Zero stars would be better fitting. We only ended up at Santa Lucia wanting to be as far away from the rugby as possible. Should have kept going and spent our money at Burger King!My 'handmade pasta' I swear was Pam's ravioli that I can get exactly the same way, sauce and all for perhaps $8 at the local supermarket and they have the gall to charge over $20 for it! I had to smother it in parmesan, which I had to ask for, just to feel like I may have got some value out the meal.My husbands garlic steak was tasty, again though, not unlike what he makes anyway, rough cut and thrown together. 'Side salad' was, I kid you not, a single piece of iceberg lettuce, a wedge of tomato and a slice of carrot. A two year old could construct a more interesting salad!!The live guitarist did nothing for the overpowering vibe of the staff not caring.I am disgusted that they can maintain a spot in Mission Bay!! Santa Lucia Restaurant offered the worst restaurant meal ever!!!

Santa Lucia served up the worst meal we have ever had. We had to wait more than 15 mins just to be asked if we would like a drink, after 30 mins we went and found a waiter to take our order, an hour later and several inquiries we said that we no longer wanted our meals and would like to leave. We were then told that our entree would be with us in one minute and that it had been delayed due to a staff mistake. No apology, no food. The entree arrived eventually and we asked that our main meals be brought out at the same time but we still had to wait a further 20 mins and then we received only half of our order. The salad was just lettuce with three slices of salmon. The customer service was non existent, we asked three times for water and never did receive any, we also were ignored when we tried to place a drinks order. We tried to explain to Manager/Owner that we were unhappy with the lack of service and the quality of the meal but we were told that we were "JUST BAD PEOPLE".Santa Lucia is not a restaurant that we will ever return to and we would not recommend it to anyone who enjoys actual customer service.1 is the lowest star rating that this site allows however we think negative 5 would be more accurate.

Hello there. I just wanted to say a very big thank you to all the Santa Lucia staff, especially to Sharri and Tony for looking after my family. My parents come from Italy and they were really suprised with the authentic atmosphere - tipico Italiano.
The food at Santa Lucia Restaurant was made as we wwanted it which was fantastico. Ciao tutti @ santa lucia .Grazzie.

Unfortunately I don't even think that I would give this "restaurant" 1 out of 5.


After recently going to Santa Lucia for a birthday dinner with friends who had just arrived from the UK, we received below average Italian(?) food (the canneloni was so cold in the middle that we wondered if it was pre-frozen); and rude service (when we got it at all).


To top it all off, they took the complete mick by demanding that we pay the top price corkage for bringing our own bottle of Lindaur - because it qualifies as 'Champagne' (which any twit knows it is not) because it is 'bubbly'. The corkage charged was more than what we paid for it - and we had to open it ourselves and go to the bar to get glasses as no one was interested in seeing our huge table of four.


I was embarrassed to have even suggested we try this restaurant - let alone taking friends whose first visit to a NZ restaurant was here. I can only think that they remain open due to their location. Needless to say ... I will never be back!

Great location and atmosphere. However, food is way over-priced and very average. Mediterranean salad for $17.50 - two wedges of tomato, four olives and lettuce!!! When I asked the manager about it, he did not care. Many at our table had orders arrive 20 minutes after others. Risotto very very boring - paid $26!!!!! Do not waste your money here.

The absolute inadequacy of these people who, ironically, work in the "hospitality" industry. There was no hospitality at all from where I was sitting - just incompetent, unhospitable, rude staff who I'm surprised manage to make a living the way they treat customers.



We waited 20 minutes for menus, had only one drinks menu for 20 people (that are separated into two tables for a birthday celebration), and we’re given the impression that everything was a hassle - including asking for parmesan, and meals unable to be changed at all, even in the slightest. Whatever happened to the customer's always right?



I would strongly advise against eating at Santa Lucia Restaurant. Apart from the service, the food is very lack-lustre. Funnily enough, with the table drama some other lovely girls offered to move theirs so we could pull our two together - so even fellow customers were more accommodating than the people running the place!

This is one of the worst dining experiences of my life. I can compare it only to dining off the streets in Phnom Penh (Cambodia).



We rang Santa Lucia Restaurant three days prior for a booking, and confirmed two important issues:


We wanted 20 people on one table; and to be able to pay separately. When we arrived, we were not greeted with nice hospitality and found that there were two tables.



At the bar, I was told to take a seat where my drink order would be taken. Ten minutes later it wasn't taken, so I returned to the bar.



My meal, Porto Capri, was shocking. It was under prepared, the cheese had not melted and there were no garnishes. The salad was a joke with some scraggly lettuce and carrot and a small (very small) amount of diced roast potatoes. I was not the only person in our group that was disappointed in the meal.



The worst was yet to come. We were informed that the bill could only be split five ways not separately, as we had previously confirmed. Their reasoning was that it would take to long and that there antiquated till could not divide the bill or itemise the meal. Which was correct.



After about 45 minutes of talking and giving options, several of our group went to money machines and got money so they could pay cash.



It was a disaster of a meal.



The service was unbelievably bad with mixed up orders, slow, unable to refill water on request, just terrible. I will never eat there again.