Lulu Carpenter's — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

Such a bad experience :- ( ruined the date with my boyfriend. All smiles but Horrible Aggravating treatment. No food after 40 minutes. Total - opposite - of - chill. Three people at the counter. Tall guy takes my order, veggie ramen which I had had before and it was tasty. We were at Betty's noodles last week, which was fast, flavorful, and satisfying. 2 minutes later tall guy said they only had vegan or pork. I was fine paid the diff (he must have talked to the ramen guy to find out there no veggie left. It was not busy & ramen guy was in the back). I asked if I should leave my name, he said no, it will just come out. One bowl to share was fine, it was late we just wanted a quick bite.

I was with my boyfriend and we had an outside table. I cleared away several dirty bowls and cups from the outside table ( two trips bring it to the counter and they acknowledged me) 15 minutes later I go inside to wait by the ramen station and said hi to the ramen guy. One bowl is almost ready. I think it's mine, look down to get a paper but then the bowl is gone, it went to the counter staff, but it looks like ramen guy is cooking something else. So I wait. Ramen guy and staff go in and out back room. 20 minutes later. No ramen for me and I'm standing right there. .... Then two guys who walked in 5 minutes prior get served. I ran outside to tell my bf who has been sitting in the cold and is now unhappy and wants to leave. I dash back inside jump the line got the money back immediately. I dash back outside. My bf had split.... Someone rushed out saying my order is ready. Really? The thing we waited 40 minutes for was ready in 3 minutes once they actually cared to serve us? . . . This is one of those horrible dates that comes up in conversation months later. Will think of this whenever walking by. Terribly disorganized. All small talk and smiles. People go to cute cafes to chill but this was the Exact Opposite. Lulu Carpenters was COMPLETELY...

Usually my experience at Lulu's Carpenter is great, but today's experience was the worst. I don't know if the barista was in a bad mood, but she didn't even try to hide it. I ordered my drinks and food and instead of handing me card back, she threw it on the counter. Then, she tells me to wait outside. There was no one else in there and there's been other times when it's way fuller in there. Plus, it's funny how she didn't say it to the guy who came in after me, and not to mention, that she didn't say it politely. Secondly, I had asked for my cool cat with whip cream. when she was done, she didn't call out my order or say it was ready, but luckily i was paying attention. My drink did not have whip cream, so i nicely asked if I could have whipped cream. She ignored me and kept getting the teas. I asked again politely, "excuse me, can I have some whipped cream?" she turns around, looks at me without saying anything and turns back around. I waited for about 2 minutes and then just left without the whipped cream. If she doesn't want my business (and i am a regular), then i won't give her my business. There's plenty of other coffee shops in town. Time of order was on Monday at around 12:20 p.m. Aug. 2022- update- haven't been back there since..I go to verve now, which is much better. I was also disappointed that management/owner never...

My only gripe: their outlets are subpar. Theres not enough outlets to accommodate the amount of people coming in to study. They're too loose to hold onto power adapters for computers. I understand that it may not be aesthetically pleasing to have a lot of them, but the functionality of it as a place of study for me is fleeting, which is my only use for the place.

Besides that, the atmosphere is superb. New art is introduced occasionally, which seems to be local artist work. There's a good bathroom, for which you just have to ask for the code. WiFi is available, codes are on the receipts. I usually just ask somebody for theirs, which isn't changed often at all so I don't have to constantly ask stranfers for theirs or buy a cup of coffee each time.

The lighting is decent in certain spots of the study area, which is understandable since the ambience of a hipster coffee shop is what's at stake here anyway.

The patios can get cold but there are heaters in front and back. Not much lighting there though. Good for getting rowdy in behind a corner, or two.

Overall it's my favorite place to study frequently. I just wish they'd upkeep their outlets, and have more of them. Maybe introduce a power strip system to accommodate more study-ers. I'd change my rating if...