Lola, Cleveland

I was still second-guessing myself when I picked up the phone to make a reservation at Lola. We only had 36 hours in Cleveland and only enough money for one meal that didn’t involve a plate of nachos and a happy hour beer special, so the choice had to be a good one.

Opinions on Chowhound were varied and vocal as usual, with complaints ranging from apathetic service to deafeningly noisy to the most egregious of all, oversalted food. I didn’t expect Chef Symon himself to be in the kitchen but I did want the food to be more than just edible. In the end, I had to pull the trigger–I would have always looked back and wondered if all the accolades and/or criticism was deserved.

When we rolled into town after a long drive across Route 80, we were grumpy from battling the inevitable road construction slowdowns and ready for a boisterous, big-flavored meal. Many glasses of red were in order and a bottle of Syrah (Owen Roe Ex Umbris), courtesy of a recommendation from our smiling, engaged, 100-percent-non-apathetic server, took care of that in short order.

The beef cheek pierogi appetizer was non-negotiable–growing up in Western PA makes one intimately familiar with the carby wonders, and the Polish-Italian husband is genetically programmed to eat anything involving dough, potatoes, and cheese. The pierogi were big boys–with a crunchy fried exterior and thick dough, they were more like empanadas than anything else–but the filling was fully roasty and beefy and well-paired with the horseradish cream.

Despite my pleading, I couldn’t get my better half to split another app with me, so we ended up with a meat-fest. Hello? Smoked Berkshire pork chop with chiles, cheesy polenta, and bbq onions? That fulfills all my personal food group requirements. And if there is a hanger steak frites anywhere on a menu, chances are that;s what Dan will be ordering. Even though these could have swung way over to the salty end of the spectrum, neither ended up that way. Truly, the cheesy polenta saved some parts of the pork from being too dry, but nothing to quibble with. And Dan’s steak was perfectly ruddy pink, with lots of plate jus for dipping the rosemary fries.

Dessert was also a no-brainer order–I’d heard way too many things about the 6 A.M. Special. It’s two pieces of flash-fried French toast, topped with caramelized apples and killer maple-bacon ice cream. As someone who routinely makes mini-sandwiches out of her pancakes and bacon, the ice cream was the perfect combination of sweet and savory, and a definite DIY for a future segment. In fact, I think I can improve upon the French toast and apple accompaniments since they just couldn’t stand up to the wonder of the ice cream, so stay tuned for that one.

I am a bit regretful that we didn’t even get to sample the happy hour menu at The Greenhouse Tavern next door (after six hours in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we were ready for a full-on pigout dinner by 4 pm), but dinner at Lola was far from a disappointment and now we can explore the fine chow elsewhere in Cleveland on our next trip. Maybe the haters are right and we were lucky enough to get there on a good night, but I can’t complain about our experience at all.

Side note: if you’re ever in Johnstown, PA and want to support the Symon family, go get your car gussied up at the EZ Grade Car Wash on Menoher Blvd. Not only is it the regular car wash of the Barber family, it’s also owned by Mark Symon, cousin of the Iron Chef.

Lola, 2058 E. 4th St., Cleveland, OH. 216-621-5652 or reservations on Open Table.