Real Lobster Rolls For Philly?

Yup. That’s how things are looking right now, with the scheduled May 16 opening of Luke’s Lobster at 130 South 17th Street. And everything that’s got me excited about this place is plain in that picture right there.

Thing 1) They got the roll right–a flat-grilled and buttery, squared-off New England hot dog bun.

Thing 2) A lobster roll is supposed to be filled with lobster. Not lobster salad. Not lobster gunked up with a bunch of celery chunks and other filler. Just a little mayo on the bun, maybe–maybe–a little butter drizzled over the top and NOTHING ELSE. Anyone who does it different is doing it wrong, and Luke’s (apparently) is doing it right.

Thing 3) That lobster roll is sitting on a plank table with no tablecloth. As the lobster god intended.

Stuff that isn’t in the picture? A $15 price point (no, really). The sustainable lobsters (they’re coming from Luke’s own seafood company in Maine) and the fact that, when I told a couple of my New York friends that Philly was getting a Luke’s of its own (it’s a small chain, with locations in New York and Washington D.C. and a truck, which is my next wish for Philly), they all made that “Awwwww…” sound in the backs of their throats and told me how lucky I was that I wasn’t going to have to schlep all the way to Amsterdam Avenue for a fix.

Luke’s Lobster [Official]