House of Lu

My mother is allergic to MSG. We called to see if they use it. Yes, it is in everything. was the response. I would then caution anyone eating here if they are looking for fresh food. This is NOT the place. Too bad too

Just returned back to my office with takeout from House of Lu. After taking two bites, I discovered a long strand of straight black hair atop my lo mein noodles. I’m disgusted, and I will not return… not just for the unsanitary hair but also for the poor service I received when I picked up my takeout.

The food is good, the phở is especially awesome. Trying to get through on the phone to place an order during lunch time? Horrible. They really need to update their website and make it functional for online orders because they clearly can’t handle the call volume. The length of time I was on hold, I was able to drive there. So now I won’t waste my time calling first. I thought it’d be quicker to call the order in first, but I was wrong. Lesson learned.

I’ve eaten here quite a few times now. A few people I know have hyped this restaurant up so I had to try it being a lover of Chinese cuisine. I can honestly say it’s decent but it’s nothing to write home about by anyways. It’s hit or miss. We’ve had a few good experiences but several times now the food has completely lacked flavor. The hot and sour soup was weak. It didn’t have that BAM flavor it should have each time I’ve ordered it. The fried rice had no flavor to it and seems to be dry every time I’ve ordered it. The Mongolia chicken is one of my favorites as well as their coconut shrimp. Their sesame chicken is all breading and no chicken. The lunch prices are good. We’ve never had an issue with service in the restaurant. Overall, if you’re in the square and want a reasonably priced lunch it’s a good place to go but in no means the best Chinese food. Not sure why this place is all the rave.

(Update at bottom)
This is my first time here, so I’ll be brief.
House of Lu is located just north of the Marietta Square on Cherokee St, next to the back parking lot of First Baptist Church.
Despite being Friday night, they were able to seat us immediately. I ordered Combo Phở (rare round eye, well done beef, and meatball), my wife ordered Mu Shu Pork with mixed veggies instead of rice, and my daughter ordered the kids’ Sweet and Sour Chicken with fried rice. All three meals were generous given the price. While my Phở was probably a little short of what I expected, it was still tasty and filling. My wife really enjoyed her pork and had enough left over for lunch the next day.
Total price: $ 31.75 before tip.
Our server did seem to disappear for long periods of time. I suspect she was pulling double duty somewhere because everyone else seemed to be very busy.
All in all, pretty good.
UPDATE (19-​Dec-​2015): My wife and I went back with some friends. Good was good again, service was _​even slower_​than last time. Seems to be a pattern.

Great décor, great phở, friendly staff, comfortable/​cozy environment. Love this place for a date night!

Well, I didn’t eat here, and I never will, so some people might think it unfair for me to post a review. I’ll tell you what happened anyway, and let you decide if you’d like to patronize this establishment.
Here’s what happened — my husband and I arrived on a Friday evening about 6. The restaurant was no where near full — perhaps six tables — yet we were told there would be a bit of a wait. Of note, a couple that came in ahead of us was seated immediately. OK, whatever. We waited about twenty minutes. Here are my observations —
1. There were only two servers. The couple that was seated before us waited at their table for twenty minutes and no one came over to greet them, take drink orders… nothing. Willing to cut some slack if your short on help, but for heaven’s sake, please come over and take ten seconds to tell me the situation.
2. The place is very cute, lovely aesthetics. Nice bar area. Really makes you want to come in, order, and stay a while.
3. You can’t enjoy the aesthetics because the phone — located at the very nice bar — is ringing constantly with people calling in delivery orders. Really ruins the environment. Looks like a nice place, but sounds like a strip-​shop Chinese place.
4. After about twenty minutes, the aforementioned couple left their table, stopping on their way out to inform the manager/​owner behind the bar they had never been greeted or served. The manager/​owner shrugged, and went back to answering the phone.
5. The delivery/​take-​out minimum is $ 30.
Again, you decide whether it’s worth your patronage. If I’m dropping some coin on food, I’d like to eat somewhere that at least pretends to care about the customers that actually got their fat a**es off the couch and came in to their establishment.

Reminds me of a chic upscale restaurant that belongs in New York. I was so happy to find out they have vegetarian phở!!! Awesome and innovative drinks. Enjoy everything except the person I was with. He’s a backstabbing junk piece of a man. But this restaurant is amazing.

The food here is very solid in my opinion. My service was ok, but nothing extraordinary. I ordered my dish extra spicy but it was medium. I enjoyed how the rice was cooked. This is a great location right near the square. If I lived closer I would come back.

Phở was terrible. Broth was very weak, salty, and lacking of flavor. The beef was old meat that was so inedible we sent it back. The color of the beef was grey upon arrival and tasted as it looked. The noodles were very thin and like soba noodles? The noodles were in a Ramen noodle clump at the bottom of the bowl. The vegetable and herbs that usually accompany Phở were missing. Instead of these they gave me a plate of bean sprouts, 1 sprig of basil and 1 slice of lime.
To close, my spouse ordered Honey Chicken. It was total Mall food. When you dump a gallon of syrup on poor quality chicken to cover it up… that speaks volumes.
I will never be back.

The décor is nicer than the food. Phở was horrible! It had no taste. And the Chinese food there was typical fast food take out.

I stopped by with a couple of friends on a weekday afternoon in hopes of finding a decent bowl of phở closer to home (aka not on Buford Highway). House of Lu made a solid attempt, but it missed the mark. The prices were too high for what it was, but the noodles were plentiful. They also didn’t have any sambal on hand, a necessity for phở in my opinion. The service was also good. I’ll be back to House of Lu, but I’ll stick to the Chinese menu.

Only Chinese Place I Will Eat At.
I LOVE Chinese food and this is the only place in my area that I will eat from. I have eaten here since before the renovations and the renovations and menu addition make it TEN MILLION times BETTER! Everything about this place is amazing. Its authentic, its cool, its fun, its relaxing, its delicious, the staff is wonderful! This is a place I can take my parents or my friends. It is the best of all worlds and I highly recommend it to anyone! I have only had a bad meal here once and I believe that issue has been resolved because I have eaten there several times since and it has been amazing every time! This place is great for lunch and great for dinner and drinks with friends!

Cute little place, but easy to walk by. Go on in and make sure to order the Phở immediately. The combo (beef, eye of round and meatball) is great. Broth is fantastic and just hot enough.
Had the Pu Pu platter to start with, and it’s SO much food. Everything was really fresh and tasted great. The crab Rangoon filling was right down the middle of the plate; not too much onion. Egg rolls were hot and perfect.
Had a few drinks plus a huge appetizer, Phở and Mongolian beef, and got out for $ 60 before tip. Well worth it. We’ll be back often.

So I may have only eaten Phở a few times, but this is the BEST I’ve had! The broth is very flavorful, the veggies are fresh (the jalapenos are HOT!) and the service was lovely.
The interior was really modern and clean, making me regret the fact that we decided on taking our food to-​go.
Thank God for all the positive reviews on Unilocal,I mean we could’ve ended up at that other Phở place!

I’ve been coming here since June of ’14 and it’s definitely my favorite Asian place within the downtown Marietta area. I order from here at least once a month.
Never any precut, frozen veggies or sauce thickeners in the vegetarian dishes. My palette usually longs for the tofu phở and salt ‘n pepper tofu, but many of the veggie dishes are favorable. Just remember to grab rooster sauce as the heat is definitely Americanized!
Their new interior is just gorgeous, BTW. A far cry from the previous décor.

This place is FANTASTIC! The Phở is for real and the Bahn Mi is da bomb. This is one of the jewels of the square not to be missed!!!

Delicious phở and sake!
Being fairly new to Atlanta, all I keep hearing is that you have to go to Buford Hwy for the good phở. So I have been eager to check out House of Lu to try out their phở in hopes of finding a winning bowl of broth less than 45 minutes away. I was not disappointed!
The interior is super fun and adds to the atmosphere you’d expect from an Asian restaurant. The hubby and I ordered a couple rounds of yummy unfiltered sake, tofu and vegetable phở and Mu Shu chicken. Everything was awesome and I was especially pleased with the generous amount of noodles in the phở. Super yummy!
I noticed a lychee martini on the drink menu that I will be back to try as well. I have definitely found my go-​to phở close to home!

The fried rice had a great wok smell and flavor. The coconut shrimp was amazing. The service was wonderful. The bartender and server were knowledgeable and friendly.
The husband and I had this right before our casual courthouse ceremony.

Every since their remodel, this place has REALLY stepped up their game!
Every dish just seems fresher, not like your typical Americanized Chinese. What really stands out however, and what I was most shocked by, is the addition of Phở to their menu. Let me start by saying I have the pickiest eater of a boyfriend that has ever been known to man-​kind, truly, and he was blown away by his Vegetarian Phở dish. (The godliest of dishes couldn’t entice any kind of excitement from this man) He claims this will be our go-​to spot for all of winter, the Phở was just that good. I’m a total carnivore through and through, and the combination phở was just as good, if not better, as any place you could find in Duluth or on Buford Highway, which means I am in luck, since it’s just a hop skip & jump away from our home!
The newly done interior is very nice, reminds me of the nicer high end restaurants we frequent in the city.