4 reals, lucilles....

as i pop my grub club cherry, i thought i'd blog about a meal surrounding my favorite food group: meat. for all those not yet acquainted with me, i am the grub club thug and part time street magician, divine styler. deez nutz, biatch! but enough about me, let's get to the delectable sin of gluttony. after all, this is THE grub club.

dr fong, a homie from the windy "go go" city of chicago, invited the mermaid and myself to celebrate our birthdays to any restaurant that suited our fancy. i of course offered up lucilles smokehouse bbq (http://www.lucillesbbq.com), a restaurant that a girl i used to date introduced me to. albeit a chain restaurant, it is everything you can ever want from a chain restaurant... themed décor matching all my preconceived notions of the south. apparently ‘lucille” is from greenville, and while i don’t know where that is, i don’t really care because the food is simply amazing.

we started with an order of the fried green tomatoes and the spinach and cheese dip, which was peppered with artichoke. both were excellent choices, which went tastefully well with the complimentary corn bread served with an apple syrup butter, which was also amazing. i had to caution myself and both my companions that we shouldn’t eat too much bread, because the main course was yet to be served and i recalled that every dish’s portion was huge.



for the main course, we ordered the lucille’s bbq combo platter with the beef brisket and the baby back pork ribs, which was dreamy. as i sit and reminisce today’s lunch, my mouth is salivating from the succulent and tender meat. we also ordered a smoked bbq half chicken, which was divine – smoked to perfection; soft and juicy, with a seasoned skin that was bbq’ed to ensure the subtle flare that it demanded. for the sides, we had the iron skillet bbq baked beans, the roasted garlic mashed potatoes, the southern sweet potatoes, and the honey roasted peanut slaw. here’s my tip: the southern sweet potatoes is not to be missed.

since there is such an extensive menu, i would definitely recommend getting a combo platter so that you can sample the different meats. i haven’t tried the steaks yet, but the ribs are delectable and the chicken is superb. honestly, i think there are better things to sample than getting a hot link and when i had it last, the tri-tip was a bit dry, but that could’ve been that one time. the service was friendly, the price very worth it for the portions and quality. and most importantly, the food is excellent. all in all, while it was located in a huge suburban strip mall and is a chain restaurant - lucille’s gets the divine styler seal of divineness.