Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Lucky 13: A Bar and Grill (4.5 out of 5)


   I don't know about you, but when I here the words "bar food," to me it usually means food that tastes amazingly fantastical.... if you're drunk. And not just the regular kind of drunk, I mean the cry-for no-reason, or throw-your-phone, or yell-incoherently kind of drunk (all of which we saw this night. And all from one person). Fortunately for our Taco Tuesday group, Lucky 13 manages to break away from this expectation with flying colors!
   This has been a place that has been brought up a few times over the last couple of months as a place to go to, but it never quite made it out of the cutting room floor until tonight, and this visit left us wondering "why didn't we come here sooner?"
   The most prominent part of coming here (food-wise) is for their gourmet-style burgers, all of which come on homemade buns, and all of which can come with a few different styles of fries. So come to a place where nobody knows your name and they don't know why you came and try the great food that we are gonna talk about this time:





Curtis


Allan: Curtis is not right next to me, but sitting close to me, and he is gonna tell us about his food this evening.
Curtis: Alright, so tonight I got an 'Ol Man Burger--which is really good. It came with jalapenos with swiss cheese on it. The swiss cheese was was really nicely melted on there, it was really, really good. Never been to Lucky 13 before, but I think if I'm around downtown in the middle of the day I may drop in and have another burger sometime. That's about it. This place is pretty nice, it's really nice to sit outside, especially on a good night like tonight. For a bar the atmosphere is actually not that bad--I like it a lot, it's really open. And I'd give it about 4 [tacos]. 








Kevin


Allan: (Intro music for Kevin) Hey, so this is Taco Tuesday Reviews, I'm here with Kevinator--
Kevin: (yes we are!) 
Allan: --his nickname now. What did you get tonight for food?

Kevin: I got the Fungus Amongus with the Cajun fries.  
Allan: Isn't that the name of a song? 
Kevin: According to Matt and Curtis it's an album by Incubus? I believe?
Allan:  I wouldn't know. But you had the burger and not the album tonight, right?

Kevin: ....Yes.
Allan: Okay, okay, your pause was kind of worrisome. But how was your burger?
Kevin: It was the bomb, it was just really good. It grew on me, just like fungus!

Allan: I get it! Anything else that stood out that you wanted to talk about?
Kevin: So I've been here a few times before, but this is the first time I ever got the Cajun fries, and those are really good, I've never had them before. And the Fungus Amongus is awesome because they put lots of fresh delicious mushrooms that are awesome--yeah, It's just an all-around great burger.

Allan: Alright then uh, what kind of rating would you give your food tonight?
Kevin: I'd have to give it 5 tacos for sure.

([Addendum to audio recording: Kevin has in fact given two other 5 taco ratings to food he has had. Once at Asian Star (the first one), and once at The Pie Pizzeria])








Julia


Allan: (singing Julia intro music) We're with Julia for Taco Tuesday Reviews tonight. Julia what did we get--what did you get this evening?
Julia: I got the Fungus Amongus we came here once before, I tried it and I won't order anything else--even though everything is delicious off their menu, it's so good. The mushrooms are cooked in a red wine sauce and it's really flavorful.   

Allan: What kind of mushrooms are they?
Julia: I don't know... they're fresh. 
Allan: Are they portabella? Or are they like the regular, common--

Jolene: I think they're Criminis.

Allan: Alright, what she said. The foodie knows (Jolene).
Julia: It's delicious and I got regular fries, but I really like Kevin's Cajun fries--I think I'll do those next time. It's not spicy, [there's] just a little bit of flavor to it--it's really good. 

Allan: Anything else that stood out that you wanted to share?
Julia: I'd give it 5 tacos, it's really good, that's about it. 








Jolene


Allan: (Intro music for Jolene) Jolene is with me tonight for Taco Tuesday Reviews. Jolene, what food did perchance eat this evening?
Jolene: So I've had a lot of different stuff here, but today (I don't know why) I played it safe--I just got a Veggie Cheese Burger with regular 'ol fries and some Fried Pickle Spears. What I love about this place is that they have a million different burgers and they'll substitute a veggie burger on any of them. They're delicious, their fry sauce is awesome. 

Allan: So what makes this a "Veggie Burger"? What does it constitute? What's in it?
Jolene: So it's usually made of--the veggie patty has chickpeas, vegetables, maybe some bread crumbs and it's all stuffed together and then they grill it--and I like their veggie burger because it's never soggy, they get like a nice, char on it so it has a good bite on it, so it's not just mush.

Allan: Good, good. Is there anything else that stood out about this veggie burger? 
Jolene: I think just the texture really. Their bread is awesome as well--I don't know where they get it, but they have awesome buns. And then also if you're looking for a brunch spot, this place is awesome for brunch. They have an awesome patio, and it's always cool for Bees Games--you can watch the fireworks from here. 

Allan: What kind of rating would you give your veggie burger tonight?
Jolene: I'm gonna give this one 4 tacos. 







Matt Baugh


Allan: Matthew (whispers: what's your middle name?)--
Matt: Aaron
Allan: --Matthew Aaron Baugh, what food did you perchance eat this evening--also: (intro music for Matt Baugh). Food.

Matt: Well thank you very much for asking Allan. Tonight I got the Pigpen and the Pigpen is always delicious. I like meat on top of meat, with my meat. So it comes with burger, ham and bacon on cheese with cheddar--swiss. And I it also comes with caramelized onions, tomato and lettuce. First off it's delicious. Second of all it's probably the most unhealthy thing you can get on this menu. And I love the burgers at Lucky 13--it's delicious, they're always fresh and their fries are excellent. 
   My biggest grief with Lucky 13 is their service is always either short-staffed, or they just suck. So they're either not hiring enough people, or they're hiring too many crack addicts. Our server was excellent for the time that she could be here, she was very, very busy---there were only two servers for the entire night tonight. Her name is Serena, she is lovely. [The burger was a 5, but with the poor service I'm gonna have to average my rating out at 4 tacos]. I love Lucky 13, the weather today was perfect tonight, so it's been an excellent experience and I can't wait to come back. Thanks Allan!







Allan


Kevin: (Intro music for Allan) We're here with Allan this evening--Allan How're you doing?  
Allan: I am doing quite well thank you. It's a nice evening out here, it's a little bit overcast, but you know it's actually very pleasant outside, considering it is the middle of August. 

Kevin: So Allan, what'd you get?
Allan: I got the Celestial Burger here. What kind of caught my eye was the fact that they had caramelized onions, there was bacon there and a signature barbecue sauce which I was very curious to try out.  

Kevin: How was the barbecue sauce?
Allan: Barbecue sauce was really good. And in fact the whole burger meshed together very well. The flavors combine in a unique and amazing way, they have homemade buns that these things come on and bacon and caramelized onions were falling out--there was just so much to it I almost couldn't take a bite out of it. 

Kevin: Awesome. So what review would you give it?
Allan: I would give it--and the Cajun fries I got--5 tacos.
Kevin: My-oh-my you guys heard it here first: 5 tacos from Allan. (Outtro music)









   Even though because Lucky 13 is still a bar, you'll need to be 21 or older to enter (they check ID's at the front entrance). But if you can find yourself a cozy spot out on the patio, and deal with the inevitable bad service, you will be rewarded with some of the best tasting gourmet burgers of your life! A couple to try out are the Fungus Amongus and the Celestial Burger. I feel like they sprinkle crack on their burgers, because they are the type that make you want to take another bite while you are still trying to chew your current bite. So pop on over to Lucky 13 and tell your taste buds: "Treat yo' self." 




Want a sneak peak of the Lucky 13 Menu? It can be found here.


No comments:

Post a Comment