainly an interesting combination.

Gorgeous venue, and a fantastic private dining space upstairs. I hosted a corporate event there and could not have been happier with the room and with the service. The food was mediocre. Perhaps a function of catering to a group of 30, perhaps the way the kitchen always is. I’m not sure, and don’t really care. We were trying to provide an experience to clients attending a convention across the street, and Lucca delivered that quite well.
I will not rule this out as a destination for a personal dinning experience, but it also will not be at the top of my list. I do not find myself dinning in this area very often, and the food was not a major call to make me change that.
A lovely experience. Highly recommended for private functions. Food is middle of the road for me.

We’ll start with some great appetizers:
Blue fin tuna sashimi slices — delish
Caprese — red and green tomato variety
Meatballs — swimming in pasta sauce, yum
Lobster pasta, if it wasn’t for the appetizers I’d be very hungry. This was a very small dish and the paste portion just as small.

Visited Lucca BB last week during RW and I can’t say I was blown away. Our tab was $ 125 between myself and my 9 year old daughter who only ate your run of the mill «pasta with butter» for dinner.
Onto the food — High marks go to the octopus appetizer. Lightly charred with a great constrast in texture between pearl cous cous, onions and octopus — awesome combination.
Our entrees were pretty tasty but the portions were very small. The Tagliatelle Nero (bay scallops with squid ink pasta) only had about 4 tiny pieces of bay scallops (small to begin with) served on top of less than a cup of squid ink pasta. I had a healthier serving of squid ink pasta over at Barcelona South End as a tapa!
And my daughter’s kid’s pasta might you ask? Pasta du jour was rigatone. 8 pieces of rigatone with butter to be exact. So skimpy we had to get 2 orders for her to have 16 pieces of rigatone in total. FYI — Our appetites are not bigger than the general populus.
For dessert, we first opted for the torta budino (lemon pudding cake) per our server’s suggestion but it was a bit too lemony so we switched over to the more conventional torta di cioccolato (flourless chocolate cake with gelato). The latter was definitely more our speed and fulfilled our sweet tooth cravings.
Overall, ambience was wonderful (check!), service was excellent (check!) but the taste, price and portion ratio for their food did not match. Given a choice, there are plenty of other options in this neighborhood offering that type of fine dining at much better values.

FANCY PANTS. The restaurant name Lucca Back Bay sounds like a random mediocre pasta place, but it most definitely belongs in the ranks of $$$.
The food is good – with the complexity that makes you stop and contemplate and pretend to be a food critic each time you try a new dish, but not fancy so as to be abstract and bizarre and in dismal portions.
I would definitely suggest sharing several appetizers; each one was decently memorable. The complimentary bread comes with this amazing garlic dip. Even the meatballs and risotto that I expected to be commonplace turned out to be delicious, plus bonus points for the presentation of the meatballs in a cast iron skillet and the risotto with the flair of the oblong toasted bread. The charcuterie is not mind-​blowing, but keep in mind that I’m comparing it to the mind-​blowing, second-​to-​none Salty Pig.
The entrees are a little dauntingly pricey – expect $ 30+ for a real entrée, and just under $ 30 for a pasta – but like I said, it’s pretty darn fancy cooking and the portions are very non-​tiny.
I got the VITELLO ($ 39, veal milanese, baby arugula, toasted pignoli, shaved Matsutake mushrooms, Pecorino Sardo, Burgundy truffle vinaigrette) because I thought veal would be appropriately fancy. To the untrained palate it was unnervingly reminiscent of tonkatsu, and $ 39 is egregiously expensive for tonkatsu. To someone craving veal katsu, I will say that it was golden crispy perfection and a ginormous portion (We expected a deceptively large bone in the too-​big-​to-​be true slab of veal, but it really was a huge slab of veal with minimal bone on one side). In my opinion, the deep-​fried panko preparation seems wasteful for veal, which inherently features tenderness and subtle flavors.
I would recommend instead the entrees that my friends got and that I sampled. The BISTECC ($ 44, prime filet, Montepulciano demi, whipped potatoes, roasted Beech mustrooms, pearl onions, red wine marrow butter) looked disappointingly small, but it was rich and very satisfying. Be warned that you may develop unreasonably high standards for steak. The SALMONE ($ 28, Bay of Fundy salmon, autumn sofritto, beluga lentils, hard cider sugo, sage) was good as well, but I think my favorite was the CAPPRESSANTE ($ 36, George’s Bank scallops, Alto Adige smoked proscitto, king oyster mushrooms, baby kale porcini crema, thyme, smoked sea salt). The scallops were delicately grilled to perfection, and an honorable mention goes to the tasty king oyster mushrooms.
For dessert, I got the PANNA COTTA ($ 10, marmellata with basil sciroppo stratchiatella panna cotta). It was not too sweet and pleasantly light, arriving in a fancy presentation with a small piece of biscotti. I saw someone get the sorbet, a colorful trio of perfect, photogenic scoops. They take their food presentation very seriously!
Overall it was a nice meal – fancy pants food at fancy pants prices. The ambiance was fancy, though very traditional so it feels like it caters to an older crowd (I guess it’s for those who think $$$ restaurants are no big deal). Service is fancy too, and in a good way! Our server was perky and he was very positive and forgiving about our questionable pronunciations of the Italian menu item names.