Diner's Guide: Lucca Grill

Establishment: Lucca Grill
On the Web: http://www.luccagrill.com/
Date: 6.23.09

What's in my belly: Twelve-inch sausage pizza and a Cherry Coke. Brooksie had the chicken parmesan with a side salad and a Diet Coke.

The damage: Thirty-four bucks, tip included.

The scoop: The Lucca Grill has been filling bellies in Bloomington since 1936. It's a well known and popular Italian-American grill, and favorite of some of our friends, but it took over a year for us to hit it up for the first time. Brooksie and I have heard stories of how crazy it can be during peak hours, so when we were starving around 4:30 this afternoon we thought we'd saunter in and check it out. I actually had my first Lucca experience a few weeks back with some co-workers, but the most recent visit was the best. Lucca's food is pretty good, but the ambience is what really hooks guests.

"Our customers always feel "at home" at the Lucca Grill, with the familiar antique mahogany bar, the ornate tin ceiling, the first pizza in Central Illinois, and the many framed newspaper feature articles about the Lucca Grill from our local newspaper, The Pantagraph, to The New York Times, to The Washington Post. The feeling of "belonging" never ends."

If you're a sports fan, specifically baseball, there are a few subtle touches that really put Lucca over the top. First, there are helmets for the Cubs, Sox and Cardinals over the bar, each with a 'W' or 'L' flag to keep patrons informed of the team's previous outcome. Second, there are mini pennants on the wall, representing each team in the Majors. They're seperated into divisions and it appeared like they were ordered in their current division standing - that'd be a fun job to update everyday.

Back to the food. My pizza was great. I went pretty plain and ordered sausage and cheese. It comes with a thin crust, which I thought would be extra crispy, but it was delightfully plush. The sausage was OK, Brooksie wasn't a fan. I'll probably go with pepperoni or ground beef next time. Brooksie's chicken was great, but the sauce was chunky. To some that's a bonus, but for us Tomato haters, not so much.

I got a little grief from Brooksie for eating the entire medium pizza. If you're going in on a pie with a partner, order the large.

Will we go again: Certainly. Maybe another visit during non-peak hours to get comfy with the place and figure out our favorite dishes is in the cards before we make it a regular stop.