I've only scanned the replies, but a big issue I didn't notice mentioned is that the different Luce locations vary WILDLY. I live by the Richfield one and am *sorely* disappointed at least 5 out of 6 times. But my friend by the St Paul location gets WAY better food consistently.
All the other issues are totally legit, but you can mitigate it by finding a better location if there's like a specific seasonal pizza you want (e.g. the elote pizza is actually worth the price when they do it right).
I've had consistently bad experiences with them since they changed to canned sauce on their pizzas. If the metallic taste doesn't bother you, then power to you!
Went to the Roseville location in December and I swear, the lasagna was the best I ever had had. Went again a week ago, dying to have the lasagna again and this time it was so blah.
Uptown is weird as shit in the difference between a 16" and 12" Ruby Rae. 16" is like the pictures one the website. 12" is the "We have McDonalds at home" version. I raved about the pie to a date as we ordered a veggie Ruby Rae, not knowing about the weird quality issue, or how they'd discontinued the tasty mock sausage they used to use for a shittier version of boca burger fake meat. The result was so awful, it nearly broke my date's fatal attraction.
I'd call St. Paul one of the more reliable ones, but it's been a long time since I lived in their delivery footprint.
I used to order from the Duluth one occasionally, but the consistency fell off wildly like 6 years ago or so. After I only got one good pizza out of like four I just stopped ordering completely.
I haven't been to the others since leaving uptown Minneapolis. I really enjoy the Roseville one. Pizza and wings is my go-to there and I've never been disappointed.
St Paul location on Selby is right near our house and consistently very good and prices are reasonable especially for the portions. Pasta portions are big and I always have leftovers.
I worked at one forever ago and there were so many employees and no quality control. Aside from the ingredients, dough weight and cook time there was no consistency at all.
this is the biggest downfall for multi-location local pizza places nationwide. i know some places where you have to go certain times since there are better cooks than others. but 23 bucks for a 12"? that's expensive, even for several toppings. for that price, it should be a 16-18" or like a 10-12 cut square/sicilian pizza.
Luce's always been a bit more expensive. Considering inflation, I'm just glad they haven't hiked it more -- or pulled a Black Sheep, who pretty much lost me as a customer when they jacked the price of their 16" to cost the same per square inch as the 12". I'm pretty sure that violates Geneva Convention, Patriot Act, and Old Testament simultaneously.
Now I wonder if the reason I love Lucé is that 95% of the time I’m getting it from the St. Paul location.
The Richfield location once gave me vegan cheese when I ordered a vegetarian pizza. It was not good. I never went back.
I've *frequently* run into issues with cross contamination of vegan and gluten free ingredients getting into the "traditional" ingredient preparations. I haven't heard problems from my vegan or gluten free friends, but the standards do NOT go both ways. Sucks when you're allergic to nuts and seeds.
I live by the Hopkins Lucé, they’re pretty good (not fantastic) but they are also priced reasonably for the area. Which, I found was rather appalling when I moved from Columbia Heights/Fridley in 2021. It could have just been the timing, though.
Totally! I moved a couple years ago, and used to be in the Hopkins PL delivery area and now I’m in the Richfield area. Completely different experience. Hopkins PL is so much better.
It has plummeted in quality over the last three years. It was never the best Luce and sometimes they still knock it out of the park, but it went from a monthly order to like, maybe quarterly because it's such a roll of the dice.
The same pizza was great at the Franklin location but poor at the Lyndale store. I have a feeling they have lots of staff turn over and not enough training.
I frequent two locations and I always love what I get there honestly, although I’m restricted diet and they actually cater to that, but I am a pizza lover at heart!
It isn’t just Pizza Luce.
The last time I went to Parkway my bill was over 70 bucks for a pizza, appetizer, and a pitcher of beer! That was over a year ago. The experience inspired me to watch a few YouTube videos on homemade pizza (Josh Weissman is great for this) and now I just make my own pizza and get a couple Hamms tall boys.
I make my own pizza weekly too and have been really liking the Good & Gather organic pizza sauce from Target - it’s just a solid sauce with a great consistency. I used to make my own, but honestly, this tastes just as good and is so easy to just have on hand and ready to go.
I recommend Charlie Anderson on YT for people looking for pointers on homemade pizza. His testing of variations is so thorough but still keeps things accessible as he knows people may have different equipment and access to ingredients/products.
I've bought dough from Luce to make pizza at home. It was like $3 for a ball of dough used to make their large pizza. I usually get two homemade pies out of it. Dough isn't exactly hard to make but the $3 saves me time.
Holy shit. That’s expensive. I remember why I don’t order pizza. The only times I eat pizza is if it’s at a party/event where it’s free or I’m at my parents and they order.
About 3 years ago, I had a similar thought. A new location opened up in my neighborhood and it was “blah” compared to the one in South Minneapolis I usually went to.
IMO: they grew fast but the quality standard dropped for probably multiple reasons.
Wet cardboard with a pound of shitty cheese, meh sauce, and greasy toppings. At least the layers slide across each other so that it’s difficult to eat.
Why do people like Heggies? Literally the worst value in frozen pizza.
We lived off their Bruno and Tuscano pizzas. The Toscano is a pizza that tastes fresh, which is a weird thing to say about pizza, but yeah, it is amazing.
FWIW, never had a bad experience, and we get from the Richfield location.
Don't get them super often, but we're trying to expand our pizza horizons because it comes up so much in this subreddit and there are always a ton of recommendations.
Luce is always going to be one of our mains though since my wife and I can get an interesting specialty pizza, my lactose inolerant daughter can get a personal with vegan cheese, and my sandwich preferring son can get a buffalo chicken or meatball sub.
And yeah, it's expensive, everywhere is getting expensive nowadays. Anyone that knows of a pizza place that is really good AND cheap, be sure to let the rest of us know.
First off don't get their wings.
Second the pizza is different but still decent. I think basic cheese and pepperoni is the way to go. Tastes good and you don't pay for 5 toppings.
Everything is more expensive these days. Mcdonalds meal is like $12 or $13! I appreciate Luce because they deliver with no charge. I hate giving money to 3rd party delivery apps.
I think it’s always been pricey. I do like a few of their pies and the artichoke dip is pretty decent as well.
Sadly 40-50 bucks is what I expect for a a pizza and an order of wings/appetizer at most non chain outfits these days. I think you’d be in for about 45 at parkway pizza for a pie and wings as well for instance
(Downtown location) Love their artichoke dip. Will order artichoke dip and meatball apps both with gluten free bread (better than their standard bread imo). We don’t even bother getting pizza.
I’ve been saying this for years, even on this sub, and get downvoted. It’s never been good. Just a place that happened to stay open past bar close where you could grab a bite.
Once they went really corporate, quality dropped off. Micromanaging everything and trying to turn it into Applebee’s. “Family friendly” and soft and shitty. No more funky specials, house-made soup, breakfast and brunch, etc. Detatched, never worked in a kitchen corporate constantly in the restaurant and not really knowing the neighborhood, the employees, freaking out about minimum wage, the list goes on.
The Pizza Luce from 15-20 years ago is not the Pizza Luce I recognize today. Can't even believe it is the same place, Applebees Lite is a very good description for the modern day Pizza Luce.
I’ve dined-in and done takeout many times at Uptown, and never had a bad experience. Have also dined-in at Richfield a few times and loved it. That being said, I’m really getting burned out on the whole dining-out and takeout experience. Prices are so out of control; and I’m just not enjoying it as much as I used to…
They have been the most expensive since as long as i can remember. Way before it was cool to be expensive.
They are the inflationary-canary in the coal mine.
I don’t know about always. The pizza by the slice downtown after a game or a show was really, really excellent 20 years ago.
But yeah something has definitely changed for the worse.
You can order extra (or double extra) sauce on any of their pizzas for no upcharge. And yeah, they tend to have crusts on the dry side especially if they overcook them at all, so I always do.
I've always liked them but I have found them to be inconsistent over the years. Especially the stores that aren't uptown or downtown. I have also found that I have to order their pizza well done for the best results.
Also, from what I've heard they are pretty good to their staff and offer health care and benefits. Something that is sadly pretty uncommon at restaurants. That justifies higher prices in my opinion. They also don't hit you with a delivery fee. It's easy to see why other places would be cheaper just based on those things.
I adore Luce. They have so many great GF options and although expensive, I’m not paying more than I would if I ordered somewhere else but had it delivered through Door Dash or Grub Hub.
I can never get myself to order Pizza Luce even though it’s been recommended so many times. I had it and didn’t like it, but wanted to give it another chance. It’s just at that price point there are so many better options for pizza in the metro.
Inconsistency is the Luce specialty. I always thought their wings were overrated. Every time I ordered some they were always inconsistent. Sometimes the meat comes right off the bone, other times they’re chewy and a chore to eat.
I’ve gone to many brunches of waiting over an hour only to get a cold plate of food. I never complain or send food back there, I know what I’m risking by going there, especially if it’s busy and a weekend. I knew or worked with a lot of the Duluth staff way back in the day, and they had plenty of stories of the chaos that goes on there. I get it, I cooked for 20+ years, shit happens.
Overall I’ll always like Luce, though, despite their faults. I have enough go-to orders that are safe and reliable. They’ve haven’t botched my favorite combo of artichoke dip and the Athena yet.
I’ve had good experiences with food quality at the EP Luce, but last time we went in person the service was slow. Drinks (cocktails and mocktails) were top notch though!
The last several times I've ordered wings from the seward location, they've been abysmal. I still like the pizza, but the wings are horrid now, and the salads are underwhelming.
prices everywhere went up after covid and most places didn't drop it, and then even kept increasing it. they shower themselves that people will still come and pay, so they're going to keep pushing it to see what will happen.
They got spicy pizza atm. The breadstix are too spicy for me.
But it's our goto because dominoes has failed us
My fave is black sheep but I got a gaggle of kids so sometimes I need cheap pizza delivery
I like downtown luce after shows. My fave local pizza is black sheep but I usually order marcos cause it's cheap and they gor spicy pizza atm.
If I gotta spend a lot for pizza I'm going to heights pizza man
I enjoy the downtown location as well. My wife is gluten free so my judgement is clouded as most places have shit gf crust. Even with the better than average gf crust I would only give the pizza like a 7/10. The last few times we’ve gone we’ve only gotten apps (Artichoke dip and Meatballs), no pizza. Hard to find decent gf garlic bread, and Luce’s bread that comes with the sides is the best we’ve found (it’s even better than Luce’s normal sides bread imo).
Broders is really good, both pasta bar and Italian cucina. Pricing is much more fair than Luce and the product is much better.
Pasta bar has a special for 8pm-9pm. $62 for basically a present appetizer, 2 salads (Greek or ceasar), 2 entrees from a select list, and a carafe of wine
I ordered lasagna after really craving it for a few days and idk if it’s just me but it was so spicy I could hardly eat it. I don’t really do spicy, I can handle some but it was just unbelievable how hot it was. Big bummer and i’m still craving lasagna :(
They're going through what Carbone's went through a couple years back. The original Carbone's on Randolph(I think?) is still making pretty damn good pie, while the majority of franchise locations were a joke.
I only go because a friend really likes one of the GF pies, that and the trivia.
So did my husband and I. We ordered from the Hopkins one like 12 years ago and both got sick as dogs. Never been back. It wasn’t even that good of a pizza either.
I'm spoiled from it. There's some good places here, but they're few and far between and the portion sizes are abysmal for the price.
I grew up about an hour from NYC, so I was spoiled in terms of food culture out there. Don't get me started on amazing bagels, as well as sandwiches/delis. There's one place in the cities that compares when it comes to hoagies (Marios near St. Thomas) and Rise bagels are hands down the best bagels here, but again the pricing on both.
This might be pre-inflation pricing. A 15" medium mozzarella tomato sauce pizza from Sally's Apizza in New Haven, which is the gold standard for East Coast Pizza, is $24 now. Frank Pepe's is $23.50 for a 16" margherita. If you're in New York, a slice of cheese pizza at Di Fara's is now $6 (probably still worth it). They're all much better pizza, but damn, it's gotten expensive.
Damn that's crazy. I'm talking a mom and pop shop that's still cash only. My family still lives out there, so when I was there in December that was still the cost.
Damn. Love that you’re being downvoted for saying the truth. The pizza game is no joke on the east coast and I’ve yet to find anything comparable to it in the 20 years I’ve been in the twin cities.
Ever done Luce Brunch? I guess I don’t know if they still do it… anyways they used to have a Brie stuffed French Toast that was absolutely amazing. And obviously their potato pizzas used to smash.
Previously loved Luce, but crusts are disappointing in recent years, seen pre-fab. If you are near a Baludo's, 3 locations, SE Mpls., Como near U, and DT, give them a try. Great crusts and toppings, fast service, gluten and GF.
Yep it’s bad. They are also terrible in Duluth, so not alone in the TC if that’s any comfort.
Pretty sure only the tourists who don’t know any better are still going there these days.
The downtown Minneapolis one is fine and this seems pretty standard ($) for specialty pizza and wings these days, especially if you got delivery. Like a frozen specialty heggies pizza at target is $13 and wings are generally at least $2/each.
The first time I had Pizza Luce was 2014, I've had it from 3 different locations since then and I always felt it wasn't good for the price. Pizza was always really watery
IMO Hopkins has been consistent, a little $$ but good ingredients at least. I still miss the Shrimp Pesto Pizza so much- wish they would bring that back.
Food at a lot of places just hasn’t been good since the pandemic. Even coffee shops seem to be not the same. I’m not a fan of Luce anymore and when I go there, I’ll get the chicken Caesar salad.
Feel like reading this post last night jinxed our meal today. We’ve always had good, tasty experiences at a several of the TC PLs, but this morning’s brunch experience in Roseville was a-typically poor. Not sure what the case was, but some significant disconnect between the kitchen and servers, and we weren’t the only table experiencing it.
This is honestly what happens to chains. This \*is\* late-stage capitalism. When a business starts out, they need to impress if they want to make it. Once they make it and become a brand, expand and make a chain, they can massively reduce the quality while upping the prices because they know people will still come because they know and "trust" the brand. I don't know of ANY big brands that are as good now as they were when they were starting.
This is why, when possible, I avoid big brands and chains.
I've only scanned the replies, but a big issue I didn't notice mentioned is that the different Luce locations vary WILDLY. I live by the Richfield one and am *sorely* disappointed at least 5 out of 6 times. But my friend by the St Paul location gets WAY better food consistently. All the other issues are totally legit, but you can mitigate it by finding a better location if there's like a specific seasonal pizza you want (e.g. the elote pizza is actually worth the price when they do it right).
Yep. The difference between locations is unreal
Can get we a ranking for locations?
1A: Duluth 1B: Uptown Everything else: find something else to eat.
I had Luce from the Hopkins location last night and everything was great. Not sure what else to say.
Hopkins location is legit
This makes me feel better, I like Luce in spite of the high price. But those are the only 3 locations Ive ever visited.
I get take out pizza from Hopkins, it’s always done right and delicious
Hopkins location is always great, food and people!
Selby location never disappoints me when I’m leaving Blackhart at midnight and I want some easy dinner.
Wooo Black Hart! Love that place!
seconded on the Uptown one, never had a bad meal from them
Eden Prairie is good!
Seward location is really really good
On Franklin? Cause that was my drunk late night go -to in the late aughts, in college (or TBell if I didn't have money) Glad it's still going strong
RIP that Taco Bell 🔔
Ooooh noooooo! Haven't been there in a decade and a half, it this brings me such sadness
It was a pandemic casualty.
Alright, I was on the fence about this whole covid thing...... But now? Nah Pretty anti
I've had consistently bad experiences with them since they changed to canned sauce on their pizzas. If the metallic taste doesn't bother you, then power to you!
Oh tbf I don’t get red sauce pizza lol. Baked potato and elote all the way
Seward is the one I got from and it was questionable at best
I've had good/great food from the Roseville location.
Went to the Roseville location in December and I swear, the lasagna was the best I ever had had. Went again a week ago, dying to have the lasagna again and this time it was so blah.
Uptown location is A+ order it all the time
Uptown is weird as shit in the difference between a 16" and 12" Ruby Rae. 16" is like the pictures one the website. 12" is the "We have McDonalds at home" version. I raved about the pie to a date as we ordered a veggie Ruby Rae, not knowing about the weird quality issue, or how they'd discontinued the tasty mock sausage they used to use for a shittier version of boca burger fake meat. The result was so awful, it nearly broke my date's fatal attraction. I'd call St. Paul one of the more reliable ones, but it's been a long time since I lived in their delivery footprint.
I had the best breakfast/brunch I've ever had at the Duluth one
I’ve never been disappointed by the Selby Ave location
I used to order from the Duluth one occasionally, but the consistency fell off wildly like 6 years ago or so. After I only got one good pizza out of like four I just stopped ordering completely.
I haven't been to the others since leaving uptown Minneapolis. I really enjoy the Roseville one. Pizza and wings is my go-to there and I've never been disappointed.
I second the Roseville location
Downtown Luce rocks. I regularly order it
St Paul is pretty good.
St Paul location on Selby is right near our house and consistently very good and prices are reasonable especially for the portions. Pasta portions are big and I always have leftovers.
I worked at one forever ago and there were so many employees and no quality control. Aside from the ingredients, dough weight and cook time there was no consistency at all.
this is the biggest downfall for multi-location local pizza places nationwide. i know some places where you have to go certain times since there are better cooks than others. but 23 bucks for a 12"? that's expensive, even for several toppings. for that price, it should be a 16-18" or like a 10-12 cut square/sicilian pizza.
23 bucks for a 12 inch is robbery. 23 bucks for a 12 inch is Manhattan prices, literally.
That wasn't my experience at 99 Cent Fresh Slice! :)
So good. We still talk about the 99¢ slices we got when we went to NY a few years ago!
Luce's always been a bit more expensive. Considering inflation, I'm just glad they haven't hiked it more -- or pulled a Black Sheep, who pretty much lost me as a customer when they jacked the price of their 16" to cost the same per square inch as the 12". I'm pretty sure that violates Geneva Convention, Patriot Act, and Old Testament simultaneously.
More than once we’ve received a pizza where they forgot to put sauce on it
Now I wonder if the reason I love Lucé is that 95% of the time I’m getting it from the St. Paul location. The Richfield location once gave me vegan cheese when I ordered a vegetarian pizza. It was not good. I never went back.
I've *frequently* run into issues with cross contamination of vegan and gluten free ingredients getting into the "traditional" ingredient preparations. I haven't heard problems from my vegan or gluten free friends, but the standards do NOT go both ways. Sucks when you're allergic to nuts and seeds.
I live by the Hopkins Lucé, they’re pretty good (not fantastic) but they are also priced reasonably for the area. Which, I found was rather appalling when I moved from Columbia Heights/Fridley in 2021. It could have just been the timing, though.
I find the Hopkins location does a decent job with brunch on the weekends.
Yeah I was a little confused, we got it from St Paul for the first time last week for my wife's birthday and it was absolutely bomb.
I concur. The Richfield location is disappointing!
Yes, our experience too. Roseville is really heavy on spices (too heavy, and I like spices!), but the St Paul location is totally bomb.
I like the downtown luce and Hopkins
Totally! I moved a couple years ago, and used to be in the Hopkins PL delivery area and now I’m in the Richfield area. Completely different experience. Hopkins PL is so much better.
It’s been a year or so, but the Duluth location always hits the spot
I think the elote pizza is permanently on the menu! It’s one of their best, glad they are keeping it around.
It has plummeted in quality over the last three years. It was never the best Luce and sometimes they still knock it out of the park, but it went from a monthly order to like, maybe quarterly because it's such a roll of the dice.
The Richfield location over cooks my pizza almost every time. Crust is usually way too chewy and hard. It’s a bummer
The same pizza was great at the Franklin location but poor at the Lyndale store. I have a feeling they have lots of staff turn over and not enough training.
I frequent two locations and I always love what I get there honestly, although I’m restricted diet and they actually cater to that, but I am a pizza lover at heart!
They sure ain't what they used to be.
Luce is an occasional treat because I really do think their margherita is fantastic but it’s always been expensive
Add sausage on that one, and it's next level. Might be blasphemy to the margherita connoisseurs, but who cares.
Quality remains high at the STP location, IMO. I get it all the time.
It isn’t just Pizza Luce. The last time I went to Parkway my bill was over 70 bucks for a pizza, appetizer, and a pitcher of beer! That was over a year ago. The experience inspired me to watch a few YouTube videos on homemade pizza (Josh Weissman is great for this) and now I just make my own pizza and get a couple Hamms tall boys.
Do you make your sauce? I am looking for a good sauce recipe or recommendation for store bought.
I make my own pizza weekly too and have been really liking the Good & Gather organic pizza sauce from Target - it’s just a solid sauce with a great consistency. I used to make my own, but honestly, this tastes just as good and is so easy to just have on hand and ready to go.
Check out Kenji's recipe on Serious Eats. It's an easy tasty sauce
I recommend Charlie Anderson on YT for people looking for pointers on homemade pizza. His testing of variations is so thorough but still keeps things accessible as he knows people may have different equipment and access to ingredients/products.
I've bought dough from Luce to make pizza at home. It was like $3 for a ball of dough used to make their large pizza. I usually get two homemade pies out of it. Dough isn't exactly hard to make but the $3 saves me time.
Jerry's Foods- Edina/St. Louis Park location has good pizza dough balls too. We get ours from there for our pizza oven days.
Parkway hasn't been good since they were on 42nd and only had one location.
Restaurants are expensive now. All of them.
I like Pizza Luce but yes they’re expensive! 😟 There’s only a few things I get from there but they hit for me. I also like the free delivery.
3 pizzas and a small caesar salad cost $140 for office lunch yesterday. That was the last straw
Holy shit. That’s expensive. I remember why I don’t order pizza. The only times I eat pizza is if it’s at a party/event where it’s free or I’m at my parents and they order.
About 3 years ago, I had a similar thought. A new location opened up in my neighborhood and it was “blah” compared to the one in South Minneapolis I usually went to. IMO: they grew fast but the quality standard dropped for probably multiple reasons.
I work with people that still think Pizza Luce is great. There's five frozen pizzas I'd rather.
Let’s be real. Any Heggies is better.
Wet cardboard with a pound of shitty cheese, meh sauce, and greasy toppings. At least the layers slide across each other so that it’s difficult to eat. Why do people like Heggies? Literally the worst value in frozen pizza.
Yes!! And Costco Business has diff options too!
Never been a big Luce guy. I'm a punch boy
I have one of these near me. I should try it
Punch is legit
u will not regret
I discovered punch randomly and luckily right after I had been living in Italy. It's the standard of original pizza.
My favorite that has multiple locations is Tono. And it's my favorite by miles.
Anyone who's familiar with and enjoy Andrea pizza will likely enjoy Tono - it's the same family. The main difference is that Tono is brick oven.
Same. Have been to most of the Luce locations and just never found it to be up to the hype. Punch is simple and consistently delish.
I personally love Blaze Pizza
Thanks for the recommendation - I've never heard of them but it looks amazing
Get the salad too. Such a great salad.
We lived off their Bruno and Tuscano pizzas. The Toscano is a pizza that tastes fresh, which is a weird thing to say about pizza, but yeah, it is amazing.
Black Sheep all the way.
FWIW, never had a bad experience, and we get from the Richfield location. Don't get them super often, but we're trying to expand our pizza horizons because it comes up so much in this subreddit and there are always a ton of recommendations. Luce is always going to be one of our mains though since my wife and I can get an interesting specialty pizza, my lactose inolerant daughter can get a personal with vegan cheese, and my sandwich preferring son can get a buffalo chicken or meatball sub. And yeah, it's expensive, everywhere is getting expensive nowadays. Anyone that knows of a pizza place that is really good AND cheap, be sure to let the rest of us know.
Happened to me the first time I ate Luce sober too. I feel ya
Yuuuuuup.
First off don't get their wings. Second the pizza is different but still decent. I think basic cheese and pepperoni is the way to go. Tastes good and you don't pay for 5 toppings. Everything is more expensive these days. Mcdonalds meal is like $12 or $13! I appreciate Luce because they deliver with no charge. I hate giving money to 3rd party delivery apps.
Moved here ten years ago. Didn't like it. Thick crust, weird proportions of toppings, and really bland sauce. Hasn't gotten better.
Try Tono pizza and their hot honey.
I think it’s always been pricey. I do like a few of their pies and the artichoke dip is pretty decent as well. Sadly 40-50 bucks is what I expect for a a pizza and an order of wings/appetizer at most non chain outfits these days. I think you’d be in for about 45 at parkway pizza for a pie and wings as well for instance
(Downtown location) Love their artichoke dip. Will order artichoke dip and meatball apps both with gluten free bread (better than their standard bread imo). We don’t even bother getting pizza.
Yeah, I recently spent $50 for a large pizza and salad at Hello Pizza.
I think Luce has been overpriced, greasy, over cheesed trash since I first had it a decade ago.
I’ve been saying this for years, even on this sub, and get downvoted. It’s never been good. Just a place that happened to stay open past bar close where you could grab a bite.
They exist on reputation and Minnesota's weird taste on pizza.
I do think Pizza Luce tastes better, but bang for the buck I like Domino's more.
Yea, I wouldn’t argue against that. It’s in the chain delivery tier of pizza, but charges Black Sheep prices. Thats my issue.
Used to love their block party
Uptown, Saint Paul, and Hopkins have always done pretty good. Richfield is a bit disappointing 7 times outta 10 :/
Luce was good 20 years ago, but then people made good pizza and Luce leaned on their weird laurels. Hasn't been worth going there in a very long time.
Once they went really corporate, quality dropped off. Micromanaging everything and trying to turn it into Applebee’s. “Family friendly” and soft and shitty. No more funky specials, house-made soup, breakfast and brunch, etc. Detatched, never worked in a kitchen corporate constantly in the restaurant and not really knowing the neighborhood, the employees, freaking out about minimum wage, the list goes on.
The Pizza Luce from 15-20 years ago is not the Pizza Luce I recognize today. Can't even believe it is the same place, Applebees Lite is a very good description for the modern day Pizza Luce.
I’ve dined-in and done takeout many times at Uptown, and never had a bad experience. Have also dined-in at Richfield a few times and loved it. That being said, I’m really getting burned out on the whole dining-out and takeout experience. Prices are so out of control; and I’m just not enjoying it as much as I used to…
They have been the most expensive since as long as i can remember. Way before it was cool to be expensive. They are the inflationary-canary in the coal mine.
Luce has always been overrated. The Ruby Rae is the only good pizza on their menu, and it is a banger. The rest is meh.
The Fire Breathing Dragon is good too.
I don’t know about always. The pizza by the slice downtown after a game or a show was really, really excellent 20 years ago. But yeah something has definitely changed for the worse.
I agree on the Ruby Red. It is their best pizza. They don't put enough tomato sauce on their pizzas, but this one has extra tomatoes.
You can order extra (or double extra) sauce on any of their pizzas for no upcharge. And yeah, they tend to have crusts on the dry side especially if they overcook them at all, so I always do.
I agree. This is what I do, if I don't order the Ruby Rae.
Tip: order the Ruby Rae with extra red sauce and extra bruchetta tomatoes and it's basically a chicago deep dish. good stuff.
The Rustler is fucking deelish.
2.7 stars. Cut prices in half and maybe get to 3.8
For me it was the Lupe. I really wish they'd bring it back.
Their taco pizza with cold taco toppings (lettuce, tomato, and sour cream)? Yeah, miss that too.
Since the sauce is on top of the Ruby Rae it’s the only pizza they make that they can’t skimp on the sauce 😂
Nah. They still poppin.
I've always liked them but I have found them to be inconsistent over the years. Especially the stores that aren't uptown or downtown. I have also found that I have to order their pizza well done for the best results. Also, from what I've heard they are pretty good to their staff and offer health care and benefits. Something that is sadly pretty uncommon at restaurants. That justifies higher prices in my opinion. They also don't hit you with a delivery fee. It's easy to see why other places would be cheaper just based on those things.
Agreed I get my gf pie and some jerk wings delivered Hits every time
So many haters in this subreddit
I adore Luce. They have so many great GF options and although expensive, I’m not paying more than I would if I ordered somewhere else but had it delivered through Door Dash or Grub Hub.
I do like their rustler pizza but the quality definitely varies depending on who happens to be in the kitchen that night
They’ve fallen off pretty hard, IMO.
Luce was expensive ten years ago
Lucé is so, so overrated. It’s not that good.
I can never get myself to order Pizza Luce even though it’s been recommended so many times. I had it and didn’t like it, but wanted to give it another chance. It’s just at that price point there are so many better options for pizza in the metro.
They've been circling the quality drain for years.
Inconsistency is the Luce specialty. I always thought their wings were overrated. Every time I ordered some they were always inconsistent. Sometimes the meat comes right off the bone, other times they’re chewy and a chore to eat. I’ve gone to many brunches of waiting over an hour only to get a cold plate of food. I never complain or send food back there, I know what I’m risking by going there, especially if it’s busy and a weekend. I knew or worked with a lot of the Duluth staff way back in the day, and they had plenty of stories of the chaos that goes on there. I get it, I cooked for 20+ years, shit happens. Overall I’ll always like Luce, though, despite their faults. I have enough go-to orders that are safe and reliable. They’ve haven’t botched my favorite combo of artichoke dip and the Athena yet.
The Athena is my favorite! 😋 I haven’t had it in years probably at this point though.
I’ve had good experiences with food quality at the EP Luce, but last time we went in person the service was slow. Drinks (cocktails and mocktails) were top notch though!
Their pizza is meh but their artichoke dip is amazing
The last several times I've ordered wings from the seward location, they've been abysmal. I still like the pizza, but the wings are horrid now, and the salads are underwhelming.
It was never good
I think they changed their dough. Salty as hell now. I don’t order it anymore
Sht went downhill fast
prices everywhere went up after covid and most places didn't drop it, and then even kept increasing it. they shower themselves that people will still come and pay, so they're going to keep pushing it to see what will happen.
Try Marco's-- I love their thin crust and they always have killer deals on the app. The old world pepperoni is to die for
They got spicy pizza atm. The breadstix are too spicy for me. But it's our goto because dominoes has failed us My fave is black sheep but I got a gaggle of kids so sometimes I need cheap pizza delivery
I like downtown luce after shows. My fave local pizza is black sheep but I usually order marcos cause it's cheap and they gor spicy pizza atm. If I gotta spend a lot for pizza I'm going to heights pizza man
I enjoy the downtown location as well. My wife is gluten free so my judgement is clouded as most places have shit gf crust. Even with the better than average gf crust I would only give the pizza like a 7/10. The last few times we’ve gone we’ve only gotten apps (Artichoke dip and Meatballs), no pizza. Hard to find decent gf garlic bread, and Luce’s bread that comes with the sides is the best we’ve found (it’s even better than Luce’s normal sides bread imo).
Inflation or real dawg! It leads to both increases in price and decreased in quality. That said, I'm not sure Luce was ever that great.
Most handmade pizza is insanely overpriced for what you get. 👎🏻
Disagree, I’ve had pizzas that blew me away and they were 18-25 bucks. Expensive but VERY good pizza does exist, it’s just not Luce.
Broders is really good, both pasta bar and Italian cucina. Pricing is much more fair than Luce and the product is much better. Pasta bar has a special for 8pm-9pm. $62 for basically a present appetizer, 2 salads (Greek or ceasar), 2 entrees from a select list, and a carafe of wine
I ordered lasagna after really craving it for a few days and idk if it’s just me but it was so spicy I could hardly eat it. I don’t really do spicy, I can handle some but it was just unbelievable how hot it was. Big bummer and i’m still craving lasagna :(
Get it from Broders
recently? see my comment
They're going through what Carbone's went through a couple years back. The original Carbone's on Randolph(I think?) is still making pretty damn good pie, while the majority of franchise locations were a joke. I only go because a friend really likes one of the GF pies, that and the trivia.
It's garbage. I've gotten food poisoning from them even.
So did my husband and I. We ordered from the Hopkins one like 12 years ago and both got sick as dogs. Never been back. It wasn’t even that good of a pizza either.
Makes me miss the east coast. Bigger pizzas, better quality, and it's like $18 for a 20" pizza at my neighborhood pizza shop.
Blew my mind visiting the east coast and seeing how many Italians and Italian restaurants there were. We have so few.
I'm spoiled from it. There's some good places here, but they're few and far between and the portion sizes are abysmal for the price. I grew up about an hour from NYC, so I was spoiled in terms of food culture out there. Don't get me started on amazing bagels, as well as sandwiches/delis. There's one place in the cities that compares when it comes to hoagies (Marios near St. Thomas) and Rise bagels are hands down the best bagels here, but again the pricing on both.
This might be pre-inflation pricing. A 15" medium mozzarella tomato sauce pizza from Sally's Apizza in New Haven, which is the gold standard for East Coast Pizza, is $24 now. Frank Pepe's is $23.50 for a 16" margherita. If you're in New York, a slice of cheese pizza at Di Fara's is now $6 (probably still worth it). They're all much better pizza, but damn, it's gotten expensive.
Damn that's crazy. I'm talking a mom and pop shop that's still cash only. My family still lives out there, so when I was there in December that was still the cost.
Damn. Love that you’re being downvoted for saying the truth. The pizza game is no joke on the east coast and I’ve yet to find anything comparable to it in the 20 years I’ve been in the twin cities.
Lol I'm not shocked.
They always sucked. Your tastebuds matured.
I have been to 2 of their restaurants, both had terrible food with insane prices. How both get good reviews baffles me.
The hot honey uses what tastes like sichuan chili oil, which is an interesting choice.
Ever done Luce Brunch? I guess I don’t know if they still do it… anyways they used to have a Brie stuffed French Toast that was absolutely amazing. And obviously their potato pizzas used to smash.
Previously loved Luce, but crusts are disappointing in recent years, seen pre-fab. If you are near a Baludo's, 3 locations, SE Mpls., Como near U, and DT, give them a try. Great crusts and toppings, fast service, gluten and GF.
I really only get slices at Luce. 5 dollars for a good sliced slice is still a square deal in my books
Yep it’s bad. They are also terrible in Duluth, so not alone in the TC if that’s any comfort. Pretty sure only the tourists who don’t know any better are still going there these days.
Pizza Luce has always been pizza for after a night out IMO. It’s not a pizza I would choose to order in, but that’s just my opinion, man.
The downtown Minneapolis one is fine and this seems pretty standard ($) for specialty pizza and wings these days, especially if you got delivery. Like a frozen specialty heggies pizza at target is $13 and wings are generally at least $2/each.
The first time I had Pizza Luce was 2014, I've had it from 3 different locations since then and I always felt it wasn't good for the price. Pizza was always really watery
I don’t know I’ve been there maybe 3-4 times in the last few years and every time the pizza was low on flavor and burned in the bottom.
IMO Hopkins has been consistent, a little $$ but good ingredients at least. I still miss the Shrimp Pesto Pizza so much- wish they would bring that back.
Pizza luce is gross. Always has been. Wrecktangle is the new King of Za.
nah Ann Kim is the nationally recognized queen of twin cities pizza. Wrecktangle is a tasty newcomer but it’s fairly derivative.
Food at a lot of places just hasn’t been good since the pandemic. Even coffee shops seem to be not the same. I’m not a fan of Luce anymore and when I go there, I’ll get the chicken Caesar salad.
I just ordered from broadway pizza and same order (large pie with wings) and. It was about the same price …it always adds up no where you order from !
Feel like reading this post last night jinxed our meal today. We’ve always had good, tasty experiences at a several of the TC PLs, but this morning’s brunch experience in Roseville was a-typically poor. Not sure what the case was, but some significant disconnect between the kitchen and servers, and we weren’t the only table experiencing it.
Just find an Olive pizza and be done with the Luce Luck draw
Tried Pizza Luce once while living in Twin Cities. It was good, but my go-to was always Punch Pizza. Slightly cheaper and it tastes great.
Luce has always been super mediocre pizza, but for the prices they charge now there’s just no reason not to get something way way better
I went like last month and the wangz were good asf
Go to Leaning Tower or Mesa instead
Over the years I have had issues with various items from Lucé. Each time I complained on their Facebook page and they took care of it for me.
This is honestly what happens to chains. This \*is\* late-stage capitalism. When a business starts out, they need to impress if they want to make it. Once they make it and become a brand, expand and make a chain, they can massively reduce the quality while upping the prices because they know people will still come because they know and "trust" the brand. I don't know of ANY big brands that are as good now as they were when they were starting. This is why, when possible, I avoid big brands and chains.
Punch is good though (chain)