Lucina Eatery & Bar

This is a great restaurant for celebrations in a cute part of Park Hill. We basically ordered half the menu and shared it in our table of 8. Recommending zanahorias (carrots), sikil pak (beers), lucina salad, mofongo, and moqueca (cod in a curry sauce). The paella was well made with lots of seafood, but a little salty. It was a busy Saturday night, but one of our friends spilled his drink and no one came over to help for 10 minutes. Definitely make reservations.

Mostly enjoyed the experience and plan to return for sure. Cute spot with a good ambience. We really enjoyed the paella, which was nice and full, and also the gansito. desert. The moqueca was also pretty good; had a Thai feel to it. But for us the black ceviche was a bit of a bust. Flavor just a bit too flat and bland. Overall enjoyable and we will eventually return to try other things, in addition to the paella again. Good place for gluten free dining as well, for those interested in that.

A bit overrated. I started with the Sikil Pak with the Camazotz cocktail. The sikil was very spicy, too much for me but it was also very enjoyable. The cocktail was fine. Next was Albondigas with El Mono Mantequilla to drink. The bread with the entrée is purposefully hard yet chewy, works as a good accompaniment but the meatballs aren't very tasty until you get enough sauce with them and the meat was rank in a few bites but I know that can be the luck of the draw with ground beef. El Mono I enjoyed more than the first cocktail. Lastly I ordered Congri y Maduros which isn't a success for a higher end cocktail restaurant. The Maduros were heavily caramelized which sounds great but they severely lacked flavor. The rice and beans served as a base for a decent meld of flavor and texture but only the salt salvaged the dish somewhat. The Cafe con Leche served as my dessert which I would get again but there's better espresso martinis out there. The very last thing I ordered was a Sazerac which is a good test of the bar staff anywhere as this drink varies widely in quality from bar to bar and no one does it worse than Lucina. Unnoticeable nose, terribly flat and dreadful lack of the signature flavor. I give Lucina 3.5 stars but rounded up because the service is on point. It's definitely out of the way for me but otherwise I would be back and I might be anyway to give it another shot.

The vibe, the service, the FOOD! Each plate we tried the flavors were balanced between savory, spicy, salty, creamy, crunchy, crispy. Incredible delight to the palate! I had the WWLD and my partner had the cafe con leche cocktails - very different flavors, but both were amazing. The ceviche was perfectly balanced, the broccoli was smoky with the bean sauce, and the pork belly with the mashed plantains was to die for. Seriously one of our new favorite restaurants in Denver!