Luce

Was first invited by friends and, as a result, my wife and I have been back 4 times; including Valentine’s Day 2016.
HIghly recommend.
Great scene, atmosphere and FOOD!

The hostess/​wait staff was very attentive. Ordered the scallops with fennel risotto and it was amazing. My mother who is very picky ordered the tuna and polenta and loved it. The chef even came by to check on us. Great experience and meal.

My wife and another couple stopped here for dinner on Tuesday after taking the American Rover sunset cruise. We were all from out of town and found this placed on Unilocal.The food here is absolutely amazing. The calamari appetizer was really well prepared. We ordered the lobster gnocchi, grilled romaine salad and chicken with eggplant (can’t remember the name) but it was some kind of delicious. Awesome food and with a great atmosphere.

This place is incredible! We stopped in late on a Tuesday night. It is very small and crowded but the chef/​owner is amazing. Fried calamari appetizer was one of the best I’ve had. Fried perfectly and flavorful. The lobster gnocchi was delicious. Even the salad with beef was good according to my friend. Don’t sleep on this restaurant. It’s a must!

Tiny little place, but the food is great!
I had the cioppino tonight, and if it were socially acceptable, I might’ve put my face into the dish to drink the broth. (I did, however, eat some by the spoonful which is probably only slightly more reasonable.)
Everything was done perfectly, beautifully presented, and thoughtfully conceived.
The chef even came out to say hi which was really cool, despite my work-​induced hypnosis at the time.
I’d be really happy to hit this place again!

Luce gets 5 stars for me because in an area where most of the restaurants serve fried seafood and American food, Luce stands out and serves pretty upscale and delicious Italian food! I tried the calamari appetizer and the clams with squid ink linguini.
The calamari was lightly fried and was paired with a delicious marinara sauce. The linguini was a great choice! Pasta perfectly al dente, plenty of clams, in a light squid ink broth. My colleague got the scallops on risotto, which he enjoyed. And I was eyeing someone’s tuna with tomatos and polenta, which looked A-​MAZING.
Overall, if you’re from a metropolitan area and looking for a quality and unique meal in Norfolk, Luce is the place to go.
PRO TIP: Ask for the HH specials!

Everything on the menu here is outstanding. It can be a little pricey, so if money is issue I recommend you go across the street to Tap It and steal someone’s wallet. I do.
I particularly recommend the sauteed calamari, the ‘Rig and Goose’ but I follow the specials of the day, which are always new and amazing. The other day I enjoyed a Bronzini that I won’t say was to die for, but it was worth killing a small family for.
Amy the bartender is wonderful as is everyone else: Tyson, Christen, and the owner Tony. If you don’t know what to order, ASK them. They have never steered me wrong. Tell them the guy who sat with the cross dresser who looks like Sylvester Stallone, after he’d been hit in the face with a shovel, sent you.
Last thing, can be quiet, can be loud. Go early, stay late and make it loud, baby.

Easily 5 stars! We come here often and sit at the bar. Its close to where we live, but even if it were across town, we’d be regulars! We always have a phenomenal experience from cocktails, to wine, to the exceptional food they put out.
The nightly specials are always so well described and even better when they come out! I always feel comfortable ordering a special that might be out of my comfort zone because I know the kitchen knows what they’re doing and they make every dish so flavorful and beautiful. The menu itself has so many standouts as well. My favorite appetizers are the mushroom toast, the toasted goat cheese and pesto, and the bruschetta. Perfect to start you meal off with an excellent glass of wine.
Make reservations early if you want to sit at a table, but you get the same attention and service at the bar. I hope they never expand because the intimate cozy setting is so much of their charm!

Must have had an off night or something compared to other reviews — the wine was a little skunky — service was very slow and unattentive — the mussels were very sandy and tasted a little off — the pistachio cheesecake was bland and didn’t go well with strawberry glaze pairing.

I can’t say how perfect our dinner was. Lobster gnocchi was absolutely to die for. Our server was a wonderful mix of being there when we needed something and backed far away enough that we felt like the only people in the room. Amazing experience. We will be back.

Went here for dinner and had a great time!!! The food was divine and the atmosphere was intimate and personal. And the service was fantastic! We sat at the bar and Ryan and Amy helped us and were attentive and knowledgeable.
For apps we got the mushroom toast which is a must if you are a mushroom lover. We also got the sautéed calamari which was very flavorful and light. We split the tuna, caper, and polenta entrée which was recommended to us by Amy and like everything else, delicious.
All in all, an amazing place that we plan on returning to!

Ok. I ended up at Luces by recommendation from a friend. The place was pretty kool, the atmosphere quiet. (till I got there) we sat at the bar, and they have a great list on drinks. And good size menu. The bartender was really nice, and even tho he was super busy he always manage to keep up with everyone at the bar. I did order some type of seafood dish, It was ok. But by looking at what people around me where eating I felt like the Servings are really small. But I will give it another try, since after all I did enjoy my time here.

The food, the service, the ambience– go there, it is worth it.
Make sure to reserve a table or sit at the bar, and be well served by Ryan.
We thoroughly enjoyed the mussels, the wild boar, the filet, the tortellini, the pistachio cheesecake, the chocolate mousse cake, the cappuccino, the dirty Martini. Everything was delicious.
We are only visiting Norfolk and found Luce through Unilocal.Glad I checked.

My husband and I had a great time at Luce on our anniversary. I don’t drink wine often and don’t usually enjoy it but I tried a Soave and liked it a lot. I asked our server for a recommendation for my second glass and she brought me three very comfortable options which were close to the same feel as the Soave.
We ordered the muscles in a tomato broth– I wish I could remember the name of the dish, but no matter the name it was perfect. Our server brought it to us with spoons and we used those to finish off the broth. Does that make us savages? The fish entrée came out perfectly; not a bit of dryness, no squish, just fresh fish done right. My husband loved his lobster gnocci and would only share two bites with me.
We love experiencing new restaurants but Luce is one we will make sure to come to again and again.

Easy five stars… This is a deliciously flavorful and intimate dining experience. We have been here three times in the last month. We recently moved to downtown Norfolk from California and stopped in for a happy hour glass of wine (our first touching down in VA). We sat at the bar and were helped by Amy the bartender. She was warm, kind and extremely helpful filling us in on what all goes on in downtown Norfolk and the neighboring areas. We ended up having two glasses each of four separate wines. All were delicious and we enjoyed watching people roll in for dinner. As the tables filled the Owner/​Executive Chef Antonio Caruana came out and greeted the patrons and discussed the menu. He sat with us for about 10 minutes and discussed the menu, the different ingredients and the preparation process. We felt like family by the time he was done speaking with us. We walked out only having the four glasses of wine but proceeded to talk about their food for about two weeks. On a Friday night we went out late to try out the local bars. After going to two we decided to finish at Luce for our final drink. It was the perfect way to end the evening. We were still dreaming of the delicious ingredients Tony had told us about and knew once we were more settled in that was the first place we would be eating dinner.
The night finally came and we went to Luce for dinner. Again we sat at the bar. We enjoyed our experience at the bar and had met Ryan the bartender on our Friday night excursion and enjoyed his service. We told him we wanted two glasses of red and he immediately poured us tastes and guided us down their wine list. We ordered two glasses of wine and the bruschetta appetizer. The appetizer really set the pace. It was a nice portion (six large slices of bread) with the freshest tomatoes (I even asked where they got them I wanted MORE) and the perfect amount of cheese and basil. I could taste the garlic on the bread and couldn’t even finish it all (although I wanted to but knew I needed to save room for dinner). We decided to go with their Osso Bucco special. In full transparency it was one of the priciest item on the menu but we knew by the way Chef Tony had displayed such passion for his plates we would be getting more then our money’s worth. We also ordered the Maine lobster and blue crab with Prosecco, fresh sage and butter tossed gnocchi. Both dishes blew us away. The portions were great but what was even better were the flavors. Everything complimented the other. I am not even sure how we are supposed to eat anywhere else now. Nothing will compare to our meal at Luce. We both agreed it was easily one of the best meals we’ve ever had across the country.
So if you are looking to eat the best food you’ve ever tasted be sure to head to Luce. The owner is passionate and you can taste it in the dishes. it is clear his team understands the importance of good service and a commitment to having pride in the dishes they produce. We had left over Osso Bucco and we ate it for dinner the following night with a homemade pizza. It made us feel like we were still there. Needless to say when my man says we are going to Luce’s for dinner I will be ready in less then five minutes or less…
I think this is my longest review but when you have the best food you’ve ever tasted you can easily go the extra mile for the review. I’m still dreaming about their lobster gnocci. Thank you Luce for welcoming us to Norfolk the right way and setting the bar.

I like this place on a Saturday night as a nice place to hang out either with friends, or coming in alone and making some new ones. Jo the bartender is super nice, she asks your name and shakes your hand, not just «what do you want to drink» she makes it feel like this is your bar too. I’ve been here a few times and each time I have a new cocktail and a small appetizer. The appetizer is always great that I’m always pissed at myself for not getting a meal. And the drinks have a punch to them but are also delicious. Last night I had $ 3 mini margarita that easily could have been $ 9 and i wouldn’t of questioned it. Sometimes its easy to pass by this place and think «Oh its a bar» and keep moving but the food is great too.
The only reason I took so long to write this review is because my saturday nights turn into fuzzy memories after a few drinks– so i always feel like i’ll cut it short by leaving out some details. Which i realized is a good thing because i have enough of a great time to stay awhile when there!

I must say… this place is AMAZING. First off, this is not your average Italian restaurant. Everything on the menu is so unique and I love it. I knew going to this restaurant that the place was small, so I called to see how long the wait was. Lucky for us, there was no wait. Our server was awesome, and was definitely a people-​person. He was also very knowledgeable about the menu. My group of 3 ordered 2 appetizers the mussels and the calamari. For my entrée I ordered the special, which was a tuna pasta. It was SO DELICIOUS. Andrew ordered the boar ragu, and it was definitely a hit. He even said it is probably one of the best things he’s ever eaten… and we eat A LOT. It is a bit on the pricey side, but totally worth it if you want something different from the typical Italian restaurant.

This restaurant gets three stars for the Boar Ragu only. Not terribly impressive.
1. We walked in to an empty restaurant (with the exception of one table) and they acted like it was an inconvenience to seat us. When we asked to be seated away from the door that led to the Tazewell (i.e. Bathroom), we were refused. Later they sat a family who did not have reservations where we asked to be seated.
2. No pasta is made in house. We got a weird response to that question. It’s made at the house of a friend of the chef?
3. My mom asked for additional sauce for her pasta to go (it doesn’t take long to make a pomodoro) and was flat out told no.
4. They don’t serve bread w/​dinner and the bread we ordered was hard and greasy.
They could really use to step up their game. It has potential to be a neat, little spot.

This is a small restaurant with charm. Our server did not greet, she was the hostess/​server and she asked if we had a reservation first thing when we walked in, that was a little annoying. We ordered some drinks and then decided to get the mussels as an appetizer which I liked and would order again. My in laws shared the bread salad which I had a little of, it was just ok. Entrees were solid, a bit steep but all the pasta and everything is made from scratch hence the $ 30 – 40 pasta dishes. Chef Tony came by our table to ask us how food was, my inlaws meals they said were great. My husband and I shared the gnocci special they had, it was heavy with tomato/​marinara sauce, not sure why. It was a bit on the small side as far as the other entrees were portioned. The side of bread will cost you extra but its made in house, it took longer than entrees and appetizers to come out which was annoying because we didnt really want bread an hour later. I would have liked friendlier service, the pastas at Freemason Abbey are I would say a bit better actually, but if you are looking for strictly Italian dishes, this may be the only place I would recommend in the Norfolk-​Ghent area. We probably will not return as there are various other more fun and exciting restaurants where we live. The tab for 3 Entrees, 3 drinks, order of bread and 2 appetizers was around $ 150, we were all kind of hungry after surprisingly (hehe), so we went elsewhere.

Since my Norfolk «Must Try» list just keeps growing, my wife and I made the trek from Virginia Beach last night and decided to hit up Luce, based on numerous recommendations from friends.
All in all it was a very good dining experience. We split an order of calamari to start and each little squid ring was perfectly tender and paired well with the spicy tomato dipping sauce.
I had to go with the wild boar ragu for my entrée. It was phenomenal. I am always a sucker for a well made ragu served over fresh pasta. The flavors were deep and intense, with just enough salty Parmesan cheese shaved over the top. I swear I could eat a bowl of this every day and never get bored.
My wife ordered the seafood cappellini and was treated to a dish of perfectly cooked pasta smothered in a rich array of seafood to include mussels, clams and jumbo shrimp.
The bar program at Luce is seriously high quality. I ran the bartender through the mill by ordering several different cocktails. My first was the negroni followed by a gin martini. Both hit the mark. I then ordered a Tazewell, which was a martini infused with basil and cucumber. This one was okay but made me realize that while I like basil as an herb, I don’t particularly care for it in a cocktail. My bad.
As some previous reviews have mentioned, the prices are a little higher than many places but I look at that as a function of location. Downtown rents are going to be expensive and it has to reflect in the menu prices.
I also found the portion sizes to be more than enough. I like good, rich food as much as anyone but I do not need it to come to me in Cheesecake Factory sized portions. Your food shouldn’t be served in something that resembles an outrigger canoe. I like leaving a restaurant knowing that I ate well without feeling like I swallowed a bowling ball.
The only bummer of the evening was the usual hassle of finding parking in downtown Norfolk on a Saturday night. Can’t fault the restaurant for that but it is still such a pain.
What I can fault the restaurant for is lack of a website. I like to research a quality restaurant before I go spend my money and a website always gives me a good sense of what to expect. I’ve never understood in this day and age why a restaurant would choose not to have such an invaluable marketing tool.