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Luck Changes Back

By Rhonda on March 27, 2006

Good news! Raleighlover4ever clued us in that the North Raleigh Lucky 32 has abandoned their concept experiment and returned to the standard center insert menu (pdf file). The current insert, which seems to be seasonal instead of monthly, features the Pacific Northwest. The Seattle Grit Cakes look great. (Do they really eat grits in Seattle?). Some of my favorites are still there as well: Crab and Artichoke Dip, Black Bean Cakes, Suffolk Chicken, and Pork Chops. Hopefully the service issues we’ve heard about have been addressed and Lucky 32 will return to being one of Raleigh’s most reliable, flexible restaurants.

Posted in , | 6 Responses

  • amy

    I seem to remember them having many more vegetarian entrees before…sad to see that they have gotten rid of them. Looks like the only entrees now are black bean cakes and pizza.

  • amy

    I seem to remember them having many more vegetarian entrees before…sad to see that they have gotten rid of them. Looks like the only entrees now are black bean cakes and pizza.

  • Bart Ortiz

    I’m Bart Ortiz and I play the role of Executive Chef for Lucky 32. We’ve made some good mistakes recently.
    First we allowed the menu to expand to a point where our quality was slipping. We couldn’t allow that to continue and you certainly will not. So we revised the menu and added daily specials that we thought we could pull off with consistency. At the same time, we thought we should use this opportunity to push up our “authenticity” with things like making homemade French fries and roasting locally grown turkeys. That is what led us to our good mistake. The flavors we gained in the effort to increase authenticity were great, but the concept of “extraordinary ordinary” daily specials failed. We went back to the drawing board and realized that we threw out the baby with the bath water when we dropped the seasonal menus. So, as of last week the seasonal menus are back. The feedback so far has been positive and we think it is something we can pull off with consistency.
    Thanks for the feedback. The net and this blog are great from our perspective, because good feedback is hard to come by. Please feel free to contact me directly at bortiz@qwrh.com.
    Sincerely,
    Bart Ortiz
    Vice President of Flavor & Consistency
    Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants & Hotels

  • Bart Ortiz

    I’m Bart Ortiz and I play the role of Executive Chef for Lucky 32. We’ve made some good mistakes recently.
    First we allowed the menu to expand to a point where our quality was slipping. We couldn’t allow that to continue and you certainly will not. So we revised the menu and added daily specials that we thought we could pull off with consistency. At the same time, we thought we should use this opportunity to push up our “authenticity” with things like making homemade French fries and roasting locally grown turkeys. That is what led us to our good mistake. The flavors we gained in the effort to increase authenticity were great, but the concept of “extraordinary ordinary” daily specials failed. We went back to the drawing board and realized that we threw out the baby with the bath water when we dropped the seasonal menus. So, as of last week the seasonal menus are back. The feedback so far has been positive and we think it is something we can pull off with consistency.
    Thanks for the feedback. The net and this blog are great from our perspective, because good feedback is hard to come by. Please feel free to contact me directly at bortiz@qwrh.com.
    Sincerely,
    Bart Ortiz
    Vice President of Flavor & Consistency
    Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants & Hotels

  • Dana

    Thanks for swinging by, Bart. I’m doing all I can to get the word out that the monthly inserts are back. Here’s to Lucky 32 being the great Restaurant of Flexibility that it’s known for being!!

  • Dana

    Thanks for swinging by, Bart. I’m doing all I can to get the word out that the monthly inserts are back. Here’s to Lucky 32 being the great Restaurant of Flexibility that it’s known for being!!