Ristorante Luce is a family-owned restaurant that serves Italian-style cuisine, fresh fish specials and certified Angus beef. The restaurant provides a variety of lunch, dinner and dessert menus and banquet packages. It has a selection of more than 1,000 wines. Founded in 1992, Ristorante Luce has received the Connecticut Magazine's Reader's Choice Award for most romantic restaurant in New Haven County, as well as a Sante Magazine Restaurant and Hospitality Award. The restaurant has a bar and cocktail lounge that serves white wines and red wines, champagnes and dessert wines. Previously known as Raffaello's Ristorante, Ristorante Luce is located in Hamden, Conn.
Hi there!
Rate this business!
First-classBetter than mostAbout what I expectedNot the worst...Disappointing
Click to Rate

Reviews

M
mikejet56

11/19/2012

Provided by YPmobile

P
pomodoro

01/04/2011

Provided by YPmobile
The worst service ever

Waitstaff took care of the "inner circle" and left the rest of us to starve. Never going back.

B
bigtony1951

11/30/2008

Provided by YP.com
rude

spent 500 dollars for dinner

we were seated at 6 pm --at 8:30 pm we were asked to leave "someone is waiting for your table"

they actually escorted us away from the table and out the door!

THERE WERE LOTS OF EMPTY TABLES AT THAT TIME --

I am 57 years old and a respected member of the community and I HAVE NEVER EVER BEEN TREATED THAT BADLY AT ANY DINING ESTABLISHMENT.....

food was ok service was bad empty water glasses a lot

the waiter left our wine bottles at the end of the table and didnt even pour the wine

I have been there many times before and been displeased by something but just thought I was getting grumpy as got older

Now i can say with conviction that this place is run by a bunch of "Cavones"

BigTony



g

B
bigtony1951

11/30/2008

Provided by YP.com
thrown out

took 8 people out to dinner --service not good--food just ok

bill almost 500--we were abruptly asked to leave --because another party was waiting for our table

when we left there were lots of tables --apparently we were asked to leave because someone wanted "THAT TABLE"



the place to go to spend lots of money and get embarrassed after you drop 500 dollars



kudos to the management --keep up the good work''



Big Tony





j

DL
D L.

08/30/2007

Provided by YP.com
Excellent food overshadowed by poor service

I have to wonder how Brianct1 could say the staff was extremely professional���rude and inattentive is more my take. When approaching the doorway to go outside, a waiter (not ours) practically pushed me aside to get in. Had they been extremely busy, I would have understood, but such was not the case. Once seated, the slow service was nothing compared to overhearing our server offering other tables fresh grated pepper and such, but not to us. It was insulting. The food was fantastic, but poor service will keep me away just as much as if the food was poor. Such a shame���

S
shutterbug

08/29/2007

Provided by YP.com
Strike 3, yer out

This was my third visit to this restaurant (formerly known as Rafaello's), my first with it now as "Luce". Having experienced poor to abominable service previously, I was hoping for a better experience with this new name. I don't mind a leisurely dinner, in fact I prefer it. However, leisurely gave way to almost-being-ignored. I was tempted to ask if we could exchange our wait-person for another. This dining experience was mid-week with a rather small dining crowd, I can only imagine what might happen if they are lucky enough to have a large crowd. I could not drink my wine due to the filth on the glass while the waitperson was nowhere to be found. When she finally returned, to wait on another table, I tried to flag her down only to have to wait while I overheard "baby" stories - must have been a table full of her friends. I can only imagine what happened to my wine after it left my sight. The salad was marginal. My dinner, when it finally arrived, was absolutely delicious. I would not, however, go back there. I can find equally delicious food with better service elsewhere.

I
italian-de-lish

08/29/2007

Provided by YP.com
Can I get some service?

This re-vamped restaurant, whose front door STILL reads Rafaello's has a really LONG way to go in the service dept. They have a very pretty outdoor area - poorly lit however, and unfortunately they allow smoking out there - YUCK - ruins my meal. But I digress. Upon entering the restaurant I waited at least 5 mins before anyone noticed I was standing around. No one is at the door to greet the patrons. Strike 1. Finally I get some attention and get seated at our reserved table outside. No one asks me if I want anything for at least another 10 mins as I waited for my dining companions. At last our waitress appears and spouts out the evening specials while staring off into the distance, then leaves without a word. Meanwhile the table to our right is filled with 'la famiglia' of the owners and the table to our left is evidentally more interesting to our waitress since she spent the better part of the evening chatting with them. As for the food. I loved the Veal stuffed with spinach, pignoli and sundried tomatoes. Excellent. But the fact that it took nearly an hour between the salad and the entree - ridiculous! No one asked if we needed anything all night. Chatty waitress dropped our salads on the table and ran off - no fresh ground pepper, nothing. Well she got pretty much nothing from us in return for her 'service'. A 3 hour meal - without dessert - who could afford another hour!? Would not go back - unfortunately.

T
tomato_lover

08/29/2007

Provided by YP.com
Service=0, Food=5

Wow (bad) & Wow (good).



Wow bad: Service is worse than that provided by bored, hormonal fry-fetchers at fast food joints. It took 5 mins after appearing at the empty entrance to even receive acknowledgement (while a multitude of employees rushed back & forth) and that should have been the hint to leave right then, despite the reserved seat in an uncrowded restaurant. It took 15 minutes after seating before a server showed up to literally "drop off" menus & take a drink order (2nd hint). After depositing the wine at our table, the waitress attended to and chatted at the next table (apparent friends), showing no intention of returning for our order. We had to interrupt their conversation after another 5 minutes (shame on us for waiting so long) to get a dirty wine glass replaced. Once the order was placed, we hunkered down for a good 30 minute wait before the (somewhat dried green) salad was served. Eventually the server reappeared to take another drink order because dinner was clearly nowhere close to being served; given the wine prices, it's apparent where most of the income is realized. When dinner was finally served, one of the four dinners was overdone. No concern to our server, however, because she was busy chatting it up with other dining friends out of earshot. She did finally return after almost another 10 minutes and had the dinner replaced after another five.



Wow good: The food that wasn't overdone, on the other hand, was very, very good. The diners' consensus was that overdone meal was a result of too long under too hot heat lamps as all of the dinners were extremely hot and the server was otherwise too socially occupied to deliver them. The chicken with prosciutoo, mozz & artichokes was fabulous with a nice balance of salty ham, pungent artichokes, and smokey cheese.



Would I go there again? Probably not.

More Business Info

Hours
Regular Hours
Mon - Thu:
Fri:
Sat:
Sun:
Extra Phones

Phone: 203-230-0859

Fax: 203-230-0859

Payment method
amex, discover, master card, visa, all major credit cards
Price Range
$$
Location
Mount Caramel Shopping Ctr
AKA

Luce Ristorante

Other Email

Categories
Italian Restaurants, Cocktail Lounges, Pizza, Restaurants, Take Out Restaurants
Other Information

Parking: Lot, Private

Wi-Fi: No

Attire: Dressy

Good For Groups: Yes

Good for Kids: No

Take Out: Yes

Cuisines: Take Out, Italian, European, Continental, Pizza

Alcohol: Full Bar

Bike Parking: Yes

Takes Reservations: Yes

Outdoor Seating: Yes

Suggest an Edit