Lucky Pierrot – Background

Lucky Pierrot is a chain of hamburger restaurants located in Hakodate which is located in Hokkaido in Japan. Founded in 1987, Lucky Pierrot has 17 restuarants…all located in Hakodate. It’s immensely popular there.

So what makes it unique? In the age of franchising and trying to make as much money as possible, Lucky Pierrot has resisted doing so. It’s only found in Hakodate. The owner, Ichiro Oh, has kept the local brand, well, local, despite overtures to grow the brand outside of Hakodate. All ingredients used at the restaurants are local and fresh which wouldn’t make it possible to open restaurants outside of Hakodate. In a time when restaurant chains are always looking to expand and grow, Lucky Peirrot has done the opposite in order to ensure their quality standards don’t suffer. It’s quite a refreshing and admirable stance in this day and age.

Something else that’s unique is that all 17 restaurants have their own individual flair and personality. There isn’t a standard Lucky Peirrot layout that all 17 follow. So really each time you step into one of them it’s a little different experience since they all have a different theme.

The Experience

There’s a lot going at at Lucky Pierrot’s. The restaurant I went to was pretty hectic with the decorating and VERY colorful. It’s pretty kitschy but in a positive, fun vibey way. They also have a portion of the store with various souvenirs. They even have their own brand of drinks, including an energy drink!

The menu is pretty expansive with a variety of food. There’s burgers, sandwiches, curry plates, pork cutlet bowls and plates, hamburg and steak dishes, and fried noodles. There’s A LOT to sort through. I already knew what what I wanted to try here though. The Chinese Chicken Burger is the original burger and what Lucky Pierrot is well-known for so I had to give it a try!

The Food

I got the #1 combo which consisted of the Lucky Pierrot Chinese Chicken Sandwich, fries with cheese / gravy, and drink (550 yen, $3.66) and also got a soft serve vanilla ice cream on the side (290 yen, $1.93).

The chicken sandwich consists of two pieces of fried chicken lathered in sauce (think orange chicken essentially) with lettuce and LOTS of mayonnaise. That’s it. Chicken, lettuce, and mayonnaise. It’s a very simple sandwich. The pieces of chicken are tasty and are actually quite tender. There’s just way too much mayonnaise. I had to scrape some of it out. Overall, it’s a pretty decent chicken sandwich.

The cup of fries is lathered in a combination of like a cheese sauce and gravy mixture. I’m not exactly sure what it is exactly to be honest. The taste reminded me of dipping sauce for tonkatsu. So pretty interesting taste and texture to it. The fries themselves weren’t too bad. Nothing to really write home about.

The soft serve ice cream had trademark Hokkaido ice cream traits: rich, creamy, and sweet. I love this style of ice cream. It has very distinct taste to it.

The Verdict

When visiting Hakodate Lucky Pierrot is a must visit. It’s pretty much like if you had never eaten In N Out, you 100% are going to to give it a try if you visit a state that has it. Lucky Pierrot is the In N Out of Hakodate. If you’re visiting Hakodate, you have to try it.

The food that I had was pretty good and very affordable. Nothing really stood out as something that was mind blowing good, but I only had the Chinese Chicken Sandwich and there’s a ton of other options to choose from. The ambience is fun and it’s just a fun to place to come in and grab a quick bite to eat. If you’re not a fan of clowns though, maybe skip it.