LuLu Cafe

Pros: Good atmosphere
Cons: Food

I went to LuLu's about 2 years ago and loved it. I still remember those mussels. Mmmmm. The food was fantastic and the evening superb.

My return visit last week was very disappointing. Everything we ordered was sub par. The pork was dry...

Pros: Valet Parking
Cons: Worst Service in History

I recently did a two-week eating circuit with my parents who were in town, and one evening we found ourselves at Lulu.

I had heard about the noise factor (yes, indeed it is deafening), heard about the reservations fiascos (we actually sat on...

Pros: Unusual foods in an unusual setting.
Cons: Expensive, the food was good, not great.

Please Note: The name of this restaurant is Restaurant Lulu not LuLu Cafe, although I am reviewing the correct restaurant.

I am reviewing Restaurant LuLu. On our way to Hawaii we stayed overnight in San Francisco and took out to...

Pros: close to Moscone Center
Cons: expensive valet, average food, high priced

Last week a few friends and I had dinner at Lulu's. We started with the grilled mussels, a house specialty, and they were absolutely wonderful. They were so tender that the mussels practically broke apart when you tried to get them out of the shells....

Pros: Good food. Wild atmosphere. Rowdy, fun, energetic.
Cons: Challenging location, loud, loud, loud.

It is a good thing we had reservations, otherwise we would have waited, become annoyed, and not enjoyed the chaotic atmosphere of Lulu’s renovated warehouse dining room—loud, vibrant, and warm with revelry. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. Nor...

Pros: Trendy (still), decently priced, good food
Cons: Dark and noisy

It's a nice enough place with decent food and hip people, that is continuously recommended by SF-ers who are in the know.

However, it can get quite full so any kind of real conversation seems practically impossible when the tables are so...

Pros: Good food, happening crowd, nice interior
Cons: Loud, loud, loud

If you are looking for a quiet evening at a well-regarded San Francisco restaurant, you'll hate LuLu's. With a noise decibel rating that easily contends with a New York city sidewalk, LuLu's "ambience" is one of constant chatter, endless...

Pros: Pleasant, casual atmosphere
Cons: Mediocre service, small portions

Every review I've ever read about LuLu is overwhelmingly positive, so I was surprised to find it a mediocre dining experience. Maybe in another city it would stand out more, but in San Francisco where there's more great food than one can hope to consume...

Pros: Excellent food and winelist, walking distance from BART.
Cons: Small tables, no seating until the entire party has arrived, not vegetarian friendly.

Preparations to dine at LuLu (or anywhere in the City) were painstakingly made nearly a month in advance. For a suburbanite like myself, no detail could be left unattended for venturing into the City.

It's an hour drive from the Valley into...

Pros: excellent food, central location
Cons: noisy, sometimes slow service

LuLu is an upscale family-style restaurant for folks who aren't dining out with their families -- great big plates of food that you share with everyone at your table.

The last visit to LuLu was with several co-workers for our holiday luncheon...

Pros: Great food at reasonable prices
Cons: Arrogant staff and a noisy dining room

LuLu serves wonderful simple dishes at reasonable prices. The pan-roasted mussels make LuLu worthy of a visit from faraway places. Nowhere prepares mussels as well and as simply as LuLu. Also, very few places can make roasted pork as well as Lulu, who is...

Pros: yummy desserts and appetizers
Cons: sometimes the food and service is inconsistent

If you love sweets that aren't overly rich, then you must come to Restaurant LuLu. Their dessert menu consists of Blueberry or Apricot Tarts, Panna Cotta with fresh fruit, Warm Chocolate cake that's to die for, Vanilla souffle crepes with nectarine...

Pros: good food
Cons: noisy

I like lulu's especially the opportunity to do a little wine tasting with your meal. I went there twice now and went to their sister restaurant in palo alto (Zebibos). Excellent. I really like their weekly specials. The duck isn't so bad, I think that...

Pros: Very good food served family style. Great roast chicken.
Cons: Noisy, slightly haphazard service. Parking requires an effort.

Ever since it opened, I have made an annual Christmastime pilgrimage from Santa Cruz to San Francisco to LuLu to eat California eclectic cuisine served family style. At first, the dining experience was superb, a combination of great food lovingly...

Pros: great food reasonably priced
Cons: somewhat barnlike

I've probably visited Lulu's more often than any other single restaurant in San Francisco. Why? Two reasons, the Frito Misto and the Warm Chocolate Cake.
The Frito Misto is a lightly fried collection of artichoke slivers with the occasional...