Luca

Love everything about this place!! They seat you with sparkling wine and it's an upscale yet cozy environment perfect for all occasions! We got to try a few free apps as well. Amazing service!

Denver doesn't have great food, but Luca is an exception. Perfect service, perfect vibe, perfect recommendations, would go again

This is a review of our last time at Luca (and any other Frank Bopnanno restaurant) in May 2023 - I wrote a review but I do not see it anywhere under my reviews and feel this information is important for diners. We used to LOVE Luca and all Frank Bonanno restaurants - as a matter of fact - we ordered food to go from Luca every week during the pandemic to support the business.The last 2 times we dined at Luca, we had the most bizarre experiences you could ever have in a restaurant. We went for a late dinner (9 pm) on a Friday night in December - we did not make a reservation because the restaurant appeared to be wide open on Open Table. When we arrived, the hostess said she would seat us but we only had 10 minutes to order. The waiter came to our table and said the same thing. We could not understand why we were being rushed to order and get out when the restaurant did not close until 10p and there were several other tables in the restaurant. We assumed it was an "off" night for service and dined quickly and left before any other table that was there before us.Our mistake, we went back again, to celebrate my husband's birthday.We had a reservation, it was during normal dining hours, and again we were rushed to order. The restaurant makes you order all your courses at one time so they can pace your meal and get you out. We ordered a pasta dish and an entree and the waiter failed to tell us the pasta dish we ordered also came with the entree - not sure why he didn't guide us to select a different pasta dish. At the end of our meal, we asked to see the dessert menu since we were celebrating a birthday. The waiter literally told us we could only have dessert if we ordered it immediately and that we could only stay at our table for 10 more minutes - WHAT?? There were several empty tables to our left and right and NO ONE was waiting for a table in this tiny restaurant on a Saturday night.I told the waiter that it was incredibly inappropriate to tell us we could only sit at our table for 10 more minutes, to kindly remove the 22% gratuity from our check, and that we would pay and NEVER be back. He came back to our table and told us we had "permission" to have dessert and stay longer. We said NO THANK YOU. He asked if we would like to take dessert to go and we said NO THANK YOU. And then the manager came out to our table with a boxed dessert, explained that she recognized us and was so sorry, and handed us dessert to go. We paid, left the dessert on the table, and have never been back.We were supportive of paying a fee for a reservation and paying the automatic 22% gratuity - we want to have nice restaurants in Denver and we want people that work at these places to be able to make a decent living. But we are not willing to pay an upcharge for horrendous service. What happened to putting the customer first?

Mixed feelings about this place. We came in with a group of 10 on a Saturday night and despite having reservations, they still seated us 15-20 min late. Not the biggest deal and understandable given our group size and the size of the restaurant overall. Luca has a cute, cozy feel with dim lighting and candles so I liked the ambiance! They also started us off with a welcome toast of champagne which was nice.I ordered the lobster fra diavolo and the luca salad. The pasta was probably the highlight of the meal, with freshly made pasta in a delicious sauce. There were only a couple pieces of lobster which seemed a bit sparse considering the dish was $30+ but I overall liked the dish. The Luca salad was not worth it imo - paid ~$12 for a small plate of arugula, lemon vinaigrette and some Parmesan. My partner got the margherita pizza which honestly was not great and on the saltier side.About halfway through our meal I ordered a glass of wine and someone else in our group ordered a second drink, which never ended up coming out so we decided to just have them cancel it since everyone had finished their food. They then proceeded to try to bring out our drinks on two occasions despite us requesting to cancel/ already trying to close out. Also not the biggest fan of their auto "CHP" fee (basically a 22% auto tip) due to their low key passive aggressive wording lol "if you don't support pay equity you can request to have this removed"?? I'm fine with paying higher menu prices, a 20% auto tip for our group size would have been expected, but just the wording around this rubbed me the wrong way.Overall, cute Italian restaurant with a nice ambiance and solid pasta dishes but the service with the prices they were charging was a bit lacking.

The server was super nice! And asked us if it was our first time, so we got a complimentary taste of their wine and it was quite good! The food was delicious! I got the palisade peach pizza, I highly recommend it if you are going for a sweet and salty taste. My friend got their charcuterie board option, it was very good too! My bf and friend's partner got the bolognese pasta it was quite good but small portion so be warned. They also gave use matcha popcorn to try and a small complimentary dessert. It was whipped cream with a blue fruit glaze on top (I can't remember what fruit lol) all in all this experience was really nice and the restaurant seems to really care about their customers. We sat outside and I enjoyed the ambiance quite a lot. The inside seemed very nice as well, but I believe for the inside you should reserve ahead of time since it gets busy.

Knew we wanted to have a nice Italian dinner when visiting the Denver area and was suggested Luca. You do have to put a card down when making a reservation for if you bail but if you're serious about food that's not an issue. We arrived a little early but once we did we were quickly seated at our table. Our waiter even poured us all a complementary glass of Prosecco for everyone in our party of 4. We started looking of the menu and had to order a drink. I went for the Monster Mash I mean come on that name. It is also made with Wild Turkey 101 so it was calling my name. It was also very tasty. We also of course had to have appetizers. We went with a classic for us that being the House Burrata and had to get the Short Rib Pizza since we love Short Ribs and if you're pulling it on pizza I gotta give it a try. They started us off with some of their fresh bread which was soft and warm. Plus the Olive Oil/butter dip was great! The House Burrata was very good. Fresh Garlic Rubbed Grilled Ciabatta was amazing a paired so well with the Burrata and the Tomato Conserva, a must get. I will say though we were let down by the Short Rib Pizza. The pieces of Short Rib were very tiny and also seemed dried out. I was also just lacking flavor. A swing and a miss for us. For my entrée I ordered the Crab Agnolotti which comes in a fresh Cream Sauce. I mean Crab and Cream Sauce it was basically calling my name. Once the Crab Agnolotti came out it did look like a small servicing with only 7 Crab and Ricotta but this dish was very rich and was only able to finish by letting other try it. I will say it was very good and the tomato's in it were great too. This was for sure a great dish and one you don't come across often. We had a nice night at Luca and would for sure come back. Just a reminder though they do have a 22% CHP charge so if tripping well isn't for you then maybe this isn't the right place.

A friend of mine had recommended Luca, and I'm so happy I finally made it out here. I really enjoyed everything we ordered -- especially the scallops. The service was great, and it was a good spot for a fun catchup with my friend. Drink: Fig cocktail (rum, fig, balsamic reduction, lime, mint, and soda water)Food: Shaved Brussel Sprouts CaesarWild Mushroom Fusilli Scallops with risotto

Really enjoyed Luca but it wasn't quite the fine Italian dining I was hoping for. The ambiance feels more like family style Italian but the prices don't. I really enjoyed splitting the lobster pasta and margarita pizza and the complimentary bubbles but would opt for a different option. Our server was good but was subbing in from a sister restaurant and wasn't as familiar with the menu. Overall I enjoyed my food and dining experience.

I ordered the Pappardelle Bolognese and the sauce was tasty. The portion was very small and the pasta didn't taste like fresh pasta. I couldn't tell the difference between this fresh made pasta and dry pasta. I had higher expectations and expected to taste like fresh pasta I had at the Eataly chain. My friend ordered the Lobster Fra Diavolo which was also small with 6 pieces.

Simply terrific! I am not going to say this is the best Italian I've ever had but it is in the top ten and it's not ten. We made a reservation for a Friday night, we were a party of four. When we showed up we were sat right away with zero wait. We were brought a complimentary glass of Prosecco which was delicious, a bit on the sweet side. For the table we ordered the short rib pizza and burrata. The burrata was delicious and the pizza was good it just wasn't packed with tons of flavor or short rib. I would definitely suggest the burrata it, I believe, had a light honey drizzle on it that added depth to the flavor and the crostini's were crisp but not hard. My main entree was definitely the star of the show, I got the Wild Mushroom Fusilli it was heaven in every bit and everyone agreed it was the best dish at the table. I was very filling so I had to take some to go but it holds up and reheats very well. Couple of things to note: -there is a 22% CHP fee added to bills -there is a pay parking lot next store-you put your card down for reservations -they offer a fresh bread and incredible spread (butter like) that is also made fresh