Lula Cafe

I flew into O'Hare this morning and jumped on the Blue Line to Logan Square and here I am at Lula Cafe.Having attended the James Beard Awards this year, I was extra excited to dine at Chicago's only winner: the James Beard Award for Hospitality.I remember Chef Jason Hammel, surrounded by his team, speaking about how hospitality is love with conditions.When I arrived, there were lots of diners milling around the front of the restaurant, but with a party of one, I immediately snagged a seat a the bar.For a superb restaurant with such an amazing reputation and following, I was surprised it does a breakfast/lunch serving, followed by dinner.I enjoyed chatting with Alex at the bar. He provided great service. He was so happy that I came in specifically because of their Beard win.Based on Yelp reviews, I knew I had to order the super popular French Toast and Classic Lula Breakfast Burrito. Both weee exquisite: super tasty, beautiful presentation and large portions.Hope I can return soon and try dinner!

recently dined at Lula Cafe, drawn by their james beard award for outstanding hospitality, but found our server, allison, to be more of an order taker than an outstanding server. despite this, the food was delicious; both the breakfast burrito and the sourdough french toast special were scrumptious (pictured below)!the cafe's aesthetics are charming, from the well-designed menus to the beautifully plated dishes. i loved the gumball machine filled with buttons by local artists, but didn't have any quarters to grab one LOLoverall, i'll likely return next time i'm in chicago, but i'd probably choose to sit at the bar or on the patio!**make a reservation if you can, but they may have space for walk ins!**

SERIOUSLY, what is in those chickpea frites?! They're so tasty and addicting!! They're perfectly crispy and salty! We almost ordered another portion but decided we should actually wait until the rest of our meal came out lol. And I'm glad we did bc both the pastas were phenomenal! The spaghetti is such a simple sounding dish but they make it 1000% tastier. Who doesn't like pancetta with some cheese?! We weren't really fans of the chilled mussels but that's just bc we think mussels are better warm. It took everything in us to leave the restaurant without an order of spaghetti and chickpea frites to-go. You know, for our hungry child at home? Service was friendly and fast. And we've already tried to make another reservation but to no avail. Lula is just too damn popular bc it's so damn good!

This is one of those places that has been around for 25 years. I always said I would go, but alas, we moved out of state. When I knew we would visit Chicago again, I had an idea of where I wanted to go. Then they won a James Beard Award for Hospitality, and I figured I'd try to make a reservation.I tried online to make one, but it looked like a no-go. I thought, I'm just going to call in--this was worth it--and I got a reservation.They had some nice outdoor seating, and the inside was light and bright. There was a large bar, and I believe around the corner, there was more seating or a private dining room (a small wedding party came in while we were there).We came in and were seated promptly. From what I can ascertain, you need a reservation for dinner. Brunch, however, is first-come, first-served; they take no reservations for that.We sat in a little nook area and then started to look at the menus (both for food and a separate one for wine/cocktails/beer, etc.).I got a cocktail--unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it, but it hit the spot on that hot July day.We then got an appetizer of the Baked French Brie with Toasted Bread to slather it on. The Brie was sitting in the most beautiful green olive oil I have ever seen. It was tasty as well, perfect for sopping up with the toasted bread. The Brie was flavorful without being overly salty, as it sometimes can be. It also came with both green and black olives. This iconic dish has been on the menu for a while, and I completely understand why. It was delicious, and smearing that Brie on the toasted bread was divine.My husband ordered the Roast Chicken with Potato and Butter Greens, Panzanella, and Anchovy Aioli.I know you might be thinking, roast chicken? Yes, and it's another iconic dish that has been around for a long time. I get it--I tried a bit of it, and the chicken was succulent and the flavors were just right.The Brie and Roasted Chicken are Café Classics from when the restaurant opened in 1999.I got the Branzino with Grilled Cabbage, Summer Onions, Sungold Tomato, and Fennel Soubise.I really liked this dish. The fish was perfectly cooked and properly seasoned. I liked the idea of the grilled cabbage, though I wished it had more Sungold tomatoes, to be frank.We decided to share a dessert, which I highly recommend doing as well. We got the Pecorino Cake with Sour Cherry, Olive Oil Ice Cream, Sicilian Pistachio, and Candied Castelvetranos. I also got a dessert wine that perfectly paired with it, as suggested on the menu under the dessert description.This dessert was a complete surprise, also featuring shards of Parmesan. It hit the savory and sweet notes without being overwhelming--a lovely way to end the meal.The service was lovely and helpful. All the staff were on point, from when we checked in to when we ordered, with different people dropping off different dishes. I completely understand why they won that award.As an FYI, they automatically add a 20% gratuity to your bill. It's all online or on the menu, and they explain why.Parking can be a bit tricky as it's street-only and yes, you have to pay for street parking--ah, Chicago.All in all, it was very much worth the visit. If you are able, please go.

Knowing Lula Cafe is busy on weekends I stopped here on a Thursday for brunch and was pleasantly surprised to be seated right away in a booth inside. My wife and I thought we'd need one dish for each so we ordered the smoked lake trout scramble and breakfast burrito with a side of sausage patties. I had finished a 4 mile run a couple hours before so thought I could eat. I tell you what, we split the breakfast burrito and wow. The burrito was just so filling and good, we ended up taking the scramble home after just a couple bites. The lake trout scramble was pretty good, just keep in mind if you don't like dill, you won't think it's dill-icous The sausage patties were real solid, nothing to complain about. Honestly, you could come here and just split a dish and be pretty content. Feel like the prices are big value.Gratuity is already included and usually I don't like this if service is non-existent or bad, but service is actually really great so I don't mind that it's a flat added fee here.I'll have to stop by for dinner service next time I'm in Chicago

A Chicago classic for a reason. Expect long waits for brunch, especially on the weekends, but the food is consistent and good. Lula focuses on seasonal, farm-to-table ingredients, so expect the menu to change around but feature in-season flavors!For brunch, my favorites (that are always on the menu) are the breakfast burrito and the French omelette. I was also pleasantly surprised by the tofu scramble--something I would not normally go for, but the tofu pieces were big and well-seasoned. I think you can't really go wrong with anything you pick here for brunch!

BACKGROUNDIt was my last day and last meal for my Chicago vacation, so I knew I had to choose an exceptional restaurant that would leave a good last memory. Multiple comments on various Reddit threads and many different food review websites mentioned Lula Cafe and their outstanding food. Some examples:* Awarded the Bib Gourmand, an award bestowed upon restaurants with "good quality, good value cooking", on the Michelin Guide: https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/illinois/chicago/restaurant/lula-cafe* Featured on The New York Times "The 25 Best Restaurants in Chicago Right Now" published April 2024: https://www.nytimes.com/article/best-restaurants-chicago.html* Included on Eater Chicago "The 38 Essential Restaurants in Chicago": https://chicago.eater.com/maps/38-best-restaurants-in-chicagoAfter reading a bit about their story, I learned they follow the farm-to-table movement and focus on fresh food from sustainable sources, and who doesn't appreciate that? Source: https://www.lulacafe.com/story/Therefore, I decided to give Lula Cafe my patronage. My friend and I arrived for brunch at around 11:00 AM on a Thursday. The outdoor seating looked full already, but we lucked out. The host asked if we wanted to sit indoors or outdoors; it was a nice day, so of course we chose the sidewalk patio, which had wooden tables/benches and red metal chairs while planters separated the diners from pedestrians on the sidewalk. FOODAfter scanning over the menu, I ended up ordering: * Litchi noir chocolate babka ($5)* Smoked trout scramble ($16)The litchi noir chocolate babka came out first. I'm going to be honest: I had to google "litchi noir". Apparently, "litchi" is another way to spell lychee, and "litchi noir" refers to black tea infused with lychee peel and/or fruit. The babka was extremely good. Perfect if you like pastries that aren't too sweet (I'm assuming the tea element balanced out the sugariness). And the yellow marigold petals and orange zest contrasting with the dark chocolate stripes of the babka was definitely visually appealing. The smoked trout scramble came with two triangles of toast (with butter and jam on the side) and a side of house potatoes. The scramble was pretty dill-forward, so hopefully you like the herb if you order this dish (or ask to omit). The scramble was creamy with bites of tender, flaky trout and peppery arugula. The house potatoes were salty and crisp.Overall, Lula's Cafe was an affordable and charming brunch spot with filling, fresh food. I can see why this restaurant possesses so many accolades. The next time I'm back in the Windy City, I will be sure to come back for their dinner menu.SERVICEIt took a bit to get our food, but I won't ding them on it since we came during the brunch rush. Otherwise, the service was great. The employees were very hospitable and attentive, preemptively refilling our waters and asking if the food was good and if we were doing okay.TIPSAs stated on their Resy site, they only take reservations for dinner, not brunch or lunch. They also don't take reservations for the patio. Note that the bill already includes a 20% service fee. They stamped reminders on multiple receipts to ensure that we were aware, so I did appreciate the transparency. And this notice is even included on top of their website's online menu.

Lula Cafe has been on my bucket list for awhile before I was finally able to try it out for the first time a month ago. This past week was my second time back and was every bit as good as the first time. Over the course of those two meals, I was able to try their smoked lake trout scramble, chickpea and fennel tagine, the "Royale", carrot cake, and the pineapple basil sorbet. Everything was delicious, but the entrees especially had layers of flavor complexity to them that I did not expect. While I don't consider myself a foodie, I could appreciate the depth to which they were able to elevate something as seemingly simple as a scramble. Later, my wife was browsing Lula's cookbook and basically confirmed how much work and nuance goes into the food that they make. For us, it completely justifies their price point, which is still fairly standard Chicago food fare (but verifiably delicious!). I also had the opportunity to try two of their spirit-free drinks: Sunny Sipper for a Shady Day and Laura Palmer. I was actually a bit sad to see that they had removed the Laura Palmer from the drink list during my second visit and thus had opted for the Sunny Sipper. Both were good but the Laura Palmer felt more unique and left a stronger impression on me.

After coming here for dinner, it's no wonder Lula is a James Beard award winning restaurant. Our experience was absolutely wonderful, and it all started with the service. Our server was so kind and helpful and helped us decide what to get. The roasted chicken was great, large portion size and cooked to perfection, The tagliatelle may have been even better, as it was so buttery and umami. We also tried the focaccia, which tasted very savory and buttery with a splash of refreshing citrus. However, the highlight of the dinner was definitely the dessert. The strawberry sorbet was the best I've had in my life. We also tried the carrot cake, which was so rich and decadent that I couldn't see straight for a few seconds. All through the meal, the staff checked on us and delivered fantastic service. Definitely one of our more memorable experiences, and we plan to come back someday!

This is a master class on how a restaurant should be. Uber local and faithful to the neighborhood but good enough to attract an international following. Delicious, inventive seasonal f and perfect service.