Lucky Baldwin's

OStrungT

California

4.05/5  rDev -2.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$$

On the advice of drewbage, I stopped in at this place on my way through Los Angeles. It is located in the downtown Pasadena area. That being said, parking can be a bitch. I know, because I got a parking ticket. What a buzz kill.

There is quite a bit of outside seating. There is some inside seating, but not nearly as much as the outside. There is a jukebox inside with speakers outside.

I have heard that the service is a little slow, but I disagree. Every few minutes, someone was asking me if I needed anything. Very good service.

I was just a little bit disapointed with the selection. They had a big list of Belgium bottles and taps. Also they has some UK bottles. They have a few domestic micros on tap. The problem was that for about half the beers we ordered, they were out.

The food is great. I had the cottage pie. It was great. They serve traditional English food. It was good to have a change from the standard pub food.

I would go back again, but I would hope that they have more beers in stock.

04-16-2006 23:50:41 | More by OStrungT

PuckLSHS

Iowa

3.85/5  rDev -7.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

I have been going to Lucky's for about 2 years. I first discovered it when I moved back from the East Coast and found it to be a great place for tasters and for hanging out with some pretty damn nice people.

Lucky's is traditional pub food and has about 30 taps with a pretty good Belgian selection and the beers from Craftsman. The bartenders are pretty great guys and treat you very well when you walk in. Their knowledge of beer is not the best, so you kind of have to know a bit about what you want. I end up doing a lot of "teaching" when I go in.

The only problem I have with Lucky's is that their selection is sometimes stale and they are constantly out of beers. They don't rotate their selections as quick as I would want them to. Other than that, it is a great spot to grab some good fish and chips and watch some soccer.

04-16-2006 05:45:42 | More by PuckLSHS

chelovek

California

4.4/5  rDev +5.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

This is my favorite bar to haunt and I can't believe that I have not written a review for this place yet. Lucky's is a nice cozy place with lots of beer posters hanging on the wall. The outside patio is nice during the summertime but when it comes wintertime and the weather hits a friged 70 degrees one can find me on the second story indoors. Serivice is usually pretty good, the bartenders know thier beers and can make a good recomendation if they dont have what youre looking for. Belgian aless are the main fortay and that is what I come for. They especially have a great selection of the Belgian winters. The range of the selection is a hit or miss but I have never made a trip and not been satisfied with my time there. The beer fests are great. Locals are great. Lucky's is great. I love myself some Lucky Baldwins.

02-12-2006 00:54:38 | More by chelovek

pgroove

New York

4.6/5  rDev +10.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

This place is a gold mine for Belgian beers. They have close to 50 of them on tap and another 30 or so in bottles. The decor is pleasantly decorated with beer praphenalia and the crowd is a nice mix of Pasadena yuppies and more-hipster-esque peeps of all ages.

They have a great selection of Belgian, German, British and Irish brews on tap as well as a host of local craft brewers (Craftsman, and some other cali breweries I didnt recognize).

The food is also top notch traditional British pub fare. The servers are friendly but not too terribly knowledgable.

Sadly, last I caught them when one of the refidgerators broke and half of the beers we requested were uavailable because they had warmed to room temperature. Nonetheless, with a menu as diverse as theirs, finding a substitute is a more than easy task.

One word of advice: Pasadena cops prey on people leaving the bars around colorado on the weekend, so make sure you have a DD or control your intake (that should be understood anyways).

09-04-2005 22:36:14 | More by pgroove

chorizoandeggs

California

3.65/5  rDev -12.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 3 | $$$

relaxing low stress atmosphere. Probably a soccer game on the tube. Upstairs and outside seating. It can be crowded on the weekends.

Quality. Everything was delicious. Food was good and the beers were the right temp.

The service can suck and be awesome depending on when you go. Some days I just walk to the bar and get my own beers no matter where I'm sitting.

Selection is great. Lots of belgians to be had. They do run out of stuff but I've never had a problem. I only wish they would get more Grimbergen.

The food was ok as far a pub food goes. I had Fish and Chips. Both were fine. A little vinegar and ketchup can take you a long way.

The beers here aren't cheap!

08-30-2005 18:29:29 | More by chorizoandeggs

ithacabaron

California

3.9/5  rDev -6.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$$

Taken out here by jonnylieberman and drewbage after a long and fun brewday.

Located in a nice part of town, with ambiently lit cobblestone streets, Lucky's takes up a corner property on a pedestrian promenade, and features an excellent, laid-back biergarden, and an interior full of natural-stained wood, and giant (although tasteful) craft banners and tin signs. High-lofted ceilings and low crowd noise add to the pleasent ambience. Very relaxing, very cool.

Quality was hit and miss. As Jonny predicted, the first beer we all wanted to order was out. Apparently they have problems keeping their tap list up to date, or keeping enough kegs on tap. No problem. We all found good second choices, and all were served at a proper temperature, and in a proper glass. There was a bump later, when one of us ordered a Celebrator Dopplebock that seemed to have turned to vinegar, but it was quickly replaced, with apologies.

Service was pretty good. Apparently it can be very hit or miss, depending on your server. We started out with a serviceable young chap who came by every often, and later in the evening, upgraded to an adorable Italy-born waitress who looked after our ever whim. No complaints here.

Selection was pretty good, a decent palate of styles and choices, and a special concentration on SoCal micros on tap. Delicious choices from Craftsman were found when we tried the Orange Grove and White Sage.

Food was very tasty, and generously proportioned. I had the Cobb Salad, which was well presented. Other people seemed to enjoy theirs as well.

Everything was a little expensive, but not out of range for what you'd usually find in the rest of the Greater Los Angeles area.

All in all, a nice spot for a few pints, and I certainly had a blast with my fellow BA friends. Take a nice cool evening, find yourself an outdoor table, and hang out.

07-16-2005 06:02:54 | More by ithacabaron

DogFood11

California

4.33/5  rDev +3.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

I live in West LA about 35 miles from Old Town Pasadena or in LA time about an hour and a half away at least. Yet some friends and I travel there at least every other month for a day of drinking and watching european football at Lucky's. The best part of Lucky's for us is threefold. 1. Dave the owner. If you grab his attention he will reccomend beers in great detail. 2. The atmoshphere is cozy, almost like your drinking beer in your modified garage with belgian beer paraphanalia littered about the bar area. 3. The locals that insist on watching european football make the trifecta complete. Most everyone we've run into there will help you with beer choices if you need it. At this point there is no helping us as we've had at least one of everything except of course when they have festivals. The downside to this establishment are two things. 1. almost everytime we've been there we get that one beer that has that taste like the glass just came out of the danky wash water and it ruins the beer completely. 2. The waitstaff for the most part is marginal at best. We've gone there enough that we have found the perfect waitress and no longer have that problem as we ask her to serve us right when we sit down. But for those that go for the first few times its a crap shoot. Slow service should be expected unless you belly up to the few seats at the bar.

06-10-2005 17:46:55 | More by DogFood11

Weedchugger

California

3.03/5  rDev -27.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 2 | service: 2 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5

So, after all I've heard about Lucky Baldwin's, I'm utterly shocked that I just got back from there, with my two best friends, and we had a miserable time. When we walked in, our hopes of "beer heaven" sailed. The place is just right atmosphere-wise; unpretentious and comfortable. I'll just take you through our evening and you make the call. I hate dissing a respected place, so I won't dis, I'll just give you the facts and you can tell me I'm wrong.

We went there to celebrate a huge windfall I had at work, which I only mention to let you know we were all in a really good mood. We looked at the menu online beforehand and noticed they had Aventinus on permanent tap, which just happens to be one of our all time favorite beers. When we sat down and looked at the impressive menu, we notice Aventinus is off the tap list. No sweat. There's plenty where that came from. They have Craftsman on tap! I order a Craftsman IPA and my friends order Craftsman Hefe's. The waitress disappears for a really long time and comes back to tell us the IPA and Hefe are gone. Fine. We spy Bluebird Bitter on the bottle menu and order two of those and a Hopf Dunkel. Hopf isn't that great, but my friend Eric wanted a dunkel and the pickings were slim. We also order some mozzarella sticks to munch on. The waitress disappears for a really long time again and comes back with bad news. No more Bluebird Bitters, but she did have a Hopf for Eric. Of course it wasn't a Dunkel like he ordered, but a Hefe. Still, he was the first of us to see an actual beer, so he grabbed it. My friend Andy asked if they had any White beers of any kind. The waitress said no. He said, "Not even Hoegarten?" and she said they were out of Hoegarten. I, seeing bottled Aventinus on the menu, ordered one of those while Andy looked at the menu again. The waitress disappered forever again. When she came back she was empty handed, "No more Aventinus in bottles". I'm not kidding. So, looking at the menu again, I ordered a Blanche de Chambly, a "white beer" as it so clearly states on the label. We also order dinner. She returns to the table with my bottle of Blanche and Andy said, "Didn't she just look me in the eye and say no white beer at all?" I was so happy that I actually had a beer in my hands - after 25 minutes - I ignored him and he ordered what I got. Shortly thereafter, our dinner arrives. Attentive readers might say "What happened to the mozzarella sticks?" We were saying the same thing. They never showed up. The food was fine and everyone just ordered the same beer they got at first, so as not to fall down the rabbit hole of "We don't have that" insanity again. As we walked out, we noticed a sign that said "Public Notice that establishment is under new owners"

I don't know what the hell happened, but it was a terrible experience. And I really, really wanted to love it. F*ck.

04-18-2005 07:12:38 | More by Weedchugger

paulyrimz

Nevada

4.72/5  rDev +13.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5

Ahhhh Lucky's. My favorite local bar. If only I didn't live in Orange County I would be there every night. What can I say about the place that hasn't been said? I love the atmosphere. A great artistic local crowd with a few in-the-know european tourists love to frequent this place. Decor is awesome with a nice seating area upstairs, several leather booths downstairs, a beautiful patio heated with lamps makes it fairly easy to find a seat, even when it is crowded. Beer paraphenelia from around the world don every corner of this local watering hole. Beer selection is exceptional, whatever beer you are in the mood for, Lucky's will provide. Belgians, lambics, IPAs, barleywines, take your pick, there is a great selection of almost everything. They boast 58 beers on tap, with a large amount always rotating. Rare belgians on draft can be found here including beers I've only seen on the east coast like Leffe dark and leffe blonde. About 40 other rare belgians completed the Belgian beer festival that I attended recently to much enthusiasm. Even when the Belgian beer is not in season, the permanent taps keep me coming back. With some of the best selections from the Craftsmen brewery I've seen anywhere, Lucky's does not disappoint. Craftsmen's solid Barleywine, Pale Ale, IPA, Orange Grove and many others are always on tap. There are even two rotating cask taps for those of you who like me think that the hand pump adds a little something extra to the beer. Food is pretty good as well, I ordered fish and chips, not the best fish I chips I ever ate, but appetizing none the less. A must-see if you are visiting Southern California!

03-04-2005 11:45:12 | More by paulyrimz

fdrich29

Massachusetts

4.78/5  rDev +14.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5

I did some research before my trip out to Los Angeles and knew this was a place I needed to visit. After going to Anaheim to witness my beloved Red Sox get beat by the home team I decided to head up to Pasadena to check this place out.

Getting to Pasadena was easy...finding this place...much harder than it should have been. I must have driven past it 3 times before I found it.

I went around the side as the front entrance was closed and walked in through the patio tables into the bar. A few high, round tables across from the bar, plenty of throwback beer memorobilia and half dozen or so seats at the bar. For all intents and purposes it looked like a dive...the most beautiful dive I have ever seen.

The bar, and everything behind the bar looked like controled chaos. A fridge full of beer to the left, tap handles to the right, trophies and keepsakes lined the back of the bar.

I pulled up to the bar and struck up a conversation with the bartender who had been there since the place opened, or just after. He was a great guy who really knew his beer, the bartender's bartender if you will, and it bothers me greatly that I do not remember his name because for the three hours I was there he took very good care of me, introduced me to some local Pasadena beers and even pulled out his only bottle of 120 out of the fridge and gave it to me.

The selection was outstanding, the perfect mix of local brews and national micros, as well as the Belgians any respectable establishment should carry. I didn't think any place else could rival Anam Cara back home, but I have to be honest, this place did.

Aside from two semi-pro baseball players who were drinking away their injuries and making fools of themselves, the rest of the patrons were quite down with the beer scene and I had great beer conversation for the entire night, was given plenty of pointers, tips and told where to find the best beer for the best prices nearby my hotel in Woodland Hills.

Folks who live near this bar are quite lucky indeed. It will be a stop for all my future visits to Los Angeles.

08-10-2004 01:37:56 | More by fdrich29