Tutu's Food and Drink — Restaurant in Lafayette

Really Neat Restaurant in Downtown Lafayette.

My wife Absolutely Loves this place!!!, now and since the the mid-1990's, when it was formerly known as "Mr. Chow's", and Tutu's is always her first choice of eatery when in town. I think it is a little over the top, very busy, but the food and service makes up for those little inconveniences.

Indoor and outdoor seating. Bar (stool) seating available, bathrooms are indoors, traditional tables w/ interior and exterior seating, however outdoor seating seems limited to the typical 2-4 person table. Larger parties seem to be located indoors.

Restaurant is mid-sized and can accommodate well over 100+ people, which to see for yourself, at least 100 people are at this establishment on the weekends, which why Tutu's is not my first choice while visiting Lafayette.

The parking lot is like the restaurant traffic (slow = lots of parking / busy = limited to no parking), although if you bring a friend that is disabled or your grandma(pa), bring them and their 'disabled parking placard' and parking shouldn't be much of an issue.

However, once you find parking, avoid not getting hit by a car (looking for parking), get through the wait (we have never waited longer than 30 minutes), the food and service is all worth it. Very personal, and despite the busyness of the street/parking and other shops and restaurants in the close vicinity, we always tend to be able to relax immediately once we sit down, order a few Mimosa's (or one of their wide variety of unique cocktails to choose from) and then enjoy our stay no matter how long we come to visit. We feel right at home at Tutu's....

....Then afterwards we take a stroll to their Farmer's Market (in the same building as the restaurant, toward the Right, next to the Bar; where they have fresh fruits, vegetables, butcher meats, unique selection of beers, ciders, and surprisingly a wide selection of wines, to their restaurant pre-made pancake batter, jelly spreads to other menu items to take home.

this Farmer's Market may "not" be good for ones vision: may cause dizziness, trouble walking or speaking without mentioning how much the food costs, easily irritabile and/or irritated by the price tags displayed, anxiety, sudden increase of heartbeat (LOL) - where the food prices are approximately 20+% more than that of Whole Foods Amazon (1/4 mile drive away), but the Tutu's Farmer's Market has that old school feel to it, it is quicker through the checkout, their food, like the restaurant (fruits, veggies, meats) are handsdown "fresh" and much more convenient (if picking up something for the night or the next couple of days) than dealing with another parking lot at the grocery store.

Despite the busy surroundings, Tutu's is a must visit when looking for a great food restaurant for breakfast or lunch when visiting the east bay area; with a friend or family visiting out of town, this is the restaurant of our choice, especially when shopping and visiting the downtown Lafayette area; as well as getting the "BEST" cup of coffee in the Bay Area at Phil's (just down the street). Tutu's also makes a great cup of Joe themselves.

I (we)...

Again at Tutu's this Thursday in Lafayette,, a very good choice for good food at reasonable cost. So many to choose from and you can have Breakfast all day. This time I had lambchops with fried potatoes and broccolini, again I ordered the fresh squeezed pear and carrot drink. My friend enjoyed a perfect tuna melt sandwich with fries with a soda. The staff was attentive and cheerful. Menu choices change throughout the year with a large selection. The bar is well stocked plus beer,coffee's and other drinks. Dessert menu range from berry cobbler through ice cream, all delicious so save room. Of course COVID-19 rules are relaxed but think of others if you hear numbers increasing. Before: Very good place to eat. We went 2 Saturdays in a row. Prices are reasonable, foods are delicious.

I had the hot squash soup, came with a piece of sour dough bread. Today I had the large lamb burger with tzatziki sauce, slices of juicy tomato, nice salad mix, fresh toasted bun and picked string fries. Also got a warm slice of apple pie with cream and Carmel sauce. I also picked the fresh squeezed juice, I picked the carrot and pear, so good! My friend picked minestrone soup with her huge chicken breast BLT with avocado on toasted bun, she loved it especially the crispy bacon. Her dessert was a huckleberry and pear crisp. You have to try this place. They do all the covid things like masks and distance things inside and out. If you want to eat inside it is comforting to know to bring your shot card or test. The staff is friendly, helpful and efficient. The food is prepared fresh, so it takes a little time but they have many people working there, as soon as it is ready to serve it is brought to you. Other people are filling glasses, cleaning tables, setting up, so it is never a long time to get your table. Saturday I saw they served brunch until 4pm, a bonus. There is metered parking. Costs $2 in quarters or you can use your credit card. They have a store where you can buy many things they make, got to check it out...

The food is very good. I ask for medium poached eggs, and I get them every time. It is incredibly hard nowadays to find REAL Hollandaise sauce..Egg yolks, real butter and lemon...it's here and good. I would also add the potatoes should have bell pepper and onion mixed in with them...imo... I will say this much, we were in there to sign paperwork for my daughter and her husband's very first house...we met there, specifically because it is an organic place, we had been there many times before. We were there this time to celebrate and sign papers. We were rushed out however, and it should have been noticed by the waiter that we were obviously celebrating... gift bags, mimosas, and an obvious celebratory atmosphere at our table.. pictures were being taken, and paper work everywhere... we were pushed out, the waiter was OBVIOUSLY annoyed that we had been sitting there longer than he deemed necessary, which was unfortunate. He was left, despite his obvious annoyance, a 30% tip. Other than that the food is very good and we will continue to come here. We WILL say, if we get "pushed out" again... it WILL be an issue. As an ex waitress myself, it is imperative that people understand in the service business, not everyone goes out to breakfast all the time, some of us go out to celebrate, to spend time together because we don't see each other that often..... we chose to come see you... it's important that that energy is picked up on. I understand the need to "turn" the table over, BUT when you have a table of six that's paying over $200+ for drinks, breakfast and time.... you should just back off and let us be....