Lola

Hello Lola, and welcome back to the good graces of Stevie B. As you can see in my previous reviews, I went from 5 to 2 stars in my reviews. That is a big drastic change and I commend the management of Lola's for reaching out to me to address my disappointments. They listened, agreed and took action. I will be open and honest with you in saying a portion of my recent visit was covered by a gift card from their management. However, it in no way influenced the upgrade to 4 stars. They re-earned each and everyone of them.

Our visit was with a friend who was leaving St Louis for New York to attend Columbia University, on a full ride scholarship. Damn, I've got some smart friends. To be fair, I introduced myself and let them know I was dining with a management gift card. No surprise here, they knew who I was, thanks to Yelp. Chris was off that night, but happened to be in for a private party and still made time to chat. He reminded me that we meet on my first visit to Lola and that he would look for my new review.

We started off with cocktails and an order of Tempura Fried Calamari with Cajun Aioli. It was served hot and the pieces were huge. The batter was crispy and flavorful. We all favor the tentacles were digging to see who could find the most. I am not a fan of dipping, (except for fries) but I did like the Cajun Aioli and our guest really liked it's kick.

Brad had the Tuna Nicolse, which was seared Ahi Tuna served on fresh green beans, hard boiled egg, Kalamata olives & field greens tossed in Tarragon Vinaigrette. Take note of the picture, the tuna was seared perfectly. I could also see this dish served with salmon, too. We keep fresh tarragon on hand at home so the tarragon vinaigrette was a big hit.

Our guest had the Carmen. Tenderloin, Boursin Cheese & Wild Mushrooms - yum. Topped with fried shallots, (more yum) mixed greens
and balsamic reduction. You really can't go wrong with tenderloin, cheese
and mushrooms. We do recommend getting the balsamic reduction on
the side if possible. That way you have control like you do when getting
salad dressing on the side. On our visit, the balsamic had a heavy pour
and dominated the flavor. The tenderloin is to good to have that happen.

I love mussels and when I see them on a menu I've got to have them. For my meal I enjoyed the Mussels Pernod and a side of Pomme Friets with roasted Garlic Aioli and Red Pepper Ketchup. Next time, I'll make a meal of just the mussels, baguette and a bottle of Pinot Grigio.

They were Prince Edward island Mussels with Pernod, shaved fennel, cherry tomatoes, shallots, garlic & butter. I sometimes judge mussels by the broth, and I could not keep my friends from dipping bread in my bowl of mussels. A few times they almost got jabbed with a fork.

The Pomme Friets proved themselves to be a pleasurable side to the mussels. The Red Pepper Ketchup was a perfect accent. Is it available by the bottle?

The only thing that kept them from regaining the 5 star rating was our finale; their Creme Brûlée. It was over baked and over produced/presented. Make it simple, a good Creme Brûlée can stand on it's flavor alone.

The service was attentive and friendly. They made sure everything was to our satisfaction without making it an overkill.

So in closing, good job Lola. We'll be back.

I met her in a club down in old St. Lou',
where you eat your brunch while the band plays a few:
Rolla, Reggae-Jazz-Funk, Roll-a.

She walked up to us and asked what to roast.
We said, "American Breakfast, please hold the toast,"
Lola, L-O-L-A, Lola, La-la-la-lah Lola.

Well, we drank mimosas 'longside java brew.
After a sleepless night, we needed a few,
oh my Lola
La-la-la-la Lola,
La-la-la-la Lola.

Well, I'm not the world's most dessert-kind of guy,
But the waffles and cream were light enough to fly ...
away with Lola,
La-la-la-la Lola,
La-la-la-la Lola.

--Lola, after R.D. Davies, jh

BRUNCH REVIEW:

Holy fried chicken & waffles Batman!

Came in for some brunch on the weekend and the place had a great vibe. The live music onstage (a guitar player/singer & a flute player) was nice and comforting and just the right volume. And it was cool to see a guy rock the hell out of a flute.

I went for the chicken & waffle. At $12, it seemed a bit pricey. The food took a tad too long to come out. But when it did...oh my it looked incredible (see pic). A LARGE boneless breast of chicken, golden fried sitting atop a big syruped Belgian waffle. And the taste -- amazing! -- exactly the perfect combination of salty/sweet/crispy that you'd want. Seriously, it was perfection. And since it was so big, I had plenty to take home for leftovers.

Brunch at Lola -- just do it.

I'm very "middle of the road" on Lola. It's just okay for me, and tonight's Yelp Eats experience was just that.

Myself, Stephanie, Travis, Browning, Steven, John and Joselyn all got together for dinner tonight and were sat right away just up the stairs! Cocktails came out first and I just ordered a Captain & ginger ale with lime... felt like keeping it simple today. Something weird was up with this drink! It tasted almost musty. Just kinda blah. Guess I should've ordered something off their extensive specialty drink menu...

The polenta fries were yummmmm-y! So good. I wasn't crazy about the two sauces that were served with it, but these things were delicious and gone so fast. One order should be enough for two people, fyi... I was just overly hungry.

The Spanakopita (portabella stuffed with spinach, feta, and other goodness) was served on top of what I think was a piece of toast, alongside some fresh vegetables. I had a hard time actually finding the mushroom, and the whole thing was almost too salty for me to eat! My poor kidneys were saying "pleeeeease no more salt." I could only eat less than half. I'll let Stephanie S review the bread pudding we had at the end of the meal. Let's just say it was more bread than pudding...

It was hard to hear each other talk because the live jazz music was pretty overwhelming. We were so glad when they took a break because we could actually have a conversation for a few minutes! it was a good dinner, but I'm not sure I'll be hurrying back.

On my last visit I went for Saturday brunch with a waffle craving. I was not disappointed!!! I ordered the Elvis waffle and it was gooey goodness. It starts with a waffle, then they coat the waffle with melt-y peanut butter, top that with bananas, syrup, bacon and a little cream and you have heaven on earth! This was so rich I am glad that I was splitting it with Mike O. who ordered the Savory Creole Breakfast Bread Pudding. Since we ended up sharing it was the perfect amount of sweet and salty. The breakfast bread pudding was just as amazing as the waffle. The gravy and crawfish went so well with the bread pudding. I want to try the crepes, but it will be hard not to order the Elvis again.

For my beverage I got the Medium Bloody Mary made with house mix and pepper vodka. I wanted to try the Hot, but I didn't want it to be too spicy. I don't mess around with habaneros, I've felt that burn. Mike O. ordered the beermosa and it was better than I thought it could be. Beer plus OJ sounds weird, but it went really well together. Next time, if we can agree, I'd like to order a pitcher of our chosen beverage.

The service was good and our server was also the bartender. It took forever to get our food. So our server bought us a round of drinks. I thought that was the perfect touch and I appreciated her kindness. Once we got the food I was a happy camper.

My only complaint about our brunch was the people taking down a speaker from the ceiling while we were eating about 20 feet away from our table. A contraption they were using was noisy and annoying. It was hard to keep the conversation because I kept looking at what they were doing when it got noisy. The contraption was bent so the guy got mad and was hammering on it. I kind of wanted to use the hammer myself. Good thing we were finishing our meal.

Went back to Lola for a second helping and it was still really, really good!

My recommendation? Try the Delilah crepe. And the pommes frites!

You won't regret it!

I don't normally write reviews, but I was so disappointed that I felt it was my civic duty to warn people not to eat at this place. I'm not at all surprised that so many others had the same idea in mind.

I have a $40 RFT voucher for this place, but I was heading in pretty late last night for the (really awesome and fun) Steampunk Social, Gaslight Squared, so I figured I'd save it for a night I could arrive earlier and try more courses. I was still hungry, though, so I ordered the chicken, feta, and spinach crepe without red peppers. I think it was called Mahdeva or something.

When it finally came out, the french fries were cold and soggy. The chicken in the crepe was as tough as shoe leather--I considered spitting out every piece, but stuck with it, figuring I paid $10.50 plus tax for that sucker, and I needed to eat. I couldn't believe how difficult it was to chew that stuff. It was otherwise fairly bland. Maybe I should have gotten the peppers.

I had ordered water, but I never received a refill on it. No one came by to ask how the food was, either. What gives? For food that expensive, I was hoping for something more. It doesn't help that I'm sad that Crepes in the City closed--it was by far my favorite restaurant in the city, though that has little to do with Lola other than to make me sad about how far it's fallen.

They get one star for hosting our steampunk stuff. I sure hope the drinks aren't gross and watered down as everyone says they are here on Yelp when I go back next month for the next steampunk event....at least I'll be using my voucher for them :(

I can't even remember how many times I've been here, brunch, dinner and night for the club.

3 words: Chicken and Waffles. Extra sweet syrup, which is an upside for me. Maybe infused with orange? I seriously wanted to know what blood sugar was afterwards.

CRISPY and fluffy waffles. I just realized how much I use "fluffy" in my reviews. Well, obligatory - "It's SO fluffy!!". And the waffle had to have corn meal in it, which made it even more awesome in my book. The syrup was perfect for dipping the chicken in.

Crunchy chicken breast, but so moist inside! And yes, I did ask for ketchup!

The brunch, I can't remember exactly what I ordered, but I loved it.

And the club experience, lovely. What makes a club for me often is the atmosphere and the clientele, besides the obvious necessity of good music. Intelligent people, not too many (drunk) women humping the floor begging for male attention, and good music is what you can look forward to, at least on Saturdays. And to be specific, good music is old-school (90s) r&b and rap and the current hits. If I was single, this is where I come to find suitable suitors. And, it's not divided on color lines, or age lines, really, either. Of course, depending on the act(s) that night, things might be different. And, at night, their food is still delicious as usual. Drinks are also priced reasonably.

I just went to Lola yesterday for the third time for brunch. I absolutely love their brunch!

The actual space is cool - kind of open and comfy at the same time.

We've always had great service and the food is SO good. We have trouble choosing our meals because it all sounds so good - and it is! The omelette stuffed crepes have to be my favorites though. Their mimosas and Bloody Mary's aren't too bad either!

We have had great service every time we've been there. There was live music yesterday - just a guy playing a keyboard, but it was nice background music while we ate and chatted. I've heard the music can be too loud, but we haven't been there when it was.

I haven't been there for dinner, but after seeing the menu, I plan to!

I recommend you check this place out for brunch on a Sunday morning!

Saw a Facebook message about Javier Mendoza playing last night. And since I'd been looking for an excuse to try Lola anyway...

The crowd was thin but I enjoyed the music and my meal was excellent. At my server's recommendation I ordered a "The Printer's" - Maker's Mark & ginger beer. Nice & spicy, fresh. They had jerk lamb chops on special. Attractive presentation & nice contrasting but complimentary flavors and colors; went great with a glass of Solitute Cotes du Rhone. Feeling gluttonous, or maybe just into the music & vibe and not wanting it to end, I ordered a cheese platter. The lamb would have been a sufficient portion as a meal, so the cheese was overdoing it but it looked so appealing and just invited me to savor every last crumb. The figs were a nice, and unexpected, touch. Finished with an espresso. Thanks for the zest.

Only one point if criticism, and I'm sorry but it bears mentioning. My wine glass was chipped. It was on the base, so I dismissed it. Then my espresso cup came out chipped, too, and this one on the rim - neither sanitary nor safe. And it's not like they were busy, so either 50% of the glassware in the house is chipped or someone was just not paying attention.

The music hooked me, the food impressed me, the attention to detail needs more focus.