After calling the elevator up to our floor in Hotel Ibis, we looked out the window and saw a lovely rooftop cafe that is overlooked by the hotel; the hotel staff said they have 'salads, sandwiches, pizza' and it sounded casual, so we walked 15 seconds from the lobby to Lola.
Inside was very modern, with cloth napkins on tables, servers in black and white attire. This seemed more upscale than the shorts/tshirt/flip-flops we were wearing and the place was empty (not always a good sign) but we forged ahead to the rooftop dining area anyways.*NOTE* dressy casual is appropriate attire here.
We took a look at the menu and ordered the wedge salad and tortilla soup to share, along with the ravioli with 3-cheese sauce; we ordered clamatos to drink. The salad was a healthy portion with a homemade ranch and large pieces of crisp bacon...and they put garbanzo beans on top, which I had never had before, but they were a nice compliment to the freshness of the salad. Sometimes wedge salads can feel heavy in the stomach if the bleu cheese is overdone, but this salad was delicious and felt light. The tortilla soup was brought out to assemble at our pace/liking. There were little cubes of queso Panela that tasted stellar next to the large chunks of avocado and the broth was on point, with an abundance of flavors and spices. The ravioli was good(not as tender as I am accustomed), but the cheese sauce was better, making me want to to go back for another fork full. Our clamatos were served with a chili-lime-salt rim and the clamato mix was well-balanced.
Mid-meal we had family arrive at the hotel, so we just yelled over to them from our spot on the roof and they came up and joined us. Restaurant staff accomodated the additional 6 people quickly to where we were already seated (now we will have more food to review).
My son Sean ordered the Cuban sandwich with a side salad. The pannini was loaded with more than the usual, but the flavors of mustard, ham, Swiss and pickles came through strongly. My son remarked never liking pickles as much as he did, as when eating that sandwich. He also ordered an Abulita hot chocolate which came out bitter, at first (someone used coffee to prepare it by accident), but they quickly remade it much to Sean's liking. It was sweet and rich with marshmallows on top.
Our cousin Lita's son, Michael, ordered a pepperoni pizza; this was an wood-oven fired gourmet pizza with a high-quality mozzarella. Some slightly burnt areas of the crust and charcoaly imperfections were a testament to it preparation; the sauce was light and complimented the toppings nicely.
We then ordered 'Boneless' for my daughter, to-go. These were tender pieces of chicken breast fried up tempura style, tossed with buffalo sauce. We ordered the fries to go with it. She says it was amazing, then I tried a piece for myself; it was crisp on the outside, tender and juicy inside. Fries were dusted generously with paprika, which gave them very nice color with only subtle additional flavor.
Overall, we loved this place for the quality, value and ambiance--the entrees are what you would expect from a modern eatery like this, but the prices are much less. As for service, it was top-notch..always someone looking your way to make sure your experience leaves you wanting nothing more. And the decor--well, what can I say? It was a very charming rooftop: lots of plants, ivy on the walls...and once the sun went down the place got packed. When we walked out, it was a full house of well-dressed patrons, lots of loud chatter, with no available parking spots in sight (always a good sign).
And I would be happy to spend my money here, again. read more