Lula and Sadie's....down home, upscale, food hall?
Food Halls, I feel like they were all the rage a few years ago. They presented themselves as some grand new experiment in restaurants and food with supposedly unique and inventive offerings from mostly local (meaning non chain) cooks. Really, they are just food courts without the mall experience. You can concentrate on spending all your money on food instead of clothes, etc., then food. It is probably why their are cheap eats in the mall. I mean if you just spent $100 or more on some new kicks you don’t want to then drop another $20 on something to eat. Really though, to their credit, the ones I have been to have done a pretty admirable job of giving small time cooks and chefs an opportunity to serve up their own specialties and for the most part, they are things you will not find down at the mall (at the least the ones that still exist).
Seems downtown Durham was in on the plan and created their own space featuring Triangle locals. I have been by there on more than a number of occasions since I am a fan of Food Halls and really want to like this place. I will say I am ambivalent about it as some of the places don’t really seem to excite me as they have the seemingly usual array of burritos, pizza, a sandwich place, an oyster spot, coffee and a couple more. Each time I am there I am kind of like, eh. I know a large part of it is my picky eater-ness and really needing to be in the mood for food. Still, for whatever reason I find myself wandering through the place on random weekends in case this is the moment I might be into some wood fired pizza—again.
While I may bitch about my options, I do like the space and they have a bar serving up drinks should I ever imbibe and there was at least one place which did catch my eye called Lula and Sadie’s. They call themselves “a fine Southern eatery” which is just all kinds of fancy talk for we are serving fried chicken, mac and cheese and other Deep South eats. Which is exactly what draws me to them. You all know I am down for things deep fried or wrapped in bacon and fortunately for me they have both of these on offer, plus a few other tempting items that could be worth trying.
bacon wrapped meatloaf with bourbon brown sugar sauce and veggies
They had me at bacon wrapped meatloaf. It came with garlic mashed potatoes, sautéed vegetables and a corn muffin. Makes a pretty picture and it is big plate of food for $16 so that is a good start. From there, well, things were not exactly what I was expecting. The bacon was wrapped around the slice of meatloaf but was somewhat under done, at least what I had. I realized it was not going to be crispy due to the nature of usage but cooked a little more would still have been good. The meatloaf is a slice that is then grilled to heat up for serving. I liked the char but in all honesty, it kind of tasted like burger patty as opposed to a slice of meatloaf with all the spices and other peripherals you put in them. In essence it was a hamburger patty with bacon, which is fine, but not really what I was looking for.
The bourbon sauce that comes with it was bit too sweet. I could taste small notes of the booze but sweetest really overwhelmed the rest of it. Kind of like ketchup with an added cup of sugar. The sides were perfectly fine if not terribly exciting. I was bummed about the corn muffin since there was no butter(!) served up with it and it was on the to dry crumbly side. Nothing here really tasted bad and outside the muffin and maybe the bacon, it was all cooked well, just not something which sets it apart from your average diner. And you know, it didn’t have that meatloaf taste I was craving. Fret not though, all was not lost.
Hattie B’s Nashville style hot fried chicken sandwich
We all know I am always down for a fried chicken sandwich and the one at Lula and Sadie’s is what initially got me interested in trying out their eats when I saw it on their menu. They call it Hattie B’s Nashville style hot chicken sandwich. I’ve had these before in SF and hot chicken sandwiches have a somewhat convoluted and “spicy” history of which you can read about here. Traditional ones can truly kick up the heat enough to make you want to not only drink milk to kill the burn but pour it all over your body for the sweating you are about to experience. This particular version turned out to be two lightly battered and deep fried pieces of white meat chicken dipped in hot sauce and served on a toasted brioche bun with mayo and bread and butter pickles.
Here I am just going to say after one bite this was one damn fine chicken sandwich. Tender juicy chicken, crisp pickles soft buttery brioch, a dab of mayo and some nice warm heat. Now don’t be afraid of the heat though as it is not ratcheted up to the traditional levels you will see in Nashville. What you get here is a smooth heat you can taste and feel but on a level that won’t burn your tongue or stomach and still allows the taste of the chicken, tangy pickles and buttery brioche to still come through. I mean if you just are not into spice then this is probably not for you. But, if you are like me and enjoy some noticeable heat that is more than subtle but less than the need to gulp milk then this would be a great sandwich to try. While it probably could have a tad more mayo than the small swipe I got, that is a minor quibble for something I finished out with unbridled relish.
mac and cheese
squash and onions
It comes with one side but I paid the uncharge and decided to get an extra to round out my plate. First up was a white cheddar mac and cheese which, as I could see into the kitchen, was prepared when ordered, not some pre-cooked vat of it. For the most part it was tasty enough. The noodles were more al dente than you might get from your grandmas version and the cheese sauce creamier but still with the sharp cheddar tang. It was a nice take on the traditional.
The other was squash and onions which I was excited to see on offer. One, because you usually don’t see it and two, it really did harken back to my youth as this was something my mother made all the time. These were cooked just right with still a little crunch to the squash and some sweetness from the onions. Maybe could have used a dash more black pepper and salt but that is more my personal taste from mom’s dish but otherwise a great side I was happy to eat.
pumpkin pie with fresh cream
Like I am gonna pass up some pumpkin pie! I will say the slice I got was smaller than I was expecting for $6 and, you know, this being the South and big portion country. The pic is somewhat misleading due to my close-up but it could easily fit in the palm of my hand without any overlap. The crust was lovely and buttery if a little crumbly. One bite into it and whoo-wee I guess I can see why this was a small serving as it was swwweeeettt! With more than an ample addition of cinnamon. That fresh cream dollop on the side needed to be bigger, thicker and not covered in more cinnamon to counter act what was going on in the pie.
While this wasn’t for me I can see the appeal for folks as it does seem to be in line with desserts I have had here. You know the South, nothings too sweet, too meaty or too covered in gravy and butter!
While it may not seem like it, I am a fan of Lula and Sadie’s. The hot chicken sandwich and squash alone was more than enough to be onboard with the place. And while a couple of items were not inline with my personal appetite or what I was looking for at the time, I can understand their taste appeal. Plus, looking over their menu I do see other things I all in for trying like the “angry yard bird”—fried chicken and Mac and cheese. Or the fried chicken and red velvet waffle, a play on several Southern delights. Interestingly it seems what they do with chicken is the big draw for me here and I am good with that. Some restaurants do some things quite well and it seems fried chicken is theirs, something lots of places here do so standing out for it is a feat. And if nothing else, there is that “damn fine hot fried chicken sandwich,” I will definitely be back for that with a side of squash. Now if only the rest of the places in the Food Hall can live up to this sandwich.
