Ristorante Lucano

Location

1815 East Avenue, Rochester NY, 14610

Hours (as of December 2015)

Tuesday - Saturday: 5:00PM to 9:00PM

Phone

585 244 3460

Accessible

Yes

Alcohol

Yes - wine and beer only

Email

<ristorantelucano AT aol DOT com>

Websites

http://RistoranteLucano.com

Facebook page

Reviews

12/23/09 City Newspaper Review

10/21/2010 RochesterFoodNet.com Photo Blog by Kurt Brownell

Ristorante Lucano is an upscale restaurant serving Italian food in the Culver/University/East neighborhood. Reservations are recommended.

Comments:

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2008-01-13 20:41:50   From the outside you would not think much of the place but the inside is very warm and cozy. Linen tableclothes and good food. I had veal with mushrooms in a cognac souce. My wife had a chicken dish with peppers, olives and artichokes. Ala carte menu can get expensive. Most main dishes are $18- $22. —ScottHendler

2008-05-01 10:47:28   The food here wasnt bad, but not amazing. I enjoyed my lentil soup immensely.

They need to gut this plaza and start over, it is embarrassing to look at. —MrRochester

2008-06-04 23:08:04   good food,nice atmosphere inside the restaurant but way overpriced! Also my husband and I left hungry-portions are small. —RocDiner

2009-03-14 10:19:45   The BEST authentic italian restaurant in Rochester! —djsole

2009-08-09 17:13:27   The inside exceeds my expectations, and the food was decent enough. However, the portions were minimal given the high (for Rochester) prices. More importantly, when paying that much, I expect much better service. While our waitress (a trainee) was very nice and accommodating, the regular staff was very rude—to the trainee and our party. The waitresses loudly made insulting comments from only a few feet away from our table. The chef is very stubborn about his dishes, and minor substitutions are rejected almost automatically. —jpaolucci

2009-10-05 12:43:50   I went to Lucano's with two other people during Restaurant Week, and we adored the food! My friend and I had the gnocchi (we shared both kinds - one with lamb and one with the cream sauce) and my boyfriend had the bucatini. All of us left extremely happy and absolutely stuffed. We had no problem with the service at all. We'll definitely go back, but probably for lunch, since the prices are more reasonable on a regular basis. Delicious! —EHjulstrom

2009-11-27 21:25:41   Great Italian food. Nice atmosphere. It was a pleasant surprise eating here. Food and service were great and had a great time. Definitely would recommend to others. One of Rochester's best kept secrets! —GregF

2010-01-31 17:50:50   Easily one of the best Italian restaurants I've been to in Rochester. My boyfriend and I went on a Saturday night and had only a brief wait with reservations. The staff and service was fantastic. We had a WONDERFUL experience with the food. The only "drawback" to the meal was the bread and oil served before the entrees. The bread was very ordinary, which after having our entrees, seemed out of character for the place. The oil had several herbs and parmesan cheese added, which slightly overpowered the simple but elegant flavor of the olive oil. I would prefer a higher quality oil, and a loaf of bread with more character, perhaps warmed, rather than served chilled, which is what we received. I had the Lasagna, and my boyfriend had the Gnocchi Alla Panna. Our entrees arrived shortly after we finished the bread and oil, perfectly timed. The lasagna was excellent, served piping hot with bubbling cheese, and the perfect amount of seasonings, not too much ricotta and sauce. It was excellently balanced with regard to the ingredients and flavors. The Gnocchi dish was amazing; the gnocchi themselves were like light fluffy pillows of potato pasta, with the sauce complimenting the peas and pancetta perfectly with a wonderful undertone of garlic, and comforting cream. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our meal, and cannot wait to return to again enjoy the Gnocchi Alla Panna, and try another creation. A+! —MerCDotes

2010-06-07 00:35:43   I ate here the weekend of my college graduation. It was a nice experience and I would love to eat here again. There were so many things on the menu that sounded good and it was hard to pick one.

This is a good place to go if you are a fan of fresh Italian-style seafood. I personally ordered the veal, but they had so many seafood specials and we ordered some delicious shrimp as an appetizer. —NickCassaro

2012-02-11 22:23:04   I picked this place for an early Valentine's day based on the lack of negative reviews here and elsewhere. My wife and I picked two of the "pesce" specials. Our server Amanda was professional, friendly, and attentive. The specials sounded wonderful, with exotic and intriguing toppings. Unfortunately, the descriptions wrote checks the plates couldn't cash. When they arrived, they looked like frozen fish squares with "stuff" dumped on top. My wife's eggplant and fennel topping was bland, too sweet, and she insisted it was not fresh-made. The "Caramelized Lemon Wheels" on top of my Halibut was a little better, but neither the fish nor the topping were anything special. The plating of both our dishes was particularly unimpressive. EVERYTHING was tremendously oversalted - and we are not shy about salt in general. The only house-made dessert was the Tiramisu. While refreshing, it was not particularly good. It took a while to even find the ladyfingers. Overall, the Tiramisu tasted a lot like the excellent Donuts-Delite Boston Creme doughnut I had this morning. Now if that was the end of the story, I would have rated the meal average. Not as good as Macaroni grill - The fish specials were more like "Jays Diner" caliber. But adding insult to injury, our fish specials cost $31.00 each. Our-bad for assuming they would be in line with the rest of the menu. Actually, it's good that we didn't ask, because our judgement as we ate was on the assumption that they were $21.00 dishes - and they still fell far short of expectations. If we had known they were $31.00 dishes we probably would have gotten rude. If 200 people at a wedding were served these plates, they would have been "typical", but no-way-no-how were these gourmet, nor even good restaurant meals.
I feel like an idiot for picking this over Max Chophouse for Valentines day, but I thought we would try something different - especially since we both love Italian food - but this ain't it.
Since so many other reviews here are good, I must assume we either had a bad night or made bad selections (which should not really be an option). I would never eat here again by choice, but if I had a business meal here I would probably try a menu item - probably a pasta dish, in the hope that it was a more refined dish than the amateurish efforts we paid so dearly for. —DaveW

2012-02-12 18:00:31   Dave W, sorry you did not like. I was also there last night for an early Valentine's day dinner and I am surprised to read that review. My wife had the Halibut and I had a few fork fulls. We both thought it was fantastic. I usually order the veal scaloppini in cognac and did again last night. I think it is one of the best veal dishes you can get in Rochester. My wife and I have been coming here for the past 3 years for Valentine's day and it is also a place we like to bring out of town guests. We have never received negative feedback from our out of town friends or family. The owners have also opened up a small Italian specialty shoppe a few doors down. Something I will have to try in the upcoming days. —ScottHendler

2012-03-22 17:01:07   My favorite Italian restaurant in town by a long shot. It looks unassuming both inside and out but the food is amazing. The server's are all quite good, the owner is attentive without being overbearing. I'm shocked that someone said the portions are small. This isn't Cheesecake Factory- don't expect 1.5 meals' worth of leftovers. Haven't had a bad meal here and there aren't many restaurants in town I can say that about. —karlos

2013-09-02 13:21:40   Just came here Saturday night for my birthday and had a WONDERFUL meal! For an appetizer, I had the steamed clams in a spicy tomato broth that was to die for and pretty much filled me up. My other half had the pear salad, also delicious, along with the filet, which was pronounced perfect. I had the cod, which was a little more done than I like my fish, but tasted great the next day for breakfast since I couldn't eat much of it after the filling clams appetizer. The garlic mashed potatoes were great, and the vegetables were sauteed perfectly. We had a really nice Salice Salentino Cantele 2009: http://www.dalluva.com/member-area/forums/topics/cantele-salice-salentino-riserva-2009-10/. Outstanding service and nice ambience. Will definitely be returning. —KatieSchmitz

2016-10-10 15:36:10   Went to Lucano for Valentine's Day earlier this year. We had a wonderful meal and had a great experience. Will be back! —DE