ReallyRedding

Today we’re looking at Lulu’s Eating and Drinking Establishment, located at the terminus of Pine, California, South Market, and Cypress.  “All roads lead to Lulu’s.”At first, you might think it an ordinary hotel/motel based diner. But it’s definitely not ordinary. It’s a full bar too, and you can order drinks. Strong drinks in fact.
Overheard in the booth adjacent, “I want a Steak Diane, but with Chicken.” The waitress hesitated only briefly to consider that menu idea before agreeing and setting a price. “And bring us 2 tequila shots.” No hesitation at all on that afternoon request.

Classic American Diner Cuisine. I ordered the Chicken Fried Steak, and the lovely Karry opted for the Prime Rib Sandwich. “We serve a lot of Prime Rib,” says our waitress. You can order everything from their extensive menu, at all hours.

Maybe next time I’ll order “Prime Rib Sandwich, only with chicken,” just to see if the waitress even hesitates.

It’s bigger inside than it looks from the outside. The decor is meant to be sort of an ersatz Barbary Coast. But that look is hardly an artifice in Redding, which has seen it’s fair share of bordellos. Redding has been a logging, mining, dam building kind of place, and Lulu’s captures our Western essence very well.

Back here in the meeting room, they used to have the Shasta Blues Society jams on Thursday nights. All that’s left of the blues seems to be the carpet.
Lulu’s has a website with menus. And a Facebook page to Like.
Happy Hour starts every day at 3 pm. But you can be happy you came to Lulu’s anytime. It’s Really Redding.

 

Los Gordos is a classic Mexican food place in downtown Redding, at the corner of Pine and Tehama. We usually go for the street-vendor style carnitas tacos.

The dining area is utilitarian, but you can gaze out the windows on a couple of Redding’s busiest streets.
Since we’re here, we recall years ago, eating at this restaurant and watching Redding’s fabled Cruise Night. “The Cruise” was pretty mild craziness by today’s tough street standards. Something of a “Mad Max meets Burning Man with a Deliverance soundtrack” vibe. Wild enough for city fathers to outlaw, even back then. Too bad, really. It was quite a spectacle. We shall say a brief prayer now for “The Cruise” and simpler times.

We usually take-out. Ideal for picnics, these foil wrapped pockets of cilantro-onion-corn tortilla delight travel well. This tastes much better than I can make it look as a photo. Not your cheesy-lettuce style tacos here. Auténtico.

Los Gordos has 2 locations in Redding. The other on Churn Creek near Bonneyview. The Taqueria Los Gordos website also mentions a restaurant in Red Bluff. Looks like they’ve got el estado del norte covered.
Auténtico carnitas tacos. It’s Really Redding.

Edit 2019: Kahunas has moved over to Churn Creek to a location where several other restaurants have failed, including Brick’s Barbeque. So far so good for Kahuna’s though.

Kahunas is one Redding’s more recent new restaurants. They let you build a bowl of your choices of stir-fry type elements, and then cook it in front of you on a super hot flat grill.

Located on Market street heading south, across from Herried Music. They offer a full bar.

Add your cooking choices from a bewildering array of sauces, spices, and oils. They have recipes to follow, if you prefer. Or wing it.

Then watch while your bowl gets grilled. It won’t take long. That grill is HOT!

They hand it over to you steaming and sizzling. It was so delicious looking and aromatic, I forgot to take a photo before digging in.  But here’s after a few bites, along with sticky rice.

 

Terrific choices of craft beers. And the interesting wasabi sauce at the table capped it off.

Kahunas is open 7 days a week, 11 am to 9 pm, which is awesome. No need to wonder if they are open. Go hungry, or you’ll need a to-go box. Kahunas is all about choices, so you can’t really go wrong.