Lulu's — Restaurant in Richmond

I regret that I’m unable to leave a review about the food because, unfortunately, my experience with the front-of-house staff was deeply disappointing and overshadowed any opportunity to dine. In full transparency, I wish that I could leave 0 stars. Upon being seated by a server, another employee named Gabe approached our table in an extremely rude and unprofessional manner. He told us that, regardless of being seated, we would have to move. His tone was unnecessarily combative, and he continued to argue—on Father’s Day—in front of our entire family, including several children. Because I was concerned by the interaction, I went inside to get his name in order to share my experience with ownership. When I asked for his name, he rolled his eyes and dismissively told me to speak with “his manager.” When I clarified that I was asking for his name, the manager, who identified herself as Makayla, stepped in with an equally dismissive and loud tone. Rather than de-escalate the situation, she spoke over me and became increasingly confrontational. I asked her to lower her voice and reminded her that we were customers who had been seated by one of her staff. To her credit, the original server that sat us, came over and attempted to take responsibility, acknowledging it was a miscommunication or mistake on her part. However, she was rudely dismissed and silenced. Makayla continued to argue, repeating that we were seated incorrectly, with no attempt to resolve the issue respectfully. Because we had children with us and did not want to further expose them to such unprofessional behavior, we chose to leave the restaurant. Disturbingly, shortly after we left, we observed that a white family was seated at the exact same table we had been told to vacate. This made the situation feel not only uncomfortable but potentially racially motivated. I intend to file a formal complaint with both the Better Business Bureau and the corporate office due to the unprofessional and dismissive attitude displayed by both employees. Their behavior was so egregious that even nearby guests appeared visibly uncomfortable. My teenage nephew recorded a portion of the incident, and we are considering sharing it publicly to bring awareness to the level of service we received. I would not recommend this establishment to anyone and will certainly never return. The conduct we experienced today warrants serious review, and I strongly believe both employees should be held...

TL;DR - CHECK YOUR ITEMIZED BILL TO MAKE SURE TIP ISN'T ALREADY ADDED! (even for a small party)

I almost never leave reviews but felt like I had to for my experience here.

The first issue was that the eggs Benedict ordered by one of our party came out extremely overcooked, and cold. It seemed like it had been sitting out while the rest of our food was prepared. The poached eggs were completely solid, the English muffins were soggy. The potatoes and asparagus were cold. When we let our server know she acted quite put-out. Their solution was to bring out 2 more poached eggs, but left us with the rest of the dish... meaning we were supposed to switch out the eggs ourself? I'm not sure what they expected us to do with the overcooked eggs. We had to ask specifically to have the dish taken away and re-made, but when they brought it back, there was only 1 poached egg instead of 2 (and still overcooked). I spoke with the manager. We got a lot of excuses but never a real apology. They did ask us if we wanted to replace the dish but by that time we were all pretty much done eating and the person in our party who ordered the Benedict was pretty grosssed out and just wanted to leave. They did at least take the dish off our bill, of course, but I was overall very unimpressed with the customer service for this issue. They were defensive and not gracious about it at all.

The second issue I noticed later. Even though we were only a party of 3, they automatically added a tip (the sign at the front of the restaurant said tip would be included for parties of 6 or more), which of course you can't tell when they give you the iPad to sign (the itemized receipt does not show up automatically, just the total). AND the option to add a tip still pops up!!! This to me seems like not just a mistake, but purposeful. So I ended tipping double for sub-par service.

The whole experience wasn't awful. We got a pitcher of the peach schnapps mimosa, which was great. One of us got the huevos rancheros and another the chicken and biscuit, both of which were great. Despite those pluses, I don't think I could go back here because of the dishonesty with the tipping issue, and the relatively poor customer service in dealing with (reasonable, I thought) complaints. Super disappointing, especially since this place came highly recommended by so...

Oh, man. I had this place saved for months in my “want to go to” list. I was incredibly excited for the red velvet waffle, but it was just a mediocre red colored waffle. No hints of chocolate, or anything, really. The “fried chicken” that came with it was an untrimmed, flattened, skinless, boneless chicken thigh. This is a terrible cut of chicken to throw in the fryer. It was sinewy and wet. I think the breading and seasoning might have better complimented a different cut of chicken. Or just leave the bone in and skin on. Or give me a chicken tender and make it a sandwich! Way better tasting and a much better presentation than a piece of flaccid chicken on half of a waffle. The sausage gravy that accompanied this entree was a bit too thin to call gravy, so I didn’t try it. Also not quite sure where I was supposed to put it. The eggs and potatoes were fine enough. My husband had the chorizo omelette and liked it, but not enough to come back due to our drink choice. We ordered the Brazilian mimosa pitcher, which you definitely have to stir or shake to not get a full cup of rum first pour. Or maybe you just want to fill up your clear Solo cup first. There was no glassware. The sparkling wine was cheap tasting (I wasn’t expecting anything other than Andres or whatnot, but don’t make me taste it!) and there was hardly any pineapple juice. I’m all for a cheap drink, but $35 for a pitcher of a stomach ache is just not for me. Plenty of other places in a two mile radius are doing this better. I think this would be a great spot for VCU students or anyone hungover in the Bottom. The service was great, it’s easy to make a reservation (definitely do that!), and there’s a lot to see and walk to if you need to sweat out that cheap champagne. Overall, I won’t be back, but I think this place is just fine if you are not as snobby as this review sounds (I just love my food!), and spending over $30 per person for a just okay brunch works for you. I’m all for supporting a local business, but wouldn’t want to mislead anyone. If you’re not a culinary snoot and you want to taste the alcohol in your drink (hello VCU), this is your spot. I hope this review helps both owner...