Lucky's Puccia - Austin, TX

Ended up at Lucky's last night after a failed mission to Whole Foods, which was a lucky break for us because it was a nice evening out, and Lucky had The Black Shades playing on the stage next to him.

So here's why we ended up there.  I decided that I was in the mood for some sort of salad or something of the sort, which is completely out of character for me, but which I felt like was necessary given the damage SXSW has done to me this week, and the fact that I'd had Dirty's for lunch.

My Lovely Wife Mrs. Gordo was in the mood for noodles, so we decided to walk over to Whole Foods to tackle their salad bar and udon/soba/noodle bar.  We started by checking out all of the food joints inside of Whole Foods and that's when we noticed a creature that we've seen before at other Whole Foods and Central Markets, the Brontosampler.

Easily identifiable, these are generally disheveled looking, often overweight beasts who push a completely empty cart around the various food bars sampling different food items, which in the eyes of the law and of the Whole Foods corporation probably is illegal, but is certainly frowned upon with extreme prejudice.  Generally these beasts are harmless, exercising sanitary procedures of using different cups, plates and utensils to sample each item.  The one last night was a bit different.  When we caught her, she had a small plastic 1.5 inch diameter translucent plastic cup with at least a half a pound of mashed potatoes in it.  Clearly there to get her fill, we followed her to the soup bar as she finished her starch and watched as she perused the soups evaluating her next kill.  She settled on a creamy mushroom soup and to our utter dissatisfaction, she opted to do the environmentally friendly thing and reuse her cup and spoon.  This wouldn't have been a huge issue except that with her massive front legs she filled the cup over the soup kettle until it was full, but then kept going, spilling large amounts of it back into the kettle.  Part two of this disgusting act included her bringing the overflowing cup to her mouth where she licked the entire outside of the cup over the soup kettle.  Who knows how many other times she'd done this prior.   At this point we decided to wander, checked out the entire store, and then came back, where she was at the salad bar at it again, with the same cup and spoon, albeit now with a small audience of security and employees passively trying to give her the hint that she shouldn't be doing this.  Thankfully, she recognized this and got a plate, where she loaded up on mashed potatoes and other hot food, which she continued to graze without paying before sneaking out.  With all of this we opted not to graze on the bars where she'd been, and headed to the noodle stand instead, where they were taking out the trash, which is when we said to ourselves this just wasn't right, and headed across the street to Lucky's.

Much better.  I opted for the off-the-menu pastrami special, with a gooey mix of four cheeses, mushrooms, and onions pasted with chipotle aioli.  MLWMG opted for the lighter and equally as good Lucky's Puccia, stacked with prosciutto, fresh mozzerella, tomato, and greens with basil oil, served on the same fresh baked pizza oven bread, which is what makes these sandwiches so good.  As usual, these were fantastic, and fit the bill of what we were looking for.  Thank you you massive beast, for forcing us out of the grocery store and toward a great dinner, which we enjoyed with cheap beers from the Tiniest Bar in Texas while listening to some great live music outside.

Summary

Atmosphere:  food stand, outdoor bar seating with live music

Food:  authentic, oven baked Italian sandwiches

Dog Friendly:  yes

When to Go:  lunch, happy hour, dinner, late

Crowd:  music lovers, mixed groups, hipsters, neighbors, no dinosaurs

What to Order for the First Timer:  pastrami puccia, lucky's puccia