Luci Ancora

Pretty disappointing meal. Pasta was overcooked, and the sauce was flavorless. Service was also pretty bad. Overall a subpar experience. Will not be going to eat there again. Wanted so bad for this place to work out since it is close to my house.

Terrible food! Spares one star for friendly service and warm décor but a complete disaster… first, disgusting tomato soup and salty Caprese salad with mozzarella balls and no basil whatsoever… then sad Pinot Grigio and to top it off entrees of mushroom ravioli smothered in bad sauce with no mushrooms discernible and my husband’s pasta that was supposed to have Fava beans and instead had Lima beans and was also lacking the stated red pepper sauce and was instead just broth and a few pieces of stringy chicken… bad news all around.

Great restaurant! We had a wonderful evening there with a full menu and a great wine list. Highly recommended. We mostly a top of the daily specials menu, which was wonderful and the service was outstanding. No don’t miss the special desserts, especially the panna cotta
and the pumpkin cake. Parking can be a bit of a problem as the lot is very small, but there is plenty of parking on the side streets

This place is within walking distance of my house. Nothing like a stroll through the gorgeous St. Kate’s campus to work up your appetite.
The past few times I’ve eaten here, I’ve been underwhelmed, which makes me sad because well… see above.
Most recently went here with a party of four at the request of my father-​in-​law who (used to) love the place. The salad was tasteless. The bread (which is from St. Agnes bakery and usually awesome) was stale. The tasting menu fettuccine arrived with 2 shrimp. Now I know there are reduced portions with the tasting menu, but two shrimp seems skimpy when you are paying $ 36. My mother-​in-​law (who ordered another dish) picked at her pasta like a 3-​year-​old and did not request a doggy bag, which was her polite way of saying, «yuck.»
Our waitress was neither very knowledgable nor friendly, but she did bring food and clear plates effectively. Hopefully a robot will not take over her job before she moves on the bigger and brighter things. I had made reservations online several days prior indicating it was my father-in-law’s 70^th birthday and no one at the restaurant said anything. I reminded the waitress and she said, «Happy Birthday» reflexively. I was not looking for a hand-​out (he’s 70 not 7), but some special recognition or showmanship, or having the manager come over or something would have been nice.
We did share a bottle of delicious St. Innocent Pinot Noir. That was the best part of the meal.
I don’t see a reason to come back any time soon, which makes me sad because part of the appeal of living in the city is walking to places. But why walk into disappointment?

My boyfriend and I stopped in during restaurant week because we enjoy little hole-​in-​the-​wall Italian places. What a cute spot! It’s very small, so reservations are quite necessary. For an appetizer I had the warm mozzarella with tomatoes and capers that was divine. My boyfriend had a Caesar salad. For our main course, I had the fettuccine with pesto and zucchini that was to die for. The portion was perfect and the flavor was amazing. My boyfriend had salmon with goat cheese on a bed of risotto. He absolutely loved it. For dessert I had the vanilla bean crème brûlée. I probably could live on that for the rest of my life. It was perfection. My boyfriend had the salted carmel gelato that was fantastic as well. Our server was very attentive and we thought all of our courses were spectacular. I’d highly recommend this restaurant.

Food was okay at best. Service was slow, especially for being three tables of people in the restaurant. They were out of tomatoes, which was odd. On a Sunday night when they’re open from 5 to 9 bit, they didn’t seem prepared for dinner service at 5:30. A few of the desserts «weren’t ready» at 6pm, whatever that means. We just weren’t impressed. The upside, the ambience was nice and our server was friendly enough.

good stuff. pleasant setting. good service

We decided for our 50^th wedding anniversary to try Luci and were not disappointed. The service, ambiance (nice romantic setting next to the fireplace looking out to St. Cates) and and food quality were all excellent. Thanks to the staff for making our evening every enjoyable. We will be back.

My husband and I eat at Luci Ankora fairly often. I love the bread, service and ambiance. My only complaint is the few vegetarian choices without onions (I’m allergic). I would love to be able to order risotto or ravioli without meat or onions.

It’s a very nice place, but the food is just OK. I had the tasting 4 course dinner (it was Tuesday, so only $ 25!).
The shrimp cake was all rice. The pasta course was teensy and tasted like ground pork with cream of mushroom soup. The fish (salmon) course was perfectly prepared, but not exceptionally flavorful. I rarely get dessert, but got the panna cotta. It was very good. However, I am not rushing to go back.

Looking over the reviews posted here and at other restaurant pages, it’s quite obvious that the average Minnesotan has an unsophisticated palette. That said…
Our group had a very nice Father’s Day dinner here. Good bread, good Caesar salad, fried risotto balls w/​scallops, spaghetti aglio e olio, pollo brasato e saltati, costine di manzo brasato, pesce del giorno (White Salmon), Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee and Belgian Chocolate Flourless Torte. All very good.
Some reviewers complain about the portion size. It is typical for a restaurant of this type, especially when they’re using better quality ingredients and putting more care into the cooking, to serve smaller portions. The average American is used to large portions of mediocre industrial food.
I’ll most definitely return here or to Ristorante Luci.

I wish I could give this place a 4^th star. The food is very good, but portion sizes are very small, and the prices are not. My friend and I had a glass of wine each (the wine list is truly great) a plate of pasta each, bread and olive oil (they charge extra for) and some olives. our bill for lunch over 60.00 and we left hungry. The décor could use an update. The service was ok but not what you would expect when paying this much. I would only go back if my dining partner just had to try it.

Celebrating my mom’s birthday, eight of us met at Luci Ancora after finding it on Unilocal.The experience? Eh. Food? Quite good. Service? Inexperienced but a good attempt. The restaurant is cozy which adds to the classy ambience. They oddly had no music playing in the background, the room was chilly but the place looked as I expected. Our server tried but didn’t know much about the food. She did help my sister find GF options (which she loved!). My party had: ribs (good stuff), scallops (eh), fettuccine (good), Kobe beef with potatoes (a must), a GF pasta with apples and ham (she refused to share, said she was pulling a Joey from Friends ;)), mussels (good) and the risotto (num). Skip the Caesar salads. It was overall ok, but we will probably not be returning customers. Moving on ;)

I recently made a point to come to Luci Ancora because I had a faint memory of a birthday dinner a few years back. So I talked my buddies into making a bro-​date out of the affair.
Now we knew there was something off right when we walked in and it wasn’t the fact the three young handsome men want to enjoy a nice meal at a nice restaurant for once. The problem was that our cumulative age may have been just over the median for the room. This was an important omen for the food ahead as the restaurant obviously caters towards this crowd.
For the food, we all went for the fixed menu, which had a strong start and a weak finish. I had a pork cutlet for my antipasto, which isn’t really traditional, but very good. The insalata was a simple yet good Ceaser Salad with plenty of anchovy. Once again, it was not very Italian, but more American.
Now when they hi
t the Italian food seems to be when they faltered. The Pasta Puttanesca was very bland and lacked the saltiness I normally associate with it. The secundo was a beef fillet that was cooked properly, but was once again a bit on the underwhelming side.
All told, when the bill hit I was satisfied but not impressed for the price. Almost everything was ably done and good, but just not quite there in my book. In my opinion, Luci Ancora needs to some research into the cucchiaio d’argento to get back to the Italian in Italian food.

Gorgeous place for a special date night. Food is amazing and I love their tasting menu because you get to try some yummy bites and while they could be considered smaller portions, I like that you don’t feel overfull when you’re done. I love Luci’s and this is one of my favorite gems in the Twin Cities… and their wine dinners, a must try!

Met a friend here for dinner. We were both impressed with the food, service and atmosphere.
It is a nice alternative to some of the other choices in St. Paul.
I ordered the Fettucini romana which I normally don’t care for, but this was good. The sauce wasn’t so terribly heavy and it was good left over.
My friend ordered the same.
We were there early, so it wasn’t terribly busy which was nice to sit and talk.
We both commented that we should stop back for some of there prix fix tasting specials.
Quaint neighborhood Italian place. Good food and reasonably priced.

Luci Ancora is a great italian neighborhood asset! The atmosphere is comfortable with a fireplace at the end of the room and the accoustics are good for conversation. The food is amazing! During this visit we had the spaghetti alla siciliana which was nice and light and the olive oil, golden raisins, spinach, pine nuts, hot pepper flakes really do a number on your taste buds. The raisons are a great touch to this light fare. We also ordered the fish special of the day which was the Ono fish (light fluffy white fish) filet garnished with beets and pinapple.
Can’t say enough about these dishes! Good time!

Lovely little spot with attentive servers and craveable food. Went for their Thursday four-​course tasters special and was not disappointed. My favorite was the pasta. Perfectly cooked spaghetti (cannot be overrated, IMO), with a smokey spicy tomato sauce. After about two bites I decided I wanted to come back and order a big bowl of that pasta next time! I just couldn’t get enough. Another surprise was the Mixed Salad that was served with a very tangy Dijon vinaigrette. It was a punch of flavor from the first bite. My dinner partner and I each actually made an exclamation upon tasting it. Also had the tiniest little tomatoes.
Our water was constantly refilled and server was always swinging by to clear plates and make sure we were set.
My only real complaint is that both the steak and salmon were slightly overcooked and dry. Not unpalatable, but an aberration to an otherwise nice meal.
I hope to return for that big bowl of pasta!

I’m very loyal to Luci Ancora, since I live in the hood. It’s my favorite «comfort» restaurant to go to when I’m splurging on really good food. It’s also only 1 of 2 restaurants that I choose to go to celebrate my birthday. I prefer eating there the nights that Chef Jim’s in the kitchen (the other I have found to be slightly too salty and oily).
The butternut squash ravioli is out of this world (albeit slightly oily). The pasta dishes are also amazingly creative: who combines mango and hot peppers in a pasta dish? The service is good: not overly attentive, but decent.
I also love the ambience — quiet, romantic, but you can still go in «casual.» You can’t beat this place on a cold, wintery, Minnesota night. The fireplace (while not heat-​releasing) creates «the mood.»
The cons:
1) I’ve had hit or miss desserts there, with some being pretty dry and disappointing.
2) There’s a lot of old people there, and I feel like the only hip yuppie there at times (it’s like being at the symphony — «Look, a young person!»).
3) They have way too much salmon on the menu (the constant special)
I’ve tried their sister restaurant (Ristorante Luci)… but my heart (and palate) belongs to Luci Ancora.

I’ve always driven by and wanted to go here. Recently purchased a «living social» deal so thought it was the perfect time to check it out.
The ambiance is nice, white table cloths, cozy atmosphere. We were seated right next to the fireplace — even though it was steamy outside — it was perfect inside.
I had the mussels — which were decent, but not the best ever. Split a salad w/​my friend, had some good wine and then split the pasta. The pasta had mangos and jalapenos in it! It was definitely a nice touch. I thouroughly enjoyed that. We had the flourless chocolate cake for dessert, and that was also excellent.
Overall good food, but not quite up to what my other faves are. So 4 stars, definitely worth a trip.