~ Our Deli ~
After almost 100 years, Lucca Deli is still the tastiest little deli in the world.
Our grandfather Mike Bosco and his partners opened Lucca Deli in 1929.
If you walked into Lucca back in the old days, you would have seen salami hanging from the ceiling. Wheels of cheese aging in the same rack we have today. Clerks in ties and white butcher gowns. Housewives crowded around the counter. A mortadella-stuffed pig dangling in the window to lure customers in. And if you peeked in the kitchen, you’d probably see our grandmother and the other partners’ wives making tortellini by hand.
We run the deli like our grandfather Mike and father Ed did: the best foods, the best service, the best experience.
You might have also seen us, Paul and Linda Bosco. As Mike’s grandchildren, we loved hanging out at the deli. Our favorite clerk was white-haired Charlie, who always had a slice of salami or a breadstick for us (it’s a custom we continue with the neighborhood kids to this day).
When our father, Ed Bosco, took over the deli in the late ‘50s, business boomed due to his attention to detail, demand for consistency, and his
When he was ready to retire, there was talk of selling. But we couldn’t imagine a stranger running Lucca. It was an integral part of our life and our history, so we both decided to leave our careers and come into the business full-time.
Today, we are delighted to be part of San Francisco’s rich history and to carry on the delicious traditions our family started so many years ago. We can’t wait to share our deli with you!
Almost 100 years in the same Marina location
Our deli may be small, but it is mighty. Filled to the brim with every Italian specialty grocery item you could want. An impressive selection of Imported Italian wines. And, of course, our epic deli case: hand-roasted meats, fresh cold cuts you won’t find anywhere else, salads made daily in our own kitchen.
Wind your way through the crowd to the back of the deli and you’ll be rewarded with a spectacular cheese department. In a decades-old wooden rack lay wheels of Rocca Reggiano Parmigiano and other classics. And on the marble board below we display over 50 varieties of imported and domestic cheeses. We give you a taste of whatever you like and then prepare your order right there.
We take pride in our “old-world” persona service: attention to detail, presentation, patience and a great attitude.
Throughout the deli, you’ll happen upon delicious little surprises: grissini, panforte, cookies, candies, and other special items we can’t resist sharing
And though you won’t see it, you should know that we have a surprisingly large kitchen for such a small deli. That’s because we insist on making our dishes and pasta from scratch like our grandfather did. Our three full-time chefs work non-stop, roasting meats, rolling out pasta and ravioli by hand, simmering stock for our minestrone, and prepping, prepping, prepping.
Lucca Deli Favorites
Homemade Ravioli
We make our ravioli using our grandfather’s original recipe on a machine that was imported from Italy in the 1920s. No one makes it this way anymore, but we do! It’s a two-day process: roasting meats and vegetables one day and making the pasta and stuffing the raviolis the next. All it takes is one bite to fall in love.
Potato Salad
Of all our salads, this one gets the most raves. We’ve been making it the same way since the 20s. Our customers say they try to replicate it at home, but can’t. That’s because we use a secret technique to cook the potatoes before chopping and mixing them in with the rest of the ingredients in our family recipe. Worth the trip just for this.
Minestrone Soup
Another recipe unchanged since the 20s! This soup has been featured in the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s the ultimate classic comfort food, perfect for a chilly night.
The Calabrian Sandwich
When you want a sandwich with a bit of heat, this is the one. The Acme roll is stuffed full with hot salame, authentic provolone and all your favorite Italian peppers. Customers say it’s one of the best sandwiches in SF.
The Pat Burrell Sandwich
Burrell was a star outfielder for the Giants back in 2010 and happened to live in our neighborhood. He ordered this sandwich—house-roasted beef with pepper jack cheese and all the fixings, including horseradish. The Giants won their next game, and so not to tempt fate, Burrell came in every week for the rest of the season to get the same sandwich. They won the World Series that year, and so we named the sandwich after him. It is our best seller, for good reason.
