Midtown Lunch

Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

I have fond memories of my first Lucky’s burger in the LES about 6 years ago. It was an unmistakably great burger, but I had so many other burger joints to try in NYC, so I wasn’t able to become a regular. And then I made the terrible mistake of having a Lucky’s milkshake (which are delicious, by the way) after eating a Gus’ spicy pickle. Curdling in your stomach is soo painful. Needless to say, I haven’t been since. But I think it was time for a revisit.

The interior of Lucky’s consists of lots of bright yellow and red on every surface. Near the ceiling are a series of smiley faces that wink at you with quote bubbles that say things like “Wanna get lucky?” “You should be so lucky” “It’s your lucky day” and “You just got lucky”. I think there is a denim company who wants their slogan back…

While I clearly had to try the Famous Cheddar Burger combo on my first visit, I was happy to see that Lucky’s offers a total of 7 different combo mains with fries and a 24 oz. fountain drink (soda ban, anyone?) each for $10. (options are: cheddar burger, turkey burger, California veggie, double dogs, chicken sandwich, 2 mini cheddars and buffalo chicken wrap.) If you aren’t interested in a combo, you could always order from the regular menu.

Since everything is made to order, it took 5-10 minutes for my meal to come out. I am pretty sure it took me less time than that to scarf down the cheddar burger. Even though everyone has different preferences for size, shape and cooking method for burgers (Josh Ozersky, I’m looking at you!), I thought the patties hit a nice middle ground in size where it was still juicy, but it was easy to bite through. A soft potato bun made the burger even easier to chew through. While I was ordering, I asked if the fries are crispy and the lady at the register said they can be. So my fries came out well done, which was perfect. Lucky’s features the same crinkle cut fries as Shake Shack and Nathan’s, which are often disappointingly soft with no crunch, so I was very happy I made the request. Also, since I don’t drink soda, they were happy to substitute my fountain drink for a bottle of water at no extra charge.

On my next visit, I opted for the chicken sandwich combo. But after reading a few Profiled Lunch’ers talk about the onion rings, I had to try them as well. Lucky for me they were able to upgrade the combo meal to substitute the fries for onion rings for what was supposed to be $.50, although I am pretty sure it came to $1. The chicken was much juicier than I was expecting. The sandwich also came with lettuce, (mostly) crispy bacon, American cheese, tomato, a potato bun and lots of black pepper on the chicken. The first two ingredients added a nice crunch to the rest of the sandwich.

The onion rings were perfectly cooked, if a little on the oily side. The onion broke off when I bit down instead of pulling out of the batter like what happens with inferior onion rings.

In a town with insane upscale burgers, Lucky’s serves the perfect not-so-fast fast food burger. And when the line at Shake Shack gets out of control, you will be able to find me a couple blocks away at Lucky’s.

The + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• Perfect burger. Simple as that.
• Crispy onion rings and crispy fries on request are an essential part of lunch.
• The combo meal deal is great, and they are reasonable about substitutions.

The – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• Lucky’s is just another fast food place trying – and failing – to be special.
• A similar combo meal at my deli is much cheaper.
• If there is a huge line and I have to wait for my food, this won’t work for lunch break.

Lucky’s Famous Burgers, 264 West 23rd Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues, (212) 242-4900