Lulu Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Town of Southampton

We made a reservation for 8:30 for my brother's birthday and arrived at 8:27. When we arrived, I gave the name of the reservation and the time. I was told by the front of house (presumably the manager) that "they were running about ten minutes behind" and that "we were early." The manager then suggested that we "go take a walk." I was turned off with this response for a few reasons.

Firstly, there was no apology on behalf of the management. Our party completed understood that it is possible for a restaurant to need a few minutes to clear a table. But, it is not acceptable for the management to state that being early is a reason for tardiness on their end. Three minutes "early" is not a significant amount time to include in reasoning for a table not being ready. Apologize and own the scheduling discrepancy.

Secondly, it was extremely rude for the manager to suggest that the solution to this situation was to "take a walk." Normally, a party is offered to sit at the bar and wait. Yet, we were told to walk outside on a windy night in the middle of November.

Thirdly, there was no proper solution offered to alert us when our table would be ready. There was no offer to confirm our phone number to call while we were on our suggested stroll down Main Street. All of this occurring on a reservation where I clearly stated this was for a special occasion via Resy.

Eventually, we decided to have dinner elsewhere where we were seated promptly and treated like properly paying customers. I wish I dug a little deeper into the reviews on Yelp where service (!) is clearly noted multiple times as a weakness. There are many places to eat dinner while visiting. Feel free to...

I really wished the previous review about discrimination of service dogs was a fluke, but unfortunately, I experienced the same today, albeit in a different way. I put in my Resy notes that I have a medical alert dog (certified by an organization that allows me to travel INTERNATIONALLY with my service dog). She is trained to work from a carrier as it fits my lifestyle as a Ph.D candidate.

When we arrived, the manager said she couldn’t be in a carrier and was going to seat us by outside seating. I repeated “she’s trained to work from her carrier,” and no other establishment in the world, i.e. London, Japan, Switzerland, Taiwan, let alone the Hamptons, has ever had a problem with this. In fact, it’s what most establishments prefer.

However, the manager repeated “MY rules — no carrier, all four paws on the floor.” I asked again about the carrier and he said “no carrier, IF your dog is trained, then this shouldn’t be a problem.”

To the manager, I wonder if you are aware that “YOUR rules” do not apply according to ADA laws. You cannot dictate if my service dog works from a carrier or out of one, as most establishments know, including airlines, which we frequent. Please educate yourself on ADA laws before dictating how my service dog can do her job.

Also, if you were testing us to see “if” she was actually trained, you’ll find she laid perfectly at my feet during the entirety of our dinner.

After spending years getting her internationally certified as a service dog and years of traveling abroad, I know my rights. Please learn them — on behalf of everyone with disabilities. Do better.

Ruined the...

This was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had. We had a reservation and still had to wait 20 minutes to be seated, with no apology or explanation. We just stood there while the staff ignored us. When they finally brought out the seafood tower, they spilled oyster juice all over one of us and barely acknowledged it. No apology, no offer to help, nothing. We had already prepaid for the dinner and agreed to a minimum spend of $1,000. But when we were denied drinks over a made-up rule about needing two forms of ID for out-of-state guests, we asked if the minimum could be adjusted or if anything could be done to fix the situation. The manager said they’d come back to talk to us — and never did.

The ID issue was beyond frustrating. Before even looking at our IDs, they told us we needed two forms of identification just because we’re from out of state. We looked it up afterward and that’s not a real policy. It felt like they were just making things up to give us a hard time.

On top of that, the food was really bad. Overcooked, bland, and definitely not worth what we paid. The manager was rude and dismissive the one time we saw them, and clearly didn’t care about fixing anything. There was no accountability or effort to make anything right. The only bright spot was our waitress. She was super sweet and clearly new, doing her best in a situation that was out of her control. Overall, this place was a huge disappointment. Bad service, bad food, made-up rules, and completely unprofessional management. Do not waste your time...