Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que

We love meeting friend's at Lucille's! We recently had a birthday party of 16 on a Sunday evening around 5pm. Reservations definitely required! We were seated in the outside patio in the back which is reserved for larger parties. Why bother the other, normal diners with extremes of tomfoolery!? Things got off to a great start, service-wise, as our server started taking orders fairly quickly. Soon we had beverages and biscuits served all around. If you've ever had Lucille's sugar biscuits, (delicately crispy on the outside, deliciously soft on the inside) you know you're having a treat and they are twice as good when accompanied by sweet apple butter and a Peach Lemonade! Unfortunately, the servers must be on an Apple Butter rationing order as the biscuits are always accompanied by one miniscule dollop, (dare I call it a serving?) of the Golden nectar to be shared (i.e. fought over) amongst your companions. Even pleas to our server of more apple butter please, went undelivered this night and, alas, the biscuits were only superfluous to our meal. No matter, as dinner was served by a bevy of servers descending on our table bringing our desired first courses of salads and soups, of which mine was a house salad with Ranch. I should have remembered to order an extra helping of the dressing as I usually find my desire for full salad coverage lacking, as was the case here. No matter, I was delivered a gravy boat of goodness fairly quickly (obviously no rationing of the Hidden Valley gem!) and the first course consumed. The noise level in this large room addition increased exponentially as other large parties were seated which soon had us at a disadvantage when the main course arrived and the various dishes were called out. Most were correct, a few had tweaks needed and our one, special medicinal, gluten-free request, as far as I was aware, came out perfectly prepared and delivered. I did not hear of any complaints with food although I found the fried chicken just a bit too peppery for my white-girl taste buds. Graciously, the hubby was forced to eat my shared portion (poor man) and I enjoyed the baked potato with another rationing of condiments. (What is with the tiny amounts of much wanted and needed condire, Lucille's?) Soon dinner was over and the birthday song sung (oh, sung very badly on purpose. Our apologies to our fellow gastronomers.) I soon realized as I, with my requested straw, drew down on the watered down remnant of my Peach Lemonade, that it had not been refilled all night. Sadness. The food and drink were fine, albeit rationed and the service was merely adequate. Devoid of the niceties which serve (pun intended) to make a meal spectacular, and the experience of eating it so, Lucille's receives four stars for their attempts this evening with service at three point five stars if I could carve it out.