A Review of Lola Restaurant in Houston, Texas

The restaurant, Lola, in Houston, Texas, is the Heights newest eatery and interestingly enough, it is owned by the same person that owns other Heights favorites like Dragon Bowl and Pink's Pizza. Though Lola is supposed to resemble a modern diner, don't expect the menu and food to be reminiscent of a 1950's diner where the waitress calls you "Honey" and refills your coffee while chewing gum. No, Lola is more of an upscale casual restaurant where customers order at the counter, take a number to place on their table, and wait for someone to bring out their food. It is very similar to Dragon Bowl or Pei Wei in that regard. The picture of an orange that hangs off of the word Lola is very confusing for potential customers because one would think it is a place where they sell fresh smoothies but I assure you Lola in Houston, Texas is indeed a restaurant - although they do have fresh squeezed orange juice.

Interior

Lola restaurant in the Houston Heights is located across the street from the post office on Yale and 11^th and ever since their doors opened, Heights residents have been flocking like sheep. The décor of this restaurant seems lost and confused, but one bright spot to the decor is the seating. The cushy leather seats were comfortable enough to place in a media room - not something most diners can brag about. If you are looking for privacy or romantic date spot, Lola is not the place for you because passersby can see every nook and cranny of this restaurant with the large windows.

Price

Everything on the restaurant menu at Lola in Houston, Texas is expensive - at least for a casual eatery - but the quality of food and quantity make up for the price. The least expensive menu item is the soup which is a whopping $5. The most expensive food item is the pan seared salmon with shitake risotto, and red coconut curry reserve for $16. And a middle range item like a hamburger (made with 100% Angus beef) and fries cost $10.

Food

Steak and Onion Sandwich

My husband ordered the steak and onion sandwich ($11) which came with caramelized onions and French fries on a sweet roll. He raved about the French fries telling me they were thin and crispy with seasoning just the way he likes them. I wish I would have tried the fries, but I could tell by looking at them that they were one of Lola's specialties. The steak and onion sandwich according to my husband was OK; it was neither spectacular nor horrible which in his book is pretty good. He ate all of it so it must have been tasty; and I managed to get out of him that he liked the way the steak was pink in the middle as well as the seasoning.

While waiting for my meal, I had the fresh squeezed juice. There's nothing like freshly squeezed juice to whet your appetite so I drank it in about two seconds.

Turkey Sandwich

I had the sandwich called "Day After Thanksgiving" which came with roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, cornbread stuffing (also known as dressing in the south), and gravy. The bread that came with the sandwich tasted more like a donut so I was in heaven but not exactly the type of bread I would choose for a sandwich. The turkey was just thick enough to cut with a fork but not so thick that it impeded the sandwich. Unfortunately the turkey had more sodium than I like but it was savory going down. The cranberry sauce was my favorite part since it was made with whole cranberries that were sweet and sour and made the perfect accompaniment to the turkey. The cornbread stuffing really did taste like cornbread which was different for me and although that, too, was a bit too salty for my liking, I ate all of the stuffing (aka dressing).

Instead of fries I had my sandwich with a salad and honey pecan vinaigrette dressing. Most of the salad at Lola in Houston, Texas consisted of spinach leaves and the dressing was to die for. I hope this Houston restaurant bottles the dressing and sells it if this is homemade because it was that good. It actually made me want more salad which is a rarity since I'm not normally a vegetable lover. My sandwich cost $11 which is a bit pricey but since it was more like an entrée and an appetizer, it wasn't bad value.

Visit Lola in the Heights and see what you think about the food. Lola is located at 1102 Yale Street, Houston, TX, 77008. Their phone number is (713) 426-LOLA.