The luck of the Irish was with me this week – I visited Micki’s on Main the week they were serving green beer and introducing a new menu! I was too late for green beer, so I delighted in the new menu, reflective of the power of change.

I say the power of change because I visited Micki’s a few months ago and my experience that day was a disappointment. I imagine though, when you’ve been restaurateurs as long as the owners of 440 Main Restaurant and Bar have, reinvention is part of the cycle, and my last visit must have hit the lull before renewal. And I’m happy to report on the renewal.

Micki’s on Main restaurant, formerly known as the bar attached to 440, has patio and sidewalk seating overlooking Fountain Square. The staff at Micki’s endearingly refers to it as “the grill” serving lunch as the companion restaurant to 440 that serves only dinner. As is the case with 440, Micki’s menu leans toward Cajun recipes and techniques, but this new menu expands into some light salads, a stir fry entr/e and even a veggie lasagna for an international reach.

My dining companion and I came in for a late lunch and were greeted by a jovial, informed and attentive waitress. We had the opportunity to witness the shift change from lunch to dinner, and the waitress treated the situation professionally with style and compassion.

The rest of the wait staff could have used a lesson about teamwork from the fighting Irish this week – my experience that day was that their focus was reserved for their tables alone and after our waitress left, we had long waits for everything.

We actually lucked out with the waitress, because we had planned to sit outside. Mardi Gras collided with St. Patty’s day, so the beads and clovers (not to mention the weather) drew us inside. Indoor dining at Micki’s is a one-of-a-kind, low light atmosphere enhanced by the charm of cookbooks, novels and lanterns that line the shelves above the wall of booths.

Appetizers were not an option until the evening, so we ordered a side of Cajun fries and a cup of gumbo to happily fill the void. The gumbo was a rich roux of a strong, stew-like stock with okra, sausage, green peppers, rice and a variety of other spices and veggies. It was rich with chunks of each ingredient (although the menu description included chicken and shrimp, which must have missed) and just spicy enough to enjoy. I don’t know how the chef did it, but each bite was spicy in and of itself, but the heat did not escalate as I ate on, which often happens when I eat spicy food. The fries were fun and unique, with blackened seasoning sprinkled on perfectly crisp, thick-cut fried potatoes.

My dining companion enjoyed a new salad called the Athena Greek tuna salad – a goddess-light, yet flavorful dream of lettuce greens, seared sashimi tuna, feta cheese, red onion, kalamata olives, tomato and cucumber with a house vinaigrette served with a peppered crispy flat bread. It was a challenge, but getting one serving of each ingredient in each bite made for a subtly flavorful experience.

I had a hard time deciding between the veggie lasagna, the blackened grouper, the muffaleta or a hot brown (only because the waitress said it was the best hot brown within 100 miles), but I opted for a Bayou Chicken salad instead. This was a grilled Cajun chicken breast (same spices as the French fries), baby spinach leaves, candied pecans and bleu cheese crumbles with a balsamic vinaigrette. The menu noted the pecans were both spicy and sweet, but I didn’t get that flavor combination. The balsamic in the vinaigrette was pleasingly subdued, allowing for the natural goodness of the spinach, bleu cheese and crunchy pecans to shine through.

Micki’s has taken a few things off the menu, like the cheese steak that was problematic when I visited months ago, and replaced them with an inventive mix of blackened and Cajun delights, a few southern staples and some unique new eats that will surely become your favorites before the new summer restaurant season has even begun.

— Our anonymous food reviewer gives new restaurants a six-week grace period before reviewing. To comment, contact managing editor Mike Alexieff at 783-3235 or via e-mail to malexieff@bgdailynews.com.