Chef Mona Leena Michael’s restaurant Lulu is undergoing another transformation. Michael first launched her business as the Mana’eesh Lady pop-up in Emeryville during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, serving mana’eesh flatbreads. She followed it up with Lulu on Berkeley’s Camelia Street in 2021, luring customers to her restaurant with gorgeous Palestinian by way of California mezze platters. Then, in 2024, she moved the restaurant to a new home on Solano Avenue in Albany, essentially doubling Lulu’s capacity and expanding the menu to include dinner.
Now, Lulu is making another change: It relaunches in the same Albany space on Saturday, February 21, as Lulu’s Little Kitchen, a fast-casual counter serving toum Caesar salad bowls, braised lamb rice bowls, and roti wraps.
We’ve been busy to the point where we still need all the staff that we have, but people are just spending less money.
— Mona Leena Michael
It’s a transformation that’s been a long time in the making, though it may have seemed sudden for the customers who’ve grown accustomed to knafeh pancakes during Lulu’s brunch hours. As Michael tells it, they’ve been breaking even or losing money every month since they’ve opened; the overhead is “insane,” Michael says, and the reality is that check averages went down 20 to 25 percent in 2025. Restaurateurs know that summer months can be slow, but November and December typically makes up for that in private events, reservations, and catering. After an especially slow November and December, Michael knew things had to change.
“We’ve been busy to the point where we still need all the staff that we have, but people are just spending less money,” Michael says. “Instead of people coming in and ordering three to five dishes, everybody’s coming in and ordering one dish each. Cost of goods is going up. If you’re a restaurant that takes care of their employees, it’s expensive to take care of your employees. All these things combined, it’s just not adding up.”
Michael wanted to ensure that the switch wouldn’t make the restaurant unrecognizable to regulars. She knew that her food was accommodating to dietary restrictions. It’s also a concept she initially planned for years ago — a fast-casual format “similar to Halal Guys,” she says. But given the restaurant food she’s made at Lulu, she wanted to build the menu with elements that worked well with diners, repackaging them into bowls and wraps. Think fattoush made with mixed lettuce, seasonal produce, and preserved lemon dressing; gluten-free fried chicken bowl with toum fries, fennel salad, and harissa yogurt; and braised lamb shawarma with tahini and toum, wrapped in roti. The ever-popular toum Caesar with crispy Brussels sprouts and lettuce comes down from its price of $21 to around $15, with an option for add-ons. On the weekends, Lulu will serve popular items like the knafeh pancakes and the shukaquiles, the restaurant’s take on chilaquiles. The bread program has been axed for now, although they will continue to make the roti, and Lulu is sourcing pita from Simurgh Bakery in Emeryville. “The idea was healthy, quick food, something that could be a part of a daily staple in people’s lives, at a lower price point, and really focusing on the things that our customers really come back for,” she says.
Lulu’s Little Kitchen
Michael calls the decision to change the restaurant difficult — especially as it involves making tough decisions about staff. “Part of the reason why I put this change off for so long is because you have this guilt of 25 people’s livelihoods that are depending on this restaurant right now,” she says. “And it really, really fucking sucks to have to make these decisions of who’s going to stay and who’s going to go, and giving them enough notice.” To make the transition, she gave employees a month’s notice, connecting them with other restaurants in search of workers. For a normal Saturday brunch, she needed two servers, two bussers, a barista, three line cooks, a chef, a prep cook, herself, and a dishwasher. With the shift to counter service, that will go down to one person in front taking orders and making drinks, plus two people on the line (Michael and a chef), plus a dishwasher.
Adding to the mounting issues were problems with the plumbing, leading to the discovery that the line is broken beneath the main prep kitchen. The initial plan was not to close for the rebrand and transition into the new format immediately, as they couldn’t afford to shut down. But due to the timing of the break, which was discovered just before their last week of service at the end of January, they were forced to close for two weeks for repairs. The bad news was further exacerbated by the fact that Lulu’s insurance denied an emergency claim to cover the loss of income due to the deteriorated pipes. The local health department approved them to reopen on Saturday, February 21, but the loss of income for the month totals between $80,000 to $100,000. Michael set up a GoFundMe for $20,000 to help cover pay for employees who were unable to work for two weeks, as well as rent and utilities.
There are still some unknowables about switching over to Lulu’s Little Kitchen. There’s the worry that customers won’t like the counter service — that there will be disappointment over the food items that don’t make it onto the new menu, or how it will be received. Michael’s thought about it all, and recognizes she won’t know about any of these factors until she’s in it. But she’s doing her best to remain true to the heart of Lulu. “We’re not this whole new unrecognizable concept, your favorites are still going to be on there,” she says. “…all these things that were originally in our old location that people have been coming back for repeatedly are not going to be gone. They’re just going to be in a different format — and more affordable.”
Lulu’s Little Kitchen (1106 Solano Avenue, Albany) debuts on Saturday, February 21, and will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday.