LOLA Restaurant & Ultra Lounge / Delray Beach
By John Tanasychuk
Sun Sentinel
Important: This article was last updated on December 22, 2009. Please call ahead to confirm hours, prices, dates and other information.
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 The Shoppes at Addison Place, 16950 Jog Road, Delray Beach 561-496-5652 loladelray.com Cuisine: Mediterranean Cost: moderate-expensive Hours: lunch weekdays, dinner daily, Sunday brunch Reservations: for any size party Credit cards: AE, D, MC, V Bar: full service Sound level: loud Outside smoking: yes (check out the fire pit) For kids: high chairs, booster, menu Wheelchair accessible: yes  |
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Background: LOLA comes to us from Wendy Rosano of Cucino Mio in Delray and Bistro Mio in Coral Springs.
Ambience: Nightclub chic. Done in shades of orange, one wall of the bar area features a glowing wall by Miami Beach artist Andrew Reid. We sit at what I know as vanity chairs that are surprisingly comfortable. Every seat in the house affords a perfect view of the entire restaurant.
Starters: I recommend making a meal of the soups, starters, salads and flatbreads. Most are easily shareable. The tomato basil soup ($6) is excellent, neither too creamy or too tart. Crispy calamari ($12) comes with a remoulade and tomato sauce. There are chicken wings, either classic Buffalo ($9) or wood roasted ($9), and prime beef sliders ($14) served with caramelized onions and cheddar. Be sure to order something from the flatbread section of the menu. Crispy, cracker-thin breads can be ordered five different ways. Among them are lobster and shrimp ($14) or, my favorite, an earthy mixture of wild mushrooms, goat cheese, chives and white truffle oil ($10). Salads include a classic Caesar with lobster ($16) or seared ahi tuna salad ($16) with Napa cabbage, mango, avocado and rice noodles in a ginger cilantro vinaigrette.
Entree excellence: The Main Plate section is meaty, starting with a LOLA burger ($15) followed by a bone-in pork chop ($28). Rigatoni alla Nonna ($17) features roasted eggplant, cherry tomatoes, shaved garlic and ricotta salada, but the sauce was a bit too soupy for our tastes. A lamb chop special ($42) veered toward Greek in its seasoning and was cooked perfectly medium rare. But like the accompanying timbale or rice that accompanied the lamb, it wasn't quite hot enough. There are four platters meant for 4 to 6 people to share. The LOLA platter ($90) is loaded with such goodies as filet mignon, chicken wings, Tuscan fries and steak flatbreads.
Liquid assets: A very nice inexpensive wine list as well as perfectly prepared cocktails. All bottles of wine are half price on Mondays. Happy hour is 4-7 p.m. weekdays when most drinks are half price. Ladies drink free 8-10 p.m. Wednesdays.
Sweet!: Share a S'mores Platter ($15) or the fried cheesecake ($9).
Service: While it took 20 minutes to get our first drink, service ran pretty smoothly afterward. These aren't seasoned pros, but younger servers just learning the ropes.
Contact dining correspondent John Tanasychuk at jtanasychuk@sunsentinel.com or write to him in care of Sun Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301.