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Health & Fitness

This One's a Real Lulu

Red Lulu's surprised me and it can surprise you as well. A great space continues to make for a great evening in SoNo.

As St Paul was told, in life, eventually someone will dress you and take you where you do not want to go.  Such may also be the case for the average husband and father from time to time.  So I found myself one rainy Sunday afternoon being put into what passes for my finery and taken to my now-13-year-old daughter’s favorite restaurant for dinner to have a late celebration of her birthday, which had passed while she was at camp.

And so it came to pass that I was taken to Red Lulu.  I will admit to being wrong from time to time, and man, was this one of those times.  I had no idea how good my experience would be.  The service was superior, the margaritas were unbelievable and the food left me that much more distant from my goal weight. 

My problem with upscale modern Mexican restaurants is that they tend to overdo the production and the spice.  That was certainly not the case at Red Lulu.  It was Sunday, so it was a relatively quiet night, and the tranquility spilled over to the food.  The guacamole was creamy and certainly more spicy than many I have had, but in an interesting and seductive way.

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This theme followed through the entire evening.  The Queso Fundido was piping hot and tangy, but worked well as an appetizer on top of the chips and guac.  The Tres Ceviches looked amazing and is extremely creative, but I didn’t get to try it.  That might speak volumes as to the taste … it disappeared quite quickly.

The aspect I was most leery about with Red Lulu was the noise level.  I had assumed this was a night club atmosphere and that this was why my budding party girl loved it so much. Instead, I found the music far enough in the background to add ambience and the Lucha Libre touches add character and flair. 

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I kept it simple with a Steak Parilla Quesadilla.  It was really good … tender and well prepared.  The fish tacos, which seem to be peaking in popularity these days, looked simple yet delicious.  The Carne de Vaca seemed exceptional and the Negra Modello-red chile sauce was spot on.  The garlic chicken mole looked appealing, but I will punt, as I am not a fan of Mole, so I didn’t try it.

The dessert menu was well thought out and the staff put a little happy birthday together for Allison, so it was a great end to the meal.  The capper is the massive Marge Simpson hairdo done in cotton candy that arrived at the conclusion of this meal.  I should have realized that Red Lulu was not what I thought it was when I heard about the cotton candy … my bad. 

The kids appreciated it, the adults loved it.  All in a great night.  The service was great and really worked to make the three younger members of our party feel welcomed, so I would definitely call this a family friendly place.  Maybe this just needs qualifying with the fact that our visit was Sunday night … not exactly the most hopping time of the week in SoNo.  Friday and Saturday night the crowd might tend to be larger and have a different make up.

So, check out Red Lulu yourself and see what you find.  The recent events in SoNo have pretty much all concluded, but if you can’t find something interesting to browse through along Washington Street, you are not looking very hard.  The stores all have some neat things, especially the pop-up shops that we have read a lot about recently.  So, it is anything-can-happen time in SoNo and well worth the visit. 

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