Lola Lo

Worst place ever! They let chavvy fighters stay in their club! Bouncers are terrible!

I came here with a group for my sister’s 22^nd birthday. I was rather intoxicated, and can only remember dancing; I can’t remember entry fees or drinks prices (sorry that’s pretty useless for a review). The next thing I remember is waking up in the morning with my clothes and make up still on next to a massive pizza… and I can’t even have pizza! Luckily most of it was still intact. Magic. Think my days of staying out past midnight could be over.

So… where do we start?
Deansgate Locks is, to be blunt, somewhere I attempt to avoid on nights out as it has a bit of a reputation for being full of folk who’ve had one too many — somewhat deservedly based on the number of people who were «assisted from the venue» with protest, if you know what I mean. (Subtitles: Kicked out.) Still, I decided to stick with my group and give it a shot despite my reservations.
I must admit, I do not understand the fuss about the whole tiki bar idea. Stereotypically Hawaiian-​esque décor coupled with jazzy shirts sounds like it should be a laugh, but however much I try I never enjoy these places.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve had cocktails served by bartenders who know their craft and who have taken it competitive, or perhaps it’s because the atmosphere is just never quite on point (Tiki theme + grime music isn’t a combo I’d have thought of myself); either way, Lola Lo was not exactly Grade A luau material.
In terms of pricing, at £6 just for entry you know you’re in for a steep evening — but this may just have been because we rocked up fairly late to the party having come via a corporate Christmas event. I have to say, though, that the door staff were commendable in that not only did they let us in (and out of the rain) really quickly but they were also really good about the fact that I was packing a bottle of vino I’d won earlier. Left it with the chap on the door, picked it back up later on, no hassles.
The drinks were average-​to-​high in terms of pricing, which would have been fine aside from the fact that they weren’t that good and the bar staff weren’t particularly quick at getting them out. One of our group took one glug of their cocktail before promptly getting a second opinion on it «tasting horrible». Jaegerbombs for £2 a go wasn’t so bad, though. (I happen to find them rather palatable as it goes.) You can get bottles as well if you’re feeling flush, I think — I saw one guy drinking Belvedere straight from the bottle!
The venue itself is a good size, certainly a lot bigger than other tiki-​type bars I’ve been to, which was a pleasant surprise. We even managed to get seats for a group of 8, which is impressive. For those who smoke, the nature of the arches provides a decent amount of shelter from the weather.
Overall, I can’t really say I’d be in a rush to go back. If you’re looking for somewhere to relive your youth or pretend that you’re still a student in Manchester, then you’ll probably find that experience here. If not, you’ll probably find more expediently served and better cocktails for less money elsewhere.

Lola Lo is great, it’s a themed tiki bar but when I say tiki bar I don’t mean down rubbish straw décor this place generally makes you feel like you are on a tiki island with the aromas of coconut. The food was fantastic very good service and the meal was great, cocktails were half price from 5 – 10 as they are everyday I believe which made it fantastic overall, I will return :)

Generic place on Deansgate locks. This review is going to be short!
This was meant to be my works Christmas party. We thought it looked pretty cool and a Hawaiian themed place would be cool. We opted for the set Christmas menu. Service was very slow and disorganised. Food was adverage to say the least.
The best thing about this place was the cocktails. I will return but for drinks not food. The end! :)

So deansgate locks I don’t go near you since I passed my college days, you always seem like someone that’s filled with a stupid proportion of drunk people, and stuck up doormen. This was however over 10yrs ago so I suppose places can change, just now me and all my friends have a series of regular haunts in town that don’t go near here… until last Friday.
To all those who love Keko Moko, to all those who love Liars club, what’s the one thing that those two fails at… the’re pretty small that’s what, I used to enjoy them immensely but I do get a bit bored of wedging myself through the crowd getting to and from the bar let alone looking at a bar that several people deep.
Lola Lo is Keko and Liars but bigger, much much bigger which is great, still gets busy and but it doesn’t seem to get shoulder to shoulder busy.
Does this mean the bars any easier or quicker to get served at… no, I swear you could make an infinitely long bar with infinite amount of bartenders and it still wouldn’t be cocktail bar that works quickly.
But alas we all know that if we’re going somewhere that does cocktails we’re in for the long haul (Bless you beer and wine bless you and your quick serving simplicity)
Lots of tables and a reasonable amount of tables with seating. Prices basically the same as any cocktail bar (Bless you beer and wine bless you and your relative cheapness)
One thing I would say is better than Keko and Liars is the taste of the cocktails, I find in the other two places they are quite drying out of the mouth and because of all the cinnamon? they burn on top get quite gritty, not so here we’ve ditched the FLAMES OF FANCY for just making tastier beverages.
I can enjoy cocktails but with the cocktail bar offerings and problems I normally avoid. From now on if people are talking to me about going for cocktails I’m going to steer them here

Wasn’t sure what to expect from a bar on Deansgate Locks, as it’s not an area I’m normally that keen on but really liked Lola Lo. Think the half price cocktails until 10pm helped me come to the conclusion that this bar is worth a visit. The offer is on Monday to Friday. Lola Lo is a Tiki style bar which seems to be all the rage right now. They have obviously put a lot of effort into the décor which fits in superbly with the Hawaiian theme. The cocktails are good and there is a wide selection. They have a lot of booths etc so it’s an ideal venue for a large group.

Lola Lo opened last month in 2 arches of Deansgate Locks. Not being a fan of anything other than Lock 91 on the locks I was apprehensive to say the least but popped along to their friends and family launch at the beginning of December.
Lola Lo is a chain tiki bar and the menu shows this a little with some strange choices (cinnamon on top of your none-​flaming zombie anyone?) but also some well made cocktails (try the good time girl, it’s a potent beauty) served by Hawaiian themed guys and gals. The venue is large and open with booths around the edge, I’d like to have seen more seating areas and wouldn’t like to see this place busy. I bet it can get a little hectic! I know I went on one of the opening nights but service was with a smile but shaking was slow, I hope this is because they were getting used to the menu and not something that will continue.
They have some good food deals mid week as well as a new Tequila Wednesday night where you can get shots of the fine stuff for bargain prices.
They have been open just over a month now so I’ll be popping back this weekend on a hen do to see how they are getting on…