Lola’s Bar and Bistro
630 Monroe Avenue
585.271.0320
Hours: 5 pm -2am Monday through Sunday
http://www.2taste.com/lolabistro/
Lola’s is one of those places you love to find and you are not sure how you didn’t hear about this place before. Immediately when walking inside, you think, this is why I love smaller upscale restaurants. The curved ceilings and low lighting, the small intimate environment without being stuffy, the friendly servers letting you know about excellent sounding specials without making you feel stupid. All that and more was at Lola’s.
We asked to see a menu first since we just happened to be walking by looking for a place to eat. The hostess, who was also our server, promptly let us look and within seconds we decided this was the dinner place for tonight.
The way Lola’s is set up, it allows for a busy bar, but in a small space still allows for a fairly quiet corner for dining. For drinks, I decided on a Pear Martini ($7) and my dining partner decided on a Via Firenze Pinot Grigio ($6). The Pear Martini was out of this world. The right combination of vodka, pear liqueur and lime made this one of the best martini’s I have had in quite some time. My dining partner enjoyed his wine, although noting not an outstanding brand.
While we were decided on a meal, out server brought out breads along with an olive dipping sauce that was just the right combination of olives and oil. I am not normally a fan of anything containing black olives, but I was fighting for my fair share with this one! I ordered a Flank Steak Cobb salad ($10) which came out perfectly. I always ask for my dressing on the side and this time forgot. By the time I remembered, I didn’t want to have the kitchen redo the order(one of my pet peeves as a server was the “oh I forgot” 3 minutes before the food was about to be delivered). Thankfully, as I have discovered in good restaurants, they rarely slop on the dressing. The Cobb salad was lightly tossed in a buttermilk ranch, with smoked bacon, bleu cheese crumbles, avocado, egg, baby greens topped with strips of medium rare steak. The salad tasted wonderful, with my only complaint being the avocado, instead of chucks was more of a guacamole. My dining partner enjoyed a Jambalaya dish ($18). The first thing we noticed is that it was served on a plate instead of a bowl. No matter, my dining partner said it was nice and spicy with more meat than rice.
Overall this was an excellent accidental stop and one restaurant we would love to try again. Many more of the menu sounded excellent, with the right combination of known and experimental dishes. This is a sexy, chic place that deserves a little more attention!
Eat Out Rochester:
http://eatoutrochester.blogspot.com/
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