Joe’s Stone Crab for LUNCH.

I’ll be the first to advise peeps to check out some of the city’s more extravagant restaurants during lunch.  Often you get the same quality of food, ambiance and service for a fraction of the dinner price tag.  Plus, you’ll usually find at least a smattering of items that aren’t available at dinner – many times a fantastic sandwich or two.

Joe’s Stone Crab (60 E. Grand Ave.) is no exception.  No need to get an expensive steak or pounds of stone or king crab.  Joe’s is housing a secret that only those in the know order – their fried chicken.  High quality chicken is generously coated in a secret recipe spice mix.  The execution and technique that’s used is the same that’s put forward for the rest of their stellar dishes.

Extra crispy and well seasoned skin give way to impeccably moist and juicy meat inside.  The plate comes with dark and white meat and arrives to the table hot and fresh out of the frier.  It’s consistently excellent time after time, plus it’s reasonably priced and comes with all the top notch service and ambiance Joe’s has to offer.

The burger at Joe’s, as one would imagine, is another good choice when dining for lunch.  They use trimmings from their prime steaks and the same high temperatures they use to sear their other meat on their burger.  Not too big, the burger is cooked properly, seasoned well with salt and pepper, and dressed with usual fixins on a toasted roll.  I add grilled onions, crispy smoky bacon, and a side of mayo and I’m good to go.

The burger isn’t one of the biggest or most exotic around, but it’s well done and doesn’t make you feel like a hippo when you have the rest of the day ahead of you.  There’s no reason to go broke when eating at a high class restaurant.  Go for lunch and try the same quality experience but served between two slices of bread, or just out of the frier.

I’m hungry.  Let’s eat!