Lola
Categories: American (New), Greek and Mediterranean [Edit]
Neighborhood: Belltown2000 4th Ave
(between Lenora St & Virginia St)
Seattle, WA 98121 (206) 441-1430
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 6:00 a.m.-12:00 a.m.
Fri 6:00 a.m.-2:00 a.m.
Sat 7:00 a.m.-2:00 a.m.
Sun 7:00 a.m.-12:00 a.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Breakfast, Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
96 reviews
Neighborhood: Downtown
"This place is decadence cubed. I am not a big meat eater, but I had been graving a steak for months and when my Dad came to visit I knew I…" read more »
119 Reviews for Lola
Dropped by yesterday just wanted something light, well maybe a reason to grab a drink. anyways
Service = a bit of a wait, waitress didn't seem to care to smile, which made me feel she rather be else where :(
Ambiance = Dark, unique feel, didn't hurt having a hotel next door
Food = Order some appetizer but reasonable price and good effort
Crowd = city dwellers
Personal Favorite = Drink menu, try the watermelon sprizter, i know it's nonacholic but drinking to much alcohol is bad for your health.
Worst = Unhappy staff
Final Say = expected a bit more from Tom
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Thanks to the Passport Card (buy one entree, get the 2nd free), I DID make it back to Lola for lunch last weekend. For approximately $25 we ordered:
1. one beer
2. roasted red pepper spread
3. pork kebabs
4. lamb shwarma
My shwarma came with two dipping sauces, a garlic yogurt and tomato jam (both excellent), and chickpea salad. It was a ton of food. The lamb had too much cumin on it, but it was still good.
The spreads are all wonderful. The hardest part is choosing which one to order.
I had a bite of the pork kebab and it was tasty. Did not try the potatoes.
Conclusion: I am happy I can afford Lola and will be back more often.
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1 Previous Review: Show all »
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05/07/2008
I was treated to a business lunch here and am afraid I may never make it back. Not that it wasn't… Read more »
This was my first experience with the Northwest Gastro-Maestro, Tom Douglas. Initially starting off with mediocre service, the food more than made up for it in the end. The g/f was skeptical about this evening's choice because he's not a fan of Greek food. I confidently assured her that Tom's Greek inspired food would only take the best of the Greek tastes and make it better. But truth be told, to hell with what she things. I love Greek food and that's all that matters. The warm up was squid, crushed chili, chermoula kebabs. The main dishes were the suckling pig, caramelized fennel, bing cherry, crispy cracklin' and the slow roasted leg of lamb with preserved lemon marmalade. All the meals to this point were ovation worthy and if we passed on dessert I would have already been stuffed full. The portions for the entrees were generous to a near fault.
To think; I almost missed out on ordering dessert just because I was in the mood for a strawberry shortcake from Cheesecake factory. But the stars were in alignment that night and my gut told me to give Tom an encore round to impress me even more. This came in the form of chocolate-caramel pot de creme, red wine cherries, with vanilla cream and cinnamon, almond loukoumades. Whoa...FTW.
Wondrously-fantacular-amazing-ism at its best.
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Before I go too much further I want to say that I've never been a big fan of Tom Douglas. Which doesn't mean that I'm anti Tom Douglas at all, it's just that the marketing machine that is Tom Douglas has saturated my brain so much so that I just never wanted to try any of his places. I guess you can say that all the hype and self promotion deterred me, and was always worried that the experience would be disappointing. Case in point... I didn't see the movie "The Usual Suspects" for a good couple of years after it was released in theaters. I kept trying to figure out if I had ever met this Keiser Sose fellow my friends kept talking about.
Anyhow, that all changed this weekend. The GF took me here this weekend for my birthday dinner. Yea, me!! The evening started off pretty good and just ended up becoming even better. The entire experience was something that you'd expect from a well run, higher end restaurant.
I am going to skip the line by line account of our evening here and cut to the chase. The food is 100% 4 Star quality in my opinion.... the slow roasted leg of lamb with its lemon marmalade was succulent and flavorful, the pork tangine was to eff'ing die for with its spinach and spicy diced peaches, the green beans were very nice and the smashed potatoes were just not my thing. The Loukoumathes (donuts) and Pot de Creme were absolutely amazing... especially when you dip the Loukoumathes into the Pot de creme (yeah, that's how I roll).
But, to be perfectly honest... they could've been serving us some Hungry Man Salisbury Steak dinners and they still would've gotten 5 stars just because of the server we had for the evening. The GF and I both agree that she really made the meal. She was there every step of the way guiding us in the right direction to maximize our first LOLA experience. She answered all of our questions, asked a few of her own and then made a few key recommendations. Even though its her job, we couldn't help but feel that she was taking a little extra special care with us that night. By the time we were wrapping up she came over and said that she enjoyed chatting with us. And based our previous conversation of favorite restaurants and the kind of food we liked, she gave us a comment card that had the name of 3 other places she thought that the GF and I would be interested in trying.
After 2 1/2 hours of eating, drinking and laughing we paid our bill... left an insanely nice tip... grabbed our almost empty bottle of Maysara Pinot Noir... our to go box and as we walked out the door we were already planning our next visit.
Ps... Two extra notables for the evening... the Absolut Fresca was pretty damn good and oh yeah, Tom Douglas himself came and did a meet and greet with some of the guests. That was pretty cool.
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Microsoft Prime 2008-2009
Ambience: 4
Food: 4
Value: 4
This is a solid choice for eating out. It's Mediterranean inspired food: very tasty and cooked with fruit. We had the suckling pig (very good, though not as silky as the original I had in Segovia, ESP) and the skirt steak (medium rare) both are tasty, washed it down with a carafe of their house wine. It's a nicely made Washington State wine, tuned to be explosive on the tongue. This balanced the spices of the food very well and made for a good paring with the food (drinking the wine by itself exposes some of its weaknesses: very little body and almost no finish). All in all, it was a very good dining experience. Would go again.
I picked Lola on a whim to dine with a gal pal last night. I'd been meaning to try a Tom D. resto (I never have, shock) so Lola it was. Parking proved difficult per usual in the area but I finally found a spot and could not wait to get there because I was starving!
The interior was lovely and we were seated at a cute little booth for two. We decided to split a half carafe of the house red. It was reasonably priced and had a nice flavor. I opted for Jackie's greek salad with barrel aged feta to start. The salad had a huge block of feta on top of it. I had to cut it up into little bits but it was delicious. Then I had the Anderson valley lamb burger with chickpea fries and spicy lola ketchup. The chickpea fries were amazing and had a great texture and the ketchup was a perfect accompaniment to the entire dish.
I sampled my friend's kebabs, chicken and squid I believe. The tzadziki sauce was delicious. We both exclaimed Lola wins with their sauces. I am greedy so in typical fashion I ordered dessert; apricot crostada with ginger & marigold ice cream. I didn't love the ginger ice cream but the crostada was nice with a very tart taste.
Overall the food was very good. I wasn't wowed into the 5 star category but I'd recommend it for a nice dinner with great atmosphere and hospitable service.
Oh, and there was a bidet in the restroom, you know, if you're into that.
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My husband and I raved about this place all night. We were mostly blown away by the service and the food quality, but it is definitely pricey and not filling.
We walked in at 6:20 on a Tuesday and had to be at a movie by 7:00 (stupid us). We told the hostess who told our waitress, and we were really surprised by how accommodating they were-- none of that attitude you'd expect when you ask your server to rush. Our waitress was very knowledge and helpful, too.
We ordered the minty feta spread w/ pita, which was too minty for my husband (I liked it, but I put the sauteed onions from our kabobs on top of the pita and feta, so it helped balance out the minty quality). Then we ordered the cherry and cheese kabobs (on a bed of sauteed onions), which were the most delicious things I've ever eaten. However, it is $11 for 3 (2 pieces of cheese and 2 cherries on each), so it is not a filling meal.
My husband ordered the Northwest 75 drink (with Aviation gin), which was $9 for a champagne glass! Our waitress brought him out a taster of the gin, though, since he'd never had it before, so that was really nice and unexpected. I had the house wine ($5), which was surprising good and a little different (like a pine taste).
Overall great experience and wonderful food but a little expensive for what you get. We had to buy popcorn at the movies.
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My friend referred to this place as a "diner"!!
She meant it in the very best sense of the word.
I have had two amazing brunches here, with two wildly divergent groups of consumers.
First - back in Feb or so, when I was dating a 25 year-old total ex-frat boy. He really liked it and happily paid the bill....which made me think twice about kicking him to the curb, frankly! :-)
Second - last weekend, with 3 of my pickiest petunia friends.
Service was fantastic!
Food was fantastic!
Kalamata/fig spread was fantastic!
Spicy bloody mary was fantastic!
Thank you very much!
Well, that was a big letdown.
With all the hype surrounding Tom Douglas' restaurants, you walk in the place expecting to be blown away by the food and experience. Unfortunately, both were a bit of a letdown here at Lola.
Problem one - I'm not sure if I keep catching the new people, but my waitresses, while friendly, never seem to be able to describe what's on the menu. Also, their recommendations have pretty much consistently sucked. After yesterday's visit I had to stop by Subway on the way back to the office to get something decent to eat. True story. Which leads directly to....
Problem two - the food just isn't that good. There are just way better Greek places in town.
If you're just looking to impress people by saying you went to a Tom Douglas restaurant, then stop on by. If you actually want some decent food, keep looking.
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what a nice spot for some late night grub! They have a different drink special for $5 bucks everyday. Last night was Kettle One Cosmos - Wednesday's Special! Sweet deal!
They also have a few selections for food too - I would definitely suggest the Gyro over the other choices - the skewers - the spreads - The salads - Those just add up to a Gyro anyway.
There are 5 or six spreads that you can get for 3.50 each or all of them for $19. The spreads are really good and can be shared for 2.
We didn't try any of the salads. One came by and looked great!
I think the next time we go we will have to hit up a different night for a different cocktail and go straight for the Gyro!
Everything is Greek flavored and themed and tho room is warm and inviting, the curved bar is long and plenty of seating for happy hour!
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Let's talk about house-made sausage and bacon for a moment, shall we? Also, donuts with vanilla mascarpone and a strawberry compote, that even my strawberry-jam-hatin' sister gobbled up.
First- that sausage was the cutest little chub I ever did see. Second, it was so delicious that the flavor kept blossoming for a full minute or more. Incredible. The bacon- sublime, oh how delicious and perfect. Nouveau bacon, not for the crispy-seeking, but right exactly up my bacon alley.
Donuts. Little square beignet-type things, served piping hot, having been shaken with cinnamon and sugar since the server grabbed them from the kitchen. See above for condiment accompaniment. Incredible. Sister pointed out, 'at this point in the meal, you're thinking you'll want to bookend the entree (and yes, we had an hors d'oeuvre for brekkie) with these donuts, but sadly you'll be too full by the end of it to eat more donuts. I've been here before and I'm thinking this, knowing full well I won't have room.'
She was right. Delightful little pillows of dough filled with heaven, smeared with the mascarpone, just wet enough to blot up more cinnamon and sugar. Angels eat it, I'm certain.
And last but most certainly not least, the service. Impeccable, as many stars as you can give them. Grace was her real name, and she embodied it perfectly! So kind, gracious, cheery but not Polyanna or Mary Poppins. A dear, kind and efficient server.
Five big stars for Lola. I can't wait to return for more.
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I'm a fan of mr. tommy d. In Lola, he's gotten quite creative with the menu and created quite a following.
The fresh, homemade donuts are divine... dream worthy in fact. The drink menu is fresh and inventive and the bar seating is worth the wait. Even the tables are cozy and quaint. I really just love it hear. Ambiance, staff, menu, price... it's got almost everything... save Clive Owen sending me a French 75... or should I say, Seattle 75? :)
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My compadre and I were cruising on home after working the night shift when out of the corner of my eye I saw a small blue sandwich board stating "Breakfast 7am -***".
"Stop the car."
My compadre is a cool chic and fully comprehends the value of a good breakfast spot. She slammed on the brakes, threw it in reverse, pissed off three people, and parked the car.
We stormed the gate of Lola in scrubs. There is nothing more disturbing to the general public than people in scrubs drinking at 7am.
Open for breakfast at 7am. One star.
Those really yummy garlicky potatoes. One star.
Awesome Lemon Drop at 7am. Two Stars.
Letting people think I'm getting hammered just before I perform a craniotomy. Priceless. (One more star.)
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Um.
Stopped in here after the George Michael concert and was impressed.
Happy Hour until 12am?
YES.
Chicken Gyro which was superb?
YES, YES, YES.
$5 Ketel One Cosmopolitans (it was Wednesday)
OMG, what the fuck! Lola is a crazy cool bitch...
I'm going to have to come back and try the donuts...
I've read about this Tom Douglas man in Details, who does this, Dahlia Lounge and Palace Kitchen and now I know it's for very good reason...
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Review #9 (in my quest for Greek food)
I was in the area so I checked out Lola. The food was rather good but a bit pricey and it was NOT Greek. So if you are looking for that, try elsewhere. If the owners are Greek then why are you calling your souvlaki kabobs? (which is Turkish)
Next.
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Breakfast here recently was a big fat...meh.....
Atmosphere is nice, service was good for was the big "meh" for me. Smashed potatoes (see what they did there? Ssssmashed not mashed and they literally are smashed..cool) were tasty, bacon was delicious (how can bacon not be delicious...have you EVER had not delicious bacon?!?!) and the eggs...boring boring boring.
Overall I liked it but back to my trustee stand bye when I'm hankering for some b-fast.
(that is how you say breakfast when you want to remove the 'reak'..I dont know that the hell that means....)
I heart Lola's tagines. They always have one vegetarian one that you can request to be made vegan and it is DIVINE. The last time I was there it was an eggplant one. (Looking at the menu now, it looks like it's an artichoke.) The vegetable sides are yummy as well (vegan alert: be sure to remind your server several times that you are vegan, so that you don't end up with yogurt-topped veggies). They also have fabulous specialty cocktails. If I had more disposable income I would eat here regularly.
A group of us from work went to Lola today for lunch when we just couldn't stand the thought of eating yet another taco, and decided to splurge on something tasty.
I started with the barrel aged minty feta spread & pita, which was creamy and refreshing. Following that, I munched on wild Pacific prawn kabobs in curried muscat glaze, more pita, tzatziki and Greek salad. The whole wheat pita was warm, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with little bits of sea salt. The prawns were fat and delicious, and the Greek salad heavenly, with teeny tomatoes, onion, goat cheese and bits of mint tossed in.
If only I were rich, Lola, I'd eat lunch with you every day. Your staff is friendly, your food delicious, and your restaurant charming.
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Anyone who knows me knows that I don't really like celebrity chefs, but I do really hate to love Tom Douglass restaurants (I can't even believe it myself! Don't tell anyone!)
I was kind of forced I guess to go here the other night for the late night menu because my date and I were late and had to cancel our plans to go somewhere else.
I had the lamb burger and it was juicy and wonderful and I want it again! We also had kabobs and dolmas and those were pretty good too, but nothing to lose your shit over. I would go here again for the late night menu for sure.
The only reason I docked two stars is because the waitress I feel like was a little snarky. Just because my date and I were young doesn't mean that we don't know stuff about wines, and I think that's just what she assumed.
Don't bring your children here! It's too nice!!
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I can't believe I live 1,147 miles from the best meal I've had in a long time. It's frightening. It's sad. It's frightenly sad that I just mapquested it (and typed out frightenly as thought it's a real word).
Oh, Lola. I know a long distance relationship will never workout, but by god if your scallops, mussels, clams, celery root, dill, orzo pot isn't the strong aphrodisiac I've ever encountered...oh, Lola. No other scallop could be as plumb, and juicy and succulent. No other mollusks so pink and full of flavor; no place could prepare ozro to the perfect constancy while infusing the more delicious broth. I love you! I miss you! 5 stars!
I have it on good authority that Lola is much better at lunch than at dinner. And I'm am completely satisfied to keep our relationship lunch-only.
After being slightly disappointed at the absence of lamb's tongue on the kebabs menu (come on, who wouldn't want to try that??) I went with the Vlahotiri cheese and poached fig kebab with fig balsamic syrup. It was obscenely delicious. Well, while it was hot. As it cooled, so did my affection for it, but the original effect was enough to make me forget I was dining next to the CAO of my company and lose myself in foody pleasure.
So for lunch? Yeah, 5 stars. The service was good, the portion was lunchtime perfect, the price was reasonable, and damn it was tasty. Win.
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Another great restaurant from local super-chef Tom Douglas (Palace Kitchen, Dahlia Lounge, Serious Pie).
I don't know exactly how to describe this place - mediterranean? middle eastern-inspired fusion? Whatever it is, I enjoy the food they put together. I've had the lamb burger with chickpea fries, asparagus soup and some really delicious kebabs the different times that I've gone. Lots of options for both vegetarians and meat eaters. Plus the service has always been good (something apparently hard for Seattle restaurants to get right), and the place itself is clean and I like the modern decor.
Not really an off note that I can think of.
I guess there's nothing that specifically makes this place stand out more than some others, except that it's reliably good and not too snooty - Great for a special lunch outing if you work downtown.
Amazing. I'm so glad I got to go here before my feelings about Tom Douglas were slashed forever. My boyfriend and I took his out of town friend here for lunch before he left for back home (New Mexico, eh!). Anyway, friend got the Lamb Burger, my boyfriend got some other Lamb thing and I got...I don't even remember. It doesn't matter. They were all delicious and there was room for dessert. This I remember.
I got the Chocolate Caramel Pot, boyfriend got the the Orange-Chocolate cake and friend got the Espressotini. All amazing. This was the most flavorful meal, I've had in years, maybe to date. It was perfect. And three people for 100 bucks! Go. Go now.
Have been to Lola twice. Once was last year, and we did the 3 for $30 and were very impressed.
But I went back last week for brunch, and it was just delicious. My friend had the doughnuts, and they came with a marscapone and rhubarb jam that was decadent.
To combat that sugar, I had the lola breakfast, and the sausages and potatoes are unlike any other breakfast food i have tasted. suprising, delightful, and filling!
also had mimosa and coffee, both of which were made to perfection and a great pairing with the meal.
service was great. we lingered over brunch (b/c that is what you do), and our server was attentive but never over-bearing or pushy.
go for brunch!
Mmmmmm Lola. I go here for lunch at least twice a month and order the following things:
Roasted red pepper spread + minty feta spread
Lamb kebab with garlic smashed potatoes (which I've tried to recreate and can never get right).
I've had really exceptional and really poor service, but last time it was exceptional - our server made excellent recommendations and we kept exclaiming how delicious it was with every bite.
I suggest making a reservation because there isn't anywhere to stand and wait without being in somebody's way.
UPDATE- 5.22.08: Snotty service was served today. A total brat. Have determined that they schedule the older, friendlier servers during the bfast/lunch hours, and the snots for the evening. Ugh.
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Very good! The two of us were impressed. I tend to naturally dislike super chef restaurants, but I have to give it up to Lola. The two of us ate very well for $160.
We were brought here by my sister - a resident of Seattle and a trusted (and knowledgeable in culinary arts) foodie. She said we HAD to try a Tom Douglas restaurant - some of his other restaurants are right next door (Dahlia Lounge and Serious Pie). Very cute inside - a fenced off bar area was clearly designated to the left to inhibit the youngin's. The eating area was on the smaller side; booths to the right and bench seating to the left.
She said it was Meditteranean influenced; I saw a large amount of Greek items. We were there for lunch. I was hoping for a larger menu, but apparently the dinner menu is much more substantial. The left side of the menu was dominated by wines. The left offered some appetizers, daily specials, kebabs, and specialties.
We started with 3 of the spreads: Cows milk yogurt tzatziki, Roasted sweet red pepper, and the Skordalia (garlic spread). I thought $3.25 each was pretty steep though. It came in three small green glass dishes, about 1/4 cup's worth and a bowl of "freshly griddled pita." The pita was warm and sprinkled with chopped parsley. The Tzatziki is always a favorite of mine at any Greek establishment, and this one didn't disappoint. I'd say the Skordalia was my favorite - close to a garlic-y hummus. The Roasted Pepper was good, but I thought it'd taste better as a spread on a sandwich than as a stand-alone dipping type item as it was presented in this case. You will have to pay for more pita, so hold off! It comes with the kebabs and hangar steak too.
For my main entree, I got the Washington Chicken Kebab. I selected Jack's Greek Salad as my side dish, which was cucumbers, olives, feta and nice red halves of cherry tomatoes. I thought it was good - nothing I would classify as amazing. It seemed a little more rare than I'd usually prefer it; slightly soft and perhaps not all the way grilled. I tried my bf's Oregon Country Beef Hanger Steak, which came on cole slaw. He loved it, and I thought the meat was really good. We got a side of garlic smashed potatoes, and they were GRRREAT! Definitely order them! My sister got the Lamb Burger - Anderson Valley lamb with spicy Lola ketchup and chickpea fries. I really liked that too - definitely a stand-out item and not available on too many menus. Guess the whole chickpea fry thing is "in" in Seattle since I saw it on 2 different menus!
The service was really good. I was impressed by their promptness. Our server didn't know her menu - she didn't know how to describe aioli - but was attentive. There were several people that as a team "serviced" our table and we never had an empty wine glass or water glass. We brought our own wine. $15 corkage.
All in all, a cute establishment, and I'd return - for dinner. Maybe for lunch if I was doing it on the company tab? It was pretty pricy for a lunchtime meal and lunchtime portion (see pics).
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March 28, 2008
Well I went there last night on a Thursdays to give it a try. I have heard lots of good stuff about the food and had to give it a whirl.
I arrived a little late around 8pm the restaurant wasn't too crowded. But I easily found a spot for myself, at the bar. Yep eating by myself, not so much as a loser but I couldn't find anyone to join me in my Thursday night dining experience.
The bartender was super nice, Hey there "DEB".....She was delightful and friendly and quick with the service. The bar is a half circle and really gives a chance to interact with the customers. She took care of me in lighting speed.
The decor was cool and romantic. Yes even for a guy alone at a bar. Its a nice place. I was pleasantly surprised with the house wine, a blend of a couple of reds. It was good.
The food was very good. I really enjoyed these cheese stuffed pastry things...very sharp. I also enjoyed the taste of cheese and fig, flame roasted on a stick and skillet.
I loved the presentation. She brought out little metal skillets that were like baby fajita plates. The food was good. I had to only give it four stars since it was incredibly expensive. I mean really expensive, a single guy with two drinks...cost me 94.00 dollars. A bit pricey in my book! Oppppssss I guess I should have waited to go out with Krista for such a spendy place. Ahhh she will forgive me.
Let me tell you about the five star dessert, so yummy had these like dough-ball with honey and cinnamon, so good, I'm coming back just for these bad boys! So good. DEB the bartender, made a yummy flaming coffee and did the whole fire thing, pretty awesome..I had to take some pics.
On a side note, got into an argument with some chic, who said she was a bartender at the "Wild Ginger", OK let me say I was talking to some dude, who was from out of town. He wanted to know what to do on a Thursday, hello so I live here...and i suggested NEIGHBORS on Thursdays (80's), and this chic, without asking for her input, started to get all pissed that I was sending him to a gay bar.
Geeesssshhh what a homo-phob...this girl was, get over it. Hey Its not like i hang out at gay bars, but neighbors on Thur (80's) night is pretty straight, sure on another night maybe lots of dudes on dudes...but i have always had fun with my girl there....we have a blast, the music is so good, and its the best place in town......I mean this chic got really mad.
I think maybe she liked this dude.....She recommended the "cyclops".....hey, there's no dancing there....that's just some place all the hospitality workers hang out at!.....So lame....then she wanted to send him to Pioneer Square....yuck on a Thursday, the only thing down there is a chance to get mugged!
Just my drama last night, I guess I wont be eating at the "Wild Ginger", its OK, too pricey for crappy food.......See ya out there!
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Lola's a great Brunch spot. One of the best places I've eaten in Seattle. While the pancakes do not rise to the standard of excellence set by Martha's in downtown Clear Lake, Iowa, in the 1990's, they were the best I've had in Seattle. Oh God, Martha's was good, especially after delivering the paper in the morning...every bite of her pancakes was a cross between a light and fluffy donut and butter-tinged sausage, creating the most delicious sponge-like hybrid that you realized you would never have again after Martha retired.
I digress.
The sausages at Lola are truly worthwhile. And the coffee is infinitely better than Broadway Grill or Monsoon (especially Monsoon). The eggs I had did not rise to the quality of Monsoon's, but they were good for the style in which they were cooked.
The staff are very attentive, and the food is out quickly. Overall, Lola's is a great dining experience.
Can't really comment on the food since I only had happy hour drinks here with a good friend, but I thought their house wines were really tasty and drinkable. All of the small plates that other folks were ordering smelled delicious though, which leads me to believe that the other positive reviews are right on mark.
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I've got one word for you: Manti.
Manti is a Turkish dish that I had for the first time on a trip to (surprise) Turkey last year. It's basically a lamb ravioli with a yogurt and chili sauce. It was one of the best things I've ever had while traveling. Basically, it's awesome.
And Lola has manti. So go there and eat it!
Even before I had manti at Lola, I still enjoyed eating there. The whole menu has a sort of Turkish/Mediterranean favor to it, with lots of tasty kabobs, tagines and pita with all sorts of things to dip it in. Good stuff.
Also, it's probably my favorite of the Tom Douglas restaurants because it's the least, um, touristy feeling. I don't really have anything against Tom's other restaurants, but this one would be my pick if I had to choose one.
For me, its all about the manti.
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I do not like going out to breakfast for a very simple reason: I *always* feel like I could have made 'this' better at home. 'This' could be an omelette, any style of egg, pancakes, French toast, etc. My eggs are always cooked with butter, not some crap margarine or mystery grease with a chemical aftertaste. I use spices, as in loads of freshly ground pepper or heaven forbid, salt. I could go on, but I think you get my drift.
At Lola, I have finally found a breakfast that there is just no way I could replicate in a reasonable amount of time. This is special, delicious, and out of the ordinary breakfast food and I absolutely adore it! Octopus for breakfast? Why yes! Braised octopus with a intensely lemony zest, a sunny side up egg, zesty cooked greens, white beans "gigantes" and plenty of toast to sop up the delicious egg and assist getting this amalgam of delicious food into your mouth. It's called "The Big Breakfast", I believe... order it. Although this dish is a clear stand-out, I have had many other of their breakfast dishes, and they have all satisfied heartily. Bacon and maple sausage, it's a tough decision because they're both great. The Greek scramble usually has whatever veggies are in season.... another clear winner are the potatoes that come with several of the selections. Perfectly textured Yukon golds, I believe... "smashed" (not mashed)so that they are irregular and deliciously crispy on the outside... again, not grease soaked "country fries" - oh, no! You have got to taste these... and you will be a believer.
Can I also evangelize their mimosa? The BEST mimosa I've ever had. Definitely fresh squeezed orange juice and the zest they put on the rim makes every sip a delight to your olfactory senses... it's a beautiful thing! Did I mention their coffee is also the bomb?
Okay, enough of the love-fest... but they serve breakfast during the week until 11am, the only of Tommy D's restaurants to do so. What is not to love?!?! OnelastthingbeforeIgo.... lunch and dinner....those are good, too - and my service has been fabulous to boot!
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My wife found this place without yelping it first so I was a little nervous. Ever since we started yelpin we hardly ever go to a place now on a whim. Like the yellow pages, if it's not yelped it doesn't exist. Well we found some gold in the Emerald city. Lola was great place to have brunch. My wife had an awesome bloody mary, it had jalepenos in it which gave it a nice kick. The sausage is made in house and was the best sausage I ever had. I had the pork kebabs with pita bread and yougart sauce, it was fresh and fresh tasting. When I visit seattle again I will definately comeback.
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Lola, lololola.... ohhh la la lola. I love the name, but the food is even better. It's been a while since I ate there, and I am ashamed I haven't yelped it sooner. My friend and I were seated right away, and got ready for some YUM. Had some of the spreads with pita, some cheese, and kabobs, and all of it yum. Our service was great and I need to go back. It was the first Tom Douglas restaurant I have been too... which is a shame, it was so good.
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We went there on a Sunday fifteen minutes before the kitchen closed for brunch and although the service was terrible, the food made up for it. I think perhaps the service was bad because we got there so close to the end of brunch and there may have been some resentment on the part of our server.
Before you assume we are "those" type of customers, we did ask the hostess if we were early enough to order and he said absolutely! And two tables near us were seated after we were.
Anyway we ordered the pancakes with marscapone and maple sausages and the Lola breakfast with toast, potatoes, scrambled egges and woodfired bacon. All of it was wonderful, right down to the freshly brewed drip coffee. The pancakes were so amazing that you didn't need condiments to dress them up, but the marscapone was certainly a good investment and a nice touch.
We would go there again but would request a different server. Ours was impatient, took ten minutes to come over and greet us after walking past our table many times, seemingly with no destination in mind. We definitely felt like we were a problem. She didn't check in with us after our meal was served until she brought us our check and we were never offered refills on the water and coffee. It was unfortunate.
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A fusion restaurant, but not your generic anglo-asian fusion. HELL NO. Rather, ask yourself: what are the two food genres you REALLY want fused together?
Japanese/California? No.
Vietnamese/French? Wrong.
Thai/Mexican? C'mon now.
Answer: American Breakfast/Mediterranean.
Now you may be thinking, "well actually that's not what I would have chosen." And in that instance, you are probably also thinking "I value property rights, the environment, universal health-care and woman's suffrage more than pancakes." And you're friggin wrong on both accounts, so deal with it.
Tom's big breakfast is outstanding: a hash of grilled octopus. The pita is baked on the premises, ergo better than any bagged pita you'll find, and the dips we tried, cauliflower/anchovy and olive/fig, were subtle and intense, respectively. Plus cauliflower is so hot right now. So hot.
OK look, I love middle eastern food, and I love breakfast, and I think chickpeas are sentient and pancakes are forever and so for me this place is, well, The Highlander of pacific-northwest breakfast joints. Maybe you're different. Maybe your culinary inclinations are like, your own or whatever, and some people have different, uhh, taste, or some shit. And those people are called cavemen.
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I was highly impressed by my first time experience at Lola's-another passport card winner! I enjoyed the large menu and the fact that many small plates were offered.
We started off with the Lola sampler.
Prawn kebab
crispy chickpeas
marinated olives,
dolmades
tzatziki
red pepper spread
pita
Not a huge sampler for the price, but I don't eat a ton, so eating half of it, filled me up. The dolmades and the tzatziki were my favorites. The lemony essence of the dolmades were a treat. The tart, creamy tzatziki tasted as any good tzatziki should.
My boyfriend ordered the Anderson Valley Lamb Burger, spicy Lola ketchup, chickpea fries. The burger was thick, juicy, and cooked exactly as he requested: medium rare. Roasted red peppers were provided in addition to the customary burger accouterments. My favorite thing on his plate were the "chick pea fries." We weren't sure what to expect. They looked like french toast sticks. The consistency was soft, slightly dense, yet fluffy. They had a slight cinnamon essence and were lightly coated in a cornmeal dust. The cornmeal almost gave the sense that they were coated in cinnamon and sugar. They came with a sweet-sour tamarind based sauce; not nearing any similitude to ketchup, just as the chickpea fries to traditional "french fries." They are more like savory doughnut sticks. Also, unless chickpea was in the title, I would honestly have no clue. I was content munching on one of these sticks in lieu of dessert. I found them reminiscent to Tom's famous doughnuts.
As for my second plate, I ordered the Octopus, pork belly, and fava bean salad off the "Meze" menu. The octopus was a bit chewy at times, but the pork belly crisp and decadent. The fava beans fresh and flavorful popped in my mouth. I was so full, I couldn't finish it.
An additional evening highlight was my glass of Cambas Retsina. I have never had the pleasure to experience this classic Greek style of wine. Our lovely waitress, Victoria made me try it before pouring me a glass, as some people dislike the faint finish of pine created by sealing the cork with pine resin. The wine was crisp and refreshing, the faint hint of pine only tasted in the finish, and really undetected when paired with food. At $4 a glass, I thought it a steal.
The only downside to our evening was being crammed into a wall-booth. It seems like anytime we make reservations at any restaurant, we always get horrible seating. For my boyfriend who's 6'3", it wasn't the most comfortable experience. I had to sit adjacent to him so our knees were pretty much fighting for space the whole time.