Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in New Orleans

Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar Review - 5 Stars

Perfect Post-Flight Recovery Spot

Location: New Orleans Occasion: Group lunch after a delayed flight Strategy: Pre-ordered meals (smart move!)

The Situation

After what felt like an endless travel day with flight delays, we were all pretty hungry and ready for some good food. Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar turned out to be exactly what we needed - casual, welcoming, and with food that hit the spot perfectly.

What I Ordered

Shrimp and Grits - 5 Stars This was absolutely incredible! The shrimp were so incredibly flavorful - you could tell they knew what they were doing with the seasoning. The grits were the perfect creamy base that let those shrimp flavors really shine through. Honestly, this dish alone made the whole stop worth it.

Half Po' Boy Sandwich - 5 Stars I'm so glad I got to try this too! Really good execution on a New Orleans classic. The bread was perfect, and the filling was generous and tasty. Between this and the shrimp and grits, I was definitely satisfied after our long travel day.

Local Brews That Impressed

The local brewery IPAs here are fantastic - you can really taste that this area knows their craft beer. But the real standout was the strawberry IPA - I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was really, really good! Sweet but not overpowering, and it paired surprisingly well with the food.

The Fun Discovery

Here's something we learned that made the whole experience even better: if you do a tequila shot with a scorpion, you get a free t-shirt! I mean, how can you not love a place with that kind of character? It's exactly the kind of quirky, fun detail that makes a restaurant memorable.

Why This Worked Perfectly

Pre-ordering was genius - after our delayed flight, the last thing we wanted was to wait around hungry. The food came out quickly, everything was hot and fresh, and we could just relax and enjoy being finally arrived.

The whole vibe of Lucy's is exactly what you want after travel - laid back, unpretentious, with really solid food and drinks. It's the kind of place that immediately makes you feel like you're on vacation.

My Take

Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar is the perfect lunch spot, especially if you're coming in tired and hungry. The shrimp and grits alone are worth the visit, the local beer selection is excellent, and the whole atmosphere just works. Plus, where else can you get a free t-shirt for eating a scorpion?!

Would I go back? Absolutely! Next time I might have to work up the courage for that scorpion shot...

Perfect for: Post-travel meals, casual group dining, trying local brews, and apparently getting free t-shirts if you're brave enough!

Pro tip: Pre-order if you're coming with a group - it makes everything so much smoother, especially when you're tired...

Server was nice, but their policies are weird.

Went here to get happy hour and save on food. Their menu of happy hour foods is limited to about 3 items. One is nachos. $8.95 and you can add different meat for $4. Happy hour time has it half off. Ordered a shrimp meat.

Meal came out, tasted decent. Couldn’t see any meat that we could tell but started eating thinking it would be underneath. It was, and chicken. After waiting for awhile before seeing our server again, we alerted him and just asked if it was possible to get our shrimp since we ordered it. He apologized and said he could fix it. So we continued eating and about the time we finished he brought out a little bowl of about 6 pieces of small shrimp. Tasted good, we were fine with it. All good. Wouldn’t leave a bad review to this point.

We got our check and on it was full priced meat to the happy hour nachos (annoying just because that wasn’t clear), and $8 for the 6 pieces of shrimp.

Talked to him, he understood, apparently there was a policy that since we started eating, the meal couldn’t be swapped out. He would talk to his manager.

Came back, no receipt, and said manager approved it to be removed. We didn’t react quickly, but it still seemed high, and signed off. So we checked after with another staff and there was still a $4 charge that the manager did not remove for the shrimp. They simply took off half of that.

In $ amount, yeah it’s not that much. But in principle, it just feels a bit price-gougy by their policies and actions. Their half-hearted fixing of the problems that we were not informed of or were their mistakes did not make us feel like valued customers.

Also there is no...

Don’t go here if you are planning to eat or drink. I have no idea what the food or beverage quality is as we were never waited on. I can tell you the service was horrible. We were a party of 8. We were seated and given menus on an enclosed patio. They even turned on patio heaters for us. Two other tables were seated while we waited. One was served food while we waited. After 30 minutes without even a hello or a water from a server, someone from our group went to find out what was going on. We were told they didn’t know we were out there but someone would come serve us. 10 minutes later still no one. So someone went back out. Had to flag down an employee who also said they didn’t know we were there. Even after being informed this was the second time we had asked for service there was no apology. He asked if we had seated ourselves. No we did not. The host did and gave us menus. He came to our table and said the server would be with us soon and it wasn’t her fault. But still no apology. 5 more minutes and still no one came. So we decided to get up and leave. As we left we passed the server who said absolutely nothing to us. We passed the gentleman who had come to speak to our table. He said nothing. 45 minutes total in this restaurant with no service at all. We had 3 kids with us as well who were tired and hungry and thirsty. Such rudeness from the staff. It was...