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Lucky's Steakhouse in Imlay City is one of four owned by veteran restaurateur Lucky Vasilukis. The others are in Davison, Fenton and Clio. If you like one, you'll probably like them all, since they share the same menu.

On a recent visit to the restaurant, Marquee torn between the New York strip sandwich and Lucky's Prime Time Sandwich.

Our server, Hannah, said with a smile the choice depended on how much you like onions and mushrooms. We like 'em a lot, so we went with the Prime Time. The Prime Time is a 10-ounce slab of prime rib buried under a mountain of sautŽed mushrooms, onion and Monterey jack cheese stacked on a slab of Lucky's house bread, the same bread you'll find at Blind Fish in Lapeer.

Don't even contemplate picking this thing up with your hands. It's knife and fork time boys and girls. This is not something for the light of appetite. Although it comes with a slice of lettuce and tomato, that's more of a mini side salad than a sandwich topping.

The deli dill was as it should be -- was cold, biting tart and crunchy.

While the sandwich comes standard with steak fries, we opted for the few extra pennies to get onion rings. It was money well spent. Our team back at Marquee headquarters was pleasantly surprised to discover Lucky's onion rings stay crispy when microwaved -- a rare find.

Lucky's interior seating area is darkish without being claustrophobic. It's divided into a large main room with a smaller bar area, with the obligatory buck head mount over the bar. Both have cream colored walls trimmed with dark brown tongue and grove wainscoting and black and white prints of Lapeer County and New York in the 30s.

We noticed the straight-backed booths lining the walls fill up first. The bar has step-up tables and booths. It's easily the classiest joint in Imlay City. And while it might not be Grosse Pointy, it would hold its own in most points south.

Assistant manager Mikann Thompson said because of its location, Lucky's is a favored meeting place for business types from across the Thumb and metro Detroit. The fact they offer a full bar doesn't hurt. We found a bottle of Italian '08 Pinot Noir from the Cavit Collection sitting on our table. It was tempting, but...

Since the team was waiting, we grabbed a New York turkey sandwich to go and headed west. "It tastes like grilled turkey," a somewhat surprised team member said. All too often, a sandwich like this is little more than lunch meat and lettuce.

Lucky's is a couple of levels up from that. The team couldn't quite identify the sauce, which they described as ranch-like and very good.

While the place is a steakhouse, Thompson said the best thing on the menu is Lucky's grilled salmon. This might be a biased opinion based on the fact she doesn't eat beef or chicken, but Thompson said she has several customers who order it two and three times a week. "It's really good," she said of the farm raised salmon.

Thompson, a self-described restaurant person, said she enjoys the diversity at Lucky's. "Our head chef is Iraqi. We've got a couple of Hispanic cooks. We've got young and old. It's great." She said the restaurant's bartender, Diane Goodlock, is "the best."

Lucky's Steakhouse is at 2000 South Cedar St. in Imlay City -- just look for the full parking lot on the west side of the highway.

Hours are Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Fridays 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturdays noon to 11 p.m.; and Sundays noon to 9 p.m. Diners can reach them at (810) 724-4100.

Check out the menu at www. luckyssteakhouse.com