Lucy's Retired Surfers Rstrnt

Great Place for Newbies!!. It was very crowded the day we went due to the Saints vs. Texans game, but the atmosphere was great! It was my first time going to NOLA and this place was about 2 blocks from my hotel. I definitely recommend it. The spirit of New Orleans is alive in this bar! Not too over-priced and we did not try the food there. We had a great time meeting the locals, they are so friendly!…

Great food but buyer beware!. The food was very good but my husband and I got the worst case of food poisoning we have ever had. Spent two days of Jazz Fest in our hotel room bathroom (you don't want to know the details) - which completely ruined our anniversary weekend. The room service server at the hotel where we were staying said that over the past few years, several guests had the same awful experience. Since we had only one item that was uncooked, (salad with ranch dressing) we assumed that was what did us in. We were heartbroken as we had SO been looking forward to the weekend. Would give it four stars for food - but based on the extent and intensity of our food poisoning, can't really hit those other stars....…

Hawaii meets Baja Mexico & California Surf. The menu is interesting, great relaxed atmosphere and the food is pretty good. The surfboards, wall posters, music and lighting are relaxed and laid back style. Waitresses are friendly and pretty quick about service. I ate there for dinner on a Wednesday night, so the place was only half full.

I ordered the Juicy Lucy with grilled pineapple and black forest ham added, with blue cheese crumbles. It's a big 1/2 lb hamburger.... and juicy is right. The flavor was good, not the best burger I've ever had but still pretty good. The fries it came with are nothing special. I should have had the sweet potato fries instead.

Another person I came with had the Crab Cakes and a side order of Spanish Rice. He said the crab cakes were OK, but not the best he's had. I noticed that he finished them though. The spanish rice was too moist and just didn't taste very good to him. His crab cakes came on a big bed of spinach. We asked the waiter if they had a salad dressing for the spinach leaves. He said, 'well, I guess you can eat them, but they're just a garnish'. I disagree. A few spinach leaves are a garnish... a whole plateful of them (under the crab cakes) is the start of a good salad.

My suggestions for Lucy's restaurant - not that they might care, but offered just in case.

1) either ditch the standard fries OR do something a bit different with them, like sprinkling them with a lime-sea salt coating or a jalapeno-salt coating instead of regular salt. Every #&%$#! restaurant in Baton Rouge serves the same French Fries. Do something different.

2) The Crab Cakes would be better if you did something different with the spinach 'garnish'. Add some sliced radish, a few pieces of chopped mango and some pine nuts, drizzle with a lemon dressing and it's a salad. For 25-cents more, you made the dish a LOT better.

3) Seriously re-think the spanish rice. It needs help. If your restaurant wants to showcase Baja California laid back cuisine... then go for it. Maybe try introducing some black beans or Mexican red corn into the rice, maybe a few bits of tomatillo to give it an extra kick.

Overall, the food was good and the atmosphere is worth coming back for. Lucy's is an interesting restaurant with a different kind of menu. I just think that they need to take the food a bit further to really get that Baja California Hawaii feel.…

Best bar ambiance for brunch. Great place to go before a Saints game. The staff is great, really friendly and fast. All the food is good and a great valua, and the Sunday brunch has $2 mimosas. Would be hard to eat with a big group, and maybe not the best place for kids, but they have a lot fo seating, big bar, lots of tvs, and the decor is really fun.…