Lulu’s is Coming to San Carlos.

May 24, 2010

Authentic, Award Winning Mexican Cuisine.

Laurel Street will soon add another great restaurant to its impressive list of eating establishments.    Lulu's, already an institution in Menlo Park and Palo Alto, has announced that they will open up their the third restaurant, Lulu's on Laurel, in San Carlos sometime in early July.    Construction has already started on their new digs at 876 Laurel Street, putting them on the same block as Harmony Yogurt, Bianchini's, and Starbucks.

Lulu's prides themselves in providing fresh, authentic home-made Mexican food — a strategy that appears to be working well for them as they've won the Almanac's Reader's Choice Award for “Best Mexican Restaurant” two years running.  But here's an interesting twist that many other restaurants on Laurel don't offer– breakfast.  Lulu's will be open daily at 8:00 AM and will serve breakfast for those who want a little kick to start their day.   The Huevos con Chorizo sounds really good right about now.

For more information on Lulu's and a peek at their menu, visit their website … and keep your eyes open for their grand opening, which is targeted for July 1.

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18 Comments

  1. Reuben on May 25, 2010 at 1:18 am

    So, we’ve gone from the scourge of Med/Greek restaurants in downtown San Carlos to the scourge of Mexican restaurants. Besides Lulu’s, Taqueria La Corneta will be opening shortly on San Carlos Ave. (between El Camino and Laurel St.) in case El Maguey Taqueria (Holly St.), La Hacienda (Laurel St.), Coyote’s Mexican Cantina (Laurel St.), Mi Ranchito Taqueria (Laurel St.), El Charrito (Holly St.), Mi Taqueria (Laurel St.), and Naranjo’s Taqueria (El Camino Real) weren’t serving this community well enough. The only thing we need now is an El Grullense!

    As for Lulu’s, I think it’s a bit overrated. The food is fresh and there was absolutely nothing wrong with my most recent meal at Lulu’s in Menlo Park. I was more bothered by the price and the fact that their target demographic was bourgeois Stanford coeds feeling nostalgic about that wild spring break bender in Cabo last month. Personally, I prefer my Mexican food ‘muy authentico’ so you’ll usually find me eating from the taco trucks down on Middlefield Rd. in Redwood City!



  2. Michael on May 25, 2010 at 3:09 pm

    Reuben, clearly Lulu’s is not for you. Personally, I like it and the Stanford crowd for whom you seem to have great disdain probably won’t be there.

    In my opinion, this is a niche that needs to be filled downtown. Hey, if it doesn’t fly, they’ll close, but I think this one will stick.

    I plan to be there on a regular basis.



  3. Terry on May 25, 2010 at 5:38 pm

    Lulu’s catered the food for Tierra Linda Middle Schools 10th anniv. two weeks ago. By most accounts, the parents were very disappointed given the huge publicity about its Palo Alto restaurant. The food was bland and more suited for the “spring break” crowd. As Rueben said, there’s better choices around. I’ve tried the new Peruvian restaurant in a tiny strip mall on Holly St. I think it’s called Miraflores and the food is excellent. They even serve breakfast.



  4. Jim on May 25, 2010 at 7:23 pm

    I’ve tried Lulu’s. The food is very fresh, but the taste is so-so. It’s expensive but there are better choices around. I guess their niche is those people limited to Baja Fresh-type taste. I’m interested to see what La Corneta is like.



  5. Nancy on May 25, 2010 at 8:36 pm

    I wasn’t impressed with their food. Very bland and kind of reminded me of the Mexican food they serve on cruise ships. I guess some folks like it that way. Then again, when i took my greek mother-in-law to Mythos, she couldn’t believe their version of moussaka. Different strokes for different folks.



  6. JJ on May 25, 2010 at 8:54 pm

    Lulu will soon join the parade of several mediocre, recently opened food places on Laurel (e.g.,Mythos, Shiki, Golden Shine bakery). Every city has its share of medicore restaurants, but SC seems to excel in that regard, esp over-priced ones.



  7. Michele on May 25, 2010 at 9:42 pm

    No hanks. After reading the lukewarm reviews on Yelp, I’ll pass. I passed by Miraflores at lunchtime and the place was packed. I’ve heard the homemade empanadas and the $6 lunch plates are to die for. Too bad, it’s in a crummy mall. Then again, Aya Sushi is in a similar mall and that doesn’t seem to affect their restaurant.



  8. Sean on May 26, 2010 at 12:24 am

    I have to agree with the prevailing opinion and give Lulu’s a thumbs down. I’ve eaten at the Menlo Park location and was sorely disappointed. I’d rank it as just average.



  9. Maryanne on May 26, 2010 at 2:33 pm

    So I see another frozen yogurt place (Tutti Frutti) will open up next to San Remo. It tells me that the only retail stores that can exist in SC are food joints. It also tells me that people are more interested in spending than learning how to cook and saving a lot of money. I guess the lessons from this recession have not been learned.



  10. Dave on May 26, 2010 at 3:10 pm

    Don’t knock the people that frequent restaurants. Some of us can’t fry an egg or make hamburgers but I can replace a water heater by myself. Whereas you probably need to waste money on a plumber. What I choose to spend on is my problem, not yours.



  11. Michael on May 26, 2010 at 6:22 pm

    Yes Dave, I’m with you.

    I can’t believe there are people like Maryanne bellyaching about people’s priorities and spending habits in San Carlos. Are they not the ones propping up our local economy while she stays home and sits on her money?

    Perhaps she would rather see everyone cooking at home while our downtown turns into a ghost town…we need people to keep coming downtown and with the choice San Carlos offers, we hope that will continue.

    We haven’t seen much of a foreclosure problem in San Carlos (when compared to the rest of the bay area), so I think we should leave the spending discretion to San Carlos residents…now I think the city leaders’ spending habits are another story.



  12. kristine on May 26, 2010 at 8:57 pm

    After eating at both places in the last two weeks, I can say thumbs up to Miraflores and thumbs down to Lulu’s in Menlo Park.



  13. Pat B on May 27, 2010 at 5:13 am

    If Lulu’s is a sit-down, quality restaurant, I can’t wait! We’ll have to check out the Menlo location. The new one on SC Avenue is fast food, very disappointing. At the moment, Chipotle is our choice for Mexican food in SC, so Lulu will have to compete with them.
    I like the idea of a good breakfast place.



  14. Pat B on May 27, 2010 at 5:17 am

    Glad to hear that Miraflores is finally serving breakfast. They kept saying: Next week. We really like it for lunch and dinner, so we’ll have to try breakfast. I can’t wait for the new Vietnamese restaurant in the same strip mall.



  15. Pat B on May 27, 2010 at 5:34 am

    We eat lunch out more often than dinner, and we like variety.

    We do have a lot of Mediterranean restaurants in SC but not many good ones. I’m glad to have Peruvian and Vietnamese coming in, and the strip mall is fine with me. At least I can park there.
    Our favorite Japanese and Mediterranean places are in San Mateo, unless you count Kabul. We love Whispers in Belmont, which has no competition in San Carlos.
    I’m happy to “shop San Carlos,” but not when there are better places elsewhere.



  16. JJ on May 27, 2010 at 3:03 pm

    Where’s the Vietnamese place? Thanks.



  17. Pat B on May 27, 2010 at 3:19 pm

    It’s at Holly and Old County, across Holly from the 7-11 and three doors down from the Peruvian place we love. I think it will be open this week or next. No printed menus yet, but the woman, Mindy, said she’d have noodles and crepes, savory and sweet. I don’t know about other entrees. It sounds like her Pho will be cheaper than the place in Belmont, which is a fancier place. I can’t wait to try it; Pho and crepes will keep me happy for awhile.



  18. Pat B on October 9, 2010 at 2:22 am

    Now that Lulu’s is open, I say: Ho Hum! another order at the counter Mexican place with predictable food. The difference at Lulu’s is the inflated price.



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