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Lucky Dog Ranch Beef Hamburger - Lucca - Sacramento, CA

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THE JOINT

Lucca is a classy California and Mediterranean influenced restaurant in downtown Sacramento, CA. The menu features chef prepared items like a smoked chicken risotto, crispy duck confit, and some amazing zucchini chips.

My wife and I first heard about Lucca through DishCrawl, a new web startup that organizing a walking food tour of local restaurants to help people discover new dishes and new places they may not have experienced yet. You pay a flat fee and get to try featured dishes at a handful of restaurants and hear the story behind the meal from the restaurant owner or chef. Our first stop on Sacramento’s first Dishcrawl was Lucca. When I tweeted about my location, I got positive feedback right away with comments like “underrated downtown restaurant” and “hidden gem” and “great food, great drinks”. We had 2 delicious dishes that night from Lucca: a zucchini chips appetizer that was almost impossible to stop eating and a tasty risotto. My wife spotted a few other dishes on the menu that she wanted to try, so we made a note to make our way back to Lucca as soon as we could.

We actually ended up back at Lucca by accident. On April 30, 1000’s of Sacramento residents filled Freemont Park for the Sacramento Mobile Food Truck event, SactoMofo. Our family of 5 hopped in our swagger wagon to try some of the gourment food trucks that were in attendance. Although the event was a tremendous success, the lines for all of the trucks were longer than a pirate’s beard, so at my wife’s gentle suggestion ;), we ended up walking a few blocks to try Lucca again.

THE BURGER

They call their burger the “Lucky Dog Ranch Beef Hamburger” after the local Dixon ranch that supplies the beef they use for their burger. I didn’t think it would, but it does make a difference knowing the source of the food you’re eating. Knowing that the food is prepared from fresh ingredients and not from one of those huge, frozen food trucks you see rolling up to chain restaurants automatically gives these independent full service restaurants a few extra “B Factor” points in my opinion.

I ordered my burger cooked medium rare with added bacon and cheese. Since we had 5 meals being prepared, it took a bit of time for food to arrive. I decided to change things up and go for my french fries first and those delictable bites were dealt with handily. The Lucky Dog Ranch beef patty eas seasoned nicely and cooked to perfection. I could see the sandwich dripping with juice and the spices embeded in the burger patty. The lightly toasted bun held the burgerjuices without falling apart. The bacon on the burger looked like something from one of those Fred Flinstone cartoons. Each piece was a slab big enough to tip over the table, but I wasn’t complaining!

THE VERDICT

After dining at Lucca, I can see why the Facebook and Twitter responses I got during the Dishcrawl were so positive. The restaurant has a great atmosphere with plenty of available seating inside and outside on it’s private patio and the food was remarkable. My wife raved over her grilled steak salad, the zucchini chips (a dish I normally wouldn’t eat) were devoured by the whole family, and my kids loved their food.

Do you know about any other hidden gems in Sacramento? Post about them in our burger forums here!

Tags: bacon, featured, national hamburger month, sacburgermonth