760 Cherry Rd
Rock Hill, SC 29732
(803) 328-3420
Visited: April 23, 2009
Meals served: Lunch, Dinner
Cuisine: Italian
Dress Code: Casual
Best Atmosphere for: Take out, Quiet dinner
Price: $-$$
Dishes Ordered:
We shared a personal pizza with mushrooms, sausage, green peppers, and tomatoes. We also split a shrimp and scallop parmigiana. Lauren started with a bowl of their pasta fagioli soup.
Lauren’s Review:
Living in Italy for five months can make eating Italian food in America quite undesirable. I now know the difference between authentic Italian food and an American attempt at the real thing and tend to stay away from the latter. Tonight that line was blurred a little bit by Luigi’s Pizzeria, a hidden gem in between a check cashing place and a rental car center in a rather dingy stripmall. I’ve avoided this place during my four years in Rock Hill, but since starting this blog I’ve heard many great things about it. I’m a little upset I waited this long to discover it.
The restaurant itself is fairly small and has many tables/booths crammed in, which reminds me a bit of the real Italian dining style where you’re basically seated at the same table as another party. There was some kind of Italian folk music playing very quietly over the speakers and a relatively small amount of people dining in. The atmosphere isn’t amazing, but it’s what you’d expect out of such a place. The fake flowers on the tables still have the purchase tags on them and are ever so nicely placed in vases (that also have the price tag on them). However, none of this seemed to really bother us. Although I didn’t appreciate when our waitress had to run back to the kitchen to ask what a specific pasta dish was. She might have been new, but I think the staff should be familiar enough with the menu to answer basic questions about the dishes.
The menu was quite extensive offering at least 10 appetizers, 3 soups, 4 salads, 9 pastas, 11 seafood entrees, many pizza options, and an array of other entrees. It took us way too long to decide what to order, but we finally did, and I think we made a good choice. About 10 minutes after I placed my soup order, I was beginning to think they’d forgotten about it. I asked the waitress, and she explained that it was coming out shortly and that sometimes dishes take a while because everything is homemade. My pasta fagioli soup, at a mere $3.50, came to the table steaming hot, served with freshly baked garlic bread. It took about 5 minutes before I could take a bite of the soup that reminded me a bit of chicken noodle soup with a little Italian style thrown in. The beans in the soup really set it off. Definitely a good choice.
When our entrees made it to the table (also steaming hot) we dug in and never looked back. Our shrimp and scallop parmigiana was served on a bed of fettucine and had a surprisingly large amount of seafood. Usually when you order shrimp dishes you get about 5 small shrimp that definitely taste as if they’ve been frozen for 3 months. This almost had too much protein for my carb-loving self, but Mike would never agree to that. But I did like that the shrimp/scallops didn’t leave the pasta with a “fishy” taste, which I was originally afraid of.
The personal pizza, which I thought would be too small for our large appetites, was really the perfect size. The crust was soft and delicious while the toppings were quite plentiful. I do wish the green peppers weren’t cooked as much (I like them crunchy), but that’s a personal preference. The pizza wasn’t too oily and didn’t have an overload of cheese (I guess the two go hand-in-hand). The pasta was also delicious. I really liked the sauce after I shook some spicy pepper flakes over it. Mike would like me to insert his pasta poem here: “They didn’t skimp on the shrimp, They put more than a dallop of scallops, Enough cheese to please, And the sauce was boss.” So I guess that sums it up. One strange thing I noticed was that the drinks were served in Coca-cola glasses, while the restaurant itself serves Pepsi products. Just thought that was something worth noting.
All in all, the food made the experience. People obviously don’t go there for the atmosphere, and there’s nothing wrong with that… when the food makes up for it. Luigi’s just opened a 2nd location further up Cherry Rd. near I-77. The new location is much larger and is more family friendly but serves the same quality food at the same low prices. A must-try for anyone in the area.
I must say I am very impressed with their ability to come close to real Italian cuisine… well, at least closer than the competition. Next time I’ve got that Italian craving I’ll know where to go. The only thing that would make it better would be a carafe of wine on the table, but we can’t always get everything we want!
Lauren’s Ratings:
- Menu Selection: 8
Lots of options. Took us way too long to decide. - Food Presentation: 6
Looked delicious… and hot! - Taste of food: 8
Real Italian. I just wish they had more spicy options. - Originality in food choices: 5
Nothing too crazy. Typical Italian options. - Restaurant cleanliness: 6
Dining area was very clean. - Quality of staff: 4
Only below average because the waitress had to ask about a dish. - Speediness of service: 5
I’ll wait for fresh food. - Atmosphere: 3
Not miserable, but not stimulating. - Drink Selection: 3
I need wine with my pasta! - Value: 9
I paid for the pizza, soup, and a drink. It was $12. Amazingly worth it! WU student discount too!
Mike’s Ratings:
- Menu Selection: 7
Seems quite extensive, but I don’t know what half of it is…neither does the server apparently - Food Presentation: 5
Ok. - Taste of food: 7
I really liked the pizza. I thought it tasted fresh and light with just the right amount of cheese and toppings. It wasn’t too oily like Ouzo’s. - Originality in food choices: 5
Old world choices.. - Restaurant cleanliness: 5
Didn’t sparkle but wasn’t dingy. - Quality of staff: 4
We only had contact with the server. She was a bit slack on refills and wasn’t too knowledgeable. She might’ve been new. - Speediness of service: 4
Slow. As the waitress explained, most everything is homemade, so it’s to be expected. I’m ok with it. - Atmosphere: 4
Nothing to speak of really. Quiet, quaint, plain. Bring friends to make it a party. I don’t recommend it for a date. - Drink Selection: 3
Italian without wine? Mamma Mia! - Value: 10
23 bucks for a drink, a soup, a small pizza, and a large entrée with the student discount. Great value. That’s the price of one meal at some other Italian places. Luigi’s food is just as good, even though the ambiance is lacking in all departments.
OVERALL RATING: 3.5/5 loaves
With most points being lost in atmosphere.
We went to Luigi’s and Sons new location last night and were sorely disappointed. We thought the restaurant was clean and the atmosphere quaint. We really had hopes that this would be our new favorite place to eat. After having lived in Upstate NY for 16 years and becoming accustomed to incredible Italian food, this was a disaster. The menu was impressive and it was hard to make a choice. We ordered two strombolis, an order of lasagna and an order of eggplant and garlic bread. Our first clue that we were in trouble is when we were delivered the garlic bread. It looked like the quarter loaf of french bread that you buy in the frozen section of the grocery store. We really recognized we were in trouble when they delivered the lasagna and eggplant and the waitress told us the strombolis were in the microwave so the cheese would melt. After we heard that, it appeared that the eggplant and lasagna had been microwaved as well. Lasagna, when properly prepared, should have been baked and have a cheese crust on the dish. There was no crust. My daughter thought the sauce tasted like it came out of a jar and I have to agree. The stromboli was not necessarily hot and the eggplant mushy and not crispy probably as a result of the microwave. Our bill came to $15.25 a person and we felt like that was highway robbery considering the quality of food we received. On the up side, the waitress was pleasant and attentive. My oldest daughter, not with us at the time, swears by their pizza. I have not tried it and that may be their claim to fame. Quite frankly, we won’t be back. My husband is a fabulous cook and specializes in Italian food so I should give the disclaimer that we might have unrealistic expectations of Italian food in SC and NC. The best Italian food we have found in the area is Upstate Pizza. The restaurant is family owned and they are from Upstate NY. They have qreat prices and quality. http://www.upstatepizza.com/
The family at Luigi’s seem really nice and I wish them luck. I just wish their food were representative of what you would get in NJ or NY.