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DINING REVIEW
Find out which Albuquerque restaurant is the ultimate mom-and-pop establishment
Fifty years. It might not be much for a tortoise or a bristlecone pine, but for a restaurant, it’s astounding.
That’s how long Lucky Boy, the Chinese food-slash-burger joint between Interstate 40 and the University of New Mexico, has been in operation. While countless other restaurants have come and gone, Lucky Boy chugs along, fueled by its affordably priced food and the reassuring presence of owners Ronald and Susie Yip. The Yips have served the community for so long, people who ate at Lucky Boy as children are now taking their grandchildren there.
The blockish restaurant rises from a swell of blacktop just west of the intersection of Carlisle Boulevard and Constitution Avenue NE. The building’s mint green signage and strips of pink and yellow trim framing the front windows exude mid-century charm.
The light-filled dining room is clean if threadbare. Booths line the walls and the front window, and tables fill the middle space. Lots of knickknacks and decorations, some faded with age, hang on the faux wood paneled walls. One of the more recent ones is a framed memento from Netflix commemorating the restaurant’s role as a set for the 2021 Dave Bautista movie, “Army of the Dead.”
The Yips were there for both of my recent lunch hour visits. Ronald worked the grill while Susie rotated between the counter and the kitchen. The temperature in the dining room was comfortable on my first visit; on my second, the midday sun had cooked it up to uncomfortably toasty levels.
Two old-school menu boards held together with tape hang on one wall. The many missing letters make reading them like solving a puzzle. Fortunately, the paper menu taped up next to the register is easy to comprehend. Below the menu, a sign reminds patrons that the establishment is a cash-only operation.
The menu is broken up into three sections: Hamburgers and Sandwiches, Chinese Food and Combination Plates. The Chinese Food section includes soups, side dishes and a small sampling of familiar entrees like fried rice, sweet and sour chicken and beef with broccoli. Everything checks in at under $10, a true rarity these days outside of fast-food chains.
Some of the best values are found among side dishes like the Onion Cake ($2) and the Fried Wontons ($6). An order of each was presented on opposite sides of an open Styrofoam container. The wontons — six crispy pockets filled with ground beef and flecks of onions and peppers — were my favorite item on the menu. The coating was crackling, the inside moist and savory. Upon request, I got a schmear of thick, grainy hot mustard on the side that added fire to the wontons.
Equally tasty if more one-dimensional, the onion cakes came as five disks fried to a dark brown and striped with blackened onion strips. A bite through the crunchy shell exposed a soft, airy middle. Their mild onion flavor benefitted from a dip in the hot mustard.
The three Daily Combinations offer a choice of an entree, fried rice and a side for $6. I tried the Combo A with Sweet and Sour Chicken, an Egg Roll and Fried Rice. The five big chunks of white-meat chicken and their armor of crisp breading were dressed with a thick sauce whose sweetness overwhelmed any sour flavor. The fat egg roll with a pork and cabbage filling was well-fried and decent. With its foundation of soft, savory fried rice speckled with a vegetable medley of peas, carrots, corn and green beans, it was good comfort food.
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Prices for the individual Chinese dishes hover between $6 and $9. Chow Mein ($9), the stir-fried noodle dish that Chinese immigrants helped spread all over the globe, is available with beef or chicken and with crunchy or soft noodles. I chose the beef version with soft noodles. The generous dine-in serving arrived on a colorful paper plate. The flat noodles, just slightly past al dente, were mixed with a scrambled egg and the same vegetable medley as in the combo meal. It had good flavor, but the beef was tough. I’d recommend going with the chicken.
Lucky Boy is arguably better known for its burgers than for its Chinese food. The top third of the menu is devoted to a selection of them along with some sandwich options that include Grilled Cheese, Hot Dogs and a BLT. Burger prices start at $3.75 and go up from there. I ordered mine with green chile, cheese and a patty of Egg Foo Young, the veggie-filled Chinese omelet. Set in a soft sesame bun, the square beef patty was thick and picked up a decent buzz from the green chile and some tang from the ketchup-based sauce. A credible representation of the form. The Egg Foo Young patty added some peppery notes but mostly felt incidental.
The Drinks menu features cans of soda ($2), including Cherry Coke, and Shakes ($4.50) available in chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. The chocolate shake, made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce, was an uninspired creation. The ice cream had some icy chunks in it and the chocolate sauce was not mixed well.
Service was stellar. Susie Yip is a great ambassador for the place. Even after 50 years, she displays an interest in the customers. Gluten-free selections are very limited.
Lucky Boy is the ultimate mom-and-pop establishment. It’s a piece of local dining history that, thanks to Susie and Ronald Yip, still delivers friendly service and good prices.
