Lucia Ristorante

Love this place! I go here maybe about once every couple of months. If i’m being honest, I only fully enjoy it if Gail is my waitress or bartender. Most others are sub-​par to her. She is the most personable and attentive.
Food is always good as is the wine/​selection. Can’t go wrong with the Arancini (on the bar food menu only I believe) and the Chitarra al Tartufo or gnocchi. The specials are always delicious as well.

Great Italian outside of the north end. My kids love going here and the staff have always been kind and patient with them. A family dining staple for us!

I went to dinner here last weekend with the hubby and his mother. It was my first time there. The staff were all very nice and friendly. For our appetizer, we had the calamari. It was fine — nothing to write home about. For our entrees, I had the pappardelle, hubby had the gnocchi, & his mom had the salmon. For dessert, we had chocolate chip gelato, which wasn’t on the menu. The gelato was the highlight of my meal hehe.

This was such a bummer.
I grew up going to this restaurant with my family. It felt like the North End right in Winchester. The murals on the walls, the friendly staff, amazing food. It was our family’s tradition to go there for special occasions. My brother had told me that it went downhill in recent years, but I decided to give it a shot.
The bar, which used to be smaller but have a great vibe and tons of character, is large, basic, and everything is brown. We tried sitting at two different tables and they were wobbly. We finally folded up a napkin and shoved it under the table leg. Overall, it felt dingy and dirty in the bar area, almost like a gentlemen’s club.
The service was ATROCIOUS. No servers came up to us for about 10 minutes. When our server arrived, she was dressed in a sports uniform (it was right around Halloween) and spoke very little English. She didn’t seem to understand what we were saying, and rarely checked in on us.
One of us ordered a meal and were specific about no olives on it. The meal came back with olives. We told the server and she took it back to the kitchen and brought it back a minute later. It was obvious that they just picked the olives out of the dish, because they didn’t get them all.
The reason this is a 2-​star and not a 1-​star review is two reasons: 1. The food tasted quite good. Not the best I’ve had, but it was solid. 2. I am nostalgic about this place, and based on my fond memories of it as a child, have a hard time giving this place the lowest rating possible.
All things considered, I wouldn’t go here. Head to Dolce up the street – it’s 10x better.

We had ano employee Christmas party here thanks to Maria & Valentina
The dinner was delicious. The server was great she delivered 14 entries on time and hot
Honestly I was surprised by the quality of the food and the service
I had Arugula salad with fresh fennel pears and nuts
Rigatoni with fresh tomatoes basil and ricotta salata
Fish franchaise.
Delicious!!!”‘
Desert cream puff… it it was

Let me start by saying I haven’t been here in years. Yesterday was the first time I had been there probably since when they first opened.
Being Halloween, I actually expected maybe it was going to be busy but it was not. We got there mid evening. Around seven. I expected there to be many more people in the dining room but I was wrong. Seems to be a much later crowd, the bar however, was busy.
We sat at a very small table for two. I think given the fact it was empty, it would probably have been a better gesture to put us had a larger table. We’re not tiny people, but it was kind of cramped on the table for two with everything once our meal arrived.
We both got drinks, and he ordered a salad. The beet salad looks really good, and the beets tasted very yummy. A good size portion, probably would be good for a salad for two if you chose to.
He got the veal saltimbocca and it came with a side of penne pasta with red sauce. I got veal bracciolitini in what they said was a spicy Pomodoro sauce. It was not spicy. It was more like a VEal cacciatore.
It was good, but not what I expected. Not spicy at all and I wish it was more of a description that match the food. It also came with a side of pasta.
For the price of the meal, I think it was OK. Not fabulous, not earth shattering, but definitely OK. I would probably go back if we were asked to go with another couple. I know there are lots of Italian restaurants in our area that are of the same quality, so there so many more to try, but I’m glad I went back.

This Restaurant is fabulous. The staff are friendly. The food is better than the food we had in Venice and Florence Italy. Been here twice and will keep coming back!

We’re thinking of moving to Winchester so we came to scout the town to see if we liked it in person. We stopped by the farmer’s market and when we got hungry, we tried Lucia for lunch. We recognized the name from the location in Boston’s north end so it was a no brainier. The service was fast and friendly. The restaurant itself was so charming, you felt you were dining in Italy.
THE BEST salmon I’ve ever had in my life, served on a bed of white bean salad with a side of asparagus. Delicious! For our appetizers, we tried the caprese salad and the antipasto plate. Everything was ridiculously fresh and delicious. The citizens of Winchester have a real gem!

First time here. My first impression was that they didn’t really care about us as customers because it took a while to get menus or water or any acknowledgement, but then I realized we arrived right when they opened and they also had a large event in another room. But right when they got to us it became a very pleasant experience and customer service was top notch. The food was exactly what I was expecting which is great. Service was friendly and informative. I love Winchester center and this is a great place for good Italian food.

Had reservations for a party of eight, no waiting as we were tucked into a private room. I had the special of the night, it was a soft shell crab over swordfish and broccoli rob with what appeared to be navy beans. The fish was cooked very well, however I am not sure if the greens and beans were the right grouping. Also had a side Caesar salad and it came with two or three mini croutons. I cant remember the name of it, but one guy ordered something that wasn’t on the menu, we ordered 7 of them. Let me see if I can describe it. Was a meatball, deep fried with a center of rice and cheese covered by a red sauce. Was pretty tasty! He is into tapas, but I couldn’t tell you the name of it for the life of me. also had the calamari and it was as expected. Had a plate of cheese and tomatoes, the cheese seemed a bit aged (I do like it soft and fresh). This is an Italian restaurant right? There was no bread, none offered when we sat or when the meals were served. Personally for me if there is red sauce, I like to wipe my plate. Or to perhaps contrast the oils from the appetizers or even just something to nibble on while waiting for my appetizers so I am not just drinking.

Went there on way back from En Ka Street Fair yesterday.
The front bar was incredibly noisy (I like noisy bars… this one somehow was able to echo everything to twice the volume) and 3 bartenders managed to ignore me for a good 4 – 5 minutes even though I was standing between two empty barstools.
Almost left, but decided to take a tour around the joint, and noticed a back room where the singer, Frank, was crooning out old 50s classics, and the ambience was pretty authentically old school Italian restaurant. So we decided to sit down.
Hostess was a bit odd. Asked her for a table for two in the back and she said «It’s full» and went back to what she was doing I had to ask «Ok, can we wait?» and then she replied «Well, there’s a list.» Uhhhhh. No shit?
When we sat down nobody came to the table, finally a lady snuck up out of nowhere and blurted «Here’s the specials» and told us of a couple specials. She was terrible, she didn’t say Hi, didn’t tell us her name, didn’t bring us water, didn’t bring us bread, didn’t bring us grated cheese, didn’t take our drink orders, didn’t say thank you even once during the entire meal. She disappearred on us numerous times. We had to ask the busboy and the hostess to find our waitress, twice.
Food was average. I had veal & eggplant parm, she had sausage and broccoli something
Probably won’t go back.

Great from Beginning to end. Been to both the North End and Winchester, I highly recommend both.

Um. I think not! Not coming back here again.
The food here is not good, the service here is quite bad. The waitress is nice but they are just not very professional. Forgets things in order and messes up order.
The atmosphere isn’t very pleasant either.
The food is expensive and simply not good!
Do not come here please!

If you want an authentic Italian diner experience without all the tourist chaos Lucia’s in Winchester is the place. The food is amazing, the staff friendly and it really feels like eating at your nona’s house. I have eaten here several times and I have never been disappointed. The quality of the food is amazing.

Sat at the bar. Waited a bit for service, ordered a glass of Merlot; Smoking Loon, which was quite good. Ordered the Veal Parmigiana with Penne and a house salad. Home made salad dressing was very tasty. Main course came and the pasta tasted floury but was OK. The veal, while tasty had to be sent back to be warmed up.
Last meal here was probably close to 20 years ago. As I recall the wife and I didn’t have a great experience then, tonight by myself I remembered why. It’s a shame that they can’t get their act together here. Great location, and I think they would do quite well if they put some effort into it. $ 50 for meal, 2 glasses of wine tax and tip. A little pricey for the quality.

My meal was very good, expensive, but delicious. The wait staff was fine. Not very knowledgeable, but polite. The environment is nice, someone playing the accordion live gave it a very Italian feel. I got veal and mushrooms with a white wine sauce, definitely would get that meal again. Most likely I would come back to this restaurant.

Decent atmosphere and food. You definitely get what you pay for as far as price goes… Great for a date night with good sized portions… The meats and sauces are absolutely delectable…

Popped in yesterday for a romantic/​quiet weekday lunch with the My Mister. Great comfort food, spicy but not insane lasagna. Solid performance by the veal marsala. Bottle of a nice wine, good service and we left with a mellow-​happy. If I were the owner I might spring for an update on the décor but I wasn’t put-​off with the stabbed vinyl on the booth seat, too much. It’s Winchester so you know it wasn’t a mob hit.

So, the reviews on here are pretty spot-​on:
The food is good, the service is fairly slow. The pasta and sauce are not homemade, but it’s a nice meal for a decent price.
We went on New Year’s Eve and had to wait a few minutes for our table (we had a reservation). The owner was very friendly and apologetic (as we left, we heard that if you wait more than a ½ hour, your meal is free? Not sure if that’s true!). We were finally seated (at a table that had a piece of lettuce or something on the tablecloth… other than that — very clean) and the service did take a while, but we were in no rush.
Nice, warm bread eventually came out — soft and chewy on the inside, hard and crunchy crust. Not the most amazing bread I’ve ever had, but it was very tasty.
We had a few different waiters, who I think were a bit confused. At one point, AFTER we’d had our salads, one of the waiters came over to ask if someone had taken our order… We had also asked for a salad to start, but were told the entrees come with a salad, so we only got 1, when we wanted 2. No biggie.
Three of us ended up splitting the 1 salad and 2 entrees (Chicken Parm and Chicken Marsala) and the 4^th person got the Tratturo Antico (A vegetarian delight! Penne pasta tossed with fresh vegetables in season). She ate the entire bowl but said there was no real flavor (it was a white wine sauce).
The Lucia salad dressing was SO tasty. I needed another piece of bread to sop it up! The Chicken Parm was a HUGE piece of chicken that was tender and moist. The Marsala was good, but the flavor wasn’t there as much as I would have liked. The 3 of us all preferred the Parm.
Entrees apparently come with pasta or a salad (it doesn’t say that on the menu), so we had the 1 previously mentioned salad and a bowl of pasta. The bowl came and was penne with tomato sauce already on it. I prefer penne, but when eating Parm or Marsala, I think spaghetti, linguini, fettucini, etc… The bowl was a SMALL bowl, so we ordered another with NO sauce for the Marsala. That extra bowl cost $ 6.25! And it was so small and was definitely not homemade.
For the 4 of us — with no drinks or appetizers — the bill came to $ 59. For 3 entrees, that seems like a bit much… Especially considering it’s not in the heart of Boston.
Overall, the food is decent and it’s a good place for dinner if you’re in the area. It’s not worth a special trip to Winchester though and I hope the North End location at least does homemade pasta & sauce!

My family and I decided to give Lucia’s in Winchester a try to celebrate my brothers birthday. We arrived a little after 4pm on a Saturday and the place was pretty much empty. Every inch of the walls and ceilings were covered in murals of scenes from Italy and the Sistine Chapel. It was definitely a unique setting.
The menu was huge, with all of the typical Italian dishes you’d expect to find on an Italian menu — and more. From pasta dishes to chicken, seafood and veal entrees, they ranged from $ 15 to about $ 25 per plate. Two of us tried the «Cotoletta con Melanzane Parmigiana» which was chicken layered with eggplant parmigiana. Mom had the «Pollo Del Saggittario,» boneless chicken sautéed with white wine, asparagus, anchovies, black olives, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and spices. Dad tried the «Linguine con Vongole» or Little Necks sautéed with virgin olive oil and garlic, in a white wine sauce over linguine. And one order of the Tortellini Quattro Formaggi.
The portions were huge and the food was good, but what struck me was that for a Italian restaurant with origins in the North End, they didn’t have homemade pasta and their sauce tasted like it could have been store bought. It wasn’t bad, but there was nothing that really made the place stand out for me. No «wow, that is amazing» moments.
Overall, we were happy. The food and service was good and the value was great. I’m glad we tried it out, but I’ll probably try another place next time.