Luciana's Ristorante, Dana Point CA

Had been to Luciana's before and had a wonderful experience but on last nights visit not too good. It's was my wife's birthday. Made reservations which went well, showed up a little early and was greeted and sat by a young lady who must of been having a bad day. No smile nor any of the common courtesies given when being seated. Our server was pleasant, our wine was good, appetizer was good though it took 4 requests to get a second basket of bread. I ordered fettuccine my wife ordered cannelloni which was good, my pasta wasn't cooked and the sauce was not good at all.
When I got it back the sauce had been freshened up but tasted even worse than before. A woman seated next to us also sent her dish back due to undercooked pasta and a woman at another table was telling her companion that her clams had no flavor and didn't finish her order either.
I ate a few bites of my dish and set it aside and a busboy picked it up before our server came by the table where he could of seen I hadn't eaten much and hopefully would of asked if it was ok. When I asked for our bill our server did bring out a complimentary portion of ice cream with candle for my wife's birthday, which was nice but overall we probably won't be going back to dine there.
I still left a 20 dollar tip for an 87 dollar bill but spending 107 dollars for a less than average Italian meal makes me think it would of been cheaper and better to just get some pasta and sauce from the store as it would of been much less expensive and tasted better. It's a shame that this dining experience was such a disappointment as our prior was exceptional we were hoping to make Luciana's our go to for Italian cuisine.
Having read through the reviews I'm guessing that nobody at the restaurant even reads them. So sad.

Everything about Luciana's was amazing. It's such a charming restaurant. The food was delicious and service spectacular. Although we had a very large group, everything was smooth and flawless. I look forward to returning in the future with my family. Thank you to staff for a memorable night.

We were expecting more. Server Nicki was great. Ambiance warm but private birthday party made for a loud evening. Food, including "signature" fettuccini Luciana, was disappointing.

Amazing food. The best Italian I've found on the west coast. Being from Brooklyn NY I know good Italian food and Lucianos is just delicious. The pasta Fagioli is delicious. The tomato sauce is the bomb. They have lamb chops as a special sometimes and they ate the best I ever had. Great staff too. What you would expect from high class dining but the prices are very reasonable! My favorite restaurant in OC by far!

We enjoy having simple & healthy dinner at Luciana Restaurant, servers Danny & Jose are wonderful to customize our needs. Environment is very authentic & pleasant. The owner of the restaurant George is extremely hospitable to the guests. Enjoy

Overpriced. Food ok. Not friendly employees. Manager good, other than that, it's how you look.the Hispanic guy who served our water not good just put the water and bread without say anything, that's ok. The waitress i give him 7 points. Game coffee after 20 minutes. Host. Young girl asked me if I need someone who speak hispanish, I said no thanks I speak both languages, employees need to go to customer service training.

Restaurant is in good location and has good outdoor seating. They don't have parking for the restaurant and it was just street parking. Food was mediocre and relatively less quantity for the price, ordered gnocchi and it was not much better than taking the same from Safeway and adding ready made marinara sauce to it. Wouldn't recommend.

Not good service, not amazing food

Where to start? We made a reservation for my mom's birthday a party of 10 at this restaurant, they seem decent & with good reviews, well, complete disappointment.
We ask for some entries, those were good, but then they brought another entry that wasn't ours, after that, we waited 60min, yes, 60 MIN for our plates to arrived, what happen? They forgot, we over heard the waiter telling another one to ask for the plates again because they totally forgot about them.
60 min later.we got out plates, some of them were good but not amazing, the drinks were WAY BETTER than all the food we got.
The waiter at the end tried to be nice & did a surprise cake for my mom, I can say that was the only good thing of the night.
Recommendation: go to Ralph's or Albertsons & buy a microwave Italian dish, that way better & cheaper!
Not coming back, hopefully they will get better.
The location is amazing!

A friend took me here to celebrate my birthday. I had only been here once before, and it was a Christmas party about 30 years ago.
Our waiter was Chris, and he was absolutely wonderful (it was also his birthday!) He explained every question my friend had and conveyed her special order to the bartender. She was so surprised when her cocktail was perfect!
I ordered the eggplant lasagna and it was delicious. She had rigatoni.
She ordered a chocolate flourless cake that was incredible and Chris brought chocolate gelato with a candle in it. They sang.it makes getting older a lot better when you're pampered like this!

As a global traveler for decades who has enjoyed fine dining from around the world, this is the worst food I have TRIED to eat in a very long time. It really was horrible and inedible.

However, let's start at the beginning.

We called to make a reservation for 4 at 5: 30 and were told the first opening was at 8: 30, which is way too late for our party. We specifically asked about 5: 30. The hostess told us they were completely booked.

So, we decided to order take-out because my father had his heart set on Luciana's. We ordered and then drove down to pick up the food.

We arrived right at 5: 30 to pickup the food and the restaurant was COMPLETELY EMPTY.inside and out. Totally unacceptable. The manager didn't seem to care when we mentioned it to him.

When we got the food home, we discovered that the pork chop was red and cold inside. The Caesar salad had brown, dried-up lettuce, which means it was at least 4-5 days old. The bread for the bruschetta was soggy. The lasagna Bolognese tasted like Budget Gourmet or Chef Boyardee.

The calamari was cold. The commercial, mass-produced, sliced loaf bread for the dinners looked like it came from Ralphs.and it was definitely MOLDY.

The entire meal was a disappointment that ruined this special occasion for my family. The last time my family ate here was last year and it was decent. What happened to cause the utter demise of this place?

Gordon Ramsey, if you're reading this, I found the next restaurant to feature for your Kitchen Nightmares show.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS (unless you are the type who thinks Olive Garden is legit, you get your sauce from a jar, or you simply have no taste buds.)

We will never return.

I've had dinner at Luciana's a few times. This time was the last. When I made the reservation, the hostess asked if we'd be celebrating anything and I replied that we'd be celebrating a birthday. Not even a mention of the birthday when we arrived or throughout our dinner. Why bother asking? Although we had a reservation, we had to wait while 'regulars' or people who knew someone who worked there got seated first. I usually wouldn't mind a little extra wait because this has happened before at Luciana's, but we had plans after dinner and got seated at least 20 minutes late. To top it off, the food was just okay. My friend's dinner was hot on the sides, but cold in the center. Not a great experience.

Good quality food. We had appetizers, split the entrees, and shared the desert. Nice ambiance and attentive service. Full bar. Kids really enjoyed the chocolate flourless cake. It was not too sweet and still very tasty.

My Mom and I had the best Italian meal here tonight of our lives! We had Oscar as our server and he explained everything perfectly and was accomodating and friendly. Staff really cares about their customers. Great atmosphere and the food was amazing. Highly recommend coming here and we will definitely be back!

Luciano has the cutest ambiance, we sat outside - covered on top with heaters and a fireplace. The food was top notch, best seafood pasta I’ve had. Everything was light and delicious. Come here.

We love Luciano's. We've been coming here for well over 20 years. Luciano's is one of our favorite Italian restaurants in South Orange county. The servers are friendly and welcoming, the food is fantastic and the prices are reasonable. Highly recommended!

I am in absolute shock
With the way we were treated
Horrible horrible horrible
I am discussed for
I left a message for the general manager to call me?
Will see!
I will write a complete review if I don’t hear from the Gm!

Lovely atmosphere with attentive staff and most importantly, great food! The patio is pleasant but can be a bit loud with traffic noise. In a non-pandemic world, indoors is likely the more romantic choice. GF menu was appreciated but look at the regular menu too, as some items are GF naturally. The staff was so helpful in asking the chef. Tagliato (flatiron steak) was wonderful and cooked exactly as requested.

Luciana’s is always a worthy choice for a visit to Dana Point!

Great food! Perfect atmosphere. Our waitress was Italian and it was the icing on the cake. The chicken parm and the cannelloni was delicious