Reviews for Lucia Restaurant & Bar in Carmel Valley, CA

Pricey but delicious, excellent service.

We were looking for a place to eat and a local recommended this place. We were staying a the lodge and we generally don’t eat... at our hotel restaurant. This restaurant is a definite exception. My short rib dinner dish was as good as it gets. Here issomething I’ve never said. My huevos rancheros breakfast was my favorite meal of the trip. Read more

The service was excellent but the food quality and quantity has suffered while the prices have increased. Menu has become ultra... a al cart. Read more

We ate at the bar at 5:00 on a Sunday because online stated the restaurant was booked. Though it looked like they had plenty of... tables available at that time when we arrived. Wait staff/ bartender was friendly and helpful. My wife is gluten sensitive, sothe bartender didn’t know what was in the food. He had to ask another server who was helpful, but she also wasn’t sure whatwas safe to eat. The double lamb chops my wife ordered ($60) were large and done medium rare, but she couldn’t get the knifethrough them to separate the two chops. It would have been better if the Chef cut the two chops apart. The sauce had no flavor,presentation was minimal at best. The Brussel sprouts on the menu sounded amazing but what she got was some slimy onions andbell peppers with 4 little Brussel sprout leaves. My crab cake and Cesar salad was flavorless. No notes of citrus or herbs. Justwhat seemed a mayonnaise based dressing on the salad. Overall, who ever was in the kitchen that night wasn’t putting theirheart into it, they were just going through the motions. A culinary let down, especially at the price they charge. Read more

Everything is cooked well, especially the strawberry shortcake. Strongly recommend.

Pretty good experience. Although no tasting menu was available. Food was pretty good. Servers, etc. were friendly. We used to... dine hear when "Cal" was the executive chef. Food was much more elevated then. Very nice place, just a different experiencefrom our previous ones. Read more

Had the tasting menu which was a fair value The gazpacho, smoked salmon stuffed with dungeness crab, and scallops were... delicious. The sea bass was dry and fishy in taste. The profiterole was unique. It had a brown butter crust with a deliciousmadagascar filling. Read more

Phenomenal place. Just shy of a Michelin star in my opinion. Ingredients are fresh and stay truthful to their flavors. Nothing... is pretentious. It is just good food presented in an upscale, classy manner. The food is a bit subdued for the atmosphere butperhaps that's what the chef is going for. I couldn't ask for a better dinner with friends and family. Will return just forLucia. Read more