Huge variety of food to choose from. Our table of 5 had Burgers, kabobs, salads, shrimp and catfish, a large variety of options. All seemed to be happy with their choices. We started with the cheese curds and they were tasty. When we arrived, they told us 30 minute wait so we wandered around the attached western store and were seated in 15-20 minutes. The place smells of steakhouse and rodeo arena combined and it is a wonderful blend of aromas. I would imagine that this would be the scents of a 1800's cattle drive. Unfortunately, the arena was not active on the night we went, but having this option to watch any of the events would be a highlight of the evening. I recommend this place for a good meal when in the Carthage/ Joplin area. I am sure it will become one of my families go to places as we come to see family in the area. You can Throw on your boots and cowboy hat or your tennis shoes and khaki shorts and you won't be disappointed with your choice for the evening! read more

Great atmosphere and delicious food. Service was great and waitress was wonderful. Unfortunately we got there too late to watch the event. I wish they would post the times of the event somewhere and if it is I must have missed it. read more

Great steaks and service. Don't miss it! Fun place with rustic atmosphere and great food read more

Always a solid choice when we are in the Carthage/Joplin area! In eight years of visiting the area, many times here and never disappointed! The steak is always top notch! We always have to stop in the store for shoes, boots or a bag! Thank your for the great food in a unique location and always good service! It's a plus to be there on show/rodeo nights for dinner and a show! read more

Food was good but the show was great and the service was fast. Delicious onion rings.

Super cool place to visit! We were on a RV trip and found this place along the way! So glad we stopped here! Good food and got to watch some barrel racing! read more

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One of my favorite places to eat! The food portions are huge and getting to watch all fhe horses is a plus!

This is a very fun place to enjoy a good steak or other "down home cookin" while watching the various activities taking place in the adjacent horse arena. Family friendly with good service. read more

This is one of the most unusual places, interesting, fun to eat in SE Missouri - and the food is fantastic! But before I go into all of that, let's talk Covid. Jasper County, MO is not taking Covid very seriously, and this restaurant is no exception. You will want to visit this restaurant at a non peak time, until we get Covid better under control. This review is going to be about the food, service and quality. I would love to know the history of Lucky J's. I have been to other indoor arenas and you are generally lucky if you can find a decent snack bar. To find an arena with a quality restaurant - total unicorn! The ambience of this place is definitely built upon a western theme. Heck, they even have a really nice western store attached to the restaurant. You can drop in, pick up a pair of boots, a decorative cow hide and grab a nice dinner. The store is a great place to kill time while you are waiting for a table. We were seated in the part of the restaurant where you faced windows looking into the arena. My grandkids loved this. The seating/chairs were not super comfortable, but they were incredible to look at. Not sure who made the seating, but the chairs were a work of art. The service was terrific. Our waitress was honest and helpful. She never let our drinks run dry and she made sure that our salads/dinners came out quickly. Everything exceeded our expectations. The bread was baked fresh in house. The side salads were premium. The onion straws were hand battered. The steaks were all good cuts and generous portions. The cinnamon apples were ridiculously good - like something you would expect from your grandma's kitchen. Lucky J's is famous for having a "Cake of the Day", but they were out when we were there. My granddaughter wanted a piece of cheesecake so we ordered that instead. The cheesecake was the only thing that was mildly disappointing. It wasn't bad cheesecake, but after the meal we had - I would have expected it to be a little more original. Although I will mention that you can order the cheesecake with those apples on top of it! (I would eat a pair of dirty socks off a cowboys' feet with those apples poured on top!) Lucky J's is a little off the beaten path, but it is a path you definitely want to travel! read more

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Food is honestly just mediocre. Mac n cheese taste like it came out of a box. Steak is extremely fatty but when you do get some meat it is tasty. On two separate occasions they have messed up my payment I don't what is so hard about looking to make sure it's the right order before swiping someone's card then having to get a manager to fix it. The building is nice and I think it's awesome to be able to watch the arena while eating but maybe you should put on the schedule if it is going to be in the arena or outside..... was planning on watching barrel racing while eating and get there and find out it's down the road outside. read more

This has become a perfect place to go for a great meal while in Carthage. My family often meets in Carthage, and Lucky J can accommodate our group of 8. The only issue would be knowing to check their website to see the restaurant schedule. They are a legitimate horse arena, and the hours coordinate with the arena schedule. We typically go on Saturday when they open at 5. It gets busy fast. My teriyaki steak was cooked to perfection. I can't say they have ever messed up. And if you like a sweeter lemonade, try the lemonade. It's really good! read more

Great food. Wonderful place. Love the shopping. Lots of entertainment. Family friendly!

Wow, the steak was outstanding...well, actually it was butchered and lying on my plate, but I digress. Delicious ribeye. One of the best I've ever had, and I am kind of a discerning carnivore if I do say so. Service is top notch and the atmosphere here is nice. read more

Lucky J Restaurant and Arena - Steakhouses Near Me - Carthage, Missouri

Great food great atmosphere great service!!!! Dog show while eating was a bonus!!!! Happened upon this place when passing they and highly recommend read more

Love the food the service and the family environment and entertainment. Definitely recommend you won't be sorry.

Worth a stop! We really enjoyed this restaurant. Great service and very cool western decor. Pulled pork is house smoked and excellent! Bacon wrapped filet was really good as well. Prices are reasonable. read more

We had a great experience good was awesome except for the Buffalo chicken dip! Very sour. She was very nice and we enjoyed our meals

*Buyers Beware* I couldn't be more disappointed in this boot store, I expected more from this arena that's always been great and that I have spent 15+ years supporting. I was told by the lady helping me in the store that my boots would not stretch nearly as much as a normal pair of boots (they were big bass, which I've never owned before) and my size would be fine, that was a lie. They stretched more than any pair of boots I've EVER owned. I called them to ask what my options were and if I could return them, exchange them, or if they could do something since what I bought for $500 wasn't as I was told. I simply got "sorry, we can't do anything for you" they were worn TWICE. Once inside to try and once to church. I will never spend $500 on another pair of boots there again. I try to shop and support local businesses as much as possible and I am very disappointed by this. Just know before you buy boots there, you cannot return them or exchange them. I caution you to ask questions and know the return policy before you spend your money there. I took the word of the employee and that was my mistake. Please make sure to get a person that knows boots if you are there shopping so you don't end up in the same situation. The steakhouse and arena have always been good but I cannot say the same for the boot store and I'm extremely disappointed by that. read more

Decent place to eat the mushrooms are good would of been 5 stars but the chairs and seating are weird to me

I ate here on the way up to Kansas City. My husband wanted to eat at a more "Country" place haha, and I don't think we could have gotten more country than this place. It's definitely a unique atmosphere. The restaurant is also a horse venue. There was no entertainment or shows going on while we visited, but there were a ton of people riding their horses in the inside venue. There are two parts of the restaurant. One part is more of a bar area and it has a window looking into the horse venue, the other part does not look into it. I didn't realize it until a little later, but this is a smoking restaurant (this is why it is not rated high). When we arrived they asked me if we wanted to sit in the bar or in the other room. I said the other room (which is the room you first walk into and where the hostess is). No one cared to mention that one was smoking and one was "non-smoking" which in my opinion is smoking because we share the same air (it is not closed off). I didn't realize there was a sign up high that said we were in the "non-smoking" room until later. I realized it was a smoking restaurant when I walked my daughter through the bar area so we could go out to the horse venue and multiple people were smoking. I was disappointed and thought that smoking restaurants didn't really exist anymore. They need to be more clear with their customers too. By the time we realized it was smoking our food was about ready to come out, so we ended up stating. The food was pretty good. I ordered the little J steak and it was cooked perfectly. Everyone else liked their food too. The horse venue is cool to watch. There are two doors you can go out of (from the bar) to see the horses. To the left it is more off to the side. To the right, you can take stairs up and sit above and watch them. There is a store connected to the restaurant in the front, full of everything a cowgirl or cowboy could want :). Side note - when we were driving out here, it definitely seemed at first like we were driving to someone house haha, but don't worry keep on going and you will find it! read more

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Stopped in here for dinner years ago and we were so pleased that we talked about it until we were able to come back into the area again. Both times my wife ordered their steak salad. She talked about it so much that I tried it this time as well. It was very delicious and I'll definitely get it again when we go back. The really cool thing about this restaurant is that it is attached to an arena that you can watch through the window if they are doing anything. I know they practice rope herding and rodeo/horse tricks. They were doing this the first time we were there. This last time however, they didn't have anything going on. More reason to go back another time, I guess. read more

Everything we've tried is great... steaks are wonderful! The atmosphere is rustic. Love it when the have events or even when people are just practicing with their horses in the arena!! Always entertaining! read more

We recently moved to Carthage from the "big city" and have been very pleased with the cool, small unique businesses we find. Lucky J's tops the list and we are already priming our kids for the Horse events and such starting in the fall. My wife and I had lunch here and the restaurant was very cool, food was excellent and the western wear store has a lot of quality clothing and boots. We'll definitely be back read more

The food and service was amazing!!! So good and very fresh! The homemade onion rings were great as were the steaks.

Whenever I travel I always ask the front desk what they recommend locally. Quality Inn in Carthage, MO didn't disappoint in the recommendation of Lucky J's. The portions are large, the prices were reasonable and the staff was very accommodating. Will definitely eat here again if ever back in the area!!! read more

This was a fun and unique place to eat. The pork tenderloin was delicious. My husband got a steak. We watched horses being trained thru a glass window while eating. An amazing place to eat!. read more

This place we found on yelp. I was beginning to wonder if we were at the right place when we got there. After we went inside, the decor set the mood for steak. It was so tender and cooked perfectly as I requested. If I'm back in the area, I'm definitely ducking in there. I hate nothing was going on in the arena at the time we ate. read more

We drove out of our way to go to dinner here after reading the reviews... Our waitress had 2 big tables and several small tables with a few of them in another room. Needless to say the service was slow. We ordered fried catfish, filet mignon, and Lazy J house cut steak for our children (they won't cook the children's steak to order - only well done). The catfish was extremely salty and both steaks lacked flavor. Not worth the drive. read more

The most unique joint in the area of Carthage hands down! Nothing bad to say about this place. The burgers are fantastic and the steaks are great. The staff is friendly and the service is quick. If you visit the Carthage area this place is a must! Try a buffalo chicken wrap! read more

With all the buffets in this town....this place not only has the best pulled pork sandwitches and curly sues"that's fryes"anywhere, but it's the only place with a young crowd in town. It also has an arena behind a glass wall where some nights they have all sorts of entertaining shows with your dinner. J is a must if u should have to go to Carthage:) read more

Lucky J House Steak was delicious!! Stuck around to see a roping event and it was a lot of fun. It was busy but did not feel crowded or like we had to wait. Great experience!! read more

Lucky J Restaurant and Arena - Steakhouses Near Me - Carthage, Missouri

What a fun place to go. You can sit in the bar area and watch the horse happenings through the windows looking into the indoor arena. The food is pretty good. Service is fast. read more

Food.... Awesome. Service..... Awesome. Beer..... Ice cold. Come check it out and enjoy some good times. And if you are into rodeo chicks it might be worth 6 stars. read more

Lucky J Restaurant and Arena - Steakhouses Near Me - Carthage, Missouri