03/04/08

Vegetarians and budget-conscious NU students nosh on noodles and more at this Pan-Asian favorite.

by Peter Behle

The Scene
Students from nearby Northwestern University flock to LuLu's for its cheap-date appeal. Families with young kids come for the nonexistent dress code; and friends gather for celebrations. Big orb paper lanterns lend atmosphere along with a colorful mural above the watch-them-cook counter. In one corner, a Buddha stands smiling--probably because the food's so good. On the way in, kids can grab (only to borrow) one of the Godzilla-like toys to play with during their meal.

The Food
The full menu divides into three sections: Dim sum offers hot and sour soup, mussels, and fried sesame balls. Salads and noodle soups include Vietnamese rice noodle salad, tempura shrimp salad, and udon noodle soup. Noodles and rice stir-fry covers dishes like bi bim bop, yakisoba, pad thai and wide rice noodles in oyster sauce. The bento box combines some of LuLu's best, including a crispy, fresh vegetable spring roll, a pot sticker, peanut sesame noodles, flavorful steamed spinach, and chicken salad with tangy ginger dressing.

• Pros: vegetarian-friendlyquick service
• Cons: noisylong waits

01/17/08

Wadded plastic wrap in soup, uninspiring food

by intercept789

I officially give up on Lulu's. I have lived in the area for years, and have eaten there a couple dozen times probably. The service was OK, and now they have a new location, it is a nice casual atmosphere, but in the end the food is always wanting. The quality of the food is below average, in particular the meats and seafood in the dishes. The spices and flavorings always seem mismatched somehow to the point where it just doesn't work somehow. I had given up on it for a couple years, and then when a friend was in town and we were driving around I asked him where he wanted to eat, we were going by Lulu's, so he said how about there? I shrugged and said why not. There were three of us, and none of us thought the food was very good. I had something with chicken, and i think i found about 3 sad little scraps of chicken in my dish.

Worse, my wife had a piece of wadded up plastic wrap in her soup. It just isn't worth it to go to Lulu's when there are so many other good restaurants in Evanston.

• Pros: Nice atmosphere
• Cons: Crappy food

12/06/07

A former favorite

by swagworld

This very popular Evanston spot has gone down hill in its cuisine. The food was pretty fun and creative. The last time I was there the food was pretty lackluster. The waiter was disinterested. This was a meeting spot for friends, but we have moved elsewhere.

• Pros: Variety of dishes
• Cons: poor service

07/13/07

great food, good time

by chavelo

I went there and had a great meal with my wife. The food was terrific and the atmosphere was great and casual and very clean. We decided to split some dim sum which is like appetizers and chose p0t stickers, coconut shrimp, and the stir fried green beans. Each of these were the best I've had around. For an entree we split the szechuan chicken pao and it was sooo good. We decided to have dessert as well and we split the warm brownie with coconut gelato and it was the perfect end to the meal. The table next to us were eating ginger chicken salads. They were huge and they said that's what they've been coming for for years. We'll be back soon to try sum more..

• Pros: good food, good service, good prices
• Cons: so much deliciousness to choose from

03/28/07

Not Authentic, But Try The All-You-Can Eat

by hmmmichelle

If you want authentic Asian food this is not the place. (I doubt any place that considers them pan-asian can truly be authentic.)

I've eaten here several times before. The first few times I thought the food was really good. But I think the more I come here the less I like it. STILL, I would recommend trying their all-you-can-everything-on-the-menu but be sure to go there with no less than three people and no more than six people, otherwise it's not worth what you pay for. It's just fun to be able to try everything on the menu. Whenever you go to a restaurant you always wished you could try everything on the menu so here's your chance at Lulu's. I like their Chicken Ramen noodles and mussels. Stay away from their Pad Thai or Bibim bop-- really inauthentic.

• Pros: You can try everything on the menu! It's good to try the first few times
• Cons: Not very authentic Asian food, it gets old after going to this many times

12/04/06

Best pizza anywhere, Avoid on Friday nights, Great customer service

by cinciny

Best pizza anywhere, Avoid on Friday nights, Great customer serviceBest pizza anywhere, Avoid on Friday nights, Great customer serviceBest pizza anywhere, AvoBest pizza anywhere, Avoid on Friday nights, Great customer serviceBest pizza anywhere, Avoid on Friday nights, Great customer serviceid on Friday nights, Great customer service

07/25/06

Best Sesame Noodles anywhere

by veggie2001

LuLu's were the first sesame noodles I ever had and no place I have been since even compares. I now live in NYC and nothing here is nearly as good, so when I was back in Chicago last week I went back to LuLu's after ten years and was thrilled to see it thriving with sesame noodles as good as I remembered!

• Pros: sesame noodles, veg food, cheap
• Cons: weird servers, no asians actually work there

06/04/06

Decent food, becareful of MSG

by qingshuo

The chinese ramen noodle soup is the most MSG'd food I've ever had in my life.

02/15/06

Good Food,Good Times

by sanfrancrazy

This place is so good. I mean do the following sound bad, Cheap eating, Fabulous yummy food,nice people. Go here once and you will be addicted. Beleive me try it! :)

• Pros: Yummy food,nice peop, le.

11/02/05

Addicted

by mochaleet

If you're looking for the truly authentic, I wouldn't go here. But

if you like tasty, addictive fusion food, then this will do it. The

egg rolls, with spicy sauce, are my favorite, and their other

appetizers zing. If you're watching your waistline, be careful...

other than that, I adore this place.

• Pros: price, food, decor
• Cons: fattening, not authentic