Lucia's By The Sea 16 Cliff Road, Wollongong, New South Wales 2500

"I am a "high maintenance" patron. I notice everything, I pay attention to everything, I want my meals to be perfect, I want to make sure that when I go out and spend my hard earned $$$ I get the best experience possible and I expect nothing but the best otherwise I will complain and have something to say for everyone to see. That being said, Lucia's is, well... 10/10! Tiramisu is the best I have EVER tasted in my *life*, better than my late Italian neighbour's homemade stuff she used to personally make for me.. Food is excellent, staff is well mannered, music is solid and the atmosphere is intimate. Perfect for enjoying dinner with your significant other or for a family get-together. The owners regularly come and interact with the patrons and make you feel like one of theirs. One of my favourite restaurants, period. Thank you Andrea for being the perfect host and thank you Lucia for being the perfect cook! Nothing but highest of high recommendations. Thanks for reading my review. C"

"Go there for food flavour only, don't expect good service. I booked a table at the Mothers Day event and had a very poor experience. I booked a window seat wanting ocean views without being told if its sunny we are sitting in full sun without any option of blinds. We were moved to another table near kitchen and kept getting bumped by frantic staff that seemed to be having their first shift on the day. The kids meals we knew where $35 each and was shocked to be given a basic spaghetti red sauce pasta that wouldn't be worth $3 to them. We ordered bread during our entree that didn't come until halfway through mains after a 3rd request to the staff. We get given the wrong meals twice even while eating mains. Our 3hr seating was done by 1.5hrs due to food coming out so fast and yet we cant even order a well done steak because "there isn't enough time to cook steaks". No offer for refund when I complained and manager accuses me a trying to bribe them to save a bad review. This review is DUE to how I was treated, plain and simple. Not good enough for paying for a $350 meal. Silly me for giving them a chance to fix it, I should have just gone straight to google. Its a real pity because the food taste's really good, they just have no idea how to successfully run a special event or have empathy towards their customers."

"Serene views Attentive and kind staff Well cooked and flavoured - fish main was a delight Value weekday options with a la carte options too."

"We went for Valentine’s Day to have a nice dinner and we had that. The arancini was delicious and the seafood was amazing. Some tables have a great view, we were sad we didn’t get to sit near a window but that’s ok. I had a yummy cocktail, Bella Lucia…, totally recommend this one for the ladies. The only thing we had a little trouble was the girl who was serving us, she talks really quiet and it was something very difficult to understand her, other that that everything was great."

"The view was definitely what made our dinner more enjoyable. The food however, was average. $25 for a calamari entree with 5 small pieces of calamari was disappointing. The mains we ordered were beef cheek and ragu gnocchi. The beef cheek did not taste good at all. The ragu gnocchi was good but not amazing. I was really looking forward to trying this restaurant but unfortunately the food did not meet our expectations or the reviews that I had read. I might go back again in the future if the menu changes but I won't be recommending this restaurant to friends in a hurry."