*** Lucky Buck's has closed
Recently, I had the pleasure of having lunch with my friend JackB, whom I hadn't seen or heard from in a while. I asked him if he had any suggestions for grabbing lunch, and he said "why don't we try a burger at Lucky Buck's". My reply, "say what? Uncle Buck's?" "No Lucky Buck's." And since I just can't resist a stupid pun I asked "well, where the buck is it located?" I was amused to find out it was pretty much right under my nose in Hillcrest, right next to Ichiban, and I hadn't even noticed!
I met Jack right outside the very empty restaurant, and we walked in while still trying to catch up on a few things….like "what the buck have you been up too?"
First off, I really liked colors and how the restaurant was designed.
Now I don't watch all those home improvement or design shows, so I really can't articulate the restaurant decor, other than to say….perhaps Industrial meets Art Gallery?
Lucky Buck's menu consists of burgers, burritos, and sandwiches, and various combinations of those items. As you can clearly see on the very colorful and "busy" menu.
Since I was here for a burger, I decided to have one of the burger 1/2 pound burger combos. I always like a good ol' regular burger so I can gauge just how good the burger is. I found out JackB is the same as well. We both got the "Plain Ol' Buck" ($7.59). I was asked how I wanted my burger, and happily exclaimed "medium"….now a good burger done medium, well there a few things better! Another thing I liked was the choice of "bun", you can get Onion, Sesame, or Wheat….hey, maybe this was my lucky day…..
While our burger was being Char Broiled, I had a chance to check out the condiment table, which included something called Buck's Special Chipotle Sauce.
I managed to get a taste of the "Special Sauce", and well, it wasn't anything special…..
BTW, in case you have the misconception that this is fast food, read the sign on the right. Our food did take a while, though I don't think it was more than 15 minutes or so.
Our burgers and waffle cut fries did look really yummy:
And the burger looked really nicely char broiled, with an interesting almost slightly red lacquered color. With some onion, lettuce, and tomato from the condiment bar, I was ready to jump in.
This is where my "luck" ran out. The burger had been over cooked(I guess asking me how I wanted it done is just a formality?).
JackB had bitten into his burger at the same time, and looked at me and said, "this is pretty dry and grainy." My thoughts exactly. Which was too bad, because the flavor of the burger wasn't too bad…there was a hint of "something" there, perhaps some chipotle? The burger also had a pretty good char broiled flavor.
I think there were some timing issues with the waffle cut fries, which ended up being a bit soft and soggy by the time we got them.
That's too bad, because these seasoned waffle cut fries had a good flavor, and must be pretty good when hot.
And that's kinda how we left it…….after a nice "talk story", JackB said something that stuck with me. "You know, this place has some potential…." Which had me thinking, maybe this wasn't my "lucky" day. Sooooo, a few days later, I decided to give Lucky Buck's another try.
I was going to have another "Plain ol' Buck", but decided it would be kinda boring…so I went went for the "Bleu Buck" Combo ($7.59). I don't recall how much my soda was, but the total was over 10 (lucky) bucks. Again, I was asked how I wanted my burger…and my answer was? "Medium", of course. After a short wait in the empty restaurant, my name was called out…which was kinda funny, since I was the only person in the place.
After grabbing some tomato and onion from the condiment bar, I sliced my burger in half, and you see the result below. Still not "medium"(why even bother asking me – and it ain't carry over cooking since it took me 15 seconds to get from the counter to the table, and cut my burger in half), but nice and juicy. Since my bacon was undercooked and the bleu cheese really didn't bleu me away, I wished that this was the plain "burger" I got on my last visit(sans the cheese and bacon). I noticed that the burger was being basted with some liquid while being grilled, which accounted for the nice lacquered exterior, and perhaps some of that "chili" flavor?
Nice burger. Good, but not great…but I'd have it again.
The seasoned waffle cut fries on this visit were hot and crisp. If you like waffle cut fries, you'll be in "luck". I received a very large amount of fries on this visit, and try as I might, I couldn't finish them off.
I found the service at Lucky Buck's to be a detached-professional. Sort of like the
y really don't care if you eat there or not, but that could be because it was lunch. There are several beers on tap, and margarita specials. The current lunch special consists of a 1/3lb Burger, Fries, and small drink for $6.95. Not a bad deal at all. We'll see how my "luck" holds out on my next visit……..
Lucky Buck's
1459 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92103