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I think we're damn lucky to have Luquin's in Pahoa. I'm a fan of their yummy taco salad. (btw, it's pronounced "Loo-KEENS" - I heard it said so many ways I finally asked at the restaurant. Vindication! True story: we had a Mexican restaurant in Half Moon Bay, Ca, and all the gringos called it Three Amigos. Sign read "3 Amigos." I'd say, How do you know it's not TRES Amigos? Sure enough, one day they put up a new sign and spelled out TRES. Vindication again!) Will try Lucy's after a bit - Hilo needs good Mexican food. Went to Reubens only once. Good atmosphere but too much salt in everything for me. The other new Mexican restaurant to open in Hilo will be Casa de Luna -- which according to my Mexican friend should be Casa de LA Luna -- but the doors were open the other day and it still looks a far way off. That's in the bldg. with all the permit issues.
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Facebook is like our government: There are lots of things not to like about it, but I'm still glad its there.
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Pog, I tried what you said at a Thai restaurant on the mainland. The owner looked at me like I was crazy and said, No.
LOL ... Sorry man, sounds like they had no sense of humor or did not care.
aloha,
pog
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Hubby and I tried Lucy's. Interesting. Didn't care for the atmosphere at all. It was bright and loud and very not Mexican (we lived 17 miles from the border for most of our lives and spent plenty of time in towns within 100 miles of the US border; Hotels, little eateries and everything in between have their own flavor and Lucy's didn't seem to capture anything that felt comfortable nor familiar). HOWEVER having said that I think that once they work out the logistics of ordering, delivering food to the table, having supplies on hand and not being out of tons of stuff.... they have a winner for flavor of the food. The presentation needs work but they have a strong structure to hang that on. If they stick with it I think they will do well. We had both the prawn quesedilla and the prawn fajitas. Neither had "prawns" but instead chopped up pieces of shrimp. Nothing special there but the flavors of the salsas, the sauces and the presentation of the food on the plate were aces. Prices were VERY reasonable as well. I wouldn't take a first date there but it's not bad for a bawdy evening with friends and I bet some of the best take-out around. 
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
edited for a spelling error.
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
I meant to post after we ate here but spaced it out until I saw the Mexican restaurant topic.
The good parts -- there was parking, and the decor is fun, especially liked the bar, and they made the restrooms cute and not standard issue. Menu had all sorts of things that looked good! I went with the prawn fajita style burrito, and the flavors were very tasty as Pam already noted. I think my friend had tacos, no special rave but they were eaten and quickly, no complaints.
They have a little play section for small children that we appreciated.
The bad part -- the loud music hit us from the parking lot, so much that even though we wanted to eat in, we decided it had to be take-out without question. Lucky for us it was a beautiful day and the gardens beckoned.
Sadly, we were in for a 20 minute wait in this infernal din of blaring taqueria music, which I hated beyond description and so did my companion. He has spent a month in Mexico along the coast going to many taqueria's, and said he never heard one where the music was that loud. We couldn't even hear when we were ordering or hear our order was up. I had a major headache by the time we left.
That said, there were people in there having fun.
As a side note, it detracted from the tasteful decor of the bathrooms that there was waste paper all over the floor and overflowing waste backet. They need to have someone go in there more often and keep it presentable.
Service note: I ordered a kid's combo, and the lady (owner?) poured the drink (soda) immediately without asking if I was ready for it. There is no way I was giving the kid that sugar without his food, so as a result, the soda was all warm and flat and ice melted by the time we got the food, plus I had to babysit it while waiting and tell kid why he couldn't have it yet. Most places like that have a self-service soda dispenser. Anyhow, they should ask when you want the drink poured; not everyone wants it right away.
Re the take-out, I would not get the fajita style vegetables in a burrito to go again as it didn't hold up for the 10-15 minutes needed. The tomatoes were really wet, enough so that the tortilla had partially dissolved into flour paste by the time I could start eating. Usually it's no problem to get a burrito to go.
I think I would go back for take-out, but they sure could use a system for paging or something so that non lovers of blaring Mexican music could wait outside for the food.
For those of you who have read "The Fan Man" by Kotzwinkle, think about the puerto rican music running joke. My friend is a big "fan" of that book, and he said next time he will go in wearing an industrial set of headphones to make the point. Then when he's ordering he can lift one earpiece and say WHAT? I can't HEAR YOU!
[8D]
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Went to Lucy's 2x now and not going back. Both times the music was so LOUD that us and others
upon leaving said the same thing. The first time just after they opened I spoke to the owner and mentioned that the music was pissing off people all around us and she thanked me for sharing.
The food was OK, maybe I'm just not fussy as long as they don't kill things with garlic or too hot of a spice. With all the great creative people who live here in Hilo the interior really is cold fast food vibe. I know it is fast food, but it doesn't have to look that way.
The way you order never seems to work smoothly, but that I can live with. But the noise just makes me want to get the hell out of there. Fingernails on a blackboard. I wasn't alone either.
Yeah, we mentioned it to both the lady taking orders and the male manager (or owner) sitting in back at a table. I wasn't the one who spoke to him, but my sense of the reply was OK, but it's not changing.
How weird that they ignore the complaints. I've been to rock concerts that were quieter than Lucy's.
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We have been three times and liked the food each time. Enjoyed a salsa bar and a pretty big choice of meats including some that aren't for everybody. The little bar, with several island beers, is nice and you can see who is cooking your food. The table seating isn't quite right and they can't seem to keep up keeping them clean when they are busy. They ask you to bus your own table but the bus station is clear at the back of the building. I will keep trying and hoping they work out the bugs, not real bugs but you know what I mean.
I still miss the outside seating at Luigi's though
Jay
Jay
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[8]We finally had the opportunity and ate there last Friday. Food was tasty and we enjoyed it. Pitcher of frozen margaritas was good also. My fajita was a bit too juicy and quite messy to eat, but flavor was good. As mentioned, the music was way way too loud, a BIG turnoff for us. We don't eat in Mexican restaurants with great frequency so the menus are always a challenge. This one was near impossible in that the writing is so small we couldn't read it until almost to the register. Fortunately, they had takeout menus we could read while in line. Seemed that most of the tables were less than clean, likely due to the self bussing policy. The bar looked interesting and we were fortunate that one of the bar girls actually took our drink order from the table. Seemed like a lot of people running around in a disorganized fashion. With so many, it would seem reasonable to actually have ordering at your table, stand in line for take out. We will go back, but if the music is still loud, we likely won't go often. We were frequent diners at the Mongolian Grill and miss it.
Anyone know when the other new Mexican place is due to open? Here's hoping for less din and table waiters.
David
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