We were there the night in reopened in June. As expected the service was a work in progress. They also did not have some wines on the wine menu. However, this is among the foreseeable issues when... More

We were there the night in reopened in June. As expected the service was a work in progress. They also did not have some wines on the wine menu. However, this is among the foreseeable issues when you reopen after massive damage. We will be going back as it seemed very much the same as it was before Ike. Pros: good Italian food
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We live in Houston and have a second home in Galveston. We've tried many restaurants over the years and Luigi's is still our favorite. Best bread, fish, steak, and pasta served on the island. ... More

We live in Houston and have a second home in Galveston. We've tried many restaurants over the years and Luigi's is still our favorite. Best bread, fish, steak, and pasta served on the island. Food is always hot and good! We've found nothing to match it on the island and eat there every time we are in Galveston. It's a great night when Luigi sings -- what a treat! The restaurant received quite a bit of damage as a result of Hurricane Ike. We, along with Luigi's many loyal patrons, are counting the days until we can celebrate his re-opening. Galveston is not the same without him! It's a fantastic respite after a hectic week in Houston!! Pros: Food, Atmosphere, Luigi!! Upstairs is great for a large gathering.
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There was a bit of a wait to eat, but the bar was not too busy. We waited about 10 minutes before the bartender made her way over to us. You could tell from her body language that she was less than... More

There was a bit of a wait to eat, but the bar was not too busy. We waited about 10 minutes before the bartender made her way over to us. You could tell from her body language that she was less than thrilled to be there. When she finally came over to us her attitude proved our suspicion. We ordered and smiled with the hopes that some small act would keep her from going in the back and buying the farm. Bartender, here is the tip we did not leave you: FAKE IT, I don?t really care if you are having a bad day or how much you hate your job. I am looking to have an enjoyable evening with my wife. We are there to spend our hard-earned money at your restaurant, put a smile on for us, k? Eventually our table was ready. Since it was on the later side, we ordered light. When the waiter arrived, he was underjoyed with our selections. Our food came out and the runner just left the dishes on the tray. After a few minutes of servers walking by with our food just sitting there, I got up and served us - only to find that after asking if there was pork in one dish (there was), we discovered bacon in the soup (bacon = pork, fyi). In a desperate attempt to increase our bill, he got us each in to another glass of wine. Well, he asked if we'd like another glass to which we said yes and he walked off. 10 minutes later, he came back by to ask my wife, again, what kind of wine she was drinking. I am guessing that he just wanted her to be completely sure about her selection? I dunno? By this time we had just given it all up to God. The only redeeming factor was the absolutely incredible voice of the chef (Luigi?) who came out to sing Happy Birthday. The room erupted in applause. Bravisimo! We were definitely disappointed in the service and the food only seemed fair. Obviously we did not order a main dish, so don't take my word on that. From my waiting experience I know any so/so meal can be made 10 times better by the service from the wait staff. Luigi's could definitely use some improvement! Pros: Singing Cons: Service, waitstaff and barstaff attitude.
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Our second home is in Galveston. Over the years we have tried most all the restaurants. There are many great places, but Luigi's stands out as our favorite of favorites. Luigi is one of Texas'... More

Our second home is in Galveston. Over the years we have tried most all the restaurants. There are many great places, but Luigi's stands out as our favorite of favorites. Luigi is one of Texas' finest Italian chefs and his restaurant has a fine romantic atmosphere. The menu has a wonderful selection of appetizers, entrees and deserts. dishes. Slow down, pace yourself, share (if you must) as you will want to sample all that Luigi has to offer and still have room for desert. For an appetizer, order the portobello mushrooms that are covered with large chunks of crabmeat in a lemony white wine sauce or the mussels in a white or red sauce( I prefer the white) The gorganzolla salad is a real treat. The veal ravioli is a must order and goes fast on Saturday. Another favorite is the tagliatelle di Martha, fetucini alfredo with homemade suasage. Now for the desert, one must order his chocolate gelato and the other Luigi's own version of tres leches! Additionally for larger events, there is an upstairs dining room for private functions, it is like no other! Pros: Truly a great dining experience! Cons: Best to make reservations as it can fill up fast
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We live in the Houston Galleria and own a home in Galveston. We have been going to Luigi's for about 6 years and find it is maybe the finest restaurant in the entire southeast part of Texas! We... More

We live in the Houston Galleria and own a home in Galveston. We have been going to Luigi's for about 6 years and find it is maybe the finest restaurant in the entire southeast part of Texas! We find not one restaurant in Houston (remember we live in the Galleria) with better food, and NONE equal the hospitality, ambiance, and caring owner/operators (Martha & Luigi Ferre)! The article about them overcharging the tip or rounding it up is hogwash (that's not the word I really wanted to use!)....we were there last Saturday (the food was magnificent as was the wine) and I did a sloppy job of writing in the tip--the awesome waiter (Tony) brought me the bill as I was leaving to clarify the tip. Last Thanksgiving we had family and friends (12 total) from our area, from California, Florida, and North Carolina. They were every one totally blown away by the entire experience at Luigi's. This place is totally off the scale (on the GOOD SIDE!) for food, wine, ambiance, decor....there is no place we'd rather eat! Warren Sprung Pros: EXCELLENT FOOD, SERVICE, WINES, AMBIANCE! Cons: NONE.
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Our party of 10 (4 adults and children ? ranging from 15 to 27 years old) visited Luigi's hoping for an enjoyable Italian dining experience. Right from the start, this was not a good experience and... More

Our party of 10 (4 adults and children ? ranging from 15 to 27 years old) visited Luigi's hoping for an enjoyable Italian dining experience. Right from the start, this was not a good experience and I certainly don't recommend this restaurant at all. The wait staff and management seem to be out to make money, not to serve with quality and earn business. Overall, I would not characterize the food or menu to be representative of a higher quality Italian restaurant. The bread on the table was stale. The breaded veal offering had a strange variation of taste and was closer to what you?d find from a frozen dinner, not a higher end restaurant. There was no one at the table that exclaimed how wonderful their dish was. Conversely, no one remarked that the food was bad... the food was just okay. While we didn't order a bottle of wine, some did want to order a glass and my 27 year old niece was offended by the waiter when he took away her glass saying "you're likely not old enough for wine". Not the thing to say at all! The final straw came during the presentation of the bill. The menu stated parties more then 6 would be charged 18% (fair enough? that is consistent with most restaurants). However, instead of the computer provided the gratuity amount, the waiter presented the check arbitrarily hand writing and rounding up the gratuity to what amounted to 20.5%! When questioned, the waiter said he was just rounding things up to make it easy, he didn't have a calculator... We asked to speak to the manager...amazingly; she seemed to accept this practice as reasonable. Instead of helping to resolve the situation (such as acknowledging this is not acceptable practice, adjusting the gratuity amount, or working something out), her approach and attitude inflamed the situation. In the end she walked away without offering any resolution and instead stated that the waiters were there to make money. Amazing! Pros: building and room are interesting Cons: attitude
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Like the previous reviewers, I used to think the food here was fantastic. I would definitely have driven the 45 miles from Houston just to dine here. My last visit, however (before this one) was... More

Like the previous reviewers, I used to think the food here was fantastic. I would definitely have driven the 45 miles from Houston just to dine here. My last visit, however (before this one) was in 2003, like all the other reviewers. After my experience tonight I can say that something has gone terribly, terribly wrong at Luigi's. The menu was wrong- too many dishes overcomplicated by weird combinations like ravioli with smoked duck AND alfredo sauce. Not enough classic Italian. The veal osso bucco, which used to be fabulous, was a big heaping mass of basically pot-roast with a giant bone with NO marrow inside it. If it even was veal, it was not the best cut of meat. Even the spaghetti marinara (ordered off the menu, because they didn't have a single pasta dish that wasn't cream or smoked duck based except for eggplant parmigiana) tasted worse than the Olive Garden. I don't even like the Olive Garden. Pasta was not cooked to order or else the line chef back there was sleeping on the job, because it was about 20 minutes past "al dente." And the wine list....don't get me started. It was small, boring, not particularly Italian, marked up at least 400% instead of the usual 200-300%, and there were hardly any vintages even listed alongside the bottles. All and all, very very sad to learn that one of the finest culinary jewels of Galveston is no more. What happened? Pros: nice building Cons: everything else
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This was our first trip to the "Strand" shopping area in Galveston, and I was surprised that there were not more "restaurants" along the actual "strand." There are plenty of bars, a burger joint,... More

This was our first trip to the "Strand" shopping area in Galveston, and I was surprised that there were not more "restaurants" along the actual "strand." There are plenty of bars, a burger joint, and a mediterranean grill. There is a steak and seafood restaurant a little off the path, but it is not open in the early afternoon. There is also a Fuddrucker's. We were looking for a decent place to have lunch with our relatives who were in town and we happened upon Luigi's. The atmosphere was nice and cozy. It is not very big inside and there are only about 20 tables. Italian themed paintings cover the walls and there is "Italian" music playing in the background. We were seated promptly, but there were not many people there because it was early afternoon on a weekday. They brought us water right after seating us which was a nice touch and it's also hard to come by these days. They also brought out two small loaves of bread and an olive oil pesto sauce for dipping. The bread was not warm or as tasty as I have had at other Italian restaurants but the sauce was very good. The menu is not very extensive, but is pretty expensive (in my opinion). They have a minestrone soup, two or three salad options, a few pasta dishes including fettucine alfredo and spaghetti, and a few chicken dishes including chicken marsala and chicken parmigian. The "cheapest" item on the lunch menu was $10.95 and that seemed to be the standard price for the pasta dishes as well as the salads. The chicken dishes were $11.95. My in-laws were with us and they both ordered salads with shrimp on top. They said that they enjoyed them, but they didn't look much different (with the exception of the shrimp) from the salads that were served with our entrees and I definitely would not have wanted to pay $10.95 for them. I ordered the chicken marsala. The portions were VERY generous and I had a large chicken breast left over. There was a variety of mushrooms, which were very good, but the marsala sauce was not as flavorful as what I have had at other places. It is served with boiled potatoes and spinach. My husband got the fettucine alfredo and he said it was good. His portions were generous and he was not able to finish his meal, either. This restaurant is not very "kid friendly." The "kid's menu" included only 4 items (spaghetti, buttered noodles, and two pasta dishes). They were each $6.95 and I did not feel that my daughter would have enjoyed any of the items listed. Something like pizza, which was included on the adult menu for a few dollars more, would have probably been more appropriate. I just shared my meal with my daughter. We glanced at the dinner menu, which was posted on the window outside the restaurant, and it was pretty similar to the lunch menu, but the "cheapest" item on this menu was $18.95. For that price, I can think of a lot of places that I would rather go. If you're shopping on the Strand and looking for a nicer restaurant and a place to eat lunch and get out of the heat, this is a good option. I'd probably look for other options such as the steak and seafood restaurant up the street for dinner, though.
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The Strand was quiet for a Friday night, but Luigi's was ready for us. The setting was casual yet classy. We were seated promptly and we had a very attentive waiter (Wes). The bread with garlic... More

The Strand was quiet for a Friday night, but Luigi's was ready for us. The setting was casual yet classy. We were seated promptly and we had a very attentive waiter (Wes). The bread with garlic olive oil was delicious. The mushroom/celery salad was delicious, but the artichoke hearts had some stiff leaves still on them. My husband's filet mignon and fettucine alfredo were perfect. I ordered pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh spinach and shrimp. Wes had mentioned a flavorful marinade, but the shrimp just tasted shrimpy to me. Overall, the food was very high quality and the wine list was reasonable. We were not tempted by any of the deserts on the menu. Maybe next time! Pros: Service, Prompt Seating, Good Value Cons: Artichoke hearts hard
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I went to luigi's for the first time last night. It was the most pleasant experiance that I have ever had. Chef Luigi not only cooked up a delicious meal with great wine but came out and sang... More

I went to luigi's for the first time last night. It was the most pleasant experiance that I have ever had. Chef Luigi not only cooked up a delicious meal with great wine but came out and sang with a tremendous voice. This is by far the best restuarant that I have ever ate at. It is a must for everyone who loves italian food. It is a 10 in my book well done Luigi ciao.
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