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| Lucky Dog Lounge & Grille Manager Terry Hall serves up a rib eye steak recently at the restaurant in Umatilla. |
1/28/2011
Even after more than 27 years of marriage, I still do things that surprise my husband. Most recently it had to do with eating steak at Lucky Dog Lounge & Grille in Umatilla.
Since John doesn’t eat red meat, I rarely make it at home. So, it wasn’t the act of ordering steak that had John raising his eyebrows — it was the fact I didn’t slather it in ketchup before consuming it.
And that’s saying something. You see, old habits die hard — my mom cooked the juices out of steak, and in order to add flavor and refrain from choking, I loaded on the ketchup.
The fact I didn’t find it necessary to smother the flavor of the rib eye at Lucky Dog means it was lip-smacking good. In fact, John pointed out that I periodically closed my eyes while I was chewing and emitted sounds that clearly indicated I was enjoying the steak. If I had a tail, it certainly would have been wagging.
I purposedly ordered the 12-ounce, figuring for an extra buck I’d have some to take home. Well, that was not to be. I ate every single morsal — there wasn’t even a scrap left behind to take home to our canine kids.
John, who has always been more adventurous when it comes to ordering food, had the seared duck. Of course I snuck a taste and it was mighty fine too. But the real treat unleashed on John’s plate was the cranberry wild rice — delicious doesn’t even begin to describe it.
What I realized from our recent dining experience is that we waited way too long to check out Lucky Dog.
Opening in the fall of 2009, Manager Terry Hall said the restaurant is still working to establish itself.
“What we’re really trying to focus on is a fine dining experience, with a touch of Texas-style, hickory-smoked barbecue,” he said.
I was already sold on the steak, but when Hall said “barbecue,” I was salivating.
The nice thing about Lucky Dog is it offers upscale dining in a casual atmosphere. In addition, we can just hop in the car and take the short drive to Umatilla. Sometimes I get a hankering for some really good food, but I don’t feel like driving to the Tri-Cities, Pendleton or Walla Walla.
Lucky Dog Lounge & Grille, which also has a full service bar, is in the Crossroads Truck Stop, located on Highway 730 at the Interstate 82 junction in Umatilla. It’s open Wednesday through Sundays from 5-10 p.m. For more information, call 541-922-3297.
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Tammy Malgesini is the EO community editor. Her column, Inside my shoes, include general musings about life. You can reach her at tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4539.
