A few days ago, I mentioned that I placed my first-ever order with Lumibricks to try out some of their brick-built offerings. I already reviewed the free gift with purchase, but today, it's time to look at the main set that I purchased: #L15010: Italian Homestyle Restaurant.
The Italian Homestyle Restaurant set comes with 2868 pieces and was released in late 2025. This set has all of the classic Italian food options - both in terms of the build (pizza shop and a Trattoria), as well as many printed tiles depicting famous Italian dishes. Oh yes, the instruction booklet also contains a recipe (that's a first for me with any brick-built set from any brand)!
The set comes with six minifigures, including Rosa, owner of Rosa's Trattoria. I like the varied expressions of the minifigures, and I'll admit the overall design of them is growing on me. It's worth noting that all of the other pieces in the set line up exactly with the LEGO Company's brick sizes, dimensions, thicknesses, etc. However, the LEGO brand minifigure is a copyrighted (patented?) design, so Lumibricks (and other companies) have to design their own minifigures. I like most of what the Lumibricks figures can do, though the fact that they don't have any anti-studs on their butts means that you can't easily sit the figures down in chairs (kind of a bummer for a restaurant set)!
The build experience for the set was wonderful. There were several fun minibuilds, and it never felt like a tedious build at any point (even when doing the wiring for the lights). I do think that LEGO fits in more clever building techniques with their modular line, but this particular set had some interesting builds throughout the set. I especially like the kitchens and the tables of food. The various printed tiles bring a lot of color and life to the model, and the best part is, no stickers at all!
You can't beat this set for the cost (and that's before factoring in that Lumibricks offers a lot of various sales that can lower the price even further).
I don't think large city buildings are designed for kids to play with (especially at the $100+ price tag). However, there are several design choices that make this set easier to play with than similar sets from LEGO. In particular, the backside of each floor of the main building has a wall that can swing open. In that way, even large adult hands can get into the space (and the best part is, by accessing the floors in this way, you can keep all of the lights on)!
Overall, the Italian Homestyle Restaurant set by Lumibricks truly blew me away. It's not a perfect set (the "death stairs" on the back of the building are poorly designed, for one), but it's as close to perfect as you'll probably get with any set. Even better, with the included light kit that's integrated into the build, you have a stunning display piece when all is said and built!
As you can see, Lumibricks has won me over! I've been growing more and more dissatisfied with the LEGO Company's constant price increases. Lumibricks proves you can have awesome builds coupled with lights (and no stickers) for a much lower price than what you'd pay for a similar LEGO set. As I mentioned already, after finishing this build, I made a second order on Lumibrick's website! This just might be the start of a beautiful brick-building relationship!
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