Lucia’s Berkeley

Dining at Lucia's Berkeley a few years ago with a group of friends/graduate school classmates I found to be an enjoyable experience. We went to brunch/lunch and this was the place we settled on. Looking over the menu I went with the American breakfast pizza, toppings of red sauce, bacon, and an egg, with a gluten free crust.When the pizza arrived to the table, group member(s) exclaimed on it not having any cheese. Fortunately, I am lactose intolerant in addition to being allergic to wheat so I took the comment in stride. No cheese for me meant less farting later, I commented on this and my friends said they were surprisingly relieved and appreciated the clarity.The bacon was crispy and the fried egg over easy. It was cool to be asked how I wanted my egg when ordering the pizza. Flavor wise it pleased my palate. I ate the whole thing without sharing so much as a morsel. Price(s) were fair and workers friendly.

What's life without pasta? I really don't want to know unless I happen to be on a weight control regimen and counting carbs and calories. That's when I realize lettuce is greatly overrated. But sometimes you just have to succumb to your temptations, and Jamie W and I had been meaning to try this place for a while. I think we got turned away at least twice before.We finally made it in and noticed right away that the wood-fired Neapolitan pizza was what most people appear to gorge on. It was no wonder because it looked good. However, we had pasta on the brain. Jamie went for the $24 Tagliatelle alla Bolognese, which looked to replace the pappardelle on the menu (photo: https://yelp.to/Ria0ys2-ZJ). Of course it was delicious as the familiar tomato-based meat sauce didn't fail to satisfy.I ordered the $21 Trofie al Pesto based on a faded recollection I had of the dish in the Cinque Terre on a terrace overlooking the little harbor in Vernazza.over twenty years prior. The execution was exactly the same because it's a standard dish in Ligurian cuisine (photo: https://yelp.to/jYzmK688-w). Trofie is a thin and twisty pasta, and when the pesto is done right as it was here, it sticks to the pasta easily. Good pasta. Worth the calories.FOOD - 4 stars...handmade pasta well executed AMBIANCE - 4 stars...spirited atmosphere in hereSERVICE - 4 stars...our server was first-rate though the host in front was rather curtTOTAL - 4 stars...pasta fix satisfied RELATED - Exploring Berkeley? Here's my collection of places I've tried and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2CbVh8u

We came here for dinner on a Saturday night, no reservations and there was an incredibly long wait for a table inside (90 min) so we opted to sit outside with no wait. The weather was really mild this evening so it wasn't a problem. The good: the bolognese and the osso bucco pastas were really yummy. I appreciated the carafe of water and the non-alcoholic drink options. Also, the food was served at a pleasant pace. The arugula salad (which was served to our table by mistake) was also pretty delicious. The bad: the waitress seemed a bit... flustered. They served us the arugula salad by mistake, I initially thought it was the burrata salad we ordered and picked up a fork to look for the burrata, at which point the waitress came by and said it was for the other table, whisked the plate away somewhat rudely, and then brought it back about 30 seconds later and offered to let us keep it. I declined and after a bit of back and forth we ended up with the salad. We did receive the burrata salad as well, and to be quite honest the arugula salad was better anyways as I found the burrata salad to be underwhelming. We ordered the shishito peppers as well, which again was a bit underwhelming in flavor. I love shishito peppers, have had them at home and at other restaurants, and just think it was lacking in flavor. Overall, I'd try it again and order some different items off the menu. It's a cute spot, and I'd like to try the pizzas as well. I'd steer clear of the burrata and shishito peppers in favor of some of the other appetizers they offer.

I haven't been in 1+ year because I've been short on time, but I returned last week. I've forgotten how good their pizzas are. Soooooooooo good. Definitely the best neopolitan style pizza in the east bay

Saturday evening dinner and we were about 30 mins late to our reservation time but they still seated us. Our server seemed a bit irritated at having to serve us, but if they thought that our lateness was unacceptable they could have simply not given us a table or put us at the back of the line. Anyway, we got the Lucia's Fries ($8.50) and Shishito Peppers ($9.50) to start, both of which were fine. For mains we had the Trofie al Pesto ($21, solid), and The Fall Pizza ($24, very good although a smaller portion size for the price). The food came out in a reasonable time.

I had been to Lucia's at the Lake Merritt farmers market once before but I finally decided to stop by the brick and mortar location in Berkeley last night for dinner. This place has been hyped up to me for the last year or so and I was excited to give it a shot.My girlfriend and I made a reservation for dinner here at 7:30 PM - we arrived right on time and were promptly seated. The interior is cozy - it has exposed brick walls and nice warm lighting. There are a good amount of tables both indoors and outdoors. With that said , it was crowded at the restaurant so it'd be best to make a reservation.For our meal, we ordered the kale salad ,the Quattro Formaggi pizza with mushrooms, a margherita pizza along with two drinks. I got the Emiliano and my girlfriend got the Italian Mule.The salad was very nice presentation wise. Flavor wise we found it to be a bit lacking though. I was really excited to taste the Calabrian Chili vinaigrette but it was a barely noticeable flavor in there. The red berry glaze was the best part but there wasn't enough of it to make up for the lack of flavor in the rest of the salad.Our drinks were very solid - the Italian mule was saffron forward and I honestly wish I got that instead of my drink. My girlfriend, who doesn't normally like vodka or ginger beer, said that it was one of the highlights of our meal. The drink I did get - the Emiliano - was still very good and had a mild sweetness. After a little wait our pizzas arrived. The margehrita is classic red pie with mozzarella and basil and the Quattro formaggi is a white pie. The pizzas came served with chili oil and chili flakes. Having had the margherita pizza at the Lake Merritt farmers market , and hearing from friends that this is some of the best pizza in the bay, I had high hopes trying it at the actual restaurant. Unfortunately it was a bit of a soupy mess this go around. While the crust was absolutely delicious (though lacking in structural integrity), good crust alone doesn't make a good pizza for me. The sauce was a little too watery for my liking and lacked a little flavor. The chili oil gave this pie a big assist in the flavor department and definitely helped.The Quattro formaggi pizza was my favorite of the two pies we had last night - the mushrooms were marinated and very flavorful and the choices of cheeses were excellent and gave a perfect savory flavor to the pizza (including the blue cheese - which I normally hate).All in all , I found Lucia's to be good, but not great. The crust is definitely some of the best in the Bay Area but the toppings and components of some entrees lacked flavor and that's a big criteria for me. I do still plan to come back and try some of the other pizzas (notably some of the non veg options) + Italian tapas and get a bunch of Italian Mules.Food : 3/5Ambiance: 4/5Service: 4/5Overall : 3.7/5

Very very bland pizza. I will say our server Madison was so pleasant and kind so she gets 5 stars all around. I came with my husband and my sister. We started with the calamari which wasn't horrible but not the best. I will say it was better than my main course though, lol. My sister and I both didn't like our pizza, she got something with potato and I got the sausage both were underwhelming and lacked a lot of flavor , like a lot. My hubby got the Diavola which was the best pizza we had that night because it had a kick and wasn't bland at all. I don't think I would return but if I did I would only get the Diavola. but I'm glad I gave it a shot.

This is a cute little restaurant in Downtown Berkeley! I came here on a Wednesday night and honestly wasn't expecting it to be so crowded. The host told us we had to wait about 10-15 minutes but it actually ended up being 25-30 minutes due to the fact that some people dining had stayed longer than expected. I was fine waiting but I will say that the host was not the most welcoming and it did deter me slightly from wanting to dine there. When we were seated however, our server was so sweet and kind and made our meal very enjoyable. Of course, the food was amazing as well. The pasta tasted home made and I thought the pizza was great as well. I don't have anything too special to say about the food besides the fact that it is pretty quality Italian food. Overall I had a great time eating here! Just missing a star for service.

This is on a delivery order...so factor that in. We got two pizzas and a tiramisu. The pizza was okay? Nothing spectacular or special. Best part I would say was the crust. Big let down was that the pizza arrived ice cold...we've gotten take out pizza from several places and have never had the issue of it arriving cold. Next the tiramisu, this was where it really turned south, the tiramisu was awful. It was moldy, took one bite and all we could taste was mold. Needless to say...we didn't eat any more of it. We did contact the delivery service who refunded us and called Lucia's who apologized for the moldy tiramisu but pretty sure we won't be trying them ever again.

Their gluten free pizza is the tops!!!! Very expensive, though. Nice toppings, although I prefer a sweet fennel Italian sausage.