Luce Restaurant & Bar

I'll try not to gush too much, but oh boy, this place top - down is phenomenal. I do fine dining on occasion in Savannah and Charleston, but they need to step their game up because Luce raised the bar.

Pros:
- Phenomenal Chicken Parm. Absolutely delicious piece of chicken that was cooked perfectly. I've had chicken parm in Boston and I'd say this one takes it.
- Bread. You must give free bread. They do and it's one of the better free breads you'll have. (Not going to lie the beans with it is odd)
- Eggplant Parm Appetizer was delicious as well. It was very homey tasting and tasted REAL.
- The Red Sauce used on my pasta and chicken parm is my favorite I've had in any restaurant.
- My wife's birthday! They really did make it special: They gave a birthday card, got some free champagne, and even wrote 30 on the chocolate torte.

Cons:
- There was not a single thing I could complain about.

So yeah! It was my wife's birthday (the big 30) and we know of It'sQCP from Youtube Shorts so we wanted to try Luce because of all that. Parking for this place is very easy and as soon as you take the elevator down...boom! You take a right and there's the restaurant. Very simple. Also, they do validate and pay for your parking at the parking garage so you don't have to pay $20.

Anyway, got wine, got the eggplant appetizer (do get this) and we put our orders in. I did enjoy the inside of this place. It was very simple with a touch of being fancy. It was a good vibe.

Servers were on it. They checked and replaced things very quickly; knifes, forks, water, refill wine. I was very impressed by this.

My wife got filet mignon and she said it was the best she's ever had...now my chicken parm was perfect. The perfect amount of cheese, the perfect amount of sauce, a perfect crunch at both ends. Man...I'm going to be thinking of that chicken parm way too long. The pasta paired with it was light and refreshing to go with the heavy chicken. I will say, I prefer my chicken parm paper thin and this was a thick chicken parm...but! With it cooked perfectly I made an exception and can gladly say that is a Top-3 chicken parm I've ever had. Also, we had a chocolate torte that was the definition of indulgent.

One of my favorite restaurant experiences I've ever had. It was intimate and not crowded. If you go anywhere in Savannah or Charleston I feel like you get lost in the crowd while fine dining and the staff can't make it "special" for your event. Luce hit a homerun with this. I cannot wait to go back for a birthday or life achievement. They have an earned "one of my favorite restaurants".

Great Food - Bad Service.
Recently came here for a birthday with a party of 9. Reservation was made weeks in advance and confirmed the week of. When arriving at the restaurant (on time) our table was not ready. We patiently waited for them to set the table and we got sat almost 20 minutes later. This would not normally be a big issue but the table we were sat at did not have enough seats for all 9 of us. When alerting the staff that we didn't have enough seats they had told us our reservation was for 6. After showing the confirmation for 9 we were then told to go back out to the waiting area as we had to now wait for another table to finish eating and pay before we would get a table. After waiting in the lobby area for another 10 minutes, we were sat at a table that had been open the whole time. The hostesses had an attitude the entire duration of this event, and spoke down to us the entire time. As this is an expensive restaurant we were all super disappointed in the staff and lack of preparation. This is a restaurant that makes it clear if you do not show up within 15 minutes of your reservation, they will cancel it, yet we were not sat for over 30 minutes.

The food is really good, everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals, but with the lowest entre price starting around $25 and going up from there... I will not be returning. The service, lack of preparation, and trying to blame this on us making an incorrect reservation is unacceptable for this "nice" of a restaurant. For $600 you would think the staff would at least be nice.

f you're in Uptown Charlotte there isn't a shortage of quality Italian restaurants and @lucerestaurantclt is right up there with the best.
I had never been and am so glad I decided to head in on a rainy Saturday to check it out.
The service is hard to beat, everyone was incredibly friendly and knowledgable.
Their fresh baked bread was perfect. Soft on the inside with a great crunch on the crust.
I went ahead and skipped an appetizer and went straight for their carbonara.
This is by far the BEST carbonara in the city. It is done perfectly. The noodles were perfectly al dente and the sauce was full of flavor. The guanciale and panchetta were perfectly portioned. Not to mention, the portion size was MASSIVE!
The Conte Restaurant Group has always been top notch, Luce is no different!

Ambiance and service were amazing. My dish was angel hair with traditional marinara, eggplant and vegetables. I added shrimp and they were huge and grilled. Sooo good! The bread was hot, thick and delicious. I took tiramisu home which was a dream. They brought us a desert for our anniversary. I also had a glass of sangria. This place is very romantic and has a patio. Pics are early evening so don't be fooled, it gets full and you need a reservation most nights.

We recently went to Luce Restaurant for my daughter's 16th birthday. She did all of the research, read the reviews and made the reservation. When you get to Luce, you have to go through the lobby of the Truist building because of construction outside. However, once you get in, you immediately notice the ambiance and atmosphere is well deserving of the great reviews.

We were promptly seated and within a matter of minutes our server was over and helped us with the menu, drinks and answered all of our questions. The service was impressive and we never felt like we were being unattended. The food came out quickly and everyone in our party enjoyed their meal. When you look at the menu, it's touches on many tastes so you're sure to find something.

Overall, the food, the atmosphere and ambiance were perfect. My daughter was very happy with everything and the staff did a wonderful job of making her feel special.

Food, service & ambiance set the high bar for imaginative food, professional service and the outdoors seating make Luce a must try!

This is one of our favorite go to place for a special occasion. Food is very good and for us service has been exceptional. We have heard the service from staff has not been great lately, but we have not had this experience.
I hope they continue to be attentive to their customers even though it can be difficult with short staff.

Amazing food at Luce and such a great place for a pre theater dinner.
Top notch everything here. The service is stellar, the restaurant is beautifully outfitted, the chandeliers!
Inside Hearst tower, which is currently under construction so Luce can be tricky to find.
We all started off with a cocktail. I had the Manhattan, nice and strong! The Negroni, lemon drop and pomegranate martini were all fantastic.
They had some great specials, but we went with the mussels and clams. Fabulous spicy Romano sauce, great bread for dipping, and the mussels were great, I'm not a big clams fan.
We shared a Rigatoni Buttera, also had another made with gluten free pasta, both were excellent. The sauce was a creamy tomato sauce, with Italian sausage, and sweet peas.
The spinach E Pere, was a beautiful salad, with poached pears, caramelized walnuts, pecorino cheese, with a honey balsamic dressing. Nice, fresh, and good to share.
Had some time so we had a bottle of wine, a great Montepulciano. Went well with the food!
Then a birthday dessert, of a super light tiramisu. Delicious, just the right amount of alcohol in it.
Loved the Luce vibe, classic and classy.
Definitely be back when I'm at another show uptown

First visit to Charlotte and impressed with our Hotel recommendation for Luce
Food was very good ,service was excellent and staff were very attentive.
Two reasons I am not giving this restaurant a five star review.
1) Music , was more than background music and was sort of music you would expect to hear in a nightclub not a fine dining Italian restaurant
2) I am used to gratuity being g atomically added for party if 6 but not for two.
When the check came I thought the bill seemed kind of high and then spotted gratuity of 20 % was already included. Can't help but think as no one mentioned this that the hope is most people would not notice and double tip.
Put me off the whole experience to be honest coupled with the Night Club Music.

We decided to have an Italian evening and went for Luce. It's very close to the Blumenthal theater. The inside of the restaurant feels comfortable and we were greeted warmly. We started with Fritti di Calamari, it was okay. They have complimentary bread with white beans in oil as dip. We ordered their homemade pasta Ravioli Caprese and Creamy Risotto. Both were delicious. The Torta di Cioccolato was delicious paired with a cab franc. Over all it was delicious. For the serving sizes, on the expensive side.