Critic's Review
Lucky's is effectively closed; everything is 50% of but there's nothing left.
They were apparently bleeding cash; Kroger's pulled their investment last month and they announced they'd be closing 20 stores in Florida. I always found myself buying just 2 or 3 items when I came here; it wasn't the kind of place where you could do all of your shopping.
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Lucky's has made it into my rotation; mainly because of the produce and the consistent pricing. Publix was charging $4.19 for broccoli rabe which is absurd. It's $2.99 here.
Last week I picked up a bone-in strip steak that was clearly USDA prime for about $9 and it was fantastic. Today I bought these:
These are clearly USDA prime quality steaks for $8.99/lb. They sell USDA Prime beef here; my theory is that they can't sell a whole side of prime beef before it goes bad so some of it makes it into the regular meat bin; I'll be enjoying one of these this weekend and the other goes into the freezer.
On the downside, a few weeks back I bought these nice looking sausages. They looked like the ones I used to get a Fairway back in NY; but these were terrible. One Andouille and one hot Italian.
They both went into the garbage can. The meat wasn't properly ground; it was chunky and I didn't like the taste of either one. I've had a lot of different kinds and brands of hot italian sausages in my day; and I can't recall any this bad. The sausages are a no go.
Review 4/4/19
I was never really that interested in Lucky's Market. Everything around here named "Lucky's" is associated with the Hard Rock, and almost all of it is nothing of interest. This Lucky's is different.
Lucky's has taken over the old Pearl Art Supply; it doesn't look like much from the outside. I expected it to be more like Bravo than Fresh Market, but I was wrong.
You walk into a modern market. No big bags of rice on the floor, and not so cluttered with POS carts that you can actually walk around.
Right in the front is the prepared food area and salad bar. The salad bar looks fine but the prepared food was uninspiring.
The setup is similar to whole foods, sans the hot food buffet. They also have Rotisserie chickens for $6.99.
The pizza looks like junk.
The seafood and meat counter features a very poor selection of fish; Swai fillets anyone?
The beef looks a bit better. They had some pretty nice looking USDA Prime strip steaks for $16.99/lb. Still more than I want to pay. The meat here looks pretty good at decent prices.
Chicken, Pork and Beef. Nobody sells veal anymore.
Rows and rows of nuts and candy dispensers. Still can't compete with Walmart pistachios.
Wine prices didn't impress me. It's hard to find something specific, and they don't have anything you've heard of under $10.
The product section is as good as any of the other supermarkets. A very large section.
That being said, they don't have anything here that you can't get elsewhere. Peppers are a thing I like, and they just have the standards here.
Broccoli Rabe for $2.79/bunch. I had to get in on some of that action.
If you want to eat and shop, they have a sit down sushi bar where you can get sushi or noodles. $10 Ramen bowls.
In the rear there's also a cafe; the Friday fish and chips sign made me think they had food.
But it's really just a coffee bar. They have slices, but we've seen the pizza. I guess the fish and chips is just a gimmick to get people in on Fridays. Arthur Treachers maybe?
$1.85 for coffee or Iced Tea. You can also get a $3 glass of wine or $2 beer and "Sip and Stroll" round the store. Might be a good time on a Sat night if it wasn't in Oakland Park.
Conclusion
Lucky's is OK. I ended up buying broccoli rabe, and ear of corn (20 cents) and Marjoram ($2.99); I'd already done my shopping for the week and this was just a look-see.
Lucky's is more mainstream than Whole Foods (in that there are more mainstream brands); but you can't get Ragu sauce or Ronzoni pasta. Fresh Market has fallen off the rails, and this place seems like a good tweener.
It's not as cheap as Walmart or Winn-Dixie; there are no BOGOs, and they don't have the seafood selection or as many specialty items as Whole Foods. Everyone has something different to offer.
One thing for sure, is that Lucky's is a pleasant shopping experience. Maybe because not that many people know about it. Or maybe because I'm a snob and shopping as Walmart with all of the kids running around can be very irritating.