LaLou — Restaurant in Mandeville

Well it’s October 2019 and I’m posting this updated review reluctantly. You see, it was my wedding Saturday and my birthday followed Sunday. For months we have been planning this weekend. We have spoken to the owner at LaLous at least 1/2 a dozen times about 10/13. Each time she advised us we could not make a breakfast reservation for our group size, the earlier we came the more likely she could seat us together, etc; but under no circumstances could we reserve. So this morning I thought it quite odd she was asking our guest if there was a reservation. I was running 4-5 minutes behind (it was my wedding & birthday so I don’t think that’s all too unexpected, right?). When I got there I spoke to her and she was quite terse I did not have an exact headcount. I didn’t know I was expected to take roll-call the morning after my wedding! She didn’t want to seat us until we had all 20 present. Problem with that was we had 11 present & accounted for 2 driving up and 7 not answering. 10 had flights to catch at 1:00 and we had to get cranking. Eventually she let 11 sit but threw a fit for the 2 because it was an 8 top and the others were not there yet. My husband tried to ask her to just seat them with us or a smaller table but she insisted it just didn’t work that way. The end to this story is that my husband called Daisy Dukes and asked if they could seat a wedding party up to approximately 20 but not confirmed. Without missing a beat they said we will have your tables here waiting for you and the Bloody Mary’s ready! And they did. What a difference GREAT customer service can make especially when you’ve already had a tremendously hectic weekend like ours.

Will I ever go back to LaLou’s? Yes, because everyone has an off day. In the past their food and service has been good. I hope today was simply an “off day”. I hope maybe someone there reads this and realizes they could have made a difference in my wedding and birthday weekend extravaganza. They were going to get a GREAT tip, that’s for sure. But Daisy Dukes won our business fair and square so for now I will bid LaLou’s fair well. May we meet again when we are both a little less stressed.

Always great - October...

I visited on a Sunday and immediately upon entering it seemed as if it were their first Sunday brunch service ever. It was very chaotic and we weren't greeted until about 5 minutes of standing around looking for a host. It took about 25 minutes to be seated, that's no issue, we expected to wait. After being seated we ordered drinks and they were great. We also got breakfast nachos and they were just okay. We ordered our food and my partners came out but mine did not. They held off eating in hopes mine would follow shortly but it never did and I told them to just go ahead and eat. Sometime later our server came up and asked how the food was and if we wanted a box, he didn't even know I'd never received my food. I asked for a discount and he gave it of course. After giving me my check I could see he'd taken my food off and I told him I still wanted to eat. I think he was under the impression I was just going to pay and leave but I drove 45 minutes to come here. He never told me why my food didn't come out and I didn't ask because servers always blame the kitchen so it didn't matter to me why I just wanted to eat. He didn't tell me he'd expidite my food, and I should have asked. After maybe 20 minutes I told my partner if it wasn't out by 2PM we were leaving. Keep in mind I'd already paid at this point. Well at 2PM we put on our coats and started to leave and the server brought out my food. We asked him to box it up and I ate it hours later so I can't speak to the Quality of it. Overall it was really disappointing. I've been searching for a reliable brunch spot on the Northshore and I was really hoping LaLou...

Immediately greeted and seated. Our server, Julie was Great!! The food was AWESOME!! LOVED the Atmosphere!! The prices are good for the amount of food that you receive!!

I ordered the chocolate milk, (not my usual beverage order), after seeing another customer's photo online, it was a real treat!! I ordered the pancakes with chocolate chips to go with my chocolate milk, but I drank the entire tall glass of milk in the short time that it took to bring our order to the table. The order was brought out quickly, prepared perfectly, and the 3 pancakes were huge!! I am no small eater and I had no appetizer before my pancakes and I could not finish all 3 pancakes. My gf ordered the Caesar Salad with Shrimp and the Poinsettia drink. She brought home 6 shrimp and part of her salad. She made a point to comment about returning in the near future to try other items on the menu also.

I will definitely be recommending La Lou to family and friends and be returning in the future to try the many other menu items that were of interest to me.

Also, they have crayons in a glass on the tables and though I am sure that they are meant for youngsters who visit the restaurant, my gf and I decided to add a colorful thank you and rating.

Look forward to...