Notes:

83W9+74R Hamden, Connecticut

NE corner w/ Putnam Ave.

Calling itself a ‘unique dining experience’ is selling itself short. Taking the food-truck concept to a whole new level of appeal and comfort, Lucky’s is a fabulous renovation of an articulated bus with ready window service and ample indoor seating — comfortable pub style, not cramped bus style — augmented with multiple TV screens, video game, coin telephone, and backed by warm Motown-era music. And this isn’t just some converted bus parked in a shopping plaza: Lucky’s can go wherever someone wants, for events or catering.

Chef Larry Lucky brings over a quarter century of top cooking knowledge and experience across the Northeast (plus charter-bus experience) to provide great food from reliable comfort fare such as dogs, burgers, wings, and fries to gourmet fare such as honey blackened salmon, a speciality.

Originally started in Fair Haven, Lucky’s moved to Newhallville in 2020. Stymied by the pandemic, like all businesses, they survived and had a grand reopening at the end of April 2022. Located near the Farmington Canal linear trail, Lucky’s also takes care of thirsty joggers and cyclists.

Though not a purpose-designed diner in the ‘true’ sense, Lucky’s revisits the original concept of the diner’s earliest days, when Sam Jones expanded on Walter Scott’s 1872 covered cargo wagon to a step-in mobile shelter for hungry pedestrians in 1882. Once you step into Lucky’s, the circle is complete.

Links:

• Lucky's Star Bus Cafe (Facebook)
• NH Indy article about this eatery