Luca’s Ristorante

Love this place! All the meals I have had here are fresh and delicious! Every time we get pizza it is from here and every time we go out it is in our top five.

We were introduced to Luca’s by friends who had stumbled upon it by accident while shopping in the area one day. We’ve been there several times now and have never been disappointed with anything we’ve ordered. The pastas are all made fresh, and the sauces are delicious, not over-​seasoned and very tasty. The 50 layer lasagna, Paccheri with meat sauce, Pappardelle with wild mushrooms and truffle essence, and Campanelle pasta dishes were all outstanding. The meals are not inexpensive, but the portions are very generous and the basket of freshly baked breads are a pre-​meal treat that we look forward to each time we go. The staff is very friendly and accommodating, and are knowledgeable about the menu items, and I love the charming atmosphere, it’s very cozy and has a nice old Italian feel to it. For those who complain about the comfort of the chairs, I have never noticed any issues with that myself — but, seriously? All in all, this place is a winner in my book and I look forward to dining there again soon.

Had a wonderful meal here. Very attentive service. Brought our own wine and had it poured by the waiter and an ice bucket provided within minutes. We had the Grilled Vegetables and Orecchiette as appetizers … large portions and delicious. For the main courses we had the Sea Scallops wrapped in Prosciutto and Veal Saltimbocca. Both delivered with a flourish, large portions and delicious. Highly recommended! (Don’t understand the negative reviews — did they go to the same restaurant that we did???)

Lucas has always provided really good, innovative Italian inspired cuisine, and the chef/​owner is a terrific guy with a great touch in the kitchen. The only issue has been the lack of experienced wait staff.
That all changed last weekend when we dined there again, and enjoyed a terrific meal and a new waiter who was well spoken, knew the menu sideways, and had obviously traveled and experienced what fine dining really is all about. We enjoyed a really terrific meal, and enjoyed ourselves immensely without the Jersey-​licious feeling we too often experience at local restaurants.
My son’s risotto was fresh and flavorful. My wife had a chicken filled ravioli that was perfectly prepared. I had to chose between slow-​braised short ribs and the 52 layer lasagna– I went with the lasagna which was unique and quite delicious.
We will be back again much sooner.

We have been wanting to try this place for a long time. It will be a long time if ever that we go back. Very poor service from the one and only waiter. Horrible chairs. Music was way too loud. The 50 layer lasagna was not even close to ok. Dried out sausage on top of too much cheese and no flavor. The first time I threw out food from a restaurant. No wonder the place is never that busy. And yes, I’ve been to Italy and around the world so I do understand food and service.

Excellent food here. Had the 50 layer lasagna and it was outstanding. You can Taste the quality ingredients with every bite. The sauce, cheese, sausage and homemade pasta really sets them apart from other Italian restaurants. The décor, tableware, tablecloths, trinkets in the restaurant are very nice, you can tell they care about appearance. The staff was outstanding… smart, professional great service. Luca even talked to us about the food he prepares. Outstanding. Why this restaurant is not packed nightly is a mystery. Maybe people in Flemington just don’t understand true authentic Italian cooking beyond the tgi Fridays or Alphonso’s on 202 crap.

I’ve only taken out from Luca’s, so I can’t comment on the dining-​in experience.
Their pizza’s always been good, no complaints. I’ve gotten a meatball parm. sandwich here & there, but not much else. From what I’ve experienced, it’s good and reasonably priced.

Had the pleasure of attending a christening party here last Saturday. We hadn’t been back in quite a while due to the distance we live from its location, but Saturday’s experience made me wonder why I’m not making the 2.5 hour trip once a week! We were a part of a party of 30 people and 6 kids. All of the food (with the exception of our entrée) was served family style! It was great because we were able to sample a bit of everything the chef threw at us! We started off with an antipasto that needed 2 people per table to pass it around! This was no run of the mill antipasto with your typical tasteless salami and sliced provolone over lettuce! These plates were loaded with proscuitto, fresh mozzarella, capicola and marinated vegetables. I could have made a meal out of the antipasto and homemade bread alone, but 3 other appetizers followed! Eggplant Rollitini, stuffed mushrooms and lightly sauteed calamari! Each tasted unique and delicious in their own right. There was also a pasta course. Having been to Luca’s once before and knowing about the in house made pasta I made it a point to save room. Out came plates of rigatoni bolognese, one of the best I’ve had! As I wrote in a prior review, once you have tasted homemade pasta it is almost impossible to eat anything out of a box! As for the entrée’s, they were quite tasty. I had the grilled salmon in a dijon mustard sauce and my wife had the chicken with prosciutto and melted mozzarella. The stars of the show for me however, were the loads of delicious food that proceeded them. The wait staff was overly accommodating, and went above and beyond to make sure we were all well taken care of. As I’m writing this review…2.5 hours isn’t looking so far after all!

If you are on your way here for New Year’s Eve drive in the other direction.
The feel is like an assembly line of bad cafeteria food. Clearly the set menu for the evening was all sitting in the back ready to go. At least for the early services. The bread had gotten cold and crunchy, the salads are pre made and ice-​crystal cold from the fridge, the lobster bisque is actually tomato soup (practically tomato sauce as your would find in a pizza) with lobster chunks, the entrees were like warm. And the topper was dessert… Gelato. Easy right? Well not when you make it ahead and set it in the walk-​in so it gets crusty and ice crystals on it.
NOTHING had been seasoned not even with salt and pepper. When we asked for s/​p for the 3^rd time I finally asked if we could get some for the table. The manager arrived with the 18inch tall waiter set and slammed them down on our table. It became the focal point of our tiny two top table. Unfortunately, despite our clear displeasure with the meal, that was the ONLY time the manager stopped at our table.
The gratuity was included and you can tell from the service. The total for this awful meal for two with a $ 25 bottle of wine…$ 183.61. Oh well. Happy New Year. Maybe they do better when there are only one or two tables a night?
Oh– and to everyone who has mentioned the uncomfortable chairs… YOWZAAA! You weren’t kidding! The leather weren’t as bad as the wicker. We had to ask to be moved from a table with the wicket seat chairs. And from there it was all down hill
My advice? Run!
Pick McDonald’s over this place. Or even the Chinese place next door.

The starters and pasta were excellent. All of our party thought the main courses were kind of bland, and average. I would go back,

bread was yum!
service was good. had to ask for our waters to be filled several times though.
little hole in the wall with great filling foods.
I will certainly be back, but just make sure to keep our whistles wet! … that sounded creepy but I am keeping it there.

We tried this restaurant the other night and were confused. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals, but for a Saturday night, the place was very sparsely patronized. I am a brasciole lover, so even though there were many specials I might have tried, I went for the Sunday dinner. The pork, meatballs and brasciole were tender, authentic and tasty.
They also had two specials, soft shell crabs and three types of 50 layer lazagna. Hopefully, they’ll show up again. They sounded yummy.
My husband loves tuna, so he tried one of the specials, in a sweet mango sauce. He said he loved it, even though he initially wasn’t sure about the flavor combo.
The bread and salads were also delicious. My only «complaint» was the dessert special, chocolate panacotta, was extremely firm. This is a dessert that is traditionally very light.
The staff couldn’t have been more knowledgable or friendly.
And for those of you that have problems with the chairs; really? Grow up.

Small place locked away in a strip mall in Flemington, NJ. Who would think, a restaurant in a strip mall here in Jersey? Place is very nice looking inside, but I did find it strange that on a Friday night at 8 pm, the place was practically empty! Just a few other diners and they were close to finishing up. By the time were were half way through our meals, we were the only ones in there.
First thing to take note of is that there have been numerous mentions of the chairs in this restaurant. Now that I’ve sat in them, I can see why! Possibly the most ridiculously uncomfortable chairs I’ve ever had the pleasure of dropping my ass on!!! The chairs are low and the table tops are high! You cannot sit back on the chairs! You will be leaning forward on an angle with no way to sit up straight! They did provide seat toppers that helped somewhat so I give them credit for that. We did mention it to the manager and he told us we weren’t’ the first to tell him. They are trying to come up with a way to modify the chairs. I understand that they purchased the tables and chairs for the décor, and they do look nice, but someone should have actually tried the chairs out before buying them!!! If they did, I don’t know how they could have went through with the purchase!
Enough about furniture, let’s get on to the food. They brought us out a basket of breads with some dipping oils and a homemade hummus. There was spinach bread and jalapeño rolls. Both very good and fresh! They also didn’t skimp on the amount they gave us so +++ for them! We skipped the apps and went right for the entrees. I had the porterhouse steak with truffle and mushroom reduction. Good piece of steak and cooked properly. The only thing is that it was lacking any real punch of flavor. Normally, a good steak that is cooked properly has all the flavor you will ever need! Throw in mushrooms and truffle and you should be good to go! I just wasn’t that impressed with it. On another note, the plates they served it in, while looking nice were ore like round pans with sides. Made it very difficult to cut into the steak. These plates are more suited to pasta dishes or anything that doesn’t require cutting.
My wife had a chicken dish that looked great and probably would have been a lot better, but the chicken was overcooked and chewy. The other dishes were a salmon that seemed to be the fave, a seafood paella and a tuna steak. I did not have those but everyone that did said they were good.
Thanks to Unilocal,I got a free dessert out of it for checking in! I went with the tiramisu. It was good, but lacked a little on the flavor again.
Last I would like to make mention of the service here. I’ve read quite a few people complaining about it in one way or another. The server? manager couldn’t have been any nicer to us! Explained everything properly. Accommodated any requests that were made without blinking an eye! To top it all off, at the end of the night, he brought us all out a round of their homemade Limoncello! It was one of the best I’ve ever had!!! Very nice touch! I think Luca’s is just a few spices and a couple of chairs away from being a very good restauranT!

I had the pleasure of dining here by myself last night as my husband had a business dinner. By myself or with my husband or a friend, I always have a good dining experience at Luca’s Ristorante. I can tell that Luca and his staff put such care into the food, the service, and the restaurant itself. My husband particularly enjoys the creative homemade pasta dishes that are fancier than you might find elsewhere in the tri-​county area. Seafood is also very good. The wide variety of homemade bread is quite a treat too. It is also nice that it is BYOB. We have dined at a wide variety of nice places and feel that Luca’s is a gem. Couples, families, individuals, and friends getting together should like this place.

Do not dine at Luca’s unless you like lengthy waits and terrible service.
My family booked a Saturday night reservation at Luca’s for a birthday dinner. We were looking forward to a lovely dinner there based on a wealth of good reviews online. We waited for the 6 entrees we ordered for 75 minutes. After which we asked for our food to be wrapped up, we simply could not wait any longer. Twenty minutes later we walked out of the restaurant with $ 250 takeaway. This was not the birthday experience we hoped for. When we asked to speak to the manager we were rebuffed with no explanation or apology except to say, «it will be better next time».
Perhaps for someone else, We have no intention of patronizing Luca’s ever again.

Flemington can sometimes be a drag. Between Boston Market, McDonalds, and a handful of other good restaurants there simply are not enough real dining options for those looking for more refined fare.
Tucked into an unassuming strip on Walter Foran, Luca’s is the perfect dining spot for those looking for Italian food. Everything– and I mean everything– is homemade. They infuse the pasta different things every night, such as tomatoes and herbs. Even the oregano is dried on the premises.
One of my personal favorites is the Mushroom Crab soup. It’s always just the right consistency and is the perfect starter to any entrée.
If you’re a seafood lover, try the Fra Diavolo. It’s absolutely ecstasy. If you want to eat in Little Italy tonight, you don’t need to drive the hour to Manhattan. Luca’s is twenty minutes away.

We love this place! The Italian is fresh and creative! Especially their seafood and osso bucco! Rec to anyone w a great palate:) A great date place w beautiful atmosphere-​A must!

Walked in and we were the only other couple there for dinner. Service was terrible — bread was brought out when the meal was served and the waiter was impatient and rude. Mussels were super fishy tasting/​smelling, chicken parm was soggy and overlooked, whole wheat veggie pizza smelled overwhelmingly like dirty socks, pear dessert was sour and mushy. will not be back again.

Review update, still holding at 3 stars after our first dine-​in experience. We have had take out/​delivery a few times in the past.
First thing of note is the incredibly uncomfortable chairs, at least for my wife and I. She is small, I am tall, it felt like a hockey stick in the back for 90 min. Service was ok. I can see what others are talking about, though.
Food was ok. Calamari was a bit overcooked, but I like how they had lots of tentacles. The marinara sauce for dipping was a bit bland. The mushroom and crab soup was like getting hit in the face with a big mushroom fist (in a good way) by a hand that had barely touched crab. They were out of a bunch of things including poached pears for the pear and goat cheese salad, so we had the fresh mozzarella and roasted tomato salad it was good, nice white balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
Kids had a cheese pie, I’m not wild about their white dough pies, I like the clams casino pie on wheat but they were out of wheat dough too.
I had the lamb chop, which was like getting kicked in the teeth by a wild mushroom boot (in a good way) but the chop was a bit small and a bit overcooked. The potatoes and spinach underneath the chop were really good. I like the recipe, just wish the chop itself was cooked right.
My wife had the shrimp and scallops with a light cream sauce over homemade spaghetti. This wasn’t so good, spaghetti was overcooked a bit, and they didn’t have scallops, so doubled up on the shrimp, which were cooked to proper doneness, but we’re breaded and soggy in the mostly oil cream sauce.
At the end of the meal I could not wait to get out of there because of the chairs.
Place has potential, but needs new chairs, some nicer staff and some tweaks on execution.
If you want a wild mushroom blast/​fix get what I got.

We’ve tried this place several times. Wanting to like it.
The salads are quite creative and fresh, but the grilled chicken that is an add-​on is quite unspectacular. For the price, the food should be better. The pizza is fine, but not anything that we crave.
Overall, the food here is just okay and for the price, it should be outstanding.
Our chief complaint with Luca’s is the staff. The one fellow that is regularly there is unpleasant. To go into a restaurant for take out or eat in and feel that the staff is aggravated to deal with you is just plain unacceptable.
Lastly, the pasta faglioli, a family favorite in our house, is probably the worst we’ve ever had at Luca’s.