A couple nice reviews from the PD's "Restaurant Row:"

 

Velocity takes its shot at Clifton Blvd. spot Wednesday, June 21, 2006

John Long

Plain Dealer Columnist

It is hard to name all the restaurants that have been at 10427 Clifton Blvd. in Cleveland since the old Wilsher Grill opened there nearly 20 years ago and up through Giovanna's, which closed earlier this year. The latest to take over the space is Velocity, which opened two weeks ago and looks to have the best chance for longevity. Greg Korney has hit on the magic formula that will make this an instant hit - adventurous food that is reasonably priced.

 

More at cleveland.com http://www.cleveland.com

Went to Tastebuds for the first time yesterday. Fabulous! I wish that they would open one in the OC.

well, they may have to relocate...

 

have you hit up Souper Market yet?

I almost missed a plane waiting for a Souper Market crab cake...was so worth it, that place is great.

I'd have to issue a vote against the Metropolitan Cafe ... it's nice inside, and the food isn't bad, but it is NOISY to the extreme.  When I go out to eat, especially for an intimate dinner, I don't want to have to yell across the table, but you often have to at the Metropolitan Cafe.  I don't know why there's such a mania for restaurants that have high ceilings, play music too loud, and are generally too noisy ... whatever happened to quiet little intimate places??

I'd have to issue a vote against the Metropolitan Cafe ... it's nice inside, and the food isn't bad, but it is NOISY to the extreme.  When I go out to eat, especially for an intimate dinner, I don't want to have to yell across the table, but you often have to at the Metropolitan Cafe.  I don't know why there's such a mania for restaurants that have high ceilings, play music too loud, and are generally too noisy ... whatever happened to quiet little intimate places??

 

True, I agree with you that the place can get a little loud- but that's the type of place that it is. Not all restaurants are or should be very quiet and intimate. The Metropolitan is in my opinion is a nice restaurant where you can dress more casual and get a little a tipsy with a larger group of friends. It is a place you can go for a more a fun dinner, but for a romantic dinner this probably isn't the place to go. If you want a quiet place, go to San Souci.

 

Good question. I don't think so. There used to be a restaurant called Top of the Town that was on the top of the Erieview Building (am I correct??), but it closed down.

 

I remember that place very well. I was pretty young, but one thing I'll never forget about that place were the views and especially seeing the Rock Hall under construction. Even at age 10 I remember thinking how cool it was that the Rock Hall was being built in Cleveland.

Anyone here been to the New York spaghetti house?  I was just wondering if it was worth the trip...

 

If not OR so, any other new Cleveland eatery recommendations that are must tries? 

 

O, Is there a good website for local dinner reviews? I usually check out plugged in Cleveland, Cleveland nights and of course here (which is probably the best so far) just wanna make sure I am not missing anything better...

 

 

 

hi jar- plugged in or Northern Ohio live is a good start. If you want something more interactive try the following: Cleveland.com food and wine or  dining review forums (you need to register). be warned, I am sorry to say I have noticed there are some very sad and disturbed personalities drawn to that area (or they are everywhere but some reason uncontrolled there)so you may find yourself wasting precious minutes of your life wading through the rantings of a number of people with some heavy duty baggage. It would be comical if it were not so pathetic.  Still you may get some very good info through all the garbage.  Chowhound.com midwest board- put "Cleveland" in title or search may be good as well. I have not been to the NY Spaghetti House but have been meaning to go out of curiosity (as I hear little or nothing about it and it has been around for years). What type of places do you like?

ethnic, what art of town, bar like, price range?

Scotti's Italian Eatery, at 882 East 185th Street has some very good italian and pizzas. The place is always busy which is usually a good sign. The food is cheap and fills you up. I tried a couple of there calzones and they were fantastic!

If you want more upscale Italian, try Michelangelo's in Little Italy.  It just opened a few months ago, on Murray Hill Ave, across the street from Valentino's pizzeria (which has good pizza, btw).  Michelangelo's is by no means cheap (entrees are typically in the $20-$25 range), but the food is very good and pretty authentic and a bit adventurous.  It's also worth having a drink at the bar before dinner (ok, it's always worth having a drink before dinner anywhere, but it's especially nice here).  The bar area is really cozy - try to score a seat in one of the leather chairs near the fireplace.

Way out of my price range. As a former member of the middle class, I'll have to be content with looking in the windows. I hope they don't mind!

Well I tried Machu Picchu... http://www.machupicchucleveland.com/

 

I wasn't too impressed with the food.  Talk about a sweet ice tea, my teeth are still recovering, but worth a try if you go there...My order came with French fries; maybe I was looking for something a little more "Peruvian-style".  Possible one of the worst salads I have ever had in my life.  On a good note, the restaurant itself was very nice.  Great feel to it and very cozy.  I am hoping it was just what I tried and plan on giving it one more opportunity.  I went with another couple and both had about the same to say.  Food was so so, but the atmosphere was great.  For a 15.00 dollar plate I was just expecting more. 

 

Anyone else had a better experience there?   

 

Well I tried Machu Picchu... http://www.machupicchucleveland.com/

 

I wasn't too impressed with the food. Talk about a sweet ice tea, my teeth are still recovering, but worth a try if you go there...My order came with French fries; maybe I was looking for something a little more "Peruvian-style". Possible one of the worst salads I have ever had in my life. On a good note, the restaurant itself was very nice. Great feel to it and very cozy. I am hoping it was just what I tried and plan on giving it one more opportunity. I went with another couple and both had about the same to say. Food was so so, but the atmosphere was great. For a 15.00 dollar plate I was just expecting more.

 

Anyone else had a better experience there?

 

 

French fries is very Peruvian. I would categorize this place as a very typical Peruvian place. I lived in Peru for 2 1/4 years and they like to mix in papas fritas whenever they can. Peru has over 300 types of potatoes.

 

La papa rellena is the best thing on the menu and perhaps the most unique as well.  I hope your service was decent. When I went there, we had the worst server that I've come across in this city.  Otherwise, the place best serves to stir up the fond memories that I have for the place.

 

Peru has three distinct cultures: the coastal desert, the mountain region and the rain forest.  This place really mixes the coastal and the mountain. Its kind of like going to an American restaurant that aims to mix NY and Texas on the same menu.

re MP. I agree with Wimwar (who was there the same night as I was!) about the papa rellena--good lord that things was good. ...in general I thought the app's were better than the entree.  I thought the service was horrible. the waiter knew nothing about the cuisine. I blame managment to some degree as they need to train them about the food. I disagree about the atmosphere I thought it was pretty bad, like a dreary banquet hall. Maybe they have spiffed it up since I went. I wonder if they still have the happy hour? Maybe the way to go is to go into the bar order some apps and knock back a cocktail or two.

French fries is very Peruvian.

 

Really, I know they were heavy with potatoes, but I guess I always think of French Fries as an American thing...Thanks for clearing that up...  Service wasn't bad, as in asking if we needed anything, refills and such, they didn't really go into explaining the menu, but little places I have gone to do anymore.   

Wim, what were you doing in Peru for 2 years?

Great write-up for Fat Cats (Tremont) today in the PD:

 

Fat Cats is the meow among trendy Tremont tastes

Thursday, January 11, 2007

The Sun Courier

 

If someone were to ask what my favorite bistro-style restaurant experience was last year, I would say it was at Fat Cats, at 2061 W. 10th St. in Cleveland's hopping Tremont neighborhood.

 

I love the atmosphere, the renewed "oldness," the outside view of the city skyline. I also love the superior service and superb food owner/chef Ricardo Sandoval creates.

 

More at

http://www.cleveland.com/suncourier/scoopdujour/index.ssf?/base/columnist-0/1168461431326000.xml&coll=4

 

I ate at Fat Cats last June. I found it overpriced with small portions of only OK food. And the service was SLOW on an evening when the restaurant was half empty/half full. I'll go back only if someone else pays the bill.

^Hmm, no kidding.  I've been there once and I actually quite enjoyed it.  I thought the quality was great and the value was even better, especially considering it's in Tremont.

I eat frequently at Fat Cats....never had a bad meal there and the serrvice is generally very good.  Also, the prices are very reasonable, which is why I go often.

Maybe I'm thinking of a different place? It's in a former house at the north end of West 10th or 11th street.

That's the place. 

It's my brother's favorite date spot.  He lives just down the alley from it.  I've still never been!

I've had several good experiences at Fat Cats, Halite, and Lava Lounge (all owned by the same group). Fat Cats is the pricier of the bunch but I've had some fantastic pasta dishes there. Fyi, Grumpy's is now open (on West 14th south of Starkweather) and serving - though I think their late-night hours don't start until next week - dirt-cheap and good food!

I do love Halite & Lava Lounge.  I know my brother's been anxiously awaiting the return of Grumpy's!

but what about grum's?

Does anyone have any personal experiences (and I am sure you all do) they would like to share about Lola or Vivo?  Heard 3rd person reviews of Vivo, which have all been good.  Though the reviews online I have read about Lola weren't very encouraging...Am I better off going to the former Tremont location? 

I have always had a positive experience at Vivo.  As for the new Lola, I think the hype has lifted expectations to the point that it may not always live up to.  Only went in for a martini to see the place, which is impressive, martini was good, but only if you are a true martini drinker, but cant speak for the food.  I recently spoke to someone that ate at Lolita and said the food was not very impressive, and that they are supposed to be reverting somewhat back to some of the old Lola faves. 

^^I loved both of my experiences at Lolita.  Zero complaints.  I think it's better than anything else in town.  Haven't eaten at Lola yet.

 

As for Vivo, my two lunch experiences have been good. 

Had a fantastic dinner & overall experience at Lola.  Impressive service, very good atmosphere, and the food of course was fantastic. 

 

My personal favorite part of the evening - "A Cold Night in Cleveland" - a dessert in three parts:

1. Bitter Hot Chocolate

2. Some type of no-bake-amazing chocolate torte

3. Peppermint Raspberry Sherbert - WOW

Ate at Vivo a year or so ago, so I don't remember details. I do remember the food was good, but I couldn't afford to eat there again.

 

I'm just as happy eating at a greasy spoon as at a fine restaurant. And my small wallet is even happier.

I was at Lola for a Wine Tasting w/ appetizers. The appetizers were superb, but that may have been helped with the wine and the fact that someone else was picking up the tab.

"Though the reviews online I have read about Lola weren't very encouraging.."

 

I'm curious what reviews you've read.

 

As with everything, you need to consider the source. For example, the cleveland.com Food and Wine forum is both a great resource and a flamefest. It's one of the most successful forums at cleveland.com and has truly helped give the local foodie scene a common place to express their views. Unfortunately, they don't have any kind of local moderation, nor do they have any way to permanently ban trolls.

 

For example, they recently had someone post about a supposedly awful experience at Lola during NYE, claiming they were ripped off, etc. However, because of the details in the post, Lola staffers (who are regulars on the forum) recalled that the person in question was a drunken belligerent idiot who by night's end, shoved one of the staff and had to be thrown out. He even said something to the effect of "the Food Forum's gonna hear about this!". As with anything on the internet, you're gonna have people with an agenda, particularly when it involves someone with the visibility that Symon has. Fortunately, Michael Symon - for all his accomplishments is really one of the most down-to-earth and gracious restauranteurs I've ever met.

 

I think one thing that willyboy alluded to is a factor - people in Cleveland aren't always open to change. From what I gather, people flipped out when they heard that the "mac and cheese" dish wasn't available - but given Lolita's Mediterranean slant, that dish didn't really fit. So people go to Lolita expecting the former Lola, and they go to Lola expecting the same dishes from the previous location, with the same price, but in a different setting. When they don't get the sameness they were expecting, dishes become "less impressive". When they see the same dish they used to get being a few dollars more, the prices become "unreasonable".

 

^^

 

Yeah, that Lola-NYE troll was pretty bad.  You could tell he was creating new accounts to corraborate his story.  I'm glad the real story came out.

 

I've never been to Lola or Vivo, but I've been frequenting the Lolita happy hour recently, and it is fantastic.  They have a small food menu and everything is $5.  You can get the kobe burger ($15 on the normal menu), a half order of the mac and cheese (a very good sized portion), among other things.  They have a few drink specials, including $2 Sierra Nevadas.  I think it runs 5 - 6:30 Tues - Sat, 9:30 - close Tues - Thurs, 10 - close Fri & Sat, and 4 - close Sun.  Makes a nice Sunday dinner.

The reviews were from Cleveland Nights, which seem to be a good source for me in the past.  Thanks for the info people, I think I decided to go for Lola for the V-day dinner...

 

http://www.clevelandnights.com/cleveland/Lola_Cleveland_2407.asp

I think you made a good choice - and as you can see on the clevelandnights.com reviews, the troll from the cleveland.com food forum posted their review word for word (the 1/1/07 review).

 

Again - any place like that that allows anonymous reviews without any sort of filter isn't going to be the best source for info.

Ouch.  Just looked at that site...  I would say those people had a bone to pick, and went in to the place determined they would not like it.  I dont think you can go wrong, for the experience alone, even if it seems a bit overpriced.     

I've been to Tremont on a number of occasions, but thought I'd get some advice on some places I haven't been. A girl who I like very much is visiting me this weekend from Columbus, and I thought we'd go to Tremont on Saturday night for drinks. I've been to Treehouse, Prosperity, 806 and Flying Monkey, and have liked all of them. She would too. But I've never been to Lava Lounge or Southside. I wanted to hit up several bars including a dive. Any thoughts? What are the most popular places on a Saturday late saturday night anyway?

while I hate to call any of these places a dive but for what you may call a dive I love Hotz on starkweather. big guys pizza will deliver from next door.  you could also  venture over to the duck island club or hoopples . Both southside and Lava Lounge are great but neither could pass themselves off as a "dive". to cleanse your self go to Velvet Tango Room to finish the night off with a little class and romance

^Lava Lounge is definitely the more "romantic" spot, still very hip and a laid-back vibe. This is my #1 choice to end a tremont crawl, especially if I'm trying to impress a lady.  :wink:Southside is cool, tends to be a little on the crowded side; a great patio and a cool space. Both have late-night eats, too. I would hit Southside, then Lava Lounge.

^^ I meant to say that I wanted to go to a variety of "Tremont" paces, which include the lounges and dives.

 

Anyway, I think we'll try Lava and the Southside. I love Hooples, but maybe not if it's not Thursday. I'm not feeling the Velvet Tango Room, although I've been there and like it okay. What about Duck Island versus Hotz or Edison's?

IMO I would rank them as follows: Hotz, duck island and Edisons a distant third.

If you're not trying to be trendy or eat healthy, and want to go with some Hungarian, I'd strongly recommend Balaton's on Shaker Square.  Particularly for weinerschnitzel or paprikash, and I'm told they have the best crepes around.

 

For Polish, I've heard good things about Babushka's kitchen on Olde 8 just south of 82 in Northfield, but I haven't been there yet.

Various items from today's PD:

 

Former Symon cohort making plans for own gastropub

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Bill Lubinger

Plain Dealer Columnist

 

Jonathon Sawyer, most recently chef du cuisine at Michael Symon's Parea in New York and previously with Symon at Lolita in Tremont, is back in town. He's working part-time as a consulting chef at Lockkeeper's in Valley View while pursuing plans for his own local restaurant - a gastropub (essentially a casual bar with great food), called simply Gastropub.

 

He's kind of playing Ohio City and the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhoods against each other, looking for the best situation. Timing is vague, but the aim is for construction to start by fall and to open by winter.

 

 

More at cleveland.com http://www.cleveland.com

Cleveland?!?

Former Mistake by the Lake is getting national attention as a hot new dining city. So we sent our intrepid reporter, who had never been there, even to see the Polka Hall of Fame.

 

By Monica Eng

Chicago Tribune reporter

 

January 16, 2008

 

CLEVELAND

 

Michael Ruhlman can come off as such a snob.

 

In his latest book, the world-famous food writer insists that everybody should be using veal stock in their home kitchen. He advises all meat eaters to slaughter and eat their kill once in their lives. And earlier this year, on his influential Web site ruhlman.com, he launched a withering attack on the unsuspecting chicken Caesar salad.

 

So you might think that this dashing uber-foodie would make his home in a culinary capital such as New York, San Francisco or even Chicago, right?

 

Nope.

 

Cleveland.

 

"What I love about Cleveland is that it is so eccentric," Ruhlman says between sips of a negroni cocktail in his favorite hometown bar. "There's no other place like it. People are so quirky."

 

One of those quirky people is Ruhlman's friend and the nation's newly minted "Iron Chef," Michael Symon. In a surprising upset a couple of months ago, the born and bred Clevelander Symon beat out New Orleans chef John Besh to claim the national "Iron Chef" title. His two restaurants in town -- Lola and Lolita -- are busier than ever.

 

But he's not the only culinary bright spot in the city.

 

The national food press -- Gourmet, Food & Wine, Esquire and Playboy.com -- heaped praise on several Cleveland spots this year for best new restaurant, best steakhouse, best farm-to-table programs and great new neighborhood eateries.

 

During the last 10 years, Ruhlman says, he has seen food offerings blossom from retail to restaurants.

 

"Today I can pick up a few baguettes from Adam Gidlow [On the Rise Bakery] that are every bit as satisfying as the best Parisian baguettes," he says. "I can swing by Paul Minnillo's Baricelli Inn for some raw milk cheeses and then stop by Bob Fishman's Grapevine, where Bob picks out some incredible American wines for my under $20 budget. All five minutes from my house. ... We couldn't eat better even if we were in the Dordogne, [France.] This shows the extraordinary product available even to us schmoes in Cleveland.

 

"And yes, more and more restaurants can do ambitious food because people here now demand it. ... What this means is that someone like Dante Boccuzzi -- for five years chef de cuisine at Aureole in Manhattan -- is happy to move his family back here because he can open a restaurant and serve the kind of food he did in New York."

 

Whoa. Is there something going on in that city that I should know about? Had Cleveland quietly become the epicenter of the Midwest food scene.

 

I'd never been there. Never even considered going except to visit the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame -- seriously, I used to cover polka. But suddenly it dawned on me that I might be missing out on some fabulous Cleveland-style chow.

 

So I called Ruhlman and asked if he'd take me on a eating tour of his hometown.

 

The author had been traversing the country on a book tour for his latest work, "The Elements of Cooking," but I caught him back home on the heels of a holiday weekend.

 

We started the tour Friday with old-fashioned cocktails in a luxurious speakeasy-like bar. And in the next 48 hours we would eat, drink, visit and shop at Ruhlman's favorite restaurants, bars and markets. In the process, I would learn that Cleveland is not the culinary backwater that arrogant Chicagoans may assume, but an affordable town full of joints we'd be lucky to have.

 

By the time I hit Cleveland for the grand culinary tour, Ruhlman had the routine down. Earlier in the year, his chef/writer pal Anthony Bourdain had filmed a whole episode of his Travel Channel show "No Reservations" in Cleveland. Ruhlman acted as his main guide, along with Cleveland icon Harvey Pekar and chef Symon.

 

In the meantime, Symon had become an even hotter commodity. So hot that Ruhlman could barely snag a table at his flagship restaurant, Lola, for Saturday night. Still, he got squeezed in -- at 5 p.m.! -- because, it's true, the two famous Cleveland foodies are friends. There, I said it.

 

Preferential treatment?

 

This was no small matter last November when, after Symon's victory on the show for which the author served as a judge, critics wrote into Ruhlman's Web site insisting that he should have recused himself from judging.

 

Ruhlman, who has written a whole book on cured meats, calls the criticism baloney.

 

"If anything, I was harder on Michael Symon," he says. "Because of my connection [Ruhlman profiled Symon as part of his book "The Soul of a Chef"], I was more likely to withhold good comments just because I didn't want to seem biased."

 

Next we poke our heads into the Great Lakes Brewing Co., in the Ohio City neighborhood, where Ruhlman brags about the Dortmunder Gold lager. It's crowded, so we head across the street to The Flying Fig for breathtakingly tender short ribs and crispy tempura green beans. Here he explains how he returned to Cleveland with his wife, Donna, after spending the much of the '80s at college and working on the East Coast.

 

It was the lure, for the freelance writer, of a steady job as an editor at a regional magazine. The move back was supposed to be temporary. But the draw was strong. The couple purchased a three-story, 100-year-old Victorian fixer-upper. And as with many such houses, remodeling it became a full-time job.

 

In 2005 Ruhlman wrote "House: A Memoir" about the remodeling largely "to explain why I live in Cleveland to my wife. We're a vagabond culture, and we give up a lot to raise families in a series of disconnected homes. This is my home, and there is a richness here that's not available to me anywhere else."

 

To illustrate, Ruhlman takes me to the spot in his old 'hood where, as a 2nd grader, he received his first kiss. Whenever he passes it, he's "transported back to that day. ... I can't do that just anywhere."

 

Iowa prosciutto

 

Taking a left turn off memory lane, we head to the groovy Tremont neighborhood for a late meal at Lolita. It's Symon's more casual spot, where we eat delicious mountains of Iowa prosciutto and Neapolitan-style pizzas washed down with cold local beer.

 

The next icy morning we meet at 8 a.m. to tour Cleveland's enormous indoor West Side Market. One side features greengrocers displaying colorful pyramids of fruit and vegetables; the other side of this European-style emporium is lined with rows of butchers and gourmet food purveyors. Next stop: the chilly outdoor Shaker Heights Farmers Market, where we pick up fresh eggs, oyster mushrooms and a stalk of Brussels sprouts.

 

Back in the handsome kitchen of his elegant Victorian house, Ruhlman effortlessly whips up mushroom omelets, home-cured bacon and reheated crusty baguette from his favorite local bakery. Ella Fitzgerald coos on his iPod stereo and a fire crackles in his kitchen hearth as he presents two beautiful breakfast plates. Washed down with strong cups of percolator coffee, this breakfast could be my best this year.

 

We skip lunch, because only a few hours later we are expected at Symon's Lola for a super-early dinner. There the chef would pile on the treats with marvelous plates of beef cheek pierogi, maple-bacon ice cream, fried bone marrow, pork belly over polenta, seared sweetbreads and more. Ruhlman would blush at the lavish spread while barely containing his pride in hometown fare that could rival just about anything in Chicago.

 

Although he has not ruled out moving when his kids, ages 8 and 12, head to college, Ruhlman is happy to continue writing and eating from his hometown.

 

"Our move back here was supposed to be temporary, but I didn't realize how much of a draw this place has for me," he says. "I just like living in Cleveland. I know who I am here."

 

- - -

 

A taste of Cleveland

 

A handful of places food writer and chef Michael Ruhlman might take you if you were his guest on a Cleveland culinary tour.

 

The Velvet Tango Room: 2095 Columbus Rd., 216-241-8869. Dim lighting, tin ceilings, luxurious surroundings, cabaret tunes and top-notch, hand-shaken drinks make this a must for any visitor looking for a classic cocktail.

 

The Flying Fig: 2523 Market Ave., 216-241-4243, theflyingfig.com. Chef/owner Karen Smalls cooks up inventive small plates with an emphasis on regional ingredients and international touches in the Ohio City neighborhood. Think Blackbird meets Avec in a place with the most delicious braised and grilled short ribs in the world.

 

Sokolowski's University Inn: 1201 University Rd., 216-771-9236, sokolowskis.com. Established in 1923, this Polish cafeteria-style restaurant serves belly-busting portions of pies, cakes, pierogi, stuffed peppers, cutlets, stuffed cabbage, soups, sausages and hearty sides. I'm especially proud of the kitchen towel I bought there that says "I? Pierogi."

 

Lolita: 900 Literary Rd., 216-771-5652, lolabistro.com. Small plates, Neopolitan-style pizzas and house-cured meats dominate the nouvelle Mediterranean menu at Michael Symon's casual Tremont eatery. Try the charcuterie board -- with mountains of salami, Iowa prosciutto and soppressata -- and you may not need anything else.

 

Lola: 2058 E. 4th St., 216-621-5652, lolabistro.com. Iron Chef champ Michael Symon's flagship restaurant featuring upscale American regional cuisine with Symon's hip modern touches. Try beef cheek pierogi, deep-fried bone marrow, seared sweetbreads and even pig ears, if they are available.

 

West Side Market: 1979 W. 25th St., 216-664-3386 or 216-664-3387, westsidemarket.com. This huge indoor market features green grocers on one side and meat and seafood vendors on the other. Gourmet and specialty foods also are available at this European-style emporium.

 

Ruhlman's kitchen: Address undisclosed. At home, the Culinary Institute-trained writer makes home-cured bacon, a perfect mushroom omelet from fresh farmers market fungi, a beautifully reheated frozen baguette from his favorite bakery, and hot cups of Folgers coffee (yes, Folgers) made in an old-fashioned percolator he bought on eBay. "Regular coffee makers burn coffee while it's sitting," he says. "Percolators don't, and I love the sound they make. Folgers is fine since I drink about six cups every morning."

 

-- Monica Eng

 

 

Have to give kudos to Lola - I took my partner there for a birthday lunch yesterday. The space is gorgeous with the glowing alabaster (or onyx) bar, coffered ceilings, quirky light fixtures and a variety of seating options. Pricewise, they really weren't too bad - pricier than fast food or takeout but they have a nice "Lola Express" menu where you get your choice of half-sandwich, soup, or salad for $11. My S.O. had the Lola burger - he loved it and the fries were seasoned with sea salt and rosemary - I ended up stealing quite a few. I had the "Lola Express" and chose the spicy chicken salad sandwich and spicy tomato bisque - the sandwich was pretty good; a little on the small side but enough that I didn't go away hungry. The tomato bisque was awesome and perfect for a cold winter day. The highlight was the chocolate-peanut butter mousse dessert - deee-fricking-lishous!!! An added treat - Michael Symon was in and you could hear his diabolical laugh all over the place :evil: :laugh: :evil:

^I think I have Lolaphobia-the fear it will not match my expectations. So I have  not been yet

^I think that is impossible.

Yeah it will knock your socks off.

I have found a few missteps there but they were few and small.  It's not impossible in anyone's restaurant, even MS. 

 

PS - the bologna sandwich is THE BEST on the lunch menu.  I wish they had it as an option for dinner.