EM G.
Yelp
I recently visited The Lola and unfortunately it left a lot to be desired. From the moment we sat down, the service felt cold and disengaged. Our waitress seemed visibly annoyed when some people at our table were still deciding on their orders. Instead of offering to come back, she just shot us looks and barely answered any questions we asked. One person wanted to change the eggs in their dish, and when the waitress said it couldn't be modified, she offered the option of removing the eggs and ordering them on the side. But isn't that still modifying the dish? Her lack of helpfulness left a bad taste before we even received our food.
When our meals finally arrived, they weren't much better. I ordered the tres leches French toast, which, to my disappointment, lacked any tres leches flavor. It was dry, flavorless, and not at all what I expected from the name. I also ordered a side of potatoes and bacon (never got the bacon). When I pointed this out, they took it off my bill. The potatoes that did make it to the table were bland, with only a salty surprise in the middle of the cup. A few others at the table noted that their dishes were similarly uninspiring, although the chicken in the chicken and waffles did stand out as a positive.
The decor, though cute, was not quite what I'd expect for a restaurant of this caliber, and the music, though good, was so loud that it made conversation nearly impossible. It was as if the ambiance was trying to cover up the lackluster food and service.
To top things off, our waitress did the bare minimum when it came to checking in on us. She breezed by once to ask how the food was, but didn't stop to engage. We had to ask multiple staff members for boxes and for the check. When the bill finally came, it was split for our group of six, but no one explained that the 20% gratuity was already included in the form of a "restaurant fee." (Btw, they came around with a small machine that barely showed any breakdown of the bill and the writing was super tiny). Some people left extra tips not realizing this, which felt like an oversight that could've been easily avoided with a quick explanation, which I did explain to the others so they could decide if they wanted to leave more tip, if they wanted.
Overall, the food didn't impress, the service was frustratingly unhelpful, and the atmosphere was a bit off. I'd recommend looking elsewhere if you're in the area--there are definitely better options that value both customer service and quality food.