Excellent atmosphere. Great service. The bruschetta was by far the best we've had and our entrees were delicious. We will definitely be back
I would consider this a special occasion restaurant. Service was excellent. Waiters ver attentive but not overbearing and I notices that most of the waiters were bartenders too. Everyone loved their food
Previous owners ran our favorite Italian restaurant. We were aware ownership had changed. The soup was excellent. Limited choices of pasta. The sauce wasn't the great 'gravy' previously enjoyed, and the prices were very high. Service, though was fine. Very disappointed. Will not return
Just had the worst Chicken Marsala that I've ever had in my 7 decades. The breading was incompletely cooked, and doughy. Hardly any Marsala sauce. Beware: old name, new ownership and chef!! Had a great meal here a month ago with the old owner chef. I found out that this was the first week of new ownership, so maybe the kinks will be worked out.
Tonight was our first visit since undernew ownership and we were so disappointed. Bob & Pam served a nice variety of breads. Our bread basket was mediocre. Previous entrees included a choice of soup or salad. Now everything is ala carte. Items have been removed from the menu. My husband inquired about an entree he had last time that is no longer on the menu. They can still make it, but it was $10 more. On a positive note, the service was excellent. Kind, friendly, attentive staff.
This establishment provided one of the few terrible dinners I have had in Venice. My friend and I ordered the eggplant gnocchi, and she said hers was hot and delicious, but mine was so cold the grease was congealed and the cheese hardened. Other people at our table ordered the Sunday pasta dinner and enjoyed the meatball and sausage flavors, but the sauce was cold and not cooked long enough to bear the name Italian Gravy, implying a meat sauce that cooked all day with richly married flavors, rather than the cold flash cooked tomato sauce we were presented.
"Fine" Dining in Venice, FL!! So darn tasty,Service 5 StarsAtmosphere 5 StarsMeal Selection 5 StarsPresentation 5 StarsWine List 5 StarsFood 8 StarsThe food was absolutely outstanding! We had the carpaccio, quail and octopus appetizers, OMG!I had the seafood risotto and it was off the chain. If you don't want to eat absolutely delicious food...go elsewhere. If you want delicious, friendly and comfortable look no further! Thanks Hailey for the great service.
Second dinner at Lucarelli’s, first time under new owners. The new owners are still family and the ambiance and service remain excellent. The food seems to have slipped a notch, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt during the transition. My wife had the small Cesar salad and the scallops appetizer as her meal. Both were very good. I had the small Cesar and the Papparedilli(?) Bolognese and found it to be a bit heavy. I don’t remember the menu being strictly a la carte, but I may be misremembering. One cocktail, two glasses of house cab and entrees came to $108 with tax and tip. We will go back again to see how they are doing.
Let me start by saying that I am a 43yr resident of Venice. I have been dining at the Lucarelli location since it opened as Defina's decades ago. Both families have always taken pride to put out an exquisite and satisfying menu. My wife and I dined on the first open weekend of the new menu and management. We had signature cocktails, an antipasti appetizer, and salads to start. As I knew it was the first performance of the symphony Nina & Tommy were conducting I left any preconceptions in the parking lot and asked Nina herself what I should order as the main course. "You should get the Veal Milanese!" I could tell she was very proud of the dish and as I found, rightfully so. It was delicious. My wife had the Chicken Trio. A dish that was perfect for someone who wanted to tour the picata, marsala and parmesan all on one dish. It was also delicious as I also sampled a bit of each. Then came the finale, carmel bread pudding. We were more than satisfied with our experience and plan on dining there for years to come. The next paragraph is to those who would critique so harshly Nina and Tom on their vision for the future of Lucarelli's. I find your reviews are more telling of the type of people you are and less about the experience of dining at Lucarelli's. Now that Bob and Pam have passed their beloved restaurant to the next generation of family, Daughter Nina and fiance Tommy, Bob & Pam are taking their much deserved farewell to serving the many fine customers, old & new that have found the delight that is Lucarelli's. It seems that post covid lock downs the "Entitled Early birders" and self proclaimed "Foodies" have lost all sense of appropriate public interactions and are trying these best to be relevant in a world that has passed them by. To those people I say DO BETTER! Your bad reviews in the first weeks of a new venture do nothing to better the place you claim to love. Help them help to serve you better by talking to a server, manager or owner IN PERSON at the time of your issue. To those complaints about price, milk used to be a nickel too. Stay home and save the table for those of us who know the value of a well prepared meal. Ciao! Anthony Accardi 43 year resident 30+ year local business owner
When Bob and Pam owned Lucarelli's Restaurant in Venice, Florida, it was one of our favorite restaurants. The atmosphere was charm galore and the service excellent. The food was superb. The atmosphere is still charming and the service staff is still excellent, however, once Bob and Pam retired, the food went downhill fast. Lucarelli's has taken many favorite items off the menu such as: the veal chop, that my husband could not stop raving about, many of the chicken dishes (they now have a combo), the cheese ravioli, and instead of offering their delicious salad with the entrée, it is now an extra charge. They always offered a variety of salad dressings now it is just balsamic and maybe two more dressings that have zero appeal. Their blue cheese was delicious but is no longer offered. This is extremely short sighted and definitely not business smart. Their prices are high and although I don't mind paying for a side salad, I want dressing choices and a salad with variety. As a result I am not ordering their salads. We also miss their soups. Although they still offer soup, it would be nice to have their classic minestrone or pasta fagioli. My husband had the special appetizer scallops with gnocchi. He said scallops should always taste sweet, however, the scallops had an off flavor. He said it tasted as if they overcooked them in wine, taking away the sweetness of the scallops and leaving a bad taste. He was very disappointed they took the veal chop off the menu, and instead he ordered the Thick Cut Smoked Pork Chop. He said it was "Meh." I had the eggplant Lucarelli with a side order of severe indigestion. It was heavily fried with loads of oil sitting on top. When Bob and Pam ran the restaurant, their eggplant was delicious and did not need a side order of Tums in order to digest. The couple behind us were also complaining about the food. The husband ordered the sauteed shrimp, scallop and lobster risotto and complained he could not eat it. They have taken favorite desserts off the menu as well. Their chocolate cake was delicious and is no longer offered. I know the raspberry tartuffo hasn't been on the menu for a while, but that was delicious. For dessert, I ordered a pistachio gelato. Before it used to be served with biscotti, just the gelato. This time they covered it in whip cream that tasted more like Cool Whip. Not even real whip cream. This took away from the flavor of the gelato. They did serve the biscotti. Word on the street is the regulars are very disappointed with these changes. Please don't try and make this restaurant into something it's not by cutting corners and not serving the variety of excellent quality food, the loyal patrons have come to expect from this beloved restaurant. It will become one of the many mediocre Italian restaurants or worse yet be run into the ground. Service is still excellent -thank goodness that hasn't changed.