when I dip, you dip
Heights restaurant's new lunch service will only offer 1 sandwich
La Lucha will begin serving French dips on Friday, June 12.
If a sandwich hall of fame existed, one of its plaques would surely be devoted to the French dip. Its combination of thinly-sliced beef, tangy horseradish sauce, and a savory au jus is a winning formula.
Beginning Friday, June 12, Heights restaurant La Lucha will be showcasing two takes on the venerable sandwich when it starts serving them for its new Friday-only lunch service, which will be held from 11 am-2 pm. To be clear, the two sandwiches (plus fries) will be the only menu items available at lunch — apologies to anyone hoping to ease into the weekend with La Lucha staples like fried chicken or the pharmacy burger.
The two sandwich choices are: a West Coast style French dip that’s just shaved meat and au jus or an East Coast style that adds provolone and caramelized onions. Both are served with horseradish aioli on bread from Houston’s Royal Bakery that “gets crispy and delicious,” according to executive chef Bobby Matos.
The meat is the same prime rib that newly opened steak joint Star Rover, La Lucha’s sister restaurant, serves as part of its viral, “I ate the 76’er” eating challenge. Priced at $27 for the West Coast and $29 for the East Coast, both sandwiches offer a healthy seven ounces of thinly-sliced beef.
“They’ve done this at Bar Blanc in Atlanta. It’s been a huge success and people are digging it,” Matos explains about the motivation to introduce the offering.
Limiting the menu to two variations of the same sandwich, fries, and beverages — both alcoholic and non-alcoholic — allows La Lucha to offer its Friday lunch service more easily than if Matos had to staff the kitchen to parepare its full menu.
“It’s just bringing more people to the Heights and giving them a chance to get to know our restaurants,” Matos adds. “There are still people who don’t know about La Lucha, and it’s been eight years.”
Although Matos moved to Texas from California, he says he prefers the East Coast French dip. “I want cheese and onions on mine. I like cheese on French dips,” he says.
