Lucy’s El Adobe Cafe

It always pains me to leave a not so great review, but this place took the cake for mediocre… and possibly worse. I spontaneously picked this spot across from Paramount Studios because my guy and I were craving Mexican food and it was right across the street. It was 7:30pm on a Wednesday night, and the place was dead. It took awhile for our server to come over but he was very nice. I noticed the chips we were served were being warmed in what looked like an old popcorn machine when we walked through the entrance on the left. The chips were bland and borderline stale. The margaritas were overpriced and made with the sweetest pre-​made mix I had ever tasted — no fresh lime juice, not even a fresh lime garnish! The menu is also overpriced for the quality of food. I wanted to order from the a la carte menu because I didn’t want the «dinner» option with soup, salad, and rice and beans, but it was noted that I wasn’t allowed to because I was in the patio area. The soup was… meh. The salad consisted of yellowish-​green iceberg lettuce with an over salty oil/​vinegar mix and one slice of tomato. I had one bite and pushed it aside. The combo plate of chicken tacos came with super bland Mexican rice, beans and cheese and two deep fried shell encased chicken tacos that were very underwhelming. I was hoping for a date night restaurant «pick-​me-​up» but this place definitely brought my foodie moodie down. You know it’s bad when I don’t want to order another round of margaritas!

Pricy AF. the waitress did not look happy to be there, made me feel uncomfortable asking her for anything. The place looks cool tho, but atmosphere is a zero!

Chicken enchiladas are good but over priced. This old school joint has grandmas recipe but the service is an abomination. I had to get up 3 times to get my server. She never came to check one me once. Bar tender is a true asshole. I asked him something, he made eye contact for 4 seconds, and then looked away. Fuck that guy. I normally leave 20% tip, tonight I had to contemplate giving 15%. Restaurant was completely empty the night all this happened.

Priced high tastes low. From the soup to the enchiladas I think you can go to Taco Bell and it will taste the same for a fraction of the price.

So far the soup tastes like dirty water and the salad was a few pieces of lettuce with a small slice of tomato. The main dish chicken enchiladas were actually tasty rice was dry. Overall unlikely to be back.

There is a reason this place is dead on a Friday night, awful food. I think they might be a Mexican restaurant with Chinese cooks! One wonders, how can there be a Mexican restaurant in LA that is this bad? lentil soup is beyond watery, sad salad, and it just goes downhill from there. Sorry to be so negative, but perhaps they will read this and ask their employees to cook some food that they would make at home.

Great place with a lot of history. Beautiful patio. Across the street from Paramount, some employees have worked here 30+ years! Lots of character, good margaritas and I enjoy their cheese enchiladas. I’ve been here 3 times, it’s consistent and reliable with a charming atmosphere.

I had the cheese enchilada dinner with soup, salad and blended margarita. Everything was good! Nothing to complain about so quit your whining ya tossers!

Lucy’s is awesome. Classic vibe. Food is great. Seriously it’s good. Old school mexican from a mom and pop type kitchen. I love it and I bet you will too.

I really don’t get all of these bad comments. I was there about a month ago and I thought the food and service was great! I am a Mexican food snob so if it was bad, I would tell you. Yes it is pricey, but you get soup, salad and your combo meal. $ 16 for all that is not bad. The place was a lot smaller than I thought it was. From the outside it looks big but it was super tiny inside. Unless there was another room that I didn’t know about. Parking is easy and great. I say try it!

stay away !! this is the worst mexican food i have ever eaten !!! the chips are way too thick and the salsa is horrible. all the food was bland and had no flavor.

It was probably the worst Mexican food I’ve ever had in Los Angeles. I think the food may have been redeemed if I had a margarita but I did not have time.
There is a huge upside though, they have their own parking lot which is great. And their service was very fast which I needed last night! So if you need a fast place and good parking to get a quick bite, not a bad place.

Lucy’s is an institution. Located a stone’s throw away from Paramount, it’s named Lucy’s after the original owner and maybe partly because Lucille Ball used to eat here.
It’s not the best Mexican ever but it does hit the spot.
I really loved the salsa that came with the free chips. They do make them fresh daily, I checked. It has a good amount of heat and the peppers are roasted so the smoky flavor permeates the sauce.
The strawberry margaritas are okay, nothing special, but come in big-​ish glasses. It’s enough for a «quick» meal.
I really liked the lentil soup that came with my order. While more watery than I’m used to, it had good flavor. I can’t say the same for the «salad» of one small tomato wedge and a few leaves of iceberg lettuce. It had too little flavor and the dressing felt old, stale, and very oily.
I had the Arroz Con Pollo as my main. I was thinking chicken and peppers was going to be too plain but I just had good Mexican food a couple of days ago and that was the only dish that called to me. I asked for it medium spicy.
When it came out, there was good flavor with the chicken and rice but it really wasn’t very spicy. The salsa was spicier. I enjoyed it though.
My friend had the combination plate with a taco, enchilada and tamale. No complaints from Jim, he’s a regular and finished his plate. I was surprised that the taco was served in a crunchy shell, everywhere has soft tacos now and I hardly see the crunchy variety served as default.
I would probably have rated Lucy’s closer to a 3 or 3.5 because the other reviews are correct: service is slow! We probably could have shaved more than 45 minutes off of our dining time if we didn’t have to wait for our orders to be taken, the bill given to us, to actual signing of the check. I think there was only one lady taking orders and she was all over the place. She’s really sweet though and gave me extra salsa to take with me so I kept the half star extra.
Don’t come here if you’re in a hurry though, you’ll end up frustrated.

If you have a large party, I’d recommend Lucy’s but that’s about it. The outside of the restaurant doesn’t look appealing at all. Not a good visual when driving by. When you walk in the door, the lighting in the place is so dim! It’s so dark that it is a little tough to see inside. There is plenty of seating, they have 3 sets of rooms indoors, and a pretty spacious outdoor patio that can accommodate plenty of people.
The place is way overpriced. Maybe they need to jack up the prices to pay the the sky-​high rent for such a big space. Service was okay. We sat outside on the patio because it was so dark inside and it was tough to be served because we were the only customers sitting out on the patio.
If I were to ever come back, I’d go for lunch. The lunch special, where you pick 2 items from a list of 4 or 5 and also a side of rice, beans or salad, is around $ 10, which is more than reasonable. When I took a look at the regular menu, a simple burrito was running for more than $ 12 – 13. The good thing is that the chips & salsa are unlimited.
I ordered one chicken burrito and one carne asada taco. The burrito was nothing to write home about. It was pretty average. Perhaps a little too soft and soggy. The taco was a good sized taco and had plenty of stuff inside. The shell wasn’t hard or soft… it was in between soft and hard which I thought was odd. Wasn’t good. Mediocre.
All in all, I thought this place was below par in terms of food and appearance. However, it wasn’t the worst Mexican place I’ve been to so I’d cut them some slack and give this place 2 stars.

This place has been here for decades, jerry brown and linda ronstadt have visits here back the first time he was governor. The prices here continue to be way to high. but the old school mexican combinations continue to shine be it be tacos, burritos or such with frinoles and rice too. modt plates also come with an iceburg salad and white bean
your at the studio and want mexican this is the place but i wouldnt drive very far for it

I’m approaching this review very simply– a 1 – 5 rating for each part of the experience:
Environment: 3 tvs are on old games, but they have a cool outside bar area. So dark inside. Tunes on the patio were great.
Staff: 3 not mean, not super nice
Service: 3 timely but not very personal and never asked if we wanted another beer
Bathroom: 1.5 Small and outdated, but super clean.
Chips and salsa: 3.5 salsa was tasty and chips were good
Guacamole: 3 probably the best thing we ate
Soup: 1.75 it was split pea– lacked flavor
Salad: 1 lettuce with oil and vinegar and one tomato, but the lettuce was crisp
Beef taco: 2.5 not much flavor in the meat
Chicken taco: 2 bland
Colorado burrito: 2.25 tried to cover up lack of flavor with sauce and cheese
Chicken enchilada: 2 no flavor. Bland. See above.
Rice: 0 not Spanish rice and no flavor.
Beans: 2 taste like they are from the can
Beer: 4 corona bottle
Overall– cool patio with tons of potential for a good time. Happy hour doesn’t really exist, but it should, so the patio will fill up. The food was lacking flavor and uniqueness. Very plain and didn’t stand out. This restaurant needs a make over– it’s outdated. Our check came on an old fashioned order book with no itemization even. The prices would be ok if the food was better or even if someone who worked there put a smile on. It was kind of depressing. Sorry Lucy.

First of all, the lighting in the restaurant was so dim, it was almost like they were trying to hide something from its customers…
The prices were ridiculously high for food I wouldn’t even give to my dogs. If you’re going to charge $ 12 for a burrito, it’d better be the best burrito in the world, not a mediocre excuse for a burrito.
The waitstaff was not very attentive at all. We were constantly left with empty drinks while he talked to his coworkers.
I’ve had better Mexican food at Taco Bell. And for that matter, better service at a Taco Bell.
Don’t eat here. You’ll regret it.

Every time I’m at one of the studios nearby, someone suggests Lucy’s, which I presume is some kind of Hollywood landmark. The place looks like a complete dive and I’m actually always surprised that the food is decently fresh and actually edible. It isn’t great by any stretch of the imagination, but it is the kind of Mexican food that Angelenos have eaten all their lives, so very familiar. Although, back in the day, a beef taco and cheese enchilada combo would set you back maybe $ 8, now it’s $ 14.
The drinks are ok, the chips are stale and the salsa is bland, but again, you’ve seen it all before.
I couldn’t figure out if the old, sarcastic, curmudgeon of a waiter was simply entertaining or insulting. I guess, he also adds something to the experience.
2.5 stars rounding up for the place surviving all these years.

First of all, these extreme negative reviews are very surprising. No one claims Lucy’s to be Michelin starred but seriously, it’s Mexican combination plates for gods sake. Review soon.
If the servers don’t get the tips, that’s pretty bad but I was served by 2 men who worked for Frank and Lucy Casado (Franks been dead 20 years) and they were extremely nice with great attitudes and a fondness for the history of the place without a hint of any animosity or bitterness. If the are being screwed on their tips, it sure doesn’t show with them or the kitchen.
Ordered combination plate. Plates come with a home cooked vegetable soup and a salad. Soup had good flavor and clearly home cooked although a little watery. Salad is decent sized and this dressing is excellent. I haven’t been in since I was a kid and it hasn’t changed. There’s a hint of garlic, and butter ! It’s truly unique and I’ve always liked it. It hasn’t changed. And the iceberg lettuce has portions of the crunchy meaty interior, not just loose weak leafs.
Combo plate — the fried chicken taco was fine, nothing greater or worse than any decent restaurant taco, rice nice and moist with good flavor. The refried beans have a nice grilled bit of smoke flavor and the cheese broiled nicely on top. What’s the matter with that. Now the cheese enchilada, it’s cooked perfectly with at least two cheeses in it and topped with a rich red enchilada sauce with scallions chopped scallions on one end and chopped onions on the other. Frankly a great cheese enchilada, simple well-​prepared and really tasty. The sauce kind of lakes into the beans on one side in the rice on the other no whole thing is really just good.
If $ 15 is too much for a three course meal of quality food in this historic and charming little restaurant that’s a piece of Los Angeles then don’t come here.
Oh by the way the margaritas are great not the sugary overly sweet margarita but something of quality with good tequila and a strong lime taste.

Ok. Initially, I was pissed when our group didn’t get our orders taken for 20 mins. However, upon closer examination of the bigger picture, I realized that it was 4 pm. That’s well after the time a restaurant it’s used to hammering out a giant lunch rush, and our rush was pretty big. We’re a film crew, and we’re on a rare break while shooting a show at Paramount. We’re used to the «do it now!» state of mind. We had an hour and when it’s like that, there’s no time for fucking around. There was 1 waiter though, and he was crazed… all of us ready to eat RIGHT NOW was overwhelming I’m certain. That said, in a restaurant setting, you have to be ready for anything (speaking from experience), and you should know how to work well under pressure.
Now on to the food. Delicious taco! Flash fried tortilla that was hot and crispy (with giant crunchy oil bubbles in it, yea!) and seasoned shredded chicken. Delish! I was pissed after I ate it because I didn’t order 2. Oh well, next time. My friends liked their margaritas… I didn’t have one, so I can’t really comment, but they looked winning.