Lighthouse Coastal Brasserie — Restaurant in Hammond

Lighthouse is the restaurant and bar Hammond has needed for LONG time. The architect and designer of this beautiful space absolutely understood the assignment — I travel quite a bit for work and always scouting out the best of the best places to dine & unwind when traveling—I felt like I was visiting another, much bigger city the moment I walked in. My wife & I joined another couple at Eclipse Bar at Lighthouse for drinks & appetizers—first time here for all of us and we were blown away with the level of care, attention to detail, & forethought put into this amazing space—from the overall design, lighting, decor, various sized intimate spaces, intentional menu, music, and just overall vibe of the place. The drinks were on point and the appetizers we ordered were top notch in terms of taste, temp, and overall appearance—not to mention served quickly once ordered. In fact, the cheese sticks w/marinara were so delicious that we ordered another before even finishing the first. We met our friends around 6pm and ended up spending over 4 hours here. We sat in a space in Eclipse bar called “Cosmos” which was just perfect for the 4 of us to have great conversation while enjoying the unique ambiance, drinks, & food. As the evening went on, the lighting changed, transforming to space (and the mood) into something even more beautiful and interesting. They had a live DJ that kept the music flowing in a way that kept us humming, singing, tapping our hands & feet, and just enjoying the vibe. The crowd really started to pick up around 7:30pm and continued to grow as the night went on. When we left around 10:30pm, the place was packed and hopping. It was hard for me to believe they would be closing in just 30 minutes (11:00pm) given the size of the crowd and party atmosphere which felt like it was just reaching its prime. I know they are still learning and adjusting to the business so hopefully consideration will be given to staying open until at least midnight on weekend nights—based on what I saw, I certainly believe the demand is there. If there was anything that could’ve made our experience better, it would’ve been two things—both easy to address—1.) temp in the bar area and lounge spaces felt too warm—all 4 of us mentioned something about the temperature and agreed that lowering the temp a few degrees would’ve have made it feel so much better; 2.) service in the lounge areas was pretty much non-existent during the first 2 or so hours we were there. When we first arrived, we asked one of the bartenders if there was service in the lounge areas and was told “no” (which took me by surprise), but offered to come over and take our drink & food orders once we got settled. After waiting a good 15-20 minutes, no one ever came over so I went back up to the bar to order drinks for me and my wife. I asked again and was told the same thing—this time the bartenders seemed less willing (and maybe a little unclear) as to whether they offered service in the lounge areas—still not clear or sure why there was confusion or even a question about this—this is typically the standard in other similar places. They did deliver the appetizers to us but beyond that, no one came to check on us or take more drink orders until probably 8:30pm. Again, not a deal breaker because we were able to get service by going back up to the bar. However, it would’ve made the evening that much more effortless and enjoyable had someone been out checking on us and taking our drink orders throughout the entire evening.

One additional suggestion is to have a water station setup. I, like many, like to drink plenty of water while drinking alcohol—I made a lot of trips back to the bar to ask for a refill—which I know ties up the bartenders from making/serving drinks. Having an area to refill water as often (and easily) as one would like would be a win-win.

Again, the overall experience we had was terrific and memorable! I am confident it will only get even better as time goes on. Definitely a new favorite spot in Hammond are we are looking forward to...

It's the only restaurant of its kind in Hammond. It almost feels out of place lol. As soon as you walk through the door, it's as if you walked through a portal to some far off exotic land. The smell of the wood fire from the brasserie caresses your nostrils making your mouth water just imagining what's being prepared inside. The servers were awesome and very helpful in choosing what to order because some of it is far from what we are acustomed to getting around here. We started with a half dozen of the oysters rockerfeller and it was amazing. My wife didn't care for them much because she thought the oysters were slimy but I thought they were amazing. For mains, I ordered the half Aji Panca rotisserie chicken. It wasn't the most amazing thing I have ever eaten but it wasn't bad at all. The chicken was juicy, smoky, and tender but even though it looked beautiful, it was a little lacking in the flavor department. It needed salt pretty badly but they do not have salt and pepper on the tables. My server recommended the boom boom sauce for my chicken and it was a good match. Not the best chicken I've ever had but definitely not bad at all. My wife ordered the seafood pasta and she did not care for it at all so me and her swapped dishes. I thought it was pretty good but I can see how the large chunks of white fish in the meal can be a little off putting to some. It was a very strong fishy taste but I like that. If I'm eating fish I don't mind if it taste like fish. Again it could have used a pinch of salt. Overall I enjoyed it very much and I can't wait to go back and try it again. I'll just sneak in my own salt...

Our server David was very kind along with the rest of the staff.

The crab appetizer was good but unfortunately was served with completely stale chips. I gave them a pass on the chips -could’ve been a simple error-

Waited longer than usual for our entrees (30-45min) despite the restaurant being completely empty

My entree (the jerk chicken) was very tasty and cooked well.

Unfortunately my dad’s seafood platter tasted like it was fried by the Marlboro man himself. I couldn’t even eat a shrimp; it tasted like I was eating a cigarette filter off the sidewalk outside red white and brew.

We told them about the seafood issue and they took it off the bill.

For dessert we ordered coffee, came out about 80 degrees. Not hot enough to melt the sugar…

But the strawberry cake was good.

All in all, I think the locals are afraid to leave a bad rating or speak up because of the owner’s influence in Hammond and his willingness to invest money here, but at this rate the restaurant will be completely empty in no time, so it’s a disservice to not address the issues.

Unfortunately won’t be going back for anything but a drink until I hear they improved the food quality.

Fix the food and...