We don’t normally get to downtown very often. Lately though, Michael and I have been honing our skills in finding the best parking spots downtown has to offer. On this trip we’d visit and get to know a restaurant we have seen many times, but never dined at before. Partly because it just never occurred to me to try “that” restaurant that sits right across the street from the convention center. Lou and Mickey’s is easy to spot next to the Gaslamp Quarter sign, with its lights shining brightly over 5th ave. They are part of the King’s Seafood Company family of restaurants which includes King’s Fish House and Water Grill (Los Angeles). They are looking to further expand in San Diego as I read they are set to open a San Diego Water Grill location in downtown soon. Steak and seafood are their specialty here at Lou and Mickey’s so we prepared accordingly.
We were invited to check out their major renovations with the bar area and it is much spacious now. It boasts a large open area, separate from the dining rooms, rife with long windows for the curious people watching eyes. Some revisions were made to the drink menu to coincide with the new look.
It had been a while since we had a good steak and to be honest, don’t find ourselves eating out for steak often. We started off with their Crunchy Iceberg Wedge with in house made bacon, tomato, and blue goat cheese. Wedge salads are funny in the sense that you get to do some of the work before it can actually get into your belly. Sometimes that means you get a better appreciation for what is in front of you. This may have been one of those times. Their dressing and bacon were fantastic. Before I knew it, the plate only had remnants of raw tomato left. 
There were so many things on the menu we wanted to try so we did our best to get a little bit of everything. The French Onion Soup came out super hot, with the gruyère and comté cheeses being just firm enough for the right chew, but gooey enough to separate in the right places. There was a deep onion flavor that had me reminiscing of that bowl of french onion soup we had in Paris on that cold winter night. No it wasn’t as earth shattering as the Paris bowl, but it still was very very good.
The crab cake of four years ago at Oceanaire was our favorite to date because of the huge lumps of crab meat and overall great flavor packed into a generally small package. This version had a little more crunch on the outside and although it did have a good amount of crab inside, it didn’t give as much flavor compared to the previous courses.
The sizzle and aroma of the steak as it was put forth in front of us gave me a slight chill up my spine and then a sudden calmness settled in. Over the years I’ve noticed food can have a funny effect on my body. Our waitress suggested the bone in variety so we went with the Filet Mignon and the Prime New York Strip “Kansas City.” Both were very tasty and cooked perfectly. The meat was super juicy and flavorful. They cook the meat with seasoned butter and I didn’t think it needed any other sauce or seasoning to accompany it. Personally I preferred the filet over the new york because it seemed more tender and had deeper flavor to the meat. I wanted to pick it up and devour every last morsel off of the bone by meals end. 
The accompanying sides gave us a nice break from the massive amount of meat and added a little freshness and differing textures to play with. The sautéed mushrooms were seasoned with Italian spices while the broccoli came with hollandaise. Boy were we full, but we were not done just quite yet.
There were a few desserts our waitress pointed out as being made fresh in house and we went with two of those. The Caramel Apple Cobbler with vanilla ice cream and King’s Key Lime Pie. Both were very tasty with the key lime pie winning me over. It was a large piece of pie, and I clearly was full but kept lifting that fork to grab more. As far as the apple cobbler, the hot/cold combination is great with ice cream and pie, and this was no different. With the size of the dessert it just seemed to get a little more soupier mid way through than we would have liked. However, the apple and crunchy crumbles paired with vanilla ice cream put us in reflective mode. We sat almost completely still for at least five minutes, full, but completely satisfied.
King’s Seafood built their own seafood distribution center where they handpick and deliver the seafood to all of their restaurants. I’d encourage you to check them out if you haven’t already. Their steaks were very nicely done and reminded me of what I was missing. When we venture back we may easily be convinced to do a surf and turf combo to get a better feel of their fresh seafood options.
Lou and Mickey’s
224 5th Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101
http://www.louandmickeys.com
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