Lucali

Isaac 2 months ago

Lucali makes the best pizza I’ve ever had hands down. Their dough is incredibly light, their red sauce tastes delightful, perfect amount of cheese and the fresh basil on top brings it all together. Great atmosphere and quick service - love being able to bring your own wine, too

Todd Jobson, II 3 months ago

The pizza is good. But is it worth waiting hours in line for? Absolutely not. This place has a ridiculous in-person reservation system that wastes everyone's time. Instead of taking reservations online, on the phone, or days in advance like most well-functioning restaurants do, Lucali decided that the most efficient way to reserve a table is to have people show in-person the afternoon of their reservation, have a host manually take down names on a clipboard, and then have people return later that night to eat. Note that after all of this, you'll still likely need to wait a bit to be seated upon re-arrival. I think the only reason that this place is so popular is because of its perceived exclusivity. In reality, it's just one of a million hyper trendy restaurants in NY that people on social media caught wind of and popularized. Keep in mind that they also only take cash, which feels pretty scammy for a well established restaurant in 2026.

Robert Muffaletto 4 months ago

Food: Lucali was honestly disappointing, especially because I went in wanting to love it. I’ve followed this place for years and heard all the hype, so I expected something much stronger. The flavor itself was excellent, which is what makes the review frustrating. You can taste the quality in the sauce, cheese, crust, and pepperoni. The calzone was the best thing we had fresh and probably the only item that really made sense in the moment. It was rich, cheesy, satisfying, and felt more complete than the pizza. The cheese and pepperoni pies, though, were a letdown fresh out of the oven. The slices were sloppy, oily, and had almost no structure. The cheese slid off, the slice could not really hold itself together, and for a place this famous and this expensive, that is hard to excuse. The pepperoni was much better reheated at home once it crisped up, and that version was genuinely excellent, but I do not think a pizza should need a second life in my oven to show what it can be. Service: Service was slow and not very attentive. I understand the place is busy, but the experience felt more like they knew people would come no matter what than like they were trying to make the meal feel

MKA_90 5 months ago

Lucali is an iconic pizza spot that truly lives up to the hype. The pizza is perfectly thin, crispy, and full of rich, simple flavors with high-quality ingredients. The calzone is also a must-try — perfectly baked and delicious. cozy atmosphere and friendly staff makes the whole experience feel special. Definitely one of the best pizza spots in NYC! **Note : it is Cash only restaurant.. ⚠️

Anushka Sanil 5 months ago

Totally worth the hype! This is the best pizza I’ve had in New York. We came Monday around 3pm to wait in line and get a table for later that night. Around 3:30pm someone came and started taking peoples reservations. We were able to get a table for 4 people at 7pm. When we came back at our scheduled time we were seated shortly after checking in. We shared one pizza, one calzone and one pasta and felt it was the perfect amount of food to share. We had half cheese and half pepperoni for the pizza, and for the calzone added spicy peppers, mushrooms and shallots. Both the pizza and calzone were amazing. The pasta was great too but the other items were significantly better. It’s BYOB but they have water and soda options. It’s also cash only, but there is a chase nearby. Overall it wasn’t terrible to come early and put our names down. It’s probably better to do so on weekdays rather than weekends, but I’d definitely come back!