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Review: Lucky's Last Stand

By Glen Macnow

Score: 5.5
Price: $8.50 for the Classic
Location: 4421 Main Street, Manayunk

I once asked the head chef of a big-time steakhouse what happens when someone orders their steak well-done. "I find the worst piece of meat I can and slap it on the grill," he said. "When you overcook something, you no longer taste the meat anyway." And that's what we got at Lucky's: Not a bad slab of beef, we're sure, but a burger that was so overcooked, the meat lost its natural flavor.

We asked for the usual medium-rare, but the waitress pointed to the menu: "All burgers will be cooked to medium to medium-well," it said. Hey, thanks for protecting me from whatever it is I'm supposed to be afraid of. E coli? Scurvy? Whatever. It's a wonder I've survived this long without a Manayunk pub as my shielding nanny.

So that's it. The menu boasts of beef coming from Carl Venezia meats in Lancaster, but the two quarter-pound patties that made up our "Classic" didn't do any cattleman proud. The Liscio's roll was fresh and tasty, the onions zesty. The draft beer and atmosphere around the bar during a late Sunday Phils game was terrific. So I'll ask whoever it is at Lucky's that insists on murdering the burgers: Where's my freedom of choice?

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