I had another great meal last night at Lula.

We started with the spinach and endive salad and the quesadillas. Last night, the quesadillas were filled with smashed sweet potato and cheese.

We also had the beet bruschetta with a young and tangy base of goat cheese and topped with greens.

I had the parsnips and lentils with charred romaine.

And dessert was their always fantastic carrot cake, coffee, and the black cardamom ice cream with cashew praline, lingonberries, and italian meringue.

Service was great.

3+ years since anyone posted about Lula?! Insane.

Took a customer today and we had an effing phenomenal lunch . . .


Potato & Green Garlic Babka Knot | cheddar, herbs de Provence
I love it when something that sounds great on paper is even better irl. Wowza!


Smoked Trout Scramble | arugula, dill, cream cheese, house potatoes, and toast
Totally delicious.


Meyer Lemon Gnocchi | fennel, green beans, spring herbs, sunflower
My companion ordered this. We were told it was leaving the menu for a while.


Danish
My companion knew someone who was working today, so they sent this buttery throwing star out for us. I'm unsure what the fruit was but it was quite tart and was foiled perfectly by the sweet icing and rich pastry.

Lula, lunch. Must do more often!

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:3+ years since anyone posted about Lula?! Insane.

Lula, lunch. Must do more often!

=R=

It's still my hands down favorite restaurant in the city. I haven't made it back since they reopened.

Glad to see it's all systems go!

We had a great meal at Lula last night. No good reason why but it had probably been about 10 years since we’d last been.
Shared cider mussel appetizer was delicious. We all (husband, daughter, and myself) had pasta entrees and shared the house salad. Not surprised that my daughter LOVED the Pasta Yia Yia. Great service, lovely ambiance, and all the COVID protocols in place. We need to get here more often.

I didn't know this was in the works until a friend texted me a few moments ago but a Lula Cafe cookbook is due out in October. Pre-order available via Amazon (linked above), though I can't recall ever seeing a single-volume cookbook at this price level before. Maybe it'll be cheaper via other conduits down the road? Either way, knowing Jason Hammel's literary background, I'm very excited for it.

=R=

I went to Lula a couple of nights ago.

The service was lovely. Construction on the eway meant I was too optimistic about my arrival time. I gave a call, Petra said no problem see you when you land.

I was seated awaiting my dining companion who couldn't find parking.

But Oh My Stars! We both chose the NA cocktail Sunny Sipper for a Shady Day w/
Seedlip Spice, Almond, Lemon, Earl Grey and they were delicious. Their website has far better pics than I could probably take.

We then started with the incredible wild rice and ramp dish. Whey-glazed cabbage, green garlic, and basil. This was fresh and ridiculously good. My dining companion said she never would have ordered it but thoroughly enjoyed it.

I chose the Ricotta Cavatelli--Morels, Spring garlic, White bean, Walnut. I wished this came in an Olive Garden portion but it was fantastic without being heavy.

For dessert I had the classic carrot cake but Jason Hammel was vibing the nice night, we chatted earlier, and also sent out the Goat Milk Sundae with little jewels of roasted rhubarb on top and a delicious dulce de leche with it felt like nuts but the menu said seeds.

So good.

pairs4life wrote:I went to Lula a couple of nights ago . . .

. . . So good.

Really nice to read that Lula is still humming along. Not any sort of surprise, mind you but still, it brought a smile to my face. I need to get back there soon. Thank you!

=R=

I'll take some of the blame for there being no posts in this thread in a decade. Don't think it's hyperbole to say that Lula is one of the most important restaurants in Chicago history.

Felt like hitting some classics last night and so I had quick meal that consisted of the caesar salad, spaghetti and carrot. All 3 were excellent and exactly what I wanted.

WhyBeeSea wrote:I'll take some of the blame for there being no posts in this thread in a decade. Don't think it's hyperbole to say that Lula is one of the most important restaurants in Chicago history.

Felt like hitting some classics last night and so I had quick meal that consisted of the caesar salad, spaghetti and carrot. All 3 were excellent and exactly what I wanted.

There are actually a couple of Lula threads. I moved your post here, to the more recently active one. Your post reminds me that I need to get back there soon!

=R=

WhyBeeSea wrote:Don't think it's hyperbole to say that Lula is one of the most important restaurants in Chicago history.

Some of this history is very nicely narrated in the new Lula cookbook. The introduction offers a beautifully written story about Chicago, love, writing, cooking, the evolution of farm-to-table, the transformations of Logan Square, and the way the restaurant grew out of the Logan Beach that preceded it, and grew through a quite expansive community of cooks, servers, artists, and writers. And then the first recipe in the book is Pasta YiaYia, which I suspected before I turned the page, and is very moving.

We are fortunate to eat in most of the city's nicest restaurants regularly, and Lula remains our absolute favorite.

(As a little anecdote that confirms a smidge of its place in history, I think: I moved here in 2007 from Los Angeles, and focused my apartment search on Blue Line neighborhoods from Logan down to West Town. An older wiser Angeleno friend had told me that the best restaurant in Chicago was Lula, so the day I went to a heavily-attended openhouse for a just-listed apartment in a graystone on the boulevard, I decided to take myself to Lula to celebrate the apartment application (and drown my sorrows over the difficult apartment search). I sat at the bar (pre dry cleaners expansion) and shortly after I started eating, the prospective landlord himself came in for his own dinner; he recognized me, toasted my good restaurant choice, and told me I could have the apartment. So it was an anchor for longtime neighborhood residents and it was a beacon for people from across the country.)

Looking forward to reading more of the cookbook!

annak wrote:

WhyBeeSea wrote:Don't think it's hyperbole to say that Lula is one of the most important restaurants in Chicago history.

Some of this history is very nicely narrated in the new Lula cookbook. The introduction offers a beautifully written story about Chicago, love, writing, cooking, the evolution of farm-to-table, the transformations of Logan Square, and the way the restaurant grew out of the Logan Beach that preceded it, and grew through a quite expansive community of cooks, servers, artists, and writers. And then the first recipe in the book is Pasta YiaYia, which I suspected before I turned the page, and is very moving.

We are fortunate to eat in most of the city's nicest restaurants regularly, and Lula remains our absolute favorite.

(As a little anecdote that confirms a smidge of its place in history, I think: I moved here in 2007 from Los Angeles, and focused my apartment search on Blue Line neighborhoods from Logan down to West Town. An older wiser Angeleno friend had told me that the best restaurant in Chicago was Lula, so the day I went to a heavily-attended openhouse for a just-listed apartment in a graystone on the boulevard, I decided to take myself to Lula to celebrate the apartment application (and drown my sorrows over the difficult apartment search). I sat at the bar (pre dry cleaners expansion) and shortly after I started eating, the prospective landlord himself came in for his own dinner; he recognized me, toasted my good restaurant choice, and told me I could have the apartment. So it was an anchor for longtime neighborhood residents and it was a beacon for people from across the country.)

Looking forward to reading more of the cookbook!

Oh I'll definitely need to pick that cookbook up. Thanks for sharing your story too. I love how restaurants can make magical connections like that!

A couple of weeks ago I listened to Jason Hammel's interview on the Joiners Podcast (which is likely on y'all's radar, but if not I recommend.) I found it to be pretty moving – both his thoughtful approach to community and also history that I experienced firsthand. Cue, nostalgia trip...

I moved to Logan in 2001. It was a reasonable, quiet, and conveniently located neighborhood to rent in back then. But it was kinda boring for 20 something hipsters like us. Our neighbors were elderly Poles and Latino families. There were a handful of Mexican restaurants dotting Diversey and Kedzie and scary bars on Milwaukee, but that was about it. I had friends who would frequent Logan Beach, but I never made it there. But by the time I moved there it was baby Lula. I remember passing through the cramped, muggy kitchen to get to the bathroom, the vegan sushi – it was a very 90's/Y2K little Bohemia vibe.

We really started to hang there when they opened the bar, maybe 03 or 04. Again, there weren't many drinking options for kids like us in the neighborhood – we'd schlep down to Quencher's most often. The Whirlaway had a neighborhood vibe back then, but was always pretty welcoming. But within walking distance, the Two Way was always a risky endeavor. Lula was cute, cozy, and had great drinks. And my friend Rae was their very first bartender, so it became our local.

The food was a bit of a splurge for us, even in the earlier days. I tended to favor the café menu, the roast chicken was an especially good deal. I definitely enjoyed many meals over the years after they introduced the seasonal, cheffy menus. But while I could recognize the quality of the ingredients, I typically found everything to be a bit under-seasoned for my taste. Halloween was always the best, when they dressed up like another restaurant. One of my favorite meals I ever ate there was "Taco Hell" with artisanal gordita crunch wraps. Bayless was there dressed as the devil.

Regardless of my personal taste, Lula is, without a doubt, one of the most important restaurants in Chicago, of all time. For me, the best thing they do is foster community – it's always been inviting to diners, but what Jason has done to support his artist staff is beyond reproach, offering not just a liveable wage, but also the flexibility for creative people to pursue their art. This support has helped the art community thrive in Chicago. Viva Lula!

I can't wait to pick up the cookbook.

Jefe wrote:A couple of weeks ago I listened to Jason Hammel's interview on the Joiners Podcast (which is likely on y'all's radar, but if not I recommend.) I found it to be pretty moving – both his thoughtful approach to community and also history that I experienced firsthand. Cue, nostalgia trip...

Nice! I think we can also give Lula full credit for 'closed on Tuesdays,' which has become a Logan Square tradition!

In all seriousness, that Jason Hammel has never won a James Beard Award for Best Chef has to be one of the greatest oversights in all of Culinaria.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

WhyBeeSea wrote:I'll take some of the blame for there being no posts in this thread in a decade. Don't think it's hyperbole to say that Lula is one of the most important restaurants in Chicago history.

Felt like hitting some classics last night and so I had quick meal that consisted of the caesar salad, spaghetti and carrot. All 3 were excellent and exactly what I wanted.

There are actually a couple of Lula threads. I moved your post here, to the more recently active one. Your post reminds me that I need to get back there soon!

=R=

Still my favorite restaurant any time for any meal any day of the week.

I read the cookbook carefully over the last week: important history, beautiful prose, wise technique, and so much soul. Then I got to hear Jason Hammel speak at MCA tonight about the book, the restaurant, the city. In a word, moving. So very much community and love in that place, so very much deliciousness, so many genuine relationships with farmers, dishwashers, neighbors at its heart. Balm for our times.