Lola

I’ve visited here a few times, but this is the first review. Checked in on Unilocal,low and behold, free glass of wine… NICE! You all better start using your check-​ins if you aren’t. You never know what you’ll get. This visit was on a Thursday, live band on deck. Live bands on Sunday and Thursdays. I took a seat at the bar and decided to order dinner. The bartender was very friendly, she introduced herself and referred to me by my name, nice touch. I settled on the Fish and Chips w/​remoulade sauce and garlic aioli for the fries. I truly enjoyed this meal. The fish batter wasn’t too thick and it was perfectly cooked. The portion of this meal was just right, in my opinion, however a «growing boy» would likely need an additional side. The fish is cut into chunks vs served as a filet.

Although I did dine at Lola for brunch a couple times, and the food was FANTASTIC — that is the only positive thing I can say.
Any other time of day where I have visited the restaurant, you can feel the chaos inside. The staff is tense. The restaurant seems to lack an overall theme.
This place is a ticking time bomb before new management is needed or they shut down altogether.
Not good to hear rumors of the place closing down and servers’ checks bouncing.

I wish I could give 3.5 stars. 3 seems too few and 4 seems too many. We stopped in on a Friday evening before a concert at Scottrade center. Got seated right away after I assured the hostess we’d be out before her 9pm reservation arrived since our concert started at 8. The first thing that hit me was how hot it was in the restaurant. I’m not sure if this was a case of an unusually warm April day sneaking up on them so the cooling wasn’t on but it was uncomfortably warm.
They have happy hour drink and food specials till 8pm. We opted for a couple of French Bubblies (chambord, vodka and champagne), Chouteau (grand marnier and champagne) and Gentleman’s Manhattan (manhattan made with Gentleman’s jack). Everyone enjoyed their well made drinks.
Food wise my friends had a couple orders of Fish & Frites off the happy hour menu. My guy and I split the Crab Salad BLT off the regular menu and an order of the crab cakes off the happy hour menu. All the food was tasty. My friends’ fish was light and flaky with a good breading on it. The frites were good too. Our crab salad BLT was a unique sandwich, lump crab salad and BLT on a buttered croissant served with frites. Croissant was a little hard on the edges but everything else was great. Crab cakes were tasty too with a zingy sauce on the side.
Service was a little on the slow side but our waitress had mentioned it was her second day so no biggie. After my guy had sent his card with her to pay the check I noticed we were not charged happy hour price for our crab cakes (charged $ 12 instead if $ 8). I also chalked that up to a newer server. I didn’t ask about if my friends got the happy hour price for theirs. I did notice their happy hour drink menu doesn’t list any prices. Our drinks were all less than $ 10 each, not sure what they’d be regularly.
Others have mentioned and I’ll agree, the music is really loud in this space. I was glad we were around the corner in the bar so we were buffered a little from the DJ so we were still able to hear each other. Good music though from DJ Epic.
Despite the 3 stars, I’d probably try this place again.
FYI: the hostess says they no longer serve the lobster dog, but it’s still on the menu.

We stopped here for Brunch and were impressed, The food is very good, made fresh with good seasoning.

My experience at Lola was absolutely terrible and I’m usually not one to complain… So let me clarify «why»
I bought my boyfriend the Foodie Deck of Cards for his birthday and after going through the deck we decided to go to Lola’s for his birthday dinner.
We got seated right away but it took nearly 10 minutes before we were greeted by a server… so we grabbed someone and were fine! We ordered steaks and were enjoying our evening! We waited 1 hour and 15 minutes to get our food! We weren’t seated with silverware — we told the person who dropped our food off and they never came back for another 5 minutes… also… We were supposed to get salads ahead of time but our server never stopped by to even check on us… our steaks were ordered «medium» came out charred! My boyfriend ate his cause he was starving but I wanted mine recooked — it took another 15 minutes — that’s fine I get that’s how long it takes to cook at steak but overall we paid nearly $ 55 for a TERRIBLE experience. I could actually continue with a few more details of our experience but I think you get the point…
It’s unfortunate because I am a foodie and I’m actually pretty easy to please. I worked in the food service industry so I understand the nuances that come along with it and its my goal to be as low maintenance as I can — but this… was off the charts horrible.
Oh one last thing… the bathrooms were far from impressive for the price of the food? They are pretty dingy and from what I can recall it was a shared sex bathroom? Just kinda reminded me of a bathroom you’d see at a corner sports bar… which is fine for choking through smoke, slamming some beers, and chowing on a burger and fries… Just not too classy for the prices of the food. These small details can set a restaurant above or, quite frankly… below the rest.
Good luck Lola… but you’ve lost my business.

Very nice restaurant! Excellent customer service! Food was great!
We went on a Saturday morning. It was very nice and I definitely recommend visiting if you haven’t yet.

Happy Hour here is fantastically lively!
The drinks are great, the food is always good, but the music tends to be a little on the loud side… as in too loud to carry on a proper conversation… but dancing & drinking is great!
My fave drinks are the Dorsa (if you like mojitos, you’ll like this) and the Peach Building (it’s like summer in the country in your mouth. think spiked peach iced tea).
The chicken & waffles look divine… I will update my review once I get a chance to try them!
All of the crepes are delish… my fave is the Delilah (Shrimp, Crab and tomato confit, topped off with crawfish étouffée). The Lobster Dog w/​Mac & Cheese will make you want to Slap Yo Momma!
Always a good time, good food & good drinks to be had here!

I feel like a spazz for not making it down to Lola for brunch until recently since I live less than 2 blocks away.
So the space is very cool & hip, sorta like modern meets jazz club. No patio seating which is sort of a bummer but I don’t really see where they could squeeze it in on the sidewalk (s). For brunch they had a 3 piece Cuban style band that sounded killer however they were entirely too loud for the room & I felt I was constantly straining to hear my girlfriend.
The brunch menu has a creole inspired theme which had me excited until they brought out my food & instead of my Creole Scramble I received the All American Breakfast… which is like the only thing on the menu not creole-​esque. The waitress was apologetic and said she misheard my order… to my previous point the band was entirely too loud. She offered to swap my dish for what I actually ordered but then it just becomes weird because my girlfriend would either eat before me or wait 20 mins for my food while her food gets cold. So I just sucked it up and ate what I was brought which wasn’t necessarily bad but also the most conservative brunch dish on the menu. I did try my girlfriend’s Bourbon Street Benedict which was awesome… and made me just a little more disappointed in my dish.
Normally I’m a mimosa w/​brunch person but I’d highly recommend the beermosa which is a mimosa with beer. This seems like such a simple twist on a mimosa but as someone that eats out for brunch frequently I’ve never seen it on a menu.
Overall not the greatest 1^st visit but I’ll give Lola a mulligan and hopefully my next visit will be better & I can bump this review up a few stars.

All I’m going to say is I have been here several times; ate several times in the past 2 years and the menu has changed! The food is actually great now :)
My new best friend is the blackend chicken breast with the red beans and rice with the gravy!!! Phew, that will make me get out of bed, on a rainy day!

Lola must have a fish pond and a garden in the back to make sure their ingredients are über fresh, because it was almost empty when we went there for lunch and we still had quite a wait for our orders!
However, I will let that slide. The waitress suggested a shrimp quesadilla and while I would have never thought that would work, it did. They accidentally put cheese on my vegan friend’s dish and not only did they make him a new one, they let the table keep the other one free of charge. I can dig it.

I came here for the first time for a Unilocal event years ago. Now, this place has expanded tremendously. If I can recall, there was no Washington entrance several years ago. Now, there is. It has given this place a totally different vibe. Love it! I didn’t have any of their food, but the vibe is cool & hip. Loud band playing makes it difficult to hear people. It’s almost necessary to carry a microphone of some sort or a hearing aid when you are near the 14^th street entrance. Parking is a bitch as always. There are metered parking spots near the Washington entrance.

I love the idea of this restaurant! I’ve been here often and it is hit or miss for me.
In general the food is good, although the presentation could use some work. I am unsure of how fresh the food is; when we asked to make a modification (take out the meat) to one of the items, they said they use a mix and that the modification could not be made. But in general, I usually enjoy my meals. Their Mac & Cheese is bombdiggity! I like the concept of their crepes, but almost every time I order a crêpe I’m disappointed.
The service is subpar. Sometimes the waiters are way overbearing and check in on you every 2 minutes. And sometimes the waiters are flat out rude (especially the bartenders)! I’ve never had a waiter who was somewhere in the middle.
The ambiance is really cool! The concerts at night seem like a cool concept, but can be annoying. I tried to go there for dinner once, but due to the concert they were charging us $ 20 dollar cover– even though we were only there for dinner!
I think this place has a lot of potential!

OMG this place was packed from wall to wall. This was preventing moving from one side of the room (or anyplace else) to the other side. I guess it was because the band that was playing this night was just that good. That place was rocking! The drinks were okay and I didn’t get to taste any food because of how crowed it was.
There was a $ 10 cover charge, which I thought no big deal, but we only stayed about 45 mins (if that) because of the crowdiness. That african vibe was great and man that band was awesome. Vince even had to say how good the band was. We did go to the other side of it, but they had a DJ and music going on over there, which was a little bit disconnect to me, but it was okay.
I will return, but maybe on a less crowded day when I can actually taste something.

I came here for an early dinner by myself, lured in by the free glass of wine deal on Unilocal.Despite it being just me, ordering a sandwich and getting free wine, I received fantastic service; my server was friendly and regularly checked up on me. When the wine I wanted wasn’t available, she brought me a shot glass with a tasting of a similar wine. I wasn’t into that one, so she suggested I try a taste of another wine. At this point I felt bad getting tastings for my free glass of wine so I just ordered one blindly, haha. I got the Vino Pino Grigio, which wasn’t my favorite, but it was fine with the food.
For food I ordered the Simone with a side of Mac and Cheese. The sandwich was fresh and tasty, and the Mac and Cheese was rich, crispy, and a huge portion for being a side (I think it was $ 2.50 extra to sub the fries for the mac).
Also, I overheard the bartender discussing a $ 5 Chambord lemonade special with another patron so I ordered one of those. FANTASTIC. Allllmost ordered another, but I didn’t want to be all drunk walking back through the downtown St Louis streets where I’d already been harassed by a really creepy guy.
Would definitely return the next time I’m in the area.

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.

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.

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 Unilocal.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 Crème Brûlée. It was over baked and over produced/​presented. Make it simple, a good Crème 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

Went back to Lola for a second helping and it was still really, really good!
My recommendation? Try the Delilah crêpe. And the pommes frites!
You won’t regret it!

Salt & Pepper, Peanut Butter & Jelly, now Chicken & Waffles??? Lola definitely does Chicken and Waffles justice… a nice and crispy waffle slathered in honey buttery maple syrupy goodness, topped with a HUGE, juicy & crispy chicken breast.
My boyfriend, Alex, and I headed to Lola for brunch after its mention in the weekly Unilocal and were not disappointed. Good food, trendy/​artsy atmosphere, and friendly staff.
I want to give Lola another try and taste the Elvis waffle, but need to give my arteries a rest after the chicken & waffles before indulging again.