Lucky's Taproom and Eatery

          Both of my sons and I were on a trip up to Dayton recently. We were on a museum day trip, checking out the comic book and super hero exhibit that was at the Dayton Art Institute at the time as well as taking a look at America's Packard Museum (for upcoming material in the classic car blog:  http://turnerbudds-carblog.blogspot.com/).

          While there we decided to check out one of that city's more well respected burger joints but when we got there the restaurant wasn't open. And while there were dueling XXX book stores right next door, we were more hungry than curious (and didn't want to have to be disinfected) so we looked on my cell phone and found a place nearby that promised a burger. 

          Lucky's Taproom and Eatery, located at 520 E. Fifth St. in Dayton's Oregon District (and on line at http://luckystaproom.com/), was just a short walk from our location and we were glad we found it. Inside this funky little establishment we were warmly greeted by both our server and a multitude of televisions all tuned to different sports channels. Around the place is a collection of model cars and trucks that, according to what we were told, were all built by the original Lucky.

          With 20 craft beers on tap, this place surely lives up to that part of its name. But we were there for the burgers and honed right in on that portion of the eclectic menu.

Burgers

          All three of us went for the Build Your Own Burger, a good third pound, fresh ground steak patty on an equally fresh onion roll. Josh chose American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard and ketchup on his while Michael (making his first appearance as part of our blog panel) opted for American, jalapenos and onion. My choice was to go with lettuce, tomato, pickle, mayo and mustard with the coup de grace being Gouda cheese.

          The burgers came out fairly quickly considering they were hand patted and then cooked after the orders were put in. They were cooked to order and came to .the table exactly as we requested. The meat was juicy and flavorful and the extras were all fresh. I'm a fan of Gouda cheese and this was a delight to have some on a burger. In fact, it's rare to find a place where you can actually order Gouda cheese in a restaurant.

          My only regret was in ordering the "kettle chips" rather than the fries. What I got were basically a handful of everyday, ordinary potato chips. The fries, which both Josh and Michael got, were very tasty indeed. There was a slight, subtle spicing to them that didn't cover the potato flavor but rather enhanced it a great deal.

          It's fair to say that we all enjoyed our food. In fact, if we ever head back to Dayton (say, to go to one of those XXX book stores) we will surely stop back in. While it wasn't our original choice we agreed that we were lucky to find Lucky's (sorry, couldn't resist).