VILLA Schweizerhof : Haldenstrasse 30, 6006 Luzern

This was a surprisingly disappointing experience. We had high hopes given the reputation of the place, and before we even arrived we had some great service from the host that evening who called us personally to ask about whether or not we still wanted to come to the restaurant (we totally misread the 24 hour clock and made our reservation for the wrong time). Once we got to the restaurant Lukas was just as warm and inviting in person as he was over the phone. Unfortunately, this was the peak of our experience at Villa Schweizerhof. Once we got seated our actual waitress was extremely cold and didn’t seem to have any interest in guiding us through the menu or making any small talk. I can’t tell if this was because of a language barrier (she seemed to speak English reasonably well) or a general dislike of tourists, but either way her cold demeanor was off putting and not appropriate for a restaurant of this caliber. My partner and I both ordered a 5 course meal (hers was vegetarian and mine was not). The courses themselves were extremely slow to come out, to the point where we actually ended our meal early and told them to cancel our last remaining course as we did not want to be stuck at the restaurant for over 3 hours. Normally it would be fine for a meal at such a nice venue to take a while to come out, but each of the courses we had was extremely underwhelming. Almost as if the chef had been trained at some high end restaurant but currently lacked the staff, ingredients, or resources to actually pull off the high end recipes. The food looked appetizing but every single course we had lacked flavor, seasoning, and quality. Fish that was tough to separate with a fork, steak that was rubbery, flavors that were just not exciting. Food this expensive and this showy should not be this bland. Hopefully this review can serve as a warning for those who are visiting Lucerne and are drawn to this place by the view or the surprisingly high reviews thus far. Save your time and money and go elsewhere! Especially if you have a limited time in Lucerne.

Booked the restaurant based on the high review. We were disappointed with the service of the restaurant after visiting so many restaurants at Switzerland. When the salad was served, while we said prior that the salad will be shared by my wife and I. They did not proactively ask and give 2 separate dishes to share and we have to ask for it. Finally, there was a lady brought the shared dishes over after we asked but without smile at all. Secondly, after the waitress served the water for the first round, they never came back to check the water and we have to standup and walk to the place where the water was and grab the water bottle then walk back to our seat to pour the water ourselves since it was a long table. I saw those waitress were talking to each other and were not busy at all at that time but just ignoring us.

The entrance to the restaurant is not on the lake side, but the road side from a small gate. It is inside a really cute villa w lake view, summer would be even better to be able to sit outside. The food is very good but the menu is relatively small. It is a beautiful place to stop by for lunch.