La Luce - side

Very elegant and has many varieties of pasta and seafood read more Very elegant and has many varieties of pasta and seafood

It was a Tuesday. The atmosphere was nice but we weren 't there to eat the woodwork (a choice I came to regret . We arrived before the dinner crowd (about 5:30... read more It was a Tuesday. The atmosphere was nice but we weren 't there to eat the woodwork (a choice I came to regret . We arrived before the dinner crowd (about 5:30 p.m. . You 're not going to make it from your car to the door without hearing the gentle but deafening clickity-clack of the El passing overhead. In truth, it 's barely heard inside the restaurant and it adds a bit to the overall 1920 's ambiance. Not true of the television, which was being enjoyed by the waiters when we arrived. They were, apparently, not willing to miss a re-run of The Big Bang Theory. It 's a terrific show, I 'm sure, but a little more focus on the job might be appreciated by the owner. Still, their pastime did not affect their service, which was not bad. We came for lunch a few weeks back and found that they are closed until 3:00 despite YELP 's indicating they were open for lunch (the folks at La Luce should really give a yelp to Yelp and update their online information . We had walked halfway through the restaurant before someone noticed and offered us a table. They didn 't seem to care where we sat and I later regretted not choosing the bistro down the road. There were only two other tables being used at the time so the waiter 's attention skills were not exactly being challenged. For his part, he was a friendly fellow whose accent was as charming as his demeanor. He helped me with my wine selection by not helping me with my wine selection, which I appreciated. I chose the house sangria which was a pleasant surprise. We enjoyed the three pieces of bread that were brought to the table. Had I known that that was all we were allowed I might have put up a bit of a fight for the last piece. Given the fact that the bread wasn 't warm and the parmesan wasn 't fresh, I didn 't think it was worth the effort. I ordered the Seafood and Linguine. I remember because there were sea shells sitting on my plate when it arrived and since that was what I had ordered, I 'm going with that. The first thing that struck me was the fact that the clams were the size of a dime. Literally. THE SIZE OF A DIME. I didn 't know Mother Nature made clams that small. I actually felt sorry for the little guys, having been caught so young in life. I think I lost more calories digging them out of their shell than I gained eating them. The chef should have been embarrassed to serve them. I 've seen bigger bait on the end of a toddlers fishing pole. We 're talking small. Sauce is important to me. It will make or break a dish. This dish was broken. It wasn 't really bad but it wasn 't really good. For $30 I 'm not expecting great but I am expecting something more than I can get out of a can from an cheap Italian sauce factory. Those factory workers did not earn their pay the day they made this sauce, I can tell you. It was very disappointing. If the meal cost them $3.00 their buyer should be fired. I 'm all for earning a profit but, jezz, have a little value in there for the customer, will ya. The silverware doesn 't have to match but this meal would have been more at home with plastic forks and spoons. Our water glasses were never empty and the server never spilled a drop (a pet peeve of mine . I did, however, see the bottom of my wine glass long before I finished my meal. I was surprised that no one sought to fill THAT glass or offer us a nice dessert (preferably from the restaurant next door . Although I 'm a diabetic, I might have risked either or both in an effort to forget the entrée '. There are too many choices for your dining dollars in Chicago. La Luce should not be one of them. Yes, the surroundings are somewhat romantic and nostalgic. But my search for a good Italian restaurant ended at La Luce. I 'm switching to Mexican for a while.

Upon googling restaurants on King St West this restaurant came, it had decent reviews and the price seems reasonable as well. The restaurant itself is small and... read more Upon googling restaurants on King St West this restaurant came, it had decent reviews and the price seems reasonable as well. The restaurant itself is small and cozy, I don 't think more than 50 max can fit. The walls are decorated with rustic photos and a few paintings. They have a small bar, and the kitchen has a slight open concept, so you are able to see the chefs prepare meals and they are also able to view customers dine. For food my friends and I decided to get: 12inch spinach pizza, honey basil cream pasta (penne), bolognese tomato basil with beef pasta (penne), gorgonzola red pepper cream with chicken (fettuccine). The pizza was excellent, great flavour, seasoning was perfect, it was soft yet crispy, highly recommended if anyone decided to go to this place. Bolognese wasn 't so bad, a bit on the salty side. The gorgonzola was good, and a bit lacking in salt. The honey pasta the first time had excellent flavour in their sauce, it was a sweet basil alfredo sauce, but the pasta itself was a bit tough to chew, it wasn 't al dente and I explained that to our server but I was fine with it, whatever. But the server kept insisting that he would ask the kitchen to make a new batch, so they did, and the second time the pasta was good but the sauce tasted like milk, literarily milk and pasta. I even had my friends try it, and they said the exact same. The server asked if I was happy with it, I said I 'm not but it 's okay I 'll eat it regardless. It 's not a big deal. However, the server altered the owner who came to our table, and seemed a bit upset. First, he accused me of ordering the wrong pasta type (penne) for that sauce, well if that was the case then the server could have easily made recommendations when I asked him, then the owner said that person who was our server is actually not a server but rather his friend helping him out for the evening? Well, I 'm sorry I wasn 't aware that my server wasn 't someone who consistently works at your restaurant. Then the owner kept explaining how I choose the wrong pasta and I kept making him my point, he said he monitored the pasta the second time and there is no way he tasted like I claimed, I asked him to taste the dish himself and did not not. Then he said, I don 't have the palate for tasting the organic honey, even though I explained the first time the sauce was fine. Instead, he kept badgering me and defending his pasta, and I apologized to him and said, I 'm only providing honest feedback and I didn 't mean to offend anyone. Anyways, this went on for a bit...it was very time consuming especially since we had a train to catch. The service is slow, they take a bit of time to bring out your orders but the menu states Don 't rush the silicians or something of that sort. Even with the bill, it took them a good 20 mins to figure out to divide a bill 3 ways, and the entire time the kitchen staff kept staring at us from their open kitchen, which was extremely uncomfortable. The owner did come and apologize towards the end, however the entire experience was uncomfortable, so I wouldn 't go back. This place is promising and does have some decent dishes, although they lack in seasoning. The service is slow, and owner will get offended if you return your dish, and the staff will stare at you the whole time. Before coming here, if you are on King St. W, try Cibo wine bar for Italian cuisine, not only great food but better customer service.

One of the best Italian food in town!!!! read more One of the best Italian food in town!!!!

I didn't have a chance to eat here. We went at 11 expecting lunch, because that is what Yelp states, but they don't open until 3pm. This was a waste of my very... read more I didn't have a chance to eat here. We went at 11 expecting lunch, because that is what Yelp states, but they don't open until 3pm. This was a waste of my very short lunch break.