San Diego Metropolitan - Dining

Whenever my grandfather had a particularly good day at the track he used to take everybody in the family out for a big dinner at Pete’s Steak House in downtown Seattle. True, Pete’s meant leotards and the dreaded patent leathers, and it also meant that grandma would surely have one too many old-fashioneds, but it would be steaks and fries for everyone — OK, maybe hamburger steaks for the children — and chocolate sundaes all around for dessert. So, sweaty feet and all, I always was the first to jump in grandpa’s Ford Galaxie 500.

What a flashback to discover Lou and Mickey’s. The brainchild of Jeff and Sam King (King’s Seafood Co.), the restaurant is a pinch-hitter for the slumping Royale Brasserie. Located on a prime piece of corner real estate just a fly ball away from the new Downtown ballpark, the King company opened Royale in November of 2000. After a couple of rough years, it decided to make a risky move in the restaurant business and switch concepts. Gone is the traditional French fare, fancy service and higher-than-average prices. This royal redux is user friendly, offering familiar, affordable fare in a more casual, comfortable atmosphere.

Lou and Mickey’s is a waltz down dining memory lane. It is reminiscent of Pete’s Steak House, and every other beloved steak and chophouse that families flocked to in the ’50s and ’60s. “Classic Cocktails” are highlighted on the menu — Grammy’s Old Fashioned included. Tile floor, dark woods and burgundy leather booths set the scene for this hearty all-American comfort food.

It is obvious that Executive Chef Hans-Trevor Gossemann (you may remember him from Royale) had a great time creating the unassuming menu. While the appetizer list is strewn with popular offerings such as “French Fried Calamari,” “Iced Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail” and “Oysters Rockefeller,” Gossemann got especially enthused with his interpretations of “BBQ Shrimp” and “Baked Mozzarella with Marinara Sauce.”

The “BBQ Manales Style Shrimp” ($9.95) pays tribute to Manales Restaurant on Napoleon Street in New Orleans. Jumbo shrimp are cooked in a garlicky, buttery, barbecue sauce spiked with whiskey, Tabasco and Worcestershire (What could be better?). Don’t gobble down all those beautiful soft, white French rolls before they deliver your shrimp; you’ll need them to sponge up the spicy sauce.

The “Baked Mozzarella” ($6.95) is a creation straight from Italian-American heaven. Mozzarella is stuffed into herbed focaccia, bathed in house-made marinara and baked till bulging, bubbly and bodacious.

The menu offers wonderful renditions of just about every traditional salad: “Shrimp Louie,” “Crab Louie,” “Caesar Salad” and “Hearts of Romaine.” The “Mickey’s Cole Slaw” ($4.95) is a sweet slaw big enough to share and the excellent “Roasted Beet Salad” ($8.95) is one of the few Royale menu items to make the cut.

The selection of “Famous Prime Steaks, Chops and Combos” is lengthy and offers many oh-so-flavorful bone-in cuts. The “Filet Mignon” comes in two sizes, 8 ounce ($23.95) and 12 ounce ($29.95). There is also a 12 ounce “baseball cut” (fitting, considering the location), a “New York Strip” and even a “Chopped Sirloin” steak for the children.

I loved, and now long for, the “Triple Nickel Garlic Meatloaf” ($14.95). The name refers to the company’s 555 Restaurant in Long Beach, where the meatloaf is a signature dish. A slab the size of a woman’s pocketbook is smothered with a deeply rich, slightly peppery mushroom gravy. There’s a hint of heat (ancho, perhaps) in the meatloaf itself, so make sure to have your beverage handy.

Bored with bovine? Lou and Mickey’s offers more than a dozen seafood selections as well as a spattering of pasta dishes and a half dozen chicken dishes.

House-made desserts are big enough to share — unless you have an eating problem like I do — and yes, there’s even a chocolate sundae.

Thirty-some years later my grandpa is still a track man, and he will always be a meat and potatoes man. Although it is highly unlikely he would pick up the tab these days, I know he’s going to love to sit at the end of the table and hold court at Lou and Mickey’s.