Lucky AF: Asian Fusion & Sushi — Restaurant in Richmond

Went with my wife and another couple to try Lucky and their outdoor space, as we're still not comfortable dining indoors. We got there around 530 and put our names on the list for an outdoor table, told it would be about 45 minutes. This was a few days ago when the sun came out and the temperature hit 65 and so yeah, everyone wanted to eat outside. Not a long wait, so we went to Ardent for a beer.

After 45 minutes we called to find out how much longer our wait would be and were told hopefully about 10 minutes: there was a group that had paid their bill and were still just sitting at their table. (People: Don't be those people!) So we walked down and checked in and waited another 15 minutes, and that group STILL hadn't vacated their table. So we checked in one more time and THIS time the manager, Tre, came out and apologized and thanked us for our patience and said he'd be happy to offer us a discount for having to wait so long. That was nice, and it was a decent discount.

We were seated within the next five minutes, had a server within the next ten (the place was pretty busy), and the food and drinks all turned out great, as did the service. (The Dragon-Punch sashimi platter was so fresh, the fish so tender.) When the bill came we noticed our discount hadn't been applied, and as we were discussing which of us should ask to talk to the manager, Tre came out with new tickets--our server hadn't known he'd offered the discount but he remembered and was watching and had them ready before we had to ask. He also went around table to table to make sure everyone was taken care of.

Popular new place, first nice weather, there will be crowds and hiccups. But the team here did a fantastic job maintaining order and recognizing that just because a customer is annoyed by the wait, they don't have to stay annoyed if you compensate them for it. I'm glad we waited and we all can't wait to go back. We were lucky af indeed.

PS I know it's a rock and a hard place for servers and managers when a group has paid and then just sits in place without relinquishing the table; it's a double whammy to offer new customers a discount for the wait because the restaurant is already NOT making money on the people homesteading at a viable table. So we are especially grateful for the extra mile Tre ran to make sure we had a good first experience here. But again, the entire service team was polite and smiling and courteous and I assure you, there were a lot of people waiting for tables that night because of the weather. Lucky AF is doing something...

Had a great visit. Plenty of traditional and fusion inspired items on the menu.

Had quite a few appetizers and three rolls shared amongst our table of three was PLENTY.

The *spicy edamame stood out. We had a non-spicy friend so we got the spicy sauce on the side. I have to admit, I put it on quite a few other dishes we had including the gyoza dumplings and the lobster dumplings. Highly recommend.

We did two fusion rolls and a classic rainbow roll. Everything was good but be prepared to let some new flavors gel in your mouth. The smoked salmon on sushi creates its own flair as does goat cheese instead of cream cheese. Really enjoyed the freshness of the jalapeño in the rolls!!

Would have gone with a five but for a busy Friday night, I thought it odd that the hostess’ were not checking in with each other on which parties at the door had been helped and making sure tables without reservations were sat according to who arrived first. A simple glance around and “who was next?” would fix that problem. Was baffled that a hostess asked two behind us, who had no reservations as I was close enough to hear the exchange, and they were sat immediately, when we had arrived plenty before them. I didn’t want to raise the issue, but we waited another 45 to be sat, only to see the two at a table across from us when we were finally seated at a four top. Having been a server, it just...

Don't go here if you're looking for an upscale Asian restaurant and have never been to Richmond before. I almost think they've paid people to write good reviews about this place. That was my experience lol wasn't impressed. Came here to give my boyfriend, who's one year sober, a nice sushi dinner....come to find out there's a limited menu? We got there at like 2:25 and limited menu didn't start until 2:30, the woman serving us never thought to let us know....until an hour in after we ate our appetizers and waited to order ..waited for a long time. It wasn't advertised anywhere that limited menu started at 230 either. We had all these selections picked out from the LARGE MENU, she comes back and tells us it's now limited lol. Sushi was alright. The lobster dumplings are misleading because they're not dumplings, they're stuffed omelets??? A dumpling is small about the palm of your hand....these things are massive and overkill with the cream cheese. The pho beef egg rolls were amazing, but wasn't enough to save the experience. One woman running the entire restaurant and bar? We were forgotten about several times and it's not her fault, it just felt very misleading and unprofessional. It's Asian fusion but the music is a range of 90s to present day hip hop and pop music lol. The tables...