John D.
Yelp
I've been to Lucille's three times in my life now, once after I graduated from UC Irvine back in 2007, and then again for a couple of our most recent Thanksgivings, including this last Thanksgiving. I'm not really a big BBQ guy, so I never intended or imagined that Lucille's would become one of our go-to special occasion eateries; nevertheless, its ideal combination of openness (as in it's open when many other American restaurants are closed) and its willingness ability to accommodate large parties with reservations has propelled it to the top of my list for holiday family gatherings when we just don't want to cook or *shudder* clean the house for company.
Food: My longwinded prose introduction notwithstanding, if I don't start a restaurant review with a discussion of the food, something has gone horribly wrong. I'm happy to report that Lucille's centers its food in all it does, so I'll start there. We spent this last Thanksgiving at Lucille's as a party of 13. That's a lot of meals and sides! Almost across the board, we loved the food. My youngest son and I got the grilled salmon with two vegetable sides (greens and house vegetables). It was so tasty that I didn't get to fully scope out what everyone else ate, but I did see many deviled eggs, a veritable requirement in our family for holiday meals, and other tasty morsels. My wife got the Pulled Pork and Brisket along with some suitably savory and delicious sides, and my other two kids got giant burgers. We all loved our food! The in-laws and friends got all sorts of delectable delights, which were equally well-received by one and all. The only complaints were for the prix fixe Thanksgiving Feast. Apparently, the turkey was a little dry. Overall, however, we loved the food, and even the two who ordered the Thanksgiving Feast liked everything else, so I feel pretty good about my 5-star review.
Service: On a big day like Thanksgiving, one might expect service to lag or to be less-than-friendly. We were prepared for such an eventuality, but needlessly so. The service was excellent! Even though Lucille's was bustling--even hopping, as the kids say--we never felt the least bit neglected. Our waitress was very attentive, refilling our drinks and checking on us not only with professionalism but with genuine care. I wasn't paying this year, but I still made sure that our waitress received a generous tip. She even graciously took the Thanksgiving Feast off the bill and with no fuss.
Ambience: Lucille's is cool. After all, it's named after B.B. King's guitar. As an aside, I met B.B. King once when I worked at the Covina Guitar Center. He had come by to do a well-attended workshop. At one point, after playing a riff, one of our staff started to say something along the lines of "Now B.B., I noticed that you just played an E9 arpeggio..." and B.B. King interjected with a throaty "if you say so!" When I sit at Lucille's today, I see how the chain captured some small part of that casual, natural genius in its restaurants' ambience and décor. From the wood trim on the tables and booth to the exposed ceiling, Lucile's décor screams simplicity, and for a BBQ place, this makes a lot of sense. Food comes out on cool metal trays for the no-nonsense "we prefer to focus on good food and not fancy trays" kind of vibe I look for in a restaurant. Lucille's is neither too loud nor too quiet, so customers can speak to their tablemates and actually be heard without worrying that the whole restaurant will also hear what they are talking about. Again, we come here to eat, not to practice vocal modulation.
Lucille's great combination of good food, excellent service, and practical ambience make it a wonderful place for a quick meal with a friend or a giant feast for the whole extended family. I am quite sure I'll be back, perhaps next Thanksgiving. If you see me there, come say hi! I'll be the one with a dozen or more people at a large bench.
