We’ve heard about Lulu’s Local Eatery’s food truck being at some local events and have been meaning to try it for a couple years now! We only haven’t because it is a bit of a drive for us, but their recently opened store front is conveniently located only a couple of minutes from The Botanical Gardens, so we spent a nice day walking around at the gardens and trying some new food! It was the day after Thanksgiving so although we were stuffed we managed to eat at three different places! We were pleased by their use of many local and organic ingredients, and the variety of menu options including gluten free and vegetarian! We will definitely be back soon to try everything that we didn’t get this time around! (Miriam)
Overall Rating ★★★★
Food ★★★★★
As mentioned before, they had food that could work for most any dietary restrictions that you may have! Their menu choices vary seasonally so that they can use the freshest ingredients possible, which also helps the menu to never get boring! And along with that, all of their menu items were so much more creative than you see at most restaurants! It was really fun to try something new and get to experience a different flavor combination than we are used to!
Their menu included a variety of appetizers, wraps and sandwiches, entrees like stews, bowls, enchiladas, and flatbread. They also had a small children’s menu with some kid friendly options including nuggets, taco, burger, and mac & cheese!
We wanted to try so much more than we were able to, so picking what we wanted to order was a big of a struggle! After deciding what looked the best, we decided to try the Winter Quinoa Bowl, Stuffed Acorn Squash, Lulu’s Chili, and the Buffalo Cauliflower Bites!
Both the Winter Quinoa Bowl and the Stuffed Acorn Squash consisted of quinoa, carrots, walnuts, cranberries, caramelized leeks, cooked butternut squash and kale pesto sauce! The only difference is that the Bowl was served over a little kale salad, and of course the other was served over half of a cooked acorn squash! They were both delicious with a great variety of flavors. I love anything pesto, but this was especially delicious and I didn’t even feel guilty eating the whole thing!
The Lulu’s chili was made with quinoa, sweet potato, beans, tomato, and chipotle sauce! It tasted naturally sweet with a hint of spice that we really enjoyed! It is almost impossible to find chili that we can eat out so this was a very nice treat!
The Buffalo Cauliflower bites were some of my favorite in terms of creativity! We hadn’t had Buffalo bites in so long so this was another treat that we loved! If you like buffalo chicken and want to feel a little bit healthier eating it then I would definitely recommend these!
Tried and True Favorites:
- Chipotle Black Bean Bowl
- BBQ Jack Tacos
- Winter Quinoa Bowl
- Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Buffalo Cauliflower Bites
- Kale Salad
Quality ★★★★
We were a bit lazy in asking questions about their quality here, but lucky for us they did a great job advertising about all that they do to make their ingredients the best!
They are a member of the Green Dining Alliance, with a top 5 star certification in sustainability! They take a lot of care in being environmentally friendly, as 95% of their waste is composted or recycled along with 100% compostable to go materials. Also many of their partners for local ingredients use environmentally friendly practices!
They use 100% all-natural and non-GMO ingredients and get organic and local whenever possible. Some of the sources that they partner with in getting the freshest ingredients are Earth Dance Farms. Goodness Greeness. Eden Foods. Local Harvest Grocery, and Bowood Farms. What I thought was the coolest is that they even grow some of their own ingredients on the top of their food truck and in their own restaurant!
For their cooking and frying they use all natural peanut oil! (Miriam)
I was personally less thrilled about the use of peanut oil. My strong preference for cooking oils is the use of traditional organic saturated fats
including butter and coconut oils. Olive oil is another healthy cooking oil. See Know Your Fats and Healthy Cooking Oils to learn more on this subject! I need to start being more assertive about asking restaurants to cook in healthy oils! ( Michelle )
Atmosphere ★★★★
This eatery has more of a cafe feel due to it’s small size. It has a very earthy feel to it with a lot of wood and flower decorations. With some large open windows in the back of the restaurant to see outside and a nice outdoor eating area, it made for a very nice environment! Their walls are decorated with abstract paintings.
Service ★★★★
The people that took our order and delivered our food were very nice and willing to answer the couple questions that we did ask! At Lulu’s Local Eatery you order your food in the front of the restaurant, then wait for them to bring it out to your table! They also got the food out to us very fast! (Miriam)
Price $
The food was very reasonable, ranging from around $6 – $10!
Location
Their storefront is located off of Grand Blvd near Tower Grove park and next to many other restaurants that we will definitely be trying later! Their food truck goes to different locations that they post on their twitter!
Address: 3201 S. Grand, St Louis, MO 63118
For more information on their menu items, hours, food truck location and specials visit their website: Lulu’s Local Eatery
