But LuLu's is literally a stone's throw from where I toil 40 hours a week, and that convenient location has been very tempting. But, other than its location, LuLu's has been a crashing disappointment.
I would say I've been there 10 times since they opened. Had they been competent, my number of visits would be at least 10 times that. Every time I've been there, something has gone wrong. I was literally their first customer on the day they opened. The registers did not work. OK, I told myself, they'll get their sea legs. Logistics like that can be worked out, and no damage will be done if the food is good.
It ain't. I have ordered the Super Burrito each time. Often it is made incorrectly, the guacamole and sour creanm, for which I pay an extra buck, is usually left out. And of course, I don't discover this fact until I've eaten half the damn thing, making finsihing the second half a slow, slow burn, so to speak. The meat has never tasted fresh. I don't know for a fact that LuLu's recycles their meat from the previous day, I just know that it tastes that way. Tough and dry. And the service? Absolutely, inexplicably slow. Yet there is always plenty of help. I once counted nine heads behind the counter. I have on multiple occasions been the only person in there at 11:30am, and it still takes 10 minutes to make a burrito. Ten minutes! Burritos are assembly line stuff, quick and easy, or so they are at 'Mex to Go'. Not at LuLu's.
LuLu's is expensive as well. Their Super Burrito is $2 more than 'Mex to Go', not nearly as good, and takes 5 times as long to make.
So, after about 10 consecutive frustrating experiences with LuLu's, what prompts this rant? Today I spent 10 long minutes trying to talk myself out of giving them one more chance. Against my better judgment, I call ahead, waited the requisite 10 minutes, and strolled over. They had made the wrong burrito. No apology, in fact nothing was said to me as I waited ANOTHER ten minutes (there was one other patron in there) for the correct burrito to be assembled.
I have never ventured elsewhere on their menu, because if they can't make a staple (burrito) correctly or consistently, god knows what they'll do to something even remotely complex.
So, to recap, meat that does not taste fresh, head scratchingly slow service, inability to correctly execute the burrito, overpriced. A quadruple F- on the restaurant report card from this diner.
Anyone else have similar problems at LuLu's? It can't just be me, can it? The Burrito Karma Gods testing my patience, flogging me for my disloyalty to 'Mex to Go'?
Well, LuLu's has seen my last dollar, I promise. The mild inconvenience of driving down Santa Cruz to 'Mex to Go' is nothing compared to the frustration I feel now. How do they stay in business? At times they appear to be quite busy. A real head scratcher.
