Time for my first restaurant review! I decided to start off with a vegan/vegetarian restaurant so I would have plenty of dishes to talk about. I had been dying to try Lulu’s since I moved back to Saint Louis, and finally got to after me and some friends went to the STL women’s march (which was also amazing and supportive and inspiring). Lulu’s brands itself as all plant based and sustainable, which I found very refreshing.
It is located off South Grand, the food hub of south city where many of my other favorite restaurants are. It’s fairly accessible and a good spot for brunch, a lunch date with friends or even dinner before catching a show. When we went (around 12:30 on a Saturday) it was packed. We got there right before the rush and the line was nearly our the door after we ordered.
Just to start off, I loved Lulu’s and can see why everyone has repeatedly recommended it. It’s delicious and has so many options, which was weird for me! For once I actually had to choose a menu item instead of selecting the default GF and vegan option. The whole menu is very well labeled indicating items that are gluten-less, nut-less, and soy-less. I went with my sister and she recommended a few menu items which was super helpful in narrowing my decision.
The three of us split the Loaded Nacho tater tots, as my sister insisted that the tater tots were amazing. They were. The tots were topped with carnitas jackfruit, their house made butternut squash cheese sauce, salsa, sour cream, jalapeños, cilantro, and green onion. The tots themselves have a nice zest Cajun seasoning on them and are ultra crispy on the outside but soft and potato-y on the inside, which served as an excellent base that held up well under the sauce. The jackfruit carnitas was the perfect mix of spicy and sweet from the seasoning and sour from the jackfruit which balance well with the cheese sauce. The texture was pretty similar to that of pulled pork, and had the perfect amount of mush and crisp. Butternut squash is such an ingenious base for a cheese sauce, providing the umami, body, and creaminess. It genuinely tasted cheesy which was a welcomed surprise. The additional toppings really rounded out the vibe of the dish. We got the large order and that would have been enough to fill me up. The price was good for all you got, coming in around $10.
My friend got the sweet potato falafel, and my sister got the buffalo cauliflower. Neither items were gluten free but the said both were fantastic, and my sister insists that the cauliflower is consistently of high quality. My friend really enjoyed her falafel, which came as a wrap on a pita. It was a bit over stuffed with lots of cucumber and lettuce, but the tzatziki was really tasty.
I got the mac and cheese with pesto sauce, at the encouragement of the till operator and I was not sorry. It was the same cheese sauce that came on the Nacho tots which I was delighted to have more of. In addition, it was topped with a walnut parmesan that was honestly pretty damn close to the real thing and added a nice crunch. As the till operator suggested, the pesto mixed in so well with the cheese sauce and resulted in more of a creamy pesto type dish. I would absolutely have this again and would love to try it with the other sauces on top (they will add chili, pesto, buffalo, or nacho sauce for no extra charge). I suspect it would also be delicious with carnitas jackfruit, mmm. Another dish I would definitely order again.
Overall I really liked Lulu’s. The atmosphere was pleasant even when it was busy, and the staff was polite and helpful. I liked that it was partially self service, where you order at the till and food was brought. They also had water and condiments openly available and it was self-bussing. There is also a ping pong bar upstairs! So I give the following rating
- Food: 8.5/10
- Atmosphere: 7/10
- Service: 9/10
- Price: 8/10
- Overall: 8.5/10
NOTE: I rate a 10/10 as above and beyond anything I have ever had so this is pretty good in my book! And I suspect the rating will improve as I try more menu items!
Green and Gluten Free 