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| - LuLu's used to be my favorite eatery in Oakland. But all good things must come to an end, and even I have to admit that LuLu's reign on Craig Street is over.
I visited LuLu's for the first time in three years this weekend with a friend, and was not impressed. For starters, no one came to our table to even ask about drinks for nearly 10 minutes after we were seated. This was on a Sunday night, in the summer (i.e. when Oakland's main residents are gone), when the place was half empty. It was a bad start for the night, for the sure.
To the kitchen's credit, the food we ordered did come out very quickly - I think we waited about 10 minutes for it. But it was tasteless compared to what it used to be. Or rather, mine was; my friend had no complaints about her chicken and rice dish. My BBQ pork soup, however, was really not good. The pork slices (the few that I got anyway) were the tastiest part of the meal. The broth was forgettable, though, and the noodles were so bland that I swore at times that my water had more flavor than my meal.
In addition to the meal putting my taste buds to sleep, the waitress continued to fail to impress me throughout the evening. For one thing, not only did she not take our drink orders promptly: she failed to bring a water that my friend ordered. She also did not check on us very regularly throughout the meal, which left us sitting and waiting for refills often. And after leaving us alone at our table for most of the night she screwed up our bills as well, and double charged one of us for both of our meals. We got it fixed, but after everything else that night we were not pleased.
I wish I could say that this experience was a fluke, but based on other reviews, this is the new norm. Sorry, LuLu's, but this is not a norm that I'm going to settle for - not when there's other cheap eats in the city!
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