At Lancaster’s Pizzeria Luca, they serve artisanal pizza, with a purpose

Taylor and Leann Mason brought elevated dining to Lancaster with their farm-to-table Italian restaurant Luca. They apply that same locally-sourced focus to the creative pies they serve across town at Pizzeria Luca.

When husband and wife Taylor and Leann Mason opened their farm-to-table Italian restaurant Luca in Lancaster during the summer of 2016, locals quickly fell in love with their seasonally-focused approach to recipes sourced straight from antique cookbooks from the old country. Before long, Luca was booked solid several weeks out, the New York Times was taking notice, and out-of-towners (like this writer) were regularly trekking to the James Street restaurant for the wood-fired dishes and homemade pastas. 

“The idea was that it would be a great neighborhood restaurant that cultivated a great group of regulars from the community, but also, a restaurant that’s aspirational enough to be relevant on the industry stage, nationally,” said Taylor Mason. “So as the restaurant became more refined over the years, and we needed to go to all reservations, we felt like there was a hole, and an opportunity to create a place with really great food where you can bring the family.”

Since nothing says “family meal” quite like pizza, the Masons introduced Pizzeria Luca in the fall of 2023. Located just a couple of miles away from their flagship spot, the stylishly spacious restaurant offers pizzas to please every palate, along with a limited offering of salads, small plates, and sandwiches, for lunch and dinner, seven days a week. Though they’re cooking with gas, not over a wood fire, at the pizzeria, the standard of quality and emphasis on locally-sourced ingredients they established with Luca remains the same.

“We wanted a place where parents don’t have to compromise in terms of going somewhere to eat well,” said Mason, a James Beard Award semifinalist in 2020. “And we wanted to offer our quality of food and our approach to cooking at a more approachable level, a more approachable price point. At Luca, you could only get our pizza five nights a week, and you needed a reservation. So it became exclusive in a way. And we wanted to open it up to everybody. Being able to serve simple, but ingredient-driven food, all times of the day has brought a lot of joy to us.”

Chew/owner Taylor Mason prepares dough at Pizzeria Luca in Lancaster. (Pizzeria Luca)

Both pizza snobs and those who favor tried and true plain and pepperoni pies will find something to love at Pizzeria Luca. If you’re craving something elevated, like the pies found on the pizzeria’s rotating seasonal menu, you’ve got plenty of options. I ordered the seasonal Vincenzo—Teleggio crema, mozzarella from Caputo Bros. in Spring Grove, Brussels sprouts, pancetta, and caramelized onion—during a visit just before Christmas, and it was one of the best white pies I’ve had in recent memory. The simple Margherita was fantastic as well. Mason said they also invest a lot of time and energy into their gluten-free pies, which seem like an afterthought at some pizzerias. 

While the pies have a Neapolitan appearance—12 inches in diameter, blistered and charred in all the right spots—Pizzeria Luca’s pies definitely have more snap to the crust, something Mason attributes to the restaurant’s 48-to-72-hour dough fermentation period.

“I wouldn’t call it Neapolitan, I’d call it artisanal pizza,” said Mason. “That word has kind of had its moment, but I do think it defines what we do. It starts with the dough, that’s always what our ethos was. Let’s make great dough, and put great things on it. I think a lot of times you have people who underplay both those things. You have people who are so concerned about the dough, or they put all their time on that and put junk on it. For us it’s about the dough fermentation—it lets it develop flavor and texture. It’s crisper than neapolitan. We want texture.” 

Both pizza snobs and those who favor tried and true plain and pepperoni pies will find something to love at Luca. (Pizzeria Luca)

In addition to creating a place where families can eat well without breaking the bank and supporting local food agriculture, the Masons also prioritized finding ways to give back to the Lancaster County community that has supported their family’s restaurants. One way they work toward that goal is with the Pizza With a Purpose program. Each month, 10% of the sales from a select pizza is donated to a local charity. Through the program, Mason said they’ve been able to raise about $1,000 a month for organizations such as the Breast Cancer Innovation Fund at Penn Medicine, the Power Packs Project, which provides school lunches for area students, and the Lancaster chapter of the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

“You go to some places they ask you to round up to donate,” said Mason. “This gives guests an opportunity to get involved directly. Bringing the community to the table helps raise awareness about these organizations that need support. 

“We’ve now reached the point where there’s an awareness about it, so we have people reaching out looking to collaborate, asking if they can be included in an upcoming month.”