Lu & Joe's Restaurant & Lounge

We have been driving past this funky joint for the past 20 years on our way from Rockville to my MiL's house in Westminster. I am so happy we finally stopped in for lunch so now I never have to again. There was one server working the entire floor and he was doing a great job. He definitely had his hustle on! He was friendly, attentive, and efficient. The chicken satay was a nice snack for a starter. Chicken was well seasoned, grilled nicely, and not dried out. Some cucumbers and red onion in fish sauce was a nice dipping sauce, but not really a proper sub for a simple prik nam pla. I went safe with a club sandwich. On the plus side, it had a generous portion of bacon for a club sandwich. But, while tasty, that bacon was very salty. And I am pretty tolerant of salt. Nice crisp lettuce and fresh (January) tomato. Very slim portion of ham and turkey. Basically, one thin layer of cold cuts. It was really more of a BLT with a couple slices of turkey and ham. Meh! My wife's pad thai was equally underwhelming. Huge portion but fairly bland. Mostly all noodle with a bit of egg, scant green onion, and a few bean sprouts. Nice sweetness but completely lacking the tang of tamarind that is the hallmark of pad thai. Zero cilantro and no limes to squeeze on. In terms of atmosphere... I don't really get it. Definitely a quirky, dive, biker aesthetic. But low budget like the way a kindergarten teacher might decorate their classroom when the principal gives them $20 for supplies. No background music of any kind. That always helps create a creepy vibe imo. And COLD AF!! As in, I do not think the building has central heating. There were a few heaters mounted to the wall but they could not keep up on this cold January afternoon. One other thing deserves to be mentioned. I ordered a Stella Artois on draft. Stella is my beer of choice for lunch. I know what Stella tastes like. This was not Stella Artois. It was either one of their other skunky drafts like Miller or Budweiser, or the keg was so stale that the beer had spoiled. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We're disappointed! This is a "biker bar" with ok food. We came based on ratings, but the menu was more than food quality. The Thai didn't taste Thai, very stingy with/ wasabi, and fake crab in the pad Thai.Apple Strudel saved the day, earning that 3rd star.

Little did I know about this hidden gem, minutes from my home. So glad I decided to give it a try. Let's talk Thai! Unbelievably exquisite! The Thai coconut soup tastes like a dish from a 5-star restaurant, respectively. Huge portion and plenty of spices too! Full flavor, generous abundance of chicken and shrimp. The rice entrees and chicken skewers, were just as scrumptious. The service is always top-notch. You are treated like family, the very moment you walk through the door. I am so pleased to have such a great restaurant very close to home. I highly-recommend the cuisine to anyone who loves Thai food or those craving burgers, pasta or something in-between. Thanks Lu and Joe's for a very pleasant experience. I will be returning soon!

Hmmmmm... what to eat tonight? American or Thai food? Here's a solution - Lu & Joe's restaurant in Howard County. My in-laws introduced us to this unique and wonderful establishment. It is the best of both worlds. Delish American food and Delish Thai food with hearty portions. The parking lot is diverse too with Harleys and Cadillacs. If you go, make sure you ask for Jeff. He will make you smile. It is rustic, not fancy with a great vibe.

We have passed by this place many times over the last year and finally made a point to go for dinner. Friends stared us toward the Thai food but the group loves seafood so we tried that as well.We started with, crab dip, steamed oysters and crab soup. The crab did was good but a little thinner than we are used too. It did have large chuncks of crab in it. We asked them to mix cream of crab and Maryland crab soups together and they did. The flavors were good, but the soup was not even warm, it would have been great if it were hot. Our oysters arrived raw...see pictures, but they corrected that ans steamed them for us. They were large and tasty and even two in the group who are not fans of oysters tried them and said they were good. For dinner we had stuffed Rock fish, stuffed shrimp, and pad Thai. I have to say the pad Thai was the best of the three! I would go again for Pad Thai. The rockfish and shrimp were fine. We all agreed it was not bad but far from amazing. Had a side Caeser, broccoli and mashed potatoes with the seafood entrées. They too were fine, but again not great. Service was slow, it took a long time to get our food. It was very busy and all tables were full. There were only two people working thr dining room and we were told by a friend our waitress was brand new. If that was the case, she did pretty well given how busy it was and the limited help.

Food was awesome. This place has character. Got the bacon cheeseburger and it was great.

The drunken noodles are so good! I have dined in and ordered carry out and have had such a great experience. The staff is friendly making it a wonderful environment for all ages.

We went after shopping and had a great time. The fried shrimp app is amazing. Jeff waited on us and he is simply the best! My husband loves the Rueben sandwich and I had the Shrimp fried rice. Still as good as ever! The new owner is keeping Lu and Joe's as it was. Don't hesitate to go!

I study the menu and peruse through the American selections and the Thai food selectionsI am very familiar with Thai food, and I found the selection very limited Still, it's nice to see that they're offering more than just very basic items I specifically so like a basic hamburger with cheese, and I ordered it medium rare I usually order hamburgers, medium rare what I want to evaluate the culinary per hours of a place to see if they can actually make every pair of medium rare hamburger, which is a warm red center What I got was very flat burger, which was moist, but medium at best claim that it was half pound before cooking more like it was 6 ounces from my experience The serving was well presented, and the waitress was very attentive, and made me feel of these and welcome I wish the bottom was maybe toasted a little bit more and the coleslaw that I got was very creamy but a little on the sweet side probably prepared with a lot of sugar The prices for the hamburger which is in the $89 range and the decor and the atmosphere put me back a time anywhere from about 30 to 40 years ago and of course the clientele generally come in a place was in the age 50 turn off maybe to their 70s This place has at home you feel that you would find in a central Maryland restaurant It's refreshing to see a place that would have this kind of atmosphere price range, and consideration for the quality of service for their clientele thumbs upThe food could've been a little bit better like a hand formed hamburger that was truly a heavy side of 8 ounces maybe 9 ounces in their play places that will do this and prepared on the open flame grill instead of a flat iron grill

We have eaten here twice. The Thai food is fantastic! We had fried rice, chicken & pork curry, & pad thai (pork & chicken). Everything was fresh & flavorful. Thai food is one of our favorite cuisines, & Lu & Joe's have some of the best we have had. The service is excellent. We highly recommend Lu & Joe's.