Lucky’s Roadside (Closed)

Lucky’s Roadside had me before I stepped in the door. It’s in my hometown of Seaside, in the spot where the famed Golden West diner resided for much of my childhood, then later City Diner.

Lucky’s is a stylish restaurant in the working-class town, sharing the intersection of LaSalle and Fremont with a motel, gas station and 99-cent store. The early buzz was irresistible: “Have you been yet?!” People seemed to really like the place. I wanted to like Lucky’s, too.

I put faith in all of that and decided to do a family birthday dinner there on a Thursday. The building looks plain from the outside, essentially unchanged from the humble occupancy of City Diner, and that’s OK. Inside Lucky’s, the decor is impressive: lustrous, clean red walls; gothic chandeliers dripping from the ceiling; a sleek marble bar; neat window-side tables. At night, inset lights set it all off with the hip glow of a nightclub, and good draft beers ($6) and a creative drink menu with a range of wine choices add credence to the place as a respectable watering hole. (See the Weekly food blog, www.mcweekly.com/edible, for more.) A food pick-up window to the kitchen again reminds you of the diner heritage this place proudly descends from. Managers are planning to add breakfast soon.

We had made reservations, so the staff wrote a birthday greeting on butcher paper hanging on the wall. Nice touch. The dozen of us were seated (good host, by the way) to the right of the front door, tucked near the entrance to the kitchen – a good spot for bigger parties. But the art on the walls there – like the painting of a glowing, lonely robot – does not entirely vibe well. The waiter was energetic and enthused. I’ve waited tables. Some customers you lend energy and presence to; others you leave alone because they are self-sufficient. He seemed to think we were the former, which was funny, then jarring, then irritating.

We started with appetizers of Szechuan green beans ($8), which were nicely spiced, and baked meatballs ($9), which were rich and juicy. Then the entrees arrived. The Roadside burger and fries ($13) with bacon, cheddar, Lucky’s sauce and L.T.O., is carrying the restaurant’s name, so it should have tasted better. The meat was bland and the bacon tough to bite through. Same with the Lucky’s lamb burger and fries ($14) with caramelized onions, brie, roasted garlic-rosemary aioli and lettuce. It contained a generously thick and dry lamb patty.

The penne pasta ($14) – which on paper seems a robust vegetarian dish of eggplant, artichoke, roasted red pepper, wilted spinach, pine nuts and pesto sauce – did not satisfy the vegetarian at the table. It’s not that it tasted bad; it tasted fine. But the ingredients sound awesome, so when you close your eyes and it tastes like one uniform blanched veggie, it’s a letdown.

The burrata salad ($14) is excellent, an artful arrangement of arugula, pear, prosciutto, pine nuts, mozzarella, olive oil and honey-dabbed crostini. The slivers of prosciutto were intense and salty, the presentation flattering. The birthday girl, a longtime kitchen worker, ordered pappardelle pasta ($16) with slow-roasted chicken, portobello mushrooms, oven-dried tomato, Parmesan and chili flakes that relied heavily on butter for its flavor. The wood-fired margherita pizza ($11) shined, a nod to the beautiful brick pizza oven, and it was shared and eaten and appreciated with gusto.

Then it was time to get the “famous” cherry bomb ($9) dessert, cherry-vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate and served over a metal bowl billowing dry ice fog. Refreshing, dramatic, but the carrier seemed liable to topple. Which seemed like a metaphor for the meal.

Then there was lunch. I returned with two companions and we started off with the fried calamari ($11) with lemon aioli. It arrived looking pale and wan. A few chewy bites confirmed that it was undercooked. The congenial waiter took it back to the kitchen for further cooking and brought it back out browner and crispier. I’d say go for the crispy sand dabs ($12/appetizer, $19/dinner) I’ve heard great things about since. The minestrone soup, ($6), didn’t impress. The meatball sandwich ($13) was simple, slathered with melted mozzarella on a toasted roll. The tomato sauce had soaked the bottom slice of bread, necessitating a fork, and was comfort-food filling. The wood-fired veggie sandwich ($11) was plied with a stellar combination of mushroom, eggplant, bell pepper, onion, melted over with Provolone cheese and slathered with pesto. The last two ingredients dominated the flavor, which wasn’t a bad thing, but the accompanying coleslaw had that taste of over-fermented veggies.

Both times, the place was populated with a healthy crowd, methodically putting away lunch or basking in the nighttime dinner energy, enough traffic to keep Lucky’s aloft, I hope, until the food preparation matches the quality and creativity of the decor. Because Seaside deserves a stylish restaurant like Lucky’s. Or the restaurant that Lucky’s looks like.

LUCKY’S ROADSIDE • 11:30am-3pm, 5pm til late Tue-Sun. •1901 Fremont Blvd., Seaside. • 899-5825, www.LuckysRoadside.com.