Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ (Sou. Calif.)

Beautiful building in Torrance, CA, on Hawthorne in the Del Amo Fashion Ctr. area. Beautiful interior. Beautiful menu.

Food - OK, but portions not half big enough.

Price - thru the roof (Lemonade $3.50) BBQ plate $12.95

This is like a BBQ if some fancy hotel did BBQ - looks great, high prices, tiny portions.

Have 8 or 10 locations elsewhere.

quote:

Originally posted by dale1prosist

Beautiful building in Torrance, CA, on Hawthorne in the Del Amo Fashion Ctr. area. Beautiful interior. Beautiful menu.

Food - OK, but portions not half big enough.

Price - thru the roof (Lemonade $3.50) BBQ plate $12.95

This is like a BBQ if some fancy hotel did BBQ - looks great, high prices, tiny portions.

Have 8 or 10 locations elsewhere.

I agree with your assessment.
I've been to the Torrance location (formerly a Houlihans, as I remember), and also the location in the Long Beach Town Center. I use to occasionally go to the latter locaation for dinner before playing poker at the nearby Hawaiian Gardens Casino down the street.

While I love the atmosphere and service, I usually spend a small fortune there , too, just like you did. And, yup, overall, the food is just okay. Sometimes, though, (about half the time) it seems tasty to me, for some reason...(depends who's in the kitchen?)

I usually go for the full rack of beef ribs which are about $22.00.
Then if you want those "back door", and "front porch" 3 meat combos , they are close to $30.00

My biggest gripe though, was that on 2 visits to the Torrance one, my beef ribs were served SO hot I could hardly touch them!

With that said, Lucille's is still a welcome addition to that dated Del Amo mall... I used to like walking around that mall , though, when I lived in neighboring Hawthorne, as did you know it is THE largest mall in the country , square foot wise?!? And it's mostly all one level, adding to the walking...

The Del Amo Mall?!?
I had forgotten about that, Ellen; looks like our paths may have crossed more than once, albeit in different eras. After we got married in 1980, my wife (also named Ellen) and I moved to Redondo Beach, because I worked in Torrance. The Del Amo mall was the default shopping center for everyone in the South Bay.
And I remember those poker rooms in Gardena, because I had to rescue my boss (a mean drunk but a small guy) from some nasty characters a few times. A movie nobody ever made is in those rooms.

Fire Captain and I both went to school in that area too. He was in Inglewood and I was in Lawndale/Gardena. I left for the military in 1960 and only visited now and then until the mid-80's when I returned to SoCal and the High Desert.

Poker Places like the Vermont Club, the Normandy Club and others were 'dens of mystery' to me as a young teenager. We lived just off Crenshaw at 154th, a block from El Camino College and Alondra Park.

We liked to hang out at the Redondo Pier..smoked Swordfish chunks and a cup of chowder was a great substitute for burgers etc at the time. Cruisin' Palos Verdes was another activity that kept us happy. A friend and I sat on the hill above the "Wayfarers Chapel" the night Jayne Mansfield married Micky Haggerty..watching the press and the crowd thru binoculars.

The one place that really sticks in my mind from the early 80's.. We had 2'fer coupons for Victoria Station dinners when we went west for the L A Olympics in 1984. The Prime Rib and Oysters were outstanding (at the time). We ate there 4 times in the two weeks of our visit. It was on Hawthorne just a short distance north of the PCH (Near the DelAmo Mall.

The South Bay had a pretty unique flavor; obviously the beach scene, but a lot of other influences, too.
We lived right above the Redondo Beach pier at "The Village", a huge condo complex that got OK'ed by the CCC (California Coastal Commission) because they promised to keep 25% of the units as low-income rentals. What they did in reality was rent these apartments to "connected" folks at an absurdly low rate. My "mean drunk" boss hooked us up; we paid $313./month for a large one-bedroom with veranda right on the beach. Market value was triple that at the time.
We ate often at TONY'S on the pier, when the boss paid. He got us thrown out a few times, too.
My wife, a New Yorker to her bones, would go out on the veranda in the morning, look out at the ocean, and say, "Another goddam perfect day."

Great post. There is a Lucille's here in Las Vegas (actually Henderson at the Green Valley Ranch "District"). It's quite a drive from where I am. I didn't know it was a chain or franchise, but I had read some decent reviews (prices were rarely mentioned). I have no interest in places like that; I want an owner-occupied place. As usual, Roadfood members have saved me gas money.

BTW, PCH for those not of So Cal nature is the Pacific Coast Highway, AKA Calif. route 1 to the rest of the world also those of us Californians that don't live South of Bakersfield.

Someday take the drive Norht on Calif 1 from San Luis Obispo to San Francisco and even further North. It is a beautiful drive. Slow but beautiful.

MikeS.

I will differ somewhat with most of the posters----I like Lucille's, at least the Belmont Shore location. Great fried green tomatoes and ribs. That said, yes it is very pricy. I usually go to Johnny Reb's where the food is as good if not better and the prices are much more reasonable.
I spent many years in and around Redondo. Tony's was a great place to go----sit up top and enjoy drinks with a great view. Plus I always enjoyed looking at the menu in front----I believe it was from 1954----and marveling at steak and lobster for a ridiculously low price. The latest there is the Old "Concerts by the Sea" location which is being renovated and taken over by Harvelle's Blues Club. Should be great to have a second location of one of the top blues clubs around. I do miss going to Naja's Bar there---I spent many happy hours drinking some of their 777 beers and listening to classic rock and roll!

quote:

Originally posted by EdSails

I will differ somewhat with most of the posters----I like Lucille's, at least the Belmont Shore location. Great fried green tomatoes and ribs. That said, yes it is very pricy. I usually go to Johnny Reb's where the food is as good if not better and the prices are much more reasonable.
I spent many years in and around Redondo. Tony's was a great place to go----sit up top and enjoy drinks with a great view. Plus I always enjoyed looking at the menu in front----I believe it was from 1954----and marveling at steak and lobster for a ridiculously low price. The latest there is the Old "Concerts by the Sea" location which is being renovated and taken over by Harvelle's Blues Club. Should be great to have a second location of one of the top blues clubs around. I do miss going to Naja's Bar there---I spent many happy hours drinking some of their 777 beers and listening to classic rock and roll!

I like Lucille's as an overall experience, though, (despite my gripes.).. (enjoy the Long Beach Town Center location) I still end up at Lucille's when the mood struck. (tougher to get there now, since I'm living back in NJ. Makes we wish we had more places like Lucille's and the Claimjumper!!) My area is heavy on pizza/Italian restaurants, and sub shops. While I don't think Lucille's has the best ever beef ribs , most of the time I found them tasty.

I used to like Johnny Reb's . Been to the one in the town of Orange, CA. But the last time I was there, (and had the beef ribs, as usual)
I was disappointed. Atmosphere can't be beat, though.

As far as Tony's go, they say there was nothing like the original Tony's. The storm destroyed it, of course, and the new one is just not the same.

I do love the little homemade potato chip booth on the Redondo Pier.

I shared an apartment on 138th st, by Hawthorne Blvd, right before moving back to NJ 4 years ago...

There was a real good pizza place right across from El Camino college