We went there on a Thursday night at 7:30 and did not leave until 10:30. There was a two hour wait. The waiting are was cool and there were many things to do. The kids had fun while playing but I do not think the food was worth the wait. My party was 7 (4 adults) and we all agreed that the food was bland. The portions were small and way over priced for what you got. The extras that come with the meal like salsa for the tacos, green beans, fries, slaw were all way undersized. You even have to pay extra for more tortilla chips to finish off the salsa when you get chips and salsa as an appetizer. Â The upside was that everyone was very nice and the live music was good. So I guess we did the "right of passage" thing by going, as it seems that it is a "must do" when you first visit Orange Beach but I don't think we will go back.
Review Source:Wow, what to say....NOT MUCH of ANYTHING GOOD... Wife had the fried oysters and fried shrimp.. Oysters weren't clean and sent back. I had the Crab melt because they were out of crab claws. it had a crab taste but couldn't find any on the sandwich..It was sent back also..Had a $9 margarita that came in a small plastic dixie cup, watered down and cheap Tequila. Son had the "buffalo" chix strips. Def not Buf. MAYBE spicy BBQ at best. good fries and cold water was the best thing on our table. Not worth our time, not worth the drive. Eating sandwiches at the condo as I write this.
Review Source:We went at 4:00 on a rainy day.  2 hour wait.  Went by fast  due to all the activities going on.  I had the burger, spouse had the shrimp and grits and daughter had a kid's burger.  Food was good, server was great, music was too loud to talk. Â
Spent more money on drinks and gift shop crap prior to being seated than the meal. Â
We had stopped going there because of the wait and if it hadn't been a bad beach day. we wouldn't have waited.
Very accommodating for our group of 30, and not a single person complained about their food, etc. Â Fish special, Red Snapper, was incredibly fresh and perfectly grilled. Â We sampled virtually every app, and all were enjoyed. Â Yeah, it's a little expensive; but, welcome to a tourist area...and you get live music after all!
Review Source:Ok, I should start off by pointing out that I am not a giant fan of baskets of fried food.
Went to Lulu's on 5/31/13 at approximately 9:30 at night, and was told there was an hour wait.
We got some drinks at the bar. I had a Scuba Lu , but added mango--it was delish. I tried the jet ski killer that another member of my party got, and it was pretty good too. The strawberry daquiri, however, was a fail. Didn't even taste like strawberries or rum. It was way over iced.
Our wait turned out to be more like 30-40 minutes, which gave us some time to enjoy the live music, gift shop, etc. This is obviously a place for families as there's a bit of something for everyone.
We sat down and immediately were drawn to the catfish feeding frenzy happening in the water below. Neat...I guess.
The menu is pretty family focused. A lot of fried fish, fried food, not much healthy going on at all. I ordered a shrimp salad with extra lettuce, understanding from our waitress that was more of a mayo based salad. When it arrived it had 3 lettuce leaves. And it was way too much food. Odd complaint, I know...but there is something to be said for portion control with a mayo-based salad.
My dining party got some fried fish baskets, which they said were 'ok', along with a crab melt that I tried some of. Tasty, very greasy though.
We tried the krispy kreme bread pudding and it tasted like krispy kreme bread pudding. Good, but nothing surprising there.
To summarize, if you have a family with kids and love fried food, totally go here, you will love it. Just wasn't my scene, nor was it worth waiting 45 minutes for.
We had to wait for an hour and a half to get seated. As this is a very popular place, and a holiday weekend, I didn't mind too much. It was especially nice that we could go to the bar and get a drink and walk around while we waited.
Once we got seated, the waiter took our order. We ordered a couple of appetizers along with our main courses. We got our main courses BEFORE our appetizers even came out. This is one thing that I find inexcusable in any restaurant. If appetizers are ordered, they should come out first and with enough time to enjoy them before the main course comes out. Not at the same time and especially not after.
The food itself was decent but not great. The drink prices were a bit high but that was not unexpected at a place like this. I did like the atmosphere and having some live music was nice. Outside of the restaurant was a lot of things to do for the kids, etc.
In all, it was ok but I don't think I would want to return.
Yes, it's Jimmy Buffett's sister and a bit of a tourist trap, but I kind of feel like it is a Gulf Shores rite of passage - you just gotta do it! Â Each time I've been, it's been one of the shorter visits as we make our way to our rental.
Located on an intercoastal waterway, there is a very chill atmosphere if you are able to get a seat along the water. Â Otherwise, it does have a commercial feel to it, similar to if you went to Margaritaville. Â It's in essence an open-air restaurant with a roof over it. Â On your way into the place from the parking lot, there is a gift shop with LuLu's written on just about everything. Â
I'd characterized the food as average to slightly above average. Â On a recent visit, we ordered the crab claws which had been marinated in a vinaigrette. Â For drinks, I feel like the margaritas are average, nothing spectacular but I've definitely had far worse.
Overall, I'd say this place is worth a visit, experience the kitsch and move along to somewhere else (ideally your beach house deck)!
Went back again a year after the last review. Â Food was still good and the service was good as well. Great nachos. Love the live music that seems to go on all day. I wish there was taxi service in the area, going out could be a lot more fun if one had options for transportation that didn't involve driving one's self.
Review Source:The good: great place for a family. Lots if activities including a huge sand play area, bags, and Hulu hoops.
The food: OK, at best. Between the 9 of us, no one raved about any of our meals.
The cost: you are paying for the atmosphere. 4 adults, 5 kids with a round of drinks was $270 including gratuity.
We're here for Spring break and happened upon Lulu's for the Michigan game along with some suds and food. Needless to say we didn't make a bad choice in Lulu's! The atmosphere was awesome and the service was fantastic! Easter Egg hunt for the kids was a very neat experience for the whole fam. I'm currently soaking in some icy cold Blue Moon while the kids are playing in the "beach"! What a day!
Review Source:Total tourist trap, but go with it. Â Owned by Jimmy Buffett's sister. Â If you like Jimmy and the Margaritavilles, you will love this. Â It is a little less corporate than Margaritaville, but still has the same vibe. Â
It was a two hour wait, but there is a lot of stuff to do while waiting. Â Our kids (9 and 6 years old) played in the sand, there is free sand volleyball, bags, and an outside patio and you can just sit and look at the Intercoastal Waterway while drinking a beer. Â We sat and watched dolphins while waiting for our table. Â
In spite of being touristy, I wasn't offended by the Kona Longboard Lager @ $10.50 a pitcher. Â The food is really good, way better than I expected. Â The fish tacos were great and the Seafood Platter was also really good. Â Lots of tropical drinks and beer. Â The Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding was a bit much for me, but everyone else at the table loved it. Â (I don't like Krispy Kremes normally).
Have a few drinks, eat and buy a tshirt...cheesy but a great time.
The food was great. We had a great server. We love the atmosphere.
The drinks on the other hand are a waste of money.
Mine and my daughter's drink did not have any liquor (rum) in them. Lulu's bartender is either lacking in ability to mix drinks or they are watering down the rum. So don't waste your money on the $8 small drinks. I ordered the Jet Ski Killer.
LuLu's does so many things right... it's family friendly, nice, very diverse menu, fantastic atmosphere, great location, great sounds, etc. But it's a bit too touristy for me to give it 5 stars... I guess that's not a bad thing for them, since touristy brings in the money, but the wait during busy times of the year probably isn't worth it. I really enjoy the food, and everything about LuLu's, but I don't particularly enjoy driving up to the place, and not finding a parking spot within 500 yards, and then getting on a 45 minute to an hour wait. Great for the restaurant, not so great for customers sometimes. That's not a big complaint that should bring the ratings down for it, but it's definitely something to take into consideration, particularly when you just want to go get something to eat and spend only an hour or so doing it.
Review Source:Over all, I give it a 8 out of 10. Â The wait was 1 1/2 hour but we listened to a live band so that was cool. When we sat down, it was maybe 5 minutes that we got drinks and our appetizers. The fried green tomatoes and smoked tuna was good!! Def a must!! For the main meal, we got the crab melt, Jamaican jerk chicken sandwich, and the Cheeseburger in Paradise. Everything was great!
Review Source:Server very laid back and helpful. Because of my substitution requests for side items, he saved me $8 by suggesting a different entree, but I still got the same food.
The atmosphere is definitely the reason to come here on a beautiful day. Be sure to check out the gift shop if you're looking for souvenirs.
Stopped in after hearing friends talk about Lucy Buffett's place and found it to just be "So So". Â Very good service, but my "Cheeseburger in Paradise (Crazy Sista Version) was just average. Â I didn't care much for the French Fries either, which were a lot crispier than I personally care for.
The better half had some fish, which had a cool tag where you could look up who caught your fish and where. Â If you do this, be sure to have Lulus Zip code handy, and be sure to include "GSA" with the numeric sequence or you will get an "Invalid Format" error.
We didn't have any dessert, which I understand is at least part of the attraction, so that may also account for my lower score.
Overall, no better than average and a definite tourist spot.
We go to Lulus every time we get down to Gulf Shores. Â This time we were a bit disappointed with our meal.
The waitress was very nice but my burger was not much better than a high school cafeteria burger. This was very disappointing because it was highlighted as such a "special" thing on the menu. Â Unfortunately my mojito wasn't good either.
I usually get the fish tacos but didn't this time. My wife did this time and and said they were average. I guess we've just had better since...
Overall not excited about our last visit but we'll go again.
I generally try to avoid tourist trap style restaurants when travelling, but LuLu's came highly recommended by several friends and coworkers. I should have stuck to my instincts and avoided LuLu's.
We went with a relatively large group (6 adults and 5 kids) for a late lunch/early dinner. We were initially seated at two tables, with an empty table in between and were told that we couldn't take the two tables next to each other because each of the two was in different sections covered by different servers. One of the two tables was near the intracoastal waterway side of the restaurant and was being overwhelmed by the smell of rotting/decaying fish or animal coming up from under the dock. After pointing out the smell, we were moved to a newly opened (for service) section of the restaurant that had tables setup to accommodate large groups.
Avoid the Crazy Sista beer, it tastes of stale Anhueser-Busch swill. The signature mixed drinks are of average quality. The menu is comprised of mostly fried seafood, and burgers with a few grilled and sandwich items offered. Our table ordered a decent sampling from across the menu. Anything that arrived at the table with any sort of moisture to it (grilled/blackened fish or fried items) had a lovely side effect of leaching the blue ink from the LuLu's logo on the wax paper that lined the food baskets onto the food. Blackened fish with turquoise ink all over it is very unappetizing. The food itself is bland and everything except the grilled items came out lukewarm or cold, most likely a byproduct of trying to prepare as much food to meet the demands of such large crowds ahead of time.
On the upside, the staff worked their tails off to quickly take care of each problem that we had. The section of the restaurant with the horrible smell wafting from the dock was quickly closed down and they sent someone under the dock to identify the source of the smell. Each food item that was covered in blue ink was quickly sent back to the kitchen and a fresh replacement was cooked and sent out  on a plate without the offending wax paper. The beach sand area for the kids to play in is a nice distraction to keep the kids busy while waiting for the food to arrive and also to keep them busy for a few post-meal drinks.
As we left, the large crowds we had been warned about were showing up. This place is definitely not worth the up to 2 hours you can wait to be seated. It's not even worth the time if you are lucky enough to be seated right away.
Wow...if I didn't know this place was named for Lucy (Jimmy Buffet's sister)  I'd think that they named it 'cuz it IS a LULU of a place!  My goodness, this place is an EVENT! Wish I had been there while it was still daylight so I could have had a better look around.  Tons of stuff for kids to play on, places for grown-up kids to have an adult beverage (bushwacker..yummy), lots of "get your Lulu souvenir stuff" in our neat gift shop...(yes I got a T-shirt)..., live music and oh yeah, they serve food at the huge restaurant too!  They feature the typical Gulf Coast fare but surrounded by tons of atmosphere!  For something a little different, order the Fried Green Tomatoes or a Crab Melt Sandwich.  Both were great. Anyway, ya gotta go check the place out  'cuz love it or hate it...you wanna say that you've been there.
Review Source:While visiting Gulf Shores, we had not planned on visiting LuLu's (even though it had been recommended by a co-worker). There is simply so much to do in GS it's hard to get everything in! However, when I asked where to get some good fish tacos, this is where we were directed and I am so glad that we didn't miss this place!
I thought it was 'just a restaurant', but when we arrived we found it's actually a small complex! Along with the restaurant, there is an outdoor tiki style bar, live music, outdoor water/sand play area for the kids, volleyball net and a 'Mountain of Youth' if you're up for a climb. A gift/souvenir shop is available as well.
The wait on an early Monday afternoon was about half an hour, but with all the stuff to do, the time passed quickly. Once seated, we ordered the salsa and chips for a starter. I thought the salsa was very flavorful, but a little heavy on the lime/cilantro...he thought it was great, though.
I had the much recommended fish tacos and was very pleased. I enjoyed them so much that I opted not to use to provided sour cream because I thought it hid too much of the flavor. He ordered the pot roast sandwich with chips. It came loaded with cheese and a side of au jus for dipping. It was delicious and in the end it was hard to decide which dish was best. All totaled, we spent about $50 on the meal (tea, soda, chips, salsa and the 2 entrees), which was more than we would usually pay for a late lunch, but this was a nice treat.
LuLu's was definitely a fun place to visit and the friendly staff made you feel right at home!
Terrible experience, horrible manager. Dinner tonight and my dad bit into his snapper sandwich and into a plastic lid. Waitress brought over a manager, Nina, who accused my dad of putting it there himself and suggested he keep eating it. When we complained she stuck with her accusation. Btw, my dad is 70. We asked for nothing in return but expected  a new sandwich but that was not even offered. Unacceptable for any restaurant.
Finally complained to Nina's manager who apologized and finally took the sandwich off our bill. He was helpful but random pieces of plastic in food is too much to overcome.
Great place, mardi-gras crowd was there, the band (John Cowart) was excellent, the female singer was terrific, food was fabulous. Service was good considering how packed the place was when we were there. Drinks were tasty and strong enough, but I agree with some others that for a $10 drink we expect a real glass, not a plastic cup. Atmosphere is fantastic, lots of parking for cars or boats, kids play area is really nice. Definitely hit the souvenir store for cool clothes and beach related items, my wife scored a great t-shirt for $5.
Great place for families to visit, and a large bar area for adult only get to-gethers.
Full disclosure, I was there in the winter and on a Sunday evening. Â I'm sure that Lulu's gets rocking during the season, but I was less than impressed with this very touristy spot. Â I was told that the fish tacos were the best item on the menu, but found mine to be the quality of what you would find at an airport bar. Â The tortillas were stale and the fillings unimpressive. Â My neighbor had a blackened fish, that looked very good, but according to him was not very impressive either. Â
Drinks were served in plastic, which I can see for busy times, but there were only a handful of patrons there, so would it kill them to put out some cocktail glasses? Â The band was good and there were a number of folks who were enjoying dancing. Â
I'm sure it much more fun when the place is crowded, but not a place I would return to and not certainly a place I would wait "hours" like others said to dine at.
To go to Lulu's in the winter time you don't experience really what Lulu's in reality has to offer.
In the winter there are no crowds, same great live band, but in any bar that is of these standards, you need the crowds. They bring the excitement and amp up the room.
But, today is Monday, January 15, 2012 and the Al tourist crowd won't be back until summer. The band plays an Arlo Guthrie's Good Morning America. The atmosphere is great, just wish there were people.
I ordered the Cheese Burger in Paradise and it was, perfectly cooked, and I think the most important thing it was encased in a nice toasty soft bun.
But, summer's when to go, to enjoy the crowds and people watch!
Great island-themed atmosphere. Depending on what you're looking for, it's definitely more family restaurant-oriented than a bar. Three stars plus one star for boat parking (like Tacky Jack's OB). Has a safe, polished touristy "chain" kind of feel, if you like that sort of thing. Couldn't resist buying a t-shirt for my daughter.
Got there late and just had good smoked tuna dip at the bar. Cool, professional bartender.
I've been to Lulu's twice now, both times at the request of my brother, who used to live in Pensacola. Â We wanted to watch football, and the game we wanted to see was not showing on the channels offered by the beach front condo. Â So we headed to Lulu's, which has a good selection of TV's, particularly at the bar. Â By the time we got there, the game was already bad enough that no one cared to watch it, but still sat close enough to the bar for them to see what was happening in the other games. Â
We waited just long enough for them to push 2 tables together for our group of 6 adults and 3 kids, 2 of which need high chairs. Â Then again, we were there in October, so the whole area isn't as crowded as the spring break and summer months.
We ordered fried okra for the table and the men got PBR longnecks for $1.50 each. Â The okra is good - light breading, not greasy, but not terribly flavorful without the ranch-like dipping sauce.
For my lunch, I got the Cheeseburger in Paradise (Lulu is Jimmy Buffet's sister) with cheddar, black beans as a side instead of fries (they're the same price when sold separately, so I guessed that the substitution would be no charge), and an order of fried green tomatoes.
The food came pretty quickly for a busy Saturday lunch. Â My cheeseburger was good. Â The black beans (which were covered in cheese, which I don't mind, but I didn't recall reading on the menu) were flavorful and had good texture. Â The fried green tomatoes were good, but nothing revolutionary. Â I got a taste of my husband's turnip greens, and they were also good, but nothing special. Â
The staff was friendly, kept the table as neat as possible, kept the drinks refilled, and brought whatever we requested in a timely manner.
After eating his mac and cheese and fries, my 3 year old nephew entertained himself by playing in the sand pit in front of the stage where the live musicians perform. Â As we walked out to the parking lot, past the souvenir shop, we watched an older girl on the ropes course. Â It looked like fun to me, and a good way to pass the time if you've got a long wait ahead of you.
#Yelp365 - 280/365
Our first trip ot Lulu's was awesome! Â The nasty weather (Tropical Storm Lee - Labor Day 2011) put a damper on our beach and pool time, so we did a lot of eating out instead. Â This was our first trip to the Gulf Shores area and we were told Lulu's was not to be missed. Â As we pulled in I was amazed at the amount of parking and I can only imagine what it would be like on a normal-non-tropical-storm kind of day. Â Wow! Â We were able to walk right up and the wait was only about 10 mintues.
We ordered the fried seafood platter for two, I waited for my fruity cocktail to arrive and walked my son over to the sand area to play while we waited for lunch to be served. Â Within minutes he was covered in sand and drenched in water from playing in Lulu's Fountain for Youth. Â The repeat customers were clearly more prepared for this than I and had their kids in the bathing suits. Â I reccommend doing the same if you have a little one! Â
Lunch was great. Â Our seafood basket included fried oysters, shrimp, fish and crab claws, fries and hush puppies. Â It was the first time I have ever had a fried crab claw and it was quite tasty. Â The service was excellent and the live music was a nice touch as well. Â We did the whole tourist thing and even got our Lulu's tshirts on the way out.
It was the best stop on our trip and we will definitely be back!
In theory, Lulu's is awesome. In reality, it has some issues.
One issue is its popularity. Because it is a touristy place it gets packed. On the day we went (peak season) there was a 45 minute wait even though it was around 3. Even with a 45 minute wait there are things to do. There is a large gift shop, ropes course, bar and sand area for the kids. There are also several misting fans to cope with the heat.
Once our table was ready we were seated in the main dining area. It is an open air dining area, but there are A/C vents. The problem is that they aren't very effective in 90+ degree heat.
Our server was very friendly and efficient considering how crowded the place was. We ordered a crab melt and cheeseburger. The cheese burger was actually pretty good. The crab melt as more like a crab and cheese dip on bread, but I guess that's what they were going for.
Prices are typical for a touristy place and were reasonable.
I do recommend you try Lulu's if you can come during an off time. Of not, I would probably skip it.
Yes, Lulu's is a massive tourist attraction. Yes, the wait for a table is long (our wait was 2 hours when we went on a Thursday night in July). To be honest though, throw back some drinks at the bar outside the restaurant and you won't even mind. It's people watching at it's best! There's plenty to walk around and see, and tons for kids to do while waiting for your table.
Simply said, the food was good. Our table started with the chips and salsa (standard) and fried okra (super greasy). I got the blackened mahi mahi basket for my entree and while the fish itself was a smidge overcooked, it was still very good and well spiced. The french fries were delicious and crunchy, the cole slaw was not the best I've ever had, and the jalapeno hushpuppies were amazing!
I have to give this place 4 stars because it is in a great location (right on the Intercoastal Waterway), it's a great atmosphere and it's a totally kitschy, beachy, Jimmy Buffetty restaurant to visit. Oh, did you know Lulu IS actually Jimmy Buffett's sister? Yes, he's even been known to drop by.
Nights usually offer live music. The place is a BIG tourist spot (is the food incredible? no, it doesn't have to be -- there's usually a wait at any given time at this place! get a reservation if you can; or come for lunch when it's not as crazy). The menu is overpriced for what you get. The food is generally a-ok -- last time I had it, the crab melt WAS very tasty.
Service here is usually spot-on, these servers make a killing and it's not an easy spot to grab a job at. The drinks here are pretty good but unless you know the bartender (or start tipping early on), you're getting a jigger full of whatever alcohol you're paying for (nope, that's not a strong drink).
It's not a place you just drop by to hang out at all the time. It IS a spot you come to once during your visit to this area - because it's one of those "experience" spots (and hey, you might even run into Lulu herself, or better yet, Jimmy!). Come eat, drink, listen to the music and have a good time. Then, check it off your "to do" list.
Once again, this is nothing more than a tourist trap for the beach goers visiting from out of town.
The wait, during season (March - September) can be in upwards of 2hrs or more and for what, I have NO idea.
Other than the fact that LuLu is Jimmy Buffet's sister, and the atmosphere of the place is total parrot-head paradise, it's nothing to write home about, trust me.
The food is mediocre at best, and even when there isn't a wait to get in the front door, the service makes you feel like you're nothing special.
If you're a tourist and want to have a little fun, then have at it, but for a local, this place (and the high prices) are definitely NOT worth it!!
I'm mixed about this place. The atmosphere of this place is fantastic. It is clean, fun and there is a lot going on but the quality of the food is not that great.
If you have kids, this is a great place to take them. There is a huge sand box (more like a sand yard) with toys and a place to clean them off and two stages with live music. Really has a great atmosphere.
The food, well, it's OK. I had a burger which was DRY. I had to choke it down. A friend of mine had the standard seafood sampler which I sampled some of and it was OK. The fried oysters were some of the better ones that I have had.
The wait can be a couple of hours on busy nights and it is not worth a wait that long at all. I think that LuLu really is banking on the fact that she is Jimmy Buffet's sister and not their ability to make good food.
Fun atmosphere but below average food. Next time I'll pass.
I absolutely loved Lulu's. Â The service was great and the atmosphere was even better. Â It gave you the outdoor beach hut feel with some great food as well.
The Onion Rings were incredible...and I am really picky when it comes to my rings! Â The batter was well seasoned and they weren't too thin or too thick.
MMMM....great place that has something for everyone.
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