ON THE MENU — Luke’s Bar & Grill back in Nederland; “never should’ve been shut down in the first place”
Published 12:38 am Saturday, July 9, 2022
Tamara Dickson serves up a vodka strawberry lemonade at Luke’s Bar & Grill. (Chris Moore/The News)
Get and order of quesadillas from Luke’s Bar & Grill. (Chris Moore/The News)
Try out the yard fries at Luke’s Bar & Grill. (Chris Moore/The News)
Luke’s Bar & Grill is located at 1039 Nederland Ave. (Chris Moore/The News)
Luke’s offers the classic Luke’s Burger. (Chris Moore/The News)
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Those who long for the good ole days got a slice of the past back when Luke’s reopened in Nederland.
The location, once known as Luke’s Icehouse, shut down in 2020 due to the pandemic. It opened under new ownership as Doc’s Yardhouse, but, under new ownership, the leadership from Luke’s has brought back to the location.
Jeff Augustine, who helped run Luke’s Icehouse, stepped away when the restaurant became Doc’s but has reprised his role with, what is now, Luke’s Bar & Grill.
“We just want people to know that we are back,” he said. “Doc’s is dead, and we are back. That has been the hardest thing to get across to people. We still have people coming in and thinking it is Doc’s, and we want people to know that it is Luke’s again.”
Augustine said Luke’s is new and improved.
“It is better than Luke’s Icehouse,” he said. “The food is much better. It is a higher standard of food, in my opinion. I am kind of partial, because I made a lot of the menu. It is a higher quality food. The facility is much improved with the remodel. It has a good facelift on it. The outside patio looks a lot better, and the stage is covered now.”
Management said they want to provide an environment that is as good, if not better, than what people of Mid County came to love about Luke’s.
“We have live music Thursday, Friday and Saturday,” Augustine said. “We have karaoke on Wednesdays. And I am going to do a music bingo on Tuesdays. It is going to be bingo, but instead of calling letters and numbers, it is going to be music fragments.”
The restaurant also features many fan favorites like the classic Luke burger.
“I like the All-Day Burger,” Augustine said. “It has the patty, the bacon, the gouda, cheddar, the fried egg on top of it with the sourdough bread.”
Tamara Dickson, who works at Luke’s, said her favorite dish is the yard fries, which is topped with pulled pork or brisket, which is smoked at Luke’s.
Augustine said he would like to change up the menu every quarter but isn’t quite ready to say what is in the works.
“It needed to be Luke’s,” Augustine said. “It always needed to be Luke’s. It never should’ve been shut down in the first place. It needed to be a bar and grill. That is what the community wanted. They want a cool patio and a place to come and hang out. It is a social area for people to gather and play games with good food and good drinks.”
Luke’s is located at 1039 Nederland Avenue in Nederland.
