Luke's Lobster FiDi — Restaurant in New York

4 1/2 stars

If lobster rolls were more filling and less expensive, I would probably eat them multiple times throughout the week; I go back and forth on whether it's better that they're not. I popped in here for an intentionally light lunch on Friday, knowing I was having a legit dinner later. I have some familiarity with Luke's - when I worked in Jersey City, they had a food truck that I went to a handful of times but ultimately stopped visiting because there were a few cheaper lobster roll options nearby. The price point remains high, but it's hard to take too many points off for that when lobster in general is pretty expensive by definition.

I was pleasantly surprised by how cute the interior of Luke's is - it's a fairly unobtrusive storefront, but they've got a nice seafood shack vibe going on inside. It's a LITTLE crowded/claustrophobic, but good luck finding a spacious, empty interior in lower Manhattan these days. It's a pretty low-maintenance ordering setup, and should be, given that a lobster roll really doesn't take a long time to prep/finalize for a customer. Compared to a food truck, Luke's probably takes an extra minute or two, but it's worth it.

A few weeks ago I had easily the worst lobster roll I've ever had - a winery thought it was a good idea to put chopped up tomato chunks on top of it with mango, creating a bizarre crustacean bruschetta situation. Luke's restored my faith in the almighty lobster roll. This one is probably one of the best I've had outside of Maine, with an excellent Old Bay-esque seasoning that has the potential to be overwhelming but was lightly dusted over the roll responsibly. At $25 or so, it's a little cringey for a quick lunch bite (I think you can gobble this up in about six or seven bites if you had a mind to), but that crazy tomato chunk one was $30, so your mileage may vary. The brioche bun was properly toasted and buttery - the whole experience was top-notch. Beyond that, the customer service was solid across the board. It looked like I had a young pup cashier learning the ropes but she was personable and efficient. From the few minutes I was in there waiting for my food, you could also tell there's excellent rapport amongst the kitchen crew that extends to some of their regular customers as well. A very pleasant atmosphere.

Definitely stopping by again, but likely only once or twice a month on principle due to the wallet hit - for roughly 300 or 400 calories (a very light lunch for me), it's tough to justify on a more...

Yet another great Yelp find. After checking in at the hotel, I was looking for something to eat. Luke's was only a couple of blocks away.

I arrived late in the afternoon, so there were only a few people inside. It's a neat and clean place. The staff was friendly and helpful. Since it was my first visit, I had a question or two. A somewhat small area with a few small tables along the wall and a couple of seats at the countertop looking outside the front of the place.

You place your order towards the back from a small and easy to read menu. I had a cup of clam chowder and Luke's Trio. The Trio allowed me to taste a slightly smaller version of each roll. The menu has only three types of rolls; Maine Lobster, Jonah Crab, and North Atlantic Shrimp.

All the rolls were delicious. They are not drenched in mayo and veggies. According to Luke's menu, they rolls are a quarter pound of seafood, melted lemon butter, mayo (very little, I barely tasted it or saw it), and their "secret" seasoning.

The lobster was my favorite, it was pure lobster with just enough seasoning to help bring out the freshness of the lobster. The crab was light and sweet. The shrimp could have used a little more lemon to help cut the freshness of the shrimp. The Atlantic shrimp are not as sweet and the fresh Gulf shrimp that I'm used to in Texas.

The clam chowder was gratifying, it definitely holds its own against the other clam chowders I've had on the East coast.

Looking forward to going back the next...

Rolls were ok, packed with meat but somewhat lacking in flavour. Atmosphere was poor with out of order drinks machine and ongoing maintenance. Could have forgiven this but the miserable way we were served left a “bad taste” in our mouth. Gruff and disinterested means after spending $40+ on a couple of sandwiches we won’t be back. Shame as having read the reviews we had expected more. Ah well.

Hey Jason, just saw your reply to my review. To be honest the maintenance was less of an issue…. As I said in my original review above, this would have been forgiven if it wasn’t for the appallingly rude service we received from the lady serving behind the counter, (we only ordered food, no questions or other requests but the server tutted, sighed and looked totally annoyed that we had ordered anything - unfortunately I didn’t get their name). As some of the other reviews have stated, this person has an attitude problem and does nothing to enhance the experience of your establishment. Would suggest focus on managing this issue otherwise others will experience the same). Up to you however seems in the two months since I visited other customers have experienced the...