The Lucky Pirate Chop House — Restaurant in Oregon

TLDR: The burgers were good, and we do plan to come back and give their gyros a shot. I think the place could use some more decor to enhance the pirate theme, but I love that pool is now free in the space. I craved more authenticity in the Greek dishes and hope they add an Ouzo option to the bar menu! Otherwise, I hope they continue to develop and grow from where they’ve started! We’ll definitely return to try some other dishes after they’ve been open a few more weeks.

I have all the props in the world for new restaurants, it’s such an intricate dance to make a grand opening for any new business happen smoothly. Also, our waitress on Friday night was great, and very welcoming and attentive. Finally, to be clear, the restaurant seems to describe many of their dishes and apps as “Mediterranean fusion”, in addition to serving steaks and burgers— so I wasn’t expecting wholesale “authentic” Greek food by any stretch, just some fun takes on the traditional cuisine. My husband ordered one of their burgers, and I sampled their dolmas and spanakopita. He definitely enjoyed the burger, especially their choice of bun, which he said was excellent.

I know that Greek food isn’t anything close to a staple cuisine in this area, but from the perspective of someone whose mothers side of the family immigrated from Greece/Macedonia in the early twentieth century, and who grew up learning to cook traditional Greek recipes, I was disappointed that the Greek dishes I tried from their menu failed to deliver primarily in terms of taste and quality—which may have been less of an issue if more attention had been paid to the dishes’ authentic roots.

The spanakopita’s filling, which included tabbouleh, a Lebanese salad, was a good fusion choice that brightened up what can be a heavy filling, and I think it would have tasted very nice, if the phyllo dough had not been burned. Rather than a rich golden brown, it was dark brown and slightly blackened on the edges.

The dolmas tasted as if they’d been crisped somehow in a fryer or broiler, rather than steamed, as is the traditional method. While I appreciated the fun take on the wrapping’s texture, I suspect that this alternate cooking method is the reason that the rice filling ended up feeling fairly dry and slightly undercooked. They were also quite salty compared to my experience with dolmas, both homemade and canned. It may have been better to add lemon juice to the filling instead, while cutting back on the salt, for a more savory and tangy taste.

They were also served on a bed of tahini sauce, which, from a flavor profile perspective, I wouldn’t recommend. The bitterness of the tahini didn’t marry well with the saltiness of the dolmas. If they’d been paired with a traditional avgolemono (egg yolk and lemon) sauce, the mild, creamy tanginess of that sauce may have helped to counteract some of the saltiness and not produced an effect where two stronger flavors were at war with one another.

I think they should also call their tzatziki sauce a whipped feta and spinach dip, instead of tzatziki. While the dip good, traditional tzatziki is often paired with stronger dishes as a cooling and refreshing dip, and rarely uses a pungent cheese like feta as a base. Since I’m familiar with the traditional yogurt and cucumber-based tzatziki, it was a bit of the shock to the palette to dip my spanakopita in it and experience such a feta-forward taste instead. Again, the dip itself was good, just...

Food is fantastic. Prices are obscene. Service is non existent.

Everything we had for dinner was superb. Flavorful, cooked and seasoned perfectly. Ribeye & lobster, shrimp, clam chowder, side salad, au gratin potatoes. Probably the best meal we've had in Brookings.

The prices though are way out of line with the service, timeliness of the meal, and the atmosphere. "Market price" for all seafood (except shrimp) and steaks (rib eye and NY included). Not understanding this concept. We eat NY and ribeye frequently and there hasn't been hardly any fluctuation in price. Our bill was $130 for 2 dinners, no drinks, no dessert, no apps. The lobster and ribeye was alone $100. I would highly recommend you ask for pricing when you order if you don't want to be shell shocked.

The service was sub par. There were only about 5/6 tables seated and 2 waiters. We waited for our orders to be taken. We waited multiple times for our waters to be refilled. We waited close to 40 min for our dinners to be brought out. The lobster didn't come out with dinner, took another 10 min for that at which point we were both just finishing up our plates. Not once did our server come by to update us or even apologize. She saw us leave and didn't even acknowledge our visit.

Atmosphere is a step above a bar type feel. Stained plywood walls. Kitschy pirate decor. It was clean and well lit. We overheard the male waiter across the dining room talking about their business since they moved down the hill. He said they make "triple to four thousand" a night for dinner. Which is their money maker. Well, we just contributed $130 to that number. Tacky to say the least.

Not sure that we'd go back just based on the service.

Improve the service and get your prices set and at a reasonable price point and I'd bet you'd be the busiest restaurant in town. We'd sure stop in every time we...

My wife and I were originally headed to Zola’s (which was closed), so as we sat in the parking lot deciding where to go, the amazing aroma from Lucky Pirate caught our attention—and that sealed the deal. Honestly, it was the best decision I’ve made in the 4 months I’ve been here!

We started with the artichoke appetizer, which was incredible. My wife ordered the brisket, and I had the chicken Alfredo—both were bursting with flavor and the portions were huge! We couldn’t finish everything, but we kept eating because it was just that good.

For dessert, we had the brownie, and for drinks, the lemon martini was perfect. We sat at the bar and had the absolute BEST service from Colton—his personality was charming, fun, and made the entire experience even better. He’s the kind of server that makes you want to come back again and again.

From the outside, you’d never expect what’s inside—a true hidden gem! The atmosphere, the staff, and the food were all amazing. Absolutely worth every penny....