Lucia's

Yesterday, we had a much deserved girl's night out for dinner. It was so great to relax and see everyone happy and smiling! We ate at a place on North Avenue (near Piece) called Lucia's. It's a BYOB (bring your own beverage) family owned Italian restaurant. I've driven by it a million times but, let's face it, if I'm within half a mile of Piece, I'm going to eat there, so it's hard for neighboring restaurants to compete! But Laura, Wendy, Sara and I decided to give it a whirl.

The restaurant has pros and cons. Overall, I'd say it didn't live up to the hype, but it is a perfectly fine place to have Italian food if you are in the neighborhood (and, again, are able to resist the magnetism towards Piece). The place is very small and cozy with a cute backyard terrace, which is where we sat. The weather was AMAZING, really enjoyed sitting outside. The service was spotty. It was slow, which I don't mind because I like to linger over drinks, food, company, but they seemed kind of put out when we told them we didn't have a reservation, which I find to be a turn off.

The food was fine. Just fine. Before dinner bread was plus/minus. I had meat lasagna. It was good, but nothing special and my husband can make better. We were so busy catching up that we never even talked about the food, so I'm not sure how my friends' food was. Looked good, and I heard no complaints. But given the mediocrity of my food anyway, the prices seemed ridiculous. My lasagna was $17 and that was one of the cheapest items on the menu. I've heard part of the reason the prices are inflated is because since the restaurant is BYOB they don't make money off booze. That may be, but still, the food was overpriced.

Despite the mediocrity of the food and the restaurant, the company was excellent and that's really the most important part, anyway:) Had a great time with the girls. But probably next time we'll have a great time somewhere else;)

I'd say skip Lucia's. If you want good, traditional Italian, make the hike to Dave's Italian Kitchen in Evanston. That remains the best pasta based, American-Italian restaurant I have ever been to and my favorite spaghetti and meatball dish is only $7. And the wine is $5 for a large glass, so almost as cheap as BYOB.

Since I totally forgot to take our picture last night, I thought I'd use a substitute. This picture is of Sara, Wendy, me and Laura at Wendy and Bart's wedding last year. Their 1 year anniversary is this weekend. Happy Anniversary, guys!