Lola’s
25
August
(5 votes, average: 3.40 out of 5)
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Description – Spanish cuisine. Fine dining. Entrée price range $4-$20.
Services – tapas, Spanish wines
Website – www.lolas-tapas-wine-bar-hoboken.com
Address – 153 14th St, Hoboken, New Jersey ( NJ ) 07030
Telephone – (201) 420-6062
August 2006
We’ve been to Lola’s Tapas several times. And each time was a hit-or-miss experience. Sometimes having amazing dishes and decent service, all the way to mediocre food and poor, rushed service.
Today’s review has us sitting at the bar for a few quick tapas items. Wanted to avoid the barrel-tables since they are a little frustrating to sit at.
We chose not to order wine or Sangria this time, so it will not be included in this review.
Lola’s is a very out of the ordinary restaurant in Hoboken. An authentic spanish look and feel throughout, and a huge wine cellar with 1000’s of bottles. The restaurant has two floors, with the upstairs being the larger of the two, and the downstairs being a bit more quiet and intimate.
Had a nice cocktail hour downstairs a few months ago.
The upstairs has a bigger bar, and a more open feel. On nicer days, they open the front doors.
Overall, while the decor of Lola’s is very nice, the seating leaves much to be desired, and the music from the satellite radio can be overwhelming.
On to the food.
As usual, they start you out with a couple little cheese and meat snacks and a loaf of sub-par bread. It had the taste and feel of standard white bread. While there is a time and a place for bread like this, you’d expect a more hearty, chewy bread here. But the dipping oil was spicy and good.
First out was the Spicy Wings. While not your usual “buffalo” style wings, these were still very delicious. Despite being very tiny, they were still a treat to eat. Gobs of crushed red pepper based spice coated each miniscule wing. Were cooked satisfactorily and ate rather well, albeit messy. A nice change from the usual wing.
Next came the Mussels with Garlic and Wine sauce. The mussels were cooked well and I thought the sauce was tasty, yet subtle. My friend thought they were too bland. I guess since I had eaten the wings my perception was slanted.
After that, the Filet Mignon Volcano and a bowl of spicy potatoes came out. I’ve eaten this volcano dish before and loved it. However, today, the meat was suspect and had a very tainted taste. How disappointing. When we reported this, they claimed the meat was fresh and was delivered that day. I was wondering if they stored it in a glove box in a car. The spicy potatoes were excellent as always. Just the right amount of spice and the potatoes were cooked perfectly. I guess it’s hard to screw up a simple dish like that.
We replaced the Filet Mignon dish with some Chorizo with onions and peppers. A nice little bowl of mini spanish sausages. While the sausage was relatively good, the taste did remind us very eerily of a slim-jim. While not necessarily bad, it’s not something that I’d prefer to order again. Just a bit too salty for my taste. Personal opinion, of course.
In the end, it’s nice to swing by Lola’s from time to time, to mix up the usual American style cuisine that dominates Hoboken. They have many menu choices, a gigantic wine list, and a unique atmosphere. If they could tone down the music, perhaps time the delivery of the dishes better, the experience would most certainly be improved. The costs are also a bit higher than you’d expect for what you receive, often leaving a bit hungry still.
Next time we’ll also check out the desserts.
Here’s a few more pictures.
PS, their website is not working at this time.
May 24th 2006 - 11:00:28 |
The food was good, but I thought the portions were too large to be tapas..
(perhaps if we had been a large group – the portions would have been perfect)
The Sangria was awful…and pricey….
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August 25th 2006 - 08:45:07 |
I have tried this restaurant several times and each time am more and more disappointed. Over priced food, lousey taste, and disgruntled workers. When a customer complains they try to back talk. Whatever happened to the customer is always right.
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August 25th 2006 - 09:33:30 |
I haven’t been burned by the food/service being on the bad end of the spectrum yet. Went there a couple of times with friends, had amazing tapas. I’ll agree that the red sangria was awful, but the white sangria was pretty damn good and is all we order now. Sometimes a group of us will swing up there just for the white sangria.
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August 25th 2006 - 09:44:36 |
The mussels in spicy tomato sauce are amazing!
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August 25th 2006 - 11:40:36 |
We went early one night, and maybe for that reason had no problems with noise or service downstairs. We both liked the tapas, but I can’t remember anything we had. And I was in a beer mood, so we didn’t try the wines. But we intend to go back, so we’ll give the white sangria a try next time.
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November 26th 2006 - 16:03:46 |
Man does this place suck. I was there a year ago and said I wouldn’t go back and I made of going back. The food is nowhere near authentic Spanish food! They should just throw out the stove in the kitchen and put in three microwave ovens.
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December 30th 2006 - 03:33:26 |
The tapas are very good, and the wine list is expansive (and, reasonable), but we’ll NEVER go there again after 7:00pm. For some reason, they crank the music so that it’s even difficult to hear the specials from the waiters! Our last visit there, my husband even complained to the waiter, who responded with a “What?” He must have mentioned something to the “keeper of the music”, for the volume was lowered just enough for some semblance of audible conversation, and then, about 15 minutes later, once again we nearly had to resort to sign language for communication!!
In addition to the high volume NON-SPANISH music (the arrangements must be determined by young waitstaff), the uncomfortable seating (HUGE barrels that children, petite people, or proper ladies would have problems situating their legs around), is another drawback about the place.
Overall the tapas are great, but the bread is so bland and unauthentic, that it appears to be a “Spanish Wonderbread”. How ’bout some hearty crust with a chewy, porous, interior to soak up that nice olive oil?
I agree with one poster that the staff is a bit arrogant. Hey, Spanish accents are a dime a dozen in Hudson County, so even if theirs ARE truly Castellian, it doesn’t mean that as guests, non-Spaniards should be treated like inferiors!
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April 30th 2007 - 09:43:57 |
Went to Lolas last night and had a great experience. The bread was pretty good and not the same bread pictured above so maybe they changed it around. We had a shrimp and avocado salad which was great, muscels in green sauce which are now my third favorite in town behind augstinos (far in the lead) and anthony davids. We also orderd the monkfish in grandmothers sauce, I thought the fish was cooked perfect and the sauce was simple yet flavorful. Lastly we had a filet mignon dish and the steak was really tender and great. We were very happy with the food. The sangria was good not great but for $24 for a large pithcer I thought it was a good value.
My only issue was that they brought the food out too fast without giving time to completely finish the previous tapa.
Lastly, I can see how some people dont like the barrel tables. I think they are unique so I kinda like them.
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May 11th 2007 - 09:32:02 |
Went to Lola’s last night with about 10 other people and opted to have the food served ‘family style’. That included unlimited sangria and wine, tapas served in courses – we had a cheese and meat platter the first time around, then the shrimp came, then two different kinds of salads, more fish, more meat… I can go on forever, but suffice it to say, that it was more than well worth it and the staff was very attentive and the food was delicious. My favorite was the salmon in mustard sauce cooked in a roof tile
I’ve also been there with smaller groups and much prefer the large/’family style’ setting.
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June 8th 2007 - 15:21:10 |
Awful Everything.
We tried the two-person special (meat) served in “An Authentic Spanish Clay Roof Tile!”
Picture a roof tile. Like a half-pipe (no ends). They have this in a cradle, over a burner. They heap this to the top with different meats, but all mixed up. Since there are no sides to the roof tile, all the grease runs out onto the table. Nice! The meat was tough, and tasted like dog food. And all the different marinades had run together.
The decor is typical North Jersey guido trying too hard to be classy (see Venue). Nice garden statue in the middle of the restaurant.
The wine – I went here for the wine, heard it was good. I noticed two things.. the wine is all stored behind the bar, and it was about 90 degrees in there. I thought maybe all the bottles behind the bar were display only, because what kind of dumbass would allow that much wine to get ruined?
It was ruined. Totally cooked. If you have never had cooked wine before – it smells like stewed fruit. It tastes like Sherry. If you let it sit in your glass for a half hour or so, it begins to taste like toilet.
All this for about 100 dollars.
Lots of hot girls in the place though.. sounded like a chicken coop.
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June 8th 2007 - 16:09:25 |
I haven’t been here even though I love tapas and wine because of all the reasons Trail of Dead pointed out that I’ve also heard from friends. It’s unfortunate because the more options we have in this town the better, but overpriced, greasy and crowded are the 3 things I hear over and over about Lola’s. Granted – I should try a place before I dismiss it, but the negative reviews have kept me away.
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June 8th 2007 - 17:29:23 |
Trail of Dead wrote:
But – what do you really think?
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August 9th 2007 - 14:12:13 |
Trail of Dead wrote:
LOL you must be a miserable old man -
The meat tile is fun yeah it has no sides and can sometime not every time drip on the table oh well don’t order the tile lol. Also the tile meats aren’t marinated they are just simply grilled so nothing runs together it’s just grilled meats pretty simple. I never at dog food and I’m really sorry you have to know what it tastes like. However if that’s what dog food tastes like pass me some alpo.
Typical north jersey guido??? lol I haven’t heard that term used since the early 90’s Are you one of those NY’ers that doesn’t like anything from NJ? The place is cute and you missed the OBVIOUS point of the garden fountain INSIDE… YOU’R SUPPOSE TO GET THE FEELING YOUR IN A SPANISH COURTYARD… dur!!! Hence the doors and windows on the walls – use a little imagination.
The wine there *IS* excellent not sure what you drank but I’ve brought many wine lovers including myself and the wine is fine! You’re wrong about the wine being stored above the bar. I’ve been in the wine cellar area and it’s stocked with about 5000 bottles of wine and the really really exceptional wine is in a special sealed wine unit that keeps an accurate temp and humidity. The bottles are moved up to the bar as they are needed since the place is known for wine they go through it very quickly so it’s never above the bar for very long.
Judging by the bill total of $100 bucks you either went alone or must have bought a cheap wine considering that the meat tile is like $40 alone.
I’ve been there many times and really I’ve never been let down. Quality can vary at times not sure why but I’ve had some meat once or twice that was tough… I sent it back and they provided new that was perfect… YOU’RE THE CUSTOMER if you don’t speak up they can’t make it right so that’s YOUR FAULT! If something isn’t right mention it don’t gripe about it on a blog like you were forced to eat the portion they served.
Also if you’re such a wine aficionado then you’d have sniffed the wine and tasted some first… THE ENTIRE POINT OF TASTING IT FIRST IS TO LET THEM KNOW IF THE BOTTLE IS ACCEPTABLE! If a bottle of wine is not acceptable I don’t care WHAT place you are at YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TAKE IT AND DRINK IT IF YOU FEEL IT IS NOT ACCPETABLE!
Learn your rights as a customer at a restaurant and speak up while you’re there rather than give a bad review after the fact.
Now I will give my one con of Lola’s often the music is too loud! I’d much rather listen to The Gypsy Kings than the often dance techno stuff but then again it’s Hoboken on a weekend *what else would you expect!!!!!* If it’s too loud, ask to have it turned down I have and they are understanding!
Staff is friendly and often makes very nice suggestions. The place is especially cozy if you get there early or on a saturday or sunday afternoon.
And the one thing I do agree with you on is yes they often have a lot of very pretty women around! To me that says something about a place. When a place seems to have more nice women that are cultured and elegant it says a lot about the place… A refined woman usually won’t be found in a dump!
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August 9th 2007 - 16:26:42 |
efoiv wrote:
So you’re saying Rogos may not be the place to find a cultured, elegant woman???
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October 10th 2007 - 11:50:18 |
RoyMunson wrote:
Now you put words in my mouth
Rogos is a bar pub kind of place insn’t it? Never been there but from what I’ve heard it’s not my kind of place.
However there might well be cultured elegant women that like to grind to dance djs and drink with the boys I just haven’t met many
cheers!
PS lola’s website works fine the review says it doesn’t work but it works fine from what I can tell
http://lolas-tapas-wine-bar-hoboken.com
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February 8th 2009 - 21:48:14 |
Last night our waitress took the molten chocolate lava cake out of the microwave, licked some chocolate off the plate with her finger and then served it to us! I just happen to be able to see the waiter/waitress station from where I was sitting at the high, round table in the back right corner.
When I first confronted the manager, he was so nice and the waitress admitted what she had done and apologized. When I talked to the owner, Andre who was drunk and rude, the waitress then denied everything. That really bummed me out.
Needless to say, I’m sure this happens all the time and we never know!
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February 8th 2009 - 22:38:23 |
cinderella wrote:
Did you eat the cake?
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February 8th 2009 - 23:11:21 |
Cindarella, it’s midnight and your carriage just turned into a pumpkin… I hate to break it to you but servers eat off customer’s plates more than you would like to think. Do I find it detestable? Yes. Unfortunately, most servers aren’t servers; just ask them. They are students, writers, actors, painters, musicians, etc… What I am getting at is many of them don’t approach their jobs with the degree of professionalism that you would hope for…
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February 8th 2009 - 23:12:17 |
Cinderella… no more wine for me
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