Lulu’s

Great environment, excellent service, our group of 8 all enjoyed our food and wine last Saturday. Nice menu choices provided something for every one. Steak, scallops, pork, salmon and shrimp were all excellent and well presented. Deserts and coffee provided a great finish. You get what you pay for, which is a little pricey, but definitely worth it! Bread with dinner would have been nice.

You are only as strong as your weakest link and Lulu’s doesn’t have one! Tried four different appetizers and several entrees all delicious. The service was outstanding. Excellent all around.

So, here’s the deal, we came to spend the week at the lake, and decided to go in to town and check out lulus. We started with drinks that were all good. The menu was pretty extensive so we chose a few items. I had a burger which was fine, nothing special but it fit the bill, my friend had the white fish and he also enjoyed it. My boyfriend on the other hand ordered the BLT and it was not good, not even close. This thing was down right disappointing. Also, and I know this is silly, but they don’t have ranch dressing. I find this to be annoying. I can not be the first person who wanted ranch at their restaurant, it seems to me, enough people want ranch to have it on the dang menu. I wanted to dip my loaded fries in it. (Don’t judge, I’m on vacation) I will say our waitress was very friendly and she gave us good service, but a BADLY undercooked BLT and no ranch available could only earn 3 stars from me.

First of all, I’ll say our plan never was to come here for dinner. We planned to go to Shorts, but there was a line. We decided to go to Lulus because we loved Siren Hall in Elk Rapids and had hopes that since the two are in the same restaurant group, we would get the same quality of food. Not so much. Luckily they did have a Shorts brew (Temptress — the same one Siren Hall has on tap), but that was about as far as it went it terms of good news. We ordered calamari to start. It was good but not great and the serving size was tiny for $ 14! We both ordered burgers hoping they would be close to as good as the one at Siren Hall. Not even close. They were smaller, over cooked and lacking flavor (maybe we are just incredibly spoiled by how amazing the burgers are at Siren Hall). We also ordered a side of risotto tots. They basically tasted like frozen tater tots. What made this review lose at least a few stars was that I realized when I went to pay the bill, the cost of the risotto tots was $ 5 instead of the $ 4 the menu indicated. I’m not going to make a big deal over a dollar, but I did think they should know. When I mentioned it to the hostess she basically shrugged it off. I didn’t expect her to change the bill or anything, but she could have at least apologized. Overall, I would pick Siren Hall in Elk Rapids any day over Lulus.

We have a place upnorth and go here quite frequently when we’re up. Always exciting and fun, with a rotating menu of specials. The food is outstanding, and it is a great option for fine dining in Bellaire. Service can be a little slow, although good food takes time. If your near Bellaire and looking for a nice meal, definitely chose Lulu’s. They have excellent guacamole, flatbread pizza, salmon and their salad (all of their salads are excellent). Always so fresh too and definitely a treat. Their prices have gone down slightly so it’s not as pricey as it used to be but still a little more then some other restaurants in Bellaire. We went there tonight and split the sesame seared tuna appetizer, the caesar salad and the linguini fini pasta. The food was so good — the sesame tuna had great flavor, the caesar salad was perfect and light with just enough delicious dressing and penne, and the linguini fini was honestly the best pasta i”ve ever had. Next time I go there I’m ordering one all for myself. It is unexplainably good with the oh so perfect mushrooms, shrimp, bacon, pancetta, parmesan and topped with olive oil. Only complaints are service can be slow/​forgetful, they tend to run out of their best specials if you don’t get there in time, and the kitchen seems to experience frequent mishaps. Despite the few flaws, I must also include they serve perfect portion sizes too. i’m very tempted to go back there tomorrow for dinner!

We ate here a few weeks ago. The place is really trendy, feels like you should be in a big city, not Bellaire. Food was really good but expensive. I think the $$ rating on Unilocal is low. the guacamole app was excellent. Save your drinking for the Bellaire Bar or Shorts. Whole place gave off a snooty vibe — staff and customers.

Took quite some time to be greeted by our server after being seated. Our server did not seem well trained or knowledgeable of food and drink.
The veggie burger was very bland and mushy. I do not suggest ordering that unless you add a ton of sauce on top of it. Bun was the saving grace of the meal.

We went here after golfing all day. There was a table of 15 guys that were on a golf weekend. They were loud and the restaurant tried to keep them quiet. I thought they were funny but I can see if you want a nice romantic quiet dinner how this is distracting. The food was great and wine too. Service was very good! Would go back ;)

Awful, unfriendly service.
We were seated and then promptly ignored by the waitstaff who were either walking back and forth or back in the kitchen eating. Every time the kitchen door opened, we saw servers back there eating food. Very unprofessional. We sat for 10 minutes and then decided to leave when no one helped us.
On the way out, we asked the host if he had informed the server she had a table, and he claimed he did. The owner came over (she had been sitting at the table of some friends who were eating there) and she was more or less apathetic that we had been treated badly. It was obvious that locals or known customers are valued here, but not so much people from out of town.

I thoroughly enjoyed their take on a Cobb salad — beautiful presentation and every bite was flavorful. I also sampled the Two Cheese Plate (I was addicted to cheese this whole trip!), really digging the softer, stinkier option.
Ken started with the French Onion Soup, which was amazing and highly recommended. Next, the Hanger Steak. He enjoyed it, but I thought the sauce was missing that ‘something’ that makes me wish I’d gotten the dish instead of him.
Drinks are inventive and strong. And slightly spendy — my worth-​it Lemoncello Collins was $ 9. Craft beers for Ken.
The restaurant is loud (high ceilings, open floor plan), and the seating is not cushy. This was not a snooty place — our party had two 10yo boys in it, and we fit in perfectly (they are well behaved boys, but still!). Food was unique, delicious and beautifully presented. I would definitely come here again!

We had a very good lunch experience at Lulu’s on our short trip to Bellaire. The ambiance is a little upscale. It’s spacious and the servers are friendly. Prices are reasonable. We ordered poutine as a side, and we were a little disappointed as it was very unpoutinelike — dry, no gravy, barely any cheese. The restaurant used truffle oil as the gravy, which was an unsuccessful variation. Other than the poutine, the rest of the meal was great. Our entrees, both seafood based, were well cooked and seasoned, and oh so fresh! A great experience. I would go again if I’m ever in town again. Recommended!

Really nice apps– everyone liked the calamari… I thought the gnocchi app was amaz-​ing! French onion soup was really big, delicious, and filling… I wasn’t able to eat my dinner! The swordfish was out of this world best swordfish in a long time… very tender. Nice place, good for groups.

The food is 5 stars without a doubt. It’s always inventive, beautifully presented and delicious. The service while attentive can be a little sluggish and uninformed. Maybe I’m just being presumptuous here but this is more of a fine dining atmosphere than a gastropub. Our server last time was lovely but seem a little clueless. My bf ordered a Compari and soda and she brought him a vodka and soda. I don’t think she knew what Compari was. The final reason why Lulu’s doesn’t earn that coveted 5^th star is the NOISE. It’s loud and I mean really loud. I don’t know if its the tin ceiling or the stand up bar in the middle of the dining room but its out of control. If Lulu’s could get a handle on the noise and tweak the service it would be 5 stars all day long.

I’m not going to tell a story about my trip to norther MI — just going to tell you a quick review… Food was really good; however, the service was slow. Had the service been better I would have rated it a 5. A tip, order you second drink /​beer wine mixed when you are half way done with you first. Drinks took a long time to be served. See their menu for a description of the food… They can explain better than I. I want to reinforce that the food was in fact very good.

Possibly could have been the best burger I have ever eaten. We will definitely be back.

The rave reviews for this restaurant are well justified. The quality of the product, creativity of the preparation, and skill of execution are top notch. And not just for this small town — Lulu’s would be right at home in Chicago, NYC, etc. I tried most everything that our large table ordered, and it was uniformly excellent. Add friendly service and a great wine list, and you have the makings of a very memorable evening. I cannot wait to go back!

On a recent trip to the «Tip of the Mitt» in Michigan, my friend and I stayed near Bellaire, MI. On our first day there, we explored the little village of Bellaire. To our surprise, we found an amazing restaurant called Lulu’s Bistro. The interior of the restaurant is contemporary and spacious. The service is friendly and helpful. The most amazing part, however, was the food. We definitely didn’t expect such a delicious and creative menu. Everything we tried was wonderful. We had a Vietnamese pizza that was very flavorful as well as a beautifully presented Smoked Salmon, Fried Green Tomato Lettuce Salad with the most perfect egg on the side. Truly a work of art. The cocktails were delicious and creative, too.
We ate here on three occasions during our stay. One night we arrived right after the kitchen had closed and were overwhelmed when the server told us the kitchen was closed but she would give us her pizza that was prepared for her to take home. I have never experienced something like that. We were starving and took her up on her offer.
Don’t miss this bistro if you are anywhere near it!

Do you plan ahead for dessert? I always look ahead, but more often than not these days, I’ll go for soup and not dessert. Lulu is smart to put their highlights right on a big chalk board near the bar — and as soon as I saw «Fig & Lemon Balm» under ice cream — I was totally in. Figs are one of those things I’ll order no mater what form it takes, and the balm is probably the most creative I’ve come across… which takes Lulu’s to a five star for me. Unfortunately, time had run out for the six-​year old dining with us, and I had to get it to-go…it was delicious back in our room, but would have really finished off our meal beautifully, if I’d been able to enjoy in at the restaurant.
As for our six year-​old companion, our daughter, she loved the chicken parm & gnocchi available off the children menu — an adult sized portion. They also offered a whitefish option, a pasta with white sauce she would never eat, a pizza and a few kid standards. A better kids menu than most, but always looking for just plain grilled chicken or small piece of salmon. Perfectly cooked green beans were added and enjoyed.
We started with the hot crab app based on another Unilocaler’s review and weren’t disappointed, big chucks of lovely crab in cheddar goodness that wasn’t too cheesy. Nice warm bread that was the starter with incredible butter, not salty and very fresh tasting & cold.
They also had one of my favorite wines by the bottle, White Haven, for $ 27, so we started with that. I switched to a pinot noir after the first bite of my entrée, scallops with bits of spicy sausage in a relish. Yum. Our server was terrific, but we do like someone that knows about wine and helps educate us on what goes best with what. We’ve learned enough by now that it didn’t make any difference, but would have taken the service to the next level.
My husband loved his swordfish and we’re looking forward to returning… even if it means driving from Traverse City. We’ve been staying in Bellaire, and having dined in the best rated places in Traverse, I’d go out of my way for Lulu’s Bistro!

I absolutely love Bellaire. Where else can you get Lulu’s and the Bellaire Bar just a few doors away from each other?
Lulu’s is modern, elegant and relaxed all at the same time. Always a safe bet for a delightful meal with an amazing wine selection and great cocktails. Even better is that they source local, so you’ll find a great deal of things on the menu featuring local herbs, vegetables and fish.
They also recently introduced a late night happy hour. Prices are amazing, but it seems like the quality is a tad different than their normal offerings.
Regardless, anyone who is in the area must try Lulu’s! Their sister restaurant, Siren Hall, is also well worth the drive!

When you step into Lulu’s, you immediately forget that you are in a town with a population of 1,100 people.
Lulu’s has quality that could easily translate to any major city dining scene. Of all of my travels eating in some top U.S. restaurants, Lulu’s truly ranks as one of the best.
Maybe it’s the location, maybe it’s the atmosphere, the fresh ingredients, the locality, or the small-​town charm. But I know this much, Lulu’s is doing something right.
My family has had a summer home in the area for years, and we have witnessed how the small city of Bellaire has changed over time, offering up some great dining and night-​time spots. And front and center to the redefinition of the city is Lulu’s. Last time I was in town, I even ended up going twice in one day.
For lunch the first day, I had the fried white fish. Being in walleye country, it is not uncommon to find fresh, local and delicious fish. But the fish I had at Lulu’s was one of the best I have had. The presentation was marvelous, perfectly crispy on the outside, but not too much, and perfectly flaky in the inside. Served with salad and french fries, this was one of the best lunched possible.
Later that night, after trying to decide where to grab a bite to eat, I couldn’t take my mind off of Lulu’s. Since my lunchtime experience was so wonderful, I had to come back. But unlike lunch, which the place was fairly empty, dinner was standing room only inside. I decided just to sit at the bar and order an appetizer and a couple of drinks.
It was late May, and that means only one thing in Northern Michigan — morel season. And I have a confession… being a lifetime Michigander, before this night, I had never had a morel! But of all places to lose my morel virginity, I am pretty certain I chose the right place.
The preparation was magnificent. Perfectly seasoned and sauteed to a light, soft consistency, a top green and a custard of sorts, the flavor explosion was incredible.
The guest I was with was no fan of mushrooms but actually quite enjoyed the dish — that’s how wonderful it was!
Along with food, the libations at Lulu’s are some of the best in town. They shake up some mean martini’s here, something fairly uncommon to the area. You can get drinks with house made syrups and flavorings, not just bottled high fructose corn syrup like many other places. As a fan of old fashions, I have to say, they served up one mean one! It was actually one of the best I have had anywhere… and that’s saying something!
Along with the food, the atmosphere here is truly top notch. High ceilings, with an industrial type feel, this place really would fit into any foodie city. But what they have that NYC, SF, DC, etc. don’t have is the fact that they are able to produce such a place locally. Since the area produced a lot of lumber among other things, the ease of supplying local materials is present, making this place just one notch cooler.
Lulu’s has paved the way for a new mindset in Antrim County. Perfect food. Perfect atmosphere, and an all and all great time.