Mamma Lucia

The best burger and truffle fries in town!!!
The tiramisu is perfect and the pizza is delicious. Garlic bread and ravioli was spectacular. Love the organic produce they use and they always have a great pandora playlist going. Our favorite local restaurant on the Westside!
Cash only, but ATM on site.
Dog friendly patio, with water bowl and duck breast treats– free!

We went here for dinner on our way home. The pizza we had was awesome! Always good to find the more traditional Italian style pizza with not too much sauce and cheese on it and also less greasy. My son had the penne and he really loved it. The stuff is really friendly, you an choose if table served or you can order at the bar. They fresh squeeze their oranges, really love that point! Atmosphere is great, fits Santa Cruz! I love the fact that they have a play area for little kids!

Best pizza!

Incomparable pizzas and if the grandpa is in the back be sure to get a genuine italian cappuccino. The only downside is the actual presentation of the building.

I can’t remember which of my Unilocal friends tipped me off to this place and it’s kid friendly environment. It sure is but make sure to bring cash. It’s cash only.
We got food to-​go before we bid our farewell to Shakespeare Santa Cruz’s final season (tears). But we took the food up to the UCSC campus and hand a magnificent picnic.
I had ordered an item off of the kid’s menu that was not enough food for my daughter but I had ordered a regular food item for me and it was too much so she ate what I couldn’t, so it all evened out.
The best part of the meal was the marinara sauce. Is this the same recipe that Lucio use to whip up at his Al Dente restaurant when it was in Capitola Village and Seabright? If not, it’s super close and brought back a flood of fond memories for me.
I can’t vouch for the service and dining in it’s atmosphere (other than seeing a kid’s corner and having a kid’s menu) but the food is delicious.
Tip: If your kid is a big eater or super hungry, you might consider ordering off of the regular menu unless you are willing to share.

I stopped by while aimlessly driving along the coast… It is truly a family restaurant (hence, CASH ONLY policy can be forgiven). The staff were super friendly, casual, and a little chic. The arugula salad was great, as was the super thin crust margherita pizza — it was good hot in the restaurant and good cold the next day. Vanilla and strawberry gelato scoops were great. The only thing I did not like was the chocolate gelato.
Patrons were also relaxed and lively, some engaged in chit chat and others people watching (as I was). A very nice atmosphere.
I will definitely come back next time I am in the area.

Well I did try first! I went here a month ago and got spinach and cheese raviolis they were delish! Kinda annoyed that they only take cash… but I got the cash and was fine with the food.
Went back tonight and ordered chicken parmigiana, and fettuccine Alfredo with chicken. Opened it up and my chicken was so dark and random small pieces sprinkled on top of my pasta. Kinda grossed out by the cat food looking chicken. Tasted it and was grossed out a little more .
My boyfriend had the chicken parmigiana and was not impressed it was super dry and sauce was dry and lacking flavor. The salad was good but how could you screw up salad same with the the garlic bread.
I called them and asked what kind of chicken they use for the fettuccine Alfredo… The girl said «free range organic chicken, we use the dark meat and hand shred it (ick) and mix it in with the sauce. Told her that they should make a note of that on the online menu since it does not specify what kind of chicken. When I envisioned this dish it was noodles, sauce, and a juicy chicken breast sliced across the top!
The ding bat that answered didn’t really care. The food is way overpriced for what it is and that ATM crap is irritating… not worth the hassle cause its just not that good! Save your money!

I ordered pasta over the phone to a very a pleasant woman and headed off to pick it up. 25 min later I was bringing it back to our hotel. Very good — not fine dinning but that isn’t what this place is. Fast, yummy with healthy options.

This place is great & all! The food was delicious! The prices are reasonable for their portions! All except for 1! Their gelato is a joke! We ordered a large vanilla gelato. It was basically 3 small scopes of Dreyer’s vanilla ice cream. Don’t order their gelato! It’s not even gelato! What a false advertisement!
$ 6 for 3 small scopes of Dreyer’s vanilla ice cream! Unbelievable!

Nice warm atmosphere, cool setting, the organic burger was great!
They have illy Italian coffee, and imported Italian cakes…
I do not like the Cash Only Policy, it makes me Think of Old china town policies…
The cook does not know the difference between a well done cooked burger from medium rare.

Update:
I have been craving the fettuccine Alfredo again and we went back. Im
Surprised at the amount of negative reviews and complaints of the Alfredo sauce. I find it to be very tasty!
The waitresses were incredibly sweet and unlike the time before, we were offered lots of bread! The establishment is VERY clean and I love the little play area for my toddlers!
Downfalls:
Reduce prices, we can’t afford to eat there as often as I would like and it feels a little steep.
Accept plastic! There are lots of times when we are driving around the Westside trying to decide on a restaurant for dinner and the only reason we don’t come there is having to either get cash or pay ATM fee.

Be sure to bring CASH. There’s a $ 1.50 charge when you with draw money from the ATM here.

Food poisoning. We ordered a calzone and the sausage in it was raw!!! We sent it back and offered a pizza instead. No apologies… They acted like it was our fault. Really weird. It’s a big deal to serve raw sausage and they clearly saw that it raw… We were offered 2 beers for my terrible stomach. So sad. We won’t be going back. It’s a cool spot for families but I’m not risking food poisoning on my kid!

Honestly, I feel like this restaurant could have a bigger crowd if their prices were $ instead of $$. The place has family style seating, so it makes me wonder how any family could afford to eat with $$ prices!
When I came in here with my boyfriend, we were greeted by a friendly worker and to our surprise, one of the cooks – or maybe the owner, im truly uncertain – came to us with a leg of some sort of animal and asked up to guess where it came from. I shouted my answer «frog!» and was confirmed with a big smile. He looked like he could have been Albert Einstein in another life.
Anyhow, I ordered the Half Grilled Chicken and Salad which looked and smelled delicious. However, to my dismay, the chicken tasted dry. I think I downed at least 3 cups of water to accompany my meal. Despite my experience here at Mamma Lucia, I honestly think this place has a lot of potential because of the unique items they have on the menu. Although most of their unique items steer towards the pizza side of the menu, I still think their business could lift off if their prices weren’t so high. I mean $ 25 – 30 for an 18″ pizza? That’s a little too much, especially since they operate in a town filled with college students.
If I were to come back, it would probably be before I leave the area permanently to try one of their unique pizzas. Sorry, Mamma, but you just don’t cut it for me.

JOKE ! Cash only and not worth a penny. Save your time, money & taste-​buds.
What a joke…

Avoid the Sunday rush. We placed our order at 12:56 pm and weren’t eating at 1:30. I counted over 20 hungry customers waiting while only 4 people were working frantically to get everybody fed. They should have had more staff.
I gave them an extra star for having a gluten-​free pizza and having a small play area for small children.

This place has a fast quality Italian feel to it. That is a false feeling.
The décor and atmosphere are great, but the food was not exciting at all and the prices were marginal at best ($ 10+ per entrée). They have a counter at front where you can order to go or sit down food and they bring it out to you. My girlfriend and I had the pesto gnocci and pollo panni. Neither of them were exciting and very bland in general. It just lacked anything that made it fun or different. The service and bread was just about the only things this place had going for it.

I had a bad feeling about this place ever since it opened just because, if your restaurant has good food there are more than enough families/​businesses/​UCSC students around Mission Street to really pack a joint. (e.g. Brazil). And since, Mamma Lucia’s never looked busy, I had my reservations… plus the place used to be a KFC.
When I walked in, I was impressed at first… no KFC vibe at all. But then I looked at the menu and began to get concerned because they just offered TOO MANY ITEMS. I’m a fan a places with a slim menu that really focus on the quality of the food. None-​the-​less, they had what I was jones-​ing for: an authentic Italian margarita pizza.
I ordered a 9 incher since it was just me… and the girl behind the counter seemed genuinely kind and friendly, served me the pizza, and was helpful when I needed a to-​go box… so I have to give her props.
The problem with this place is the food. Any place that calls themselves an authentic Italian restaurant, serves margarita pizza, but can’t get it right… just isn’t, well, authentic. The pizza came out fast, but here are my complaints:
1) I’m pretty sure the pizza dough wasn’t fresh: it’s either it’s frozen or they make the dough but it’s been in the fridge WAY TOO LONG.
2) There was mozzarella all over the freakin’ pie. That’s not a margarita pizza, people, that’s a cheese pizza!
3) There were only three sad greasy basil leaves on the pizza. =(Need a say more.
4) The pizza was, well, just kind of GROSS.
If you are jones-​ing for pizza go to Upper Crust, New Leaf, Pizza My Heart, Kitani’s… sadly to say, even COSTO pizza is better and much cheaper. I tried to give Mamma Lucia’s a fair shake, but if the food is gross, it’s gross… the food pictures on their wall looked better then what I ate. Sorry never again.

I really wanted to like this place, but it just doesn’t quite work. It is very overpriced for the format: wait in line, order, get a number, pick up your food and take it to your table (which still look like KFC tables), and then bussing your own table. It makes it hard to forget that it was a KFC. On top of that only taking cash when the cheapest meal is going to cost you over $ 10 is just… weird. And irritating.
They also make themselves out to be a pizza place, but you may be disappointed. They only serve a few specific specialty pizzas, half of which have no red sauce and all only come in one size. i’m sure some of them are great, but it’s not «a pizza place.» I had fettuccine Alfredo, which wasn’t bad. I think there is some format the food they are selling might work out, but this just wasn’t it.

Being in the location that it is, (an old KFC) I am surprised to say that the food there was great! My housemates and I wanted to have a relaxing night at home, so we decided to order food.
We got:
–Margherita Pizza
–Manicotti Shell Pasta
–Truffle Fries
–Bruschetta
It was all really good, but I think the pizza was the best! The cheese, sauce, crust all of it was really good. And cheap! We got a meal for just $ 10 each.
I’ve heard they do brunch, I’ve gotta try that sometime too.