Lucille’s Smokehouse Barbeque

We went to Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ for dinner on Tuesday, September 2 to celebrate my passing the Math CSET Subtest III and my wife scoring 100% on an entrance exam to a school she wanted to attend.  The Math CSET Subtest III covered calculus and the history of math.  I spent much of late spring and early summer preparing for it.  It turned out to be much more difficult that Math CSET Subtests I and II that I took last year that covered Algebra /number theory and Geometry/Probability and Statistics.  I needed the entire five hours allotted for the exam to finish Subtest III.  Most other testers, who were taking CSETs in other subjects, left hours before I did.

We had first noticed Lucille’s while shopping at Victoria Gardens last year.  It’s located near the northeast corner of the Gardens not too far from the AMC movie theaters.  We first noticed it on a Saturday and there was a long line outside the door of people waiting to get in.  Seeing that, we opted to try something else with a shorter wait time.  Two months ago, my cousin recommended Lucille’s to us.  We mentioned it being so crowded and he suggested going there during the week.

So we went on a Tuesday and it was much less crowded.  We entered and they seated us within minutes at a table near the bar.  The interior is medium-sized with booths and small tables that can be combined for large parties.  There’s a separate area for the bar.  The lighting is dim and the ceilings are high.  Along the rafters are decorative signs for some celebrated menu items such as the Super Feast.  There was a decorative sign recommending King’s Fish House (we actually went there earlier this year) and another sign for Route 66.

As the host led us to our table we passed by this large, shiny, metal smoker with a stack of firewood next to it.  On its side were the words “Original Do-Rite Smoke Machine” in large letters.  There was also a sign saying how long to smoke different meats from chicken (2-4 hours) to pulled pork (10-14 hours) to Brisket (18-24 hours).  There was also a handle for the door to the smoker and near it were the words “Too Hot to Handle”.  On another side were the words “This is it.  Smokestack Lightnin” and in smaller letters, the quote “The most delicious moment of your life is on the menu.  Lucille ’49”.

The menu is very large.  On its cover is the story of Lucille’s “origin” though my wife later determined that the story is just interesting fiction.  Inside the menu are separate sections for Appetizers (with 16 choices), Salads, Soups, Sides, Specialties (11 choices), Bar-B-Que (10 choices), Sandwiches and Burgers (14 choices), and Desserts (6 choices).  The options under Bar-B-Que tended to be more expensive ($16-$26 for individual items and $85-$199 for the “feasts” feeding 4-10).  For the budget-conscious, it’s cheaper to get a sandwich with BBQ meat for $10-$13.  They offer all the BBQ favorites:  ribs, chicken, brisket, tri tip, etc.  Appetizers include many things fried in batter and Specialties include everything from catfish to steak to jambalaya.  One could spend hours perusing the menu.  Luckily, my wife had researched it in advance.

Our waiter came by almost immediately asking if we wanted drinks or appetizers.  We had to slow him down, saying we had to decide which appetizer first.  We soon ordered both our appetizer and our entrées.  They first served us some biscuits with apple butter and the biscuits had sugar sprinkled on top.  They brought us our appetizer: Southern fried okra with spicy ranch and Creole mustard for dipping.  The okra was in bite-sized pieces fried to a golden and crunchy state.  I opted to try it with the three barbeque sauces on our table.  Hot and Spicy came as advertised while Original had more of a sweet flavor.  Memphis had a smoky mustard flavor.  I liked Original the best.

They brought us our entrees.  I had a small bowl of New Orleans Gumbo though it was plenty for a meal.  I could have ordered a large bowl for $6 more but that would have been too much food.  It came with a scoop of steamed rice on top and consisted of a thick, dark, smoke roux combined with shrimp, smoked chicken, and spicy andouille sausage.  Every bite included at least one of those ingredients.  My wife’s entrée was even more impressive: the Hickory Smoked Ham Sandwich.  The ham had been marinated in Coca Cola and molasses and then slow-smoked.  Its many thin slices overflowed out of its potato bun.  My wife chose the honey peanut slaw as the included side and she actually didn’t try it until the following day as a leftover.  She enjoyed the sandwich, though, as the ham was flavorful and plentiful.

For dessert I ordered the fruit cobbler and the fruit in season was peach.  Its numerous peach slices and thick, sweet crust on top mixed together well.  My wife had the appetizer of fried pickles in place of dessert since pickles go well with a sandwich.  After she had her fill she still had plenty left over.

With all that food our bill still came out to be fairly reasonable.  We didn’t order anything over $11 and most things were under $7.  We also didn’t really try any of the more traditional barbeque items other than smoked ham.  Maybe next time we can try the tri tip, ribs, or pulled pork.  The menu is large enough for us to return many times and try something new each time.  But we had enough to know why they have such long lines on weekends.