In the town of Redding, California sits a restaurant named Lulu’s. In the corner of that restaurant sits a booth where Merle Haggard regularly parked himself to relax and eat his favorite meal, which, like him, was a bit strange in all the right ways.
Lulu’s was founded in 1978, named for a woman that “came from a very questionable past in old San Francisco’s Barbary Coast”; pictures of this enigmatic woman can be found on stained glass windows and on the menu. Legend has it that she “traveled north up the Sacramento River and came upon the town of Redding. Sensing the need for a place to relax and enjoy good food and drinks, she opened a small roadhouse where Lulu’s currently stands.” Don’t worry if she was a real person, that’s not the point.
Lulu’s is a staple of the Redding community, yes for it’s good food and great atmosphere, but also because Merle Haggard himself was a regular there while living in Palo Cedro, just a town or two over.
Marci Biancalana has worked at Lulu’s for close to 40 years, starting as a server at 18, then bartending for a decade. After a short break to have and raise her daughter, she took over the manager role, where she’s remained for the last 25 years. (Side note: That’s a breed of waitress this country owes a huge debt of gratitude too.) She served Merle meals in the same corner booth that’s now adorned with his photograph and portrait:
She told Redding.com:
“He came in here for a long time. I knew Merle since the 1980s and then he just started coming in here every day… “People all around know that his booth is here and they’ll say, ‘Can we sit in Merle’s booth?”
When Merle Haggard becomes a regular somewhere, it’s only a matter of time before the masses want to go see for themselves. It didn’t take long before customers began flocking in to get a picture and ask him to sign something while he sat in the same corner booth that overlooks the intersection of Pine Street and Cypress Avenue.
But things really got busy when he happened to mention Lulu’s name in a 2009 Rolling Stone article:
“As soon as that hit, we got phone call after phone call saying, ‘Hey, can I talk to Merle?’. No you can’t talk to Merle…
You know, it was amazing, just by that article how many phone calls we got and how many people would want to talk to him. People would walk in with their guitars and ask for an autograph on their guitar or ask for an autograph on their hat if he was here.
Customers would say, “Oh my God, that’s Merle. I need to go get my hat or go get my guitar.”
Merle Haggard could have afforded all the glitz and glamor the world could provide one man. He could have been waited on hand and foot by high class servers at expensive establishments, ordered bottle service, and done whatever else it is A-list celebrities do to pass the time. But no, he was a simple man who just wanted to sit in his usual booth, flirt with the usual waitresses, and order his usual meal.
And what was the meal he regularly ordered?
Dollar-sized pancakes and oysters with spinach and beans on the side, a combination that makes no sense but was just right for Merle Haggard. He would also throw in some sausage and rye toast on occasion.
There’s something about those small, local establishments, where the clink of silverware echoes out of the kitchen and the waitress ask “Do you want more coffee, honey?” The places where everyone is the same, on the same playing field, whether you’re a nurse getting off night-shift, a truck driver pulling over for an early meal, or one of the most iconic country music singers the planet has ever seen. Our culture continually demands more, better, faster, newer, but is that really what we need? Is it even what we want?
The next time you’re going out to eat, do yourself a favor and settle into the corner booth of a small diner or mom and pop restaurant. Put the phone down and just look around at life playing out around you. Smile at the hostess, watch the busboy, and drink that extra cup of coffee.
Be a little more like Merle Haggard. Be a regular. Honestly, just be regular.
Shortly after his death in 2016, Lulu’s staff members shared some stories of his time spent in their restaurant. Rest in peace, Merle Haggard, and a tip of the cap to his favorite restaurant that continues to honor his legacy.
