Pizzeria Lola
| Address: | 5557 Xerxes Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55410, USA |
| Phone: | +1 612-424-8334 |
| Site: | pizzerialola.com |
| Rating: | 4.6 |
| Working: | 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
CH
Christopher Hunnicutt
First & foremost, separate yourselves from any kind of preconceived comparisons to pedantic pizza-churning restaurants such as Punch Pizza or Pizza Lucé, because these establishments do what they do for a reason, executed to a particular style and for the most part, do it well. Within this premise, if youre expecting Pizzeria Lola to "beat out" said competition, youre on a fruitless journey. That being said, Pizzeria Lola ALSO does what it does, and in doing so, sets itself apart from other places on a few levels… (1) Their all wood-fire style oven pizzas are cooked to perfection. The crust is beautifully crisped & seasoned RIGHT until you reach the end of the slice where one might find Christs body during communion more flavorful. (2) Though not all selections on the menu are a success, seeing a pizzeria take chances on ingredients & approach to pie making is a shortcut to practical progression. Not to mention, there arent many places that even offer you Korean elements in cooking if not a place specializing in such things. Dont be afraid to try their Korean pizzas, because youll be PLEASANTLY surprised, but my favorite, so far, is The Iowan. (3) The staff clearly isnt required to have a certain physical appeal to work here, so its inhabited by people that simply enjoy the culinary, alcoholic & perhaps, like many other people, need employment, instead of wistfully waxed mustaches, intriguing, yet enigmatically poorly-designed tattoos, and an array of band t-shirts from bands youve never heard of. The lunch service is impeccable, but at times, overbearing because the customer count just isnt terribly high, so servers are HUNGRY for action. Then, upon returning days later for a dinner service, it was like being at a different restaurant. After about a 35-minute wait, we had to settle for the bar, and then didnt get served for yet another 25 minutes. Therefore, Id suggest enjoying a lunch date, instead of a dinner. (4) The ingredients are always fresh for everything even outside of pizza. Though a Kale salad is not personally my idea of a good time, offering such options is a step in the right direction. Different greens provide different overtones in a salad, and yes, there is life outside of Iceberg & spinach.
KE
Kelly Ness
I left a review a few months ago (see below). I felt it didnt do clarify exactly why I gave one star. It was too vague... So here goes: My wife, son (3 mo. old) and I were going to meet some friends here for dinner. We checked in at the host stand, and they said they wouldnt seat us without the entire party present (even though there was a table open on the patio). I thought it was a little odd, as most places welcome you to sit down - but OK. So I proceeded to walk back to the bar where we were going to wait it out. Immediately the bartender had said the bar was for dining only. I repeat the BAR was for dining only. Okay. I was going to get my wife and myself something to drink while we stood at the bar with two perfectly good seats available. Then the same bartender said that you can only make drink orders at the end of the bar. She was standing right in front of me telling me I needed to walk 20(max) to order a drink. Wow. By this time we felt a little pushed around, but whatever. I told the hostess that we were not accommodated in the bar, and asked again to be seated on the patio (there was STILL a table open). At this time, we asked to see a manager, and she basically encouraged us to leave and not come back. Actually got kind of heated and another customer told us "yeah, this place sucks" under his breath. Basically if you like being shuffled around, this is your place... too much good za around the twin cities to get treated like this. __________________________________________________ Previous review: Host was rude, Bartender was rude. Server was rude. Asked to speak with a manager, and what do you know. She was rude. We were happy to leave at that point...
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K Koz
My wife and I were passing through Minneapolis, and she found this place highly reviewed. It was a little bit out of the way, and seemed to be a small neighborhood place. But Im sure glad she found it. It seemed pretty busy, but we were seated right away. The dining room was very nice, with a huge brass pizza oven as the centerpiece. There were seats out front, but all were taken on this gorgeous evening. My wifes coffee mug and the china we were given were kitschy, with "garage sale find" written all over it. We didnt realize it had a Korean vibe before going (As the staffs t-shirts say "I love pizza" in Korean), but that added to our enjoyment. We ordered the Korean BBQ pizza, and it was fantastic. The wood-fired pizza crust was the perfect balance of crispy on the outside and soft in the middle, and the cheese was nice and gooey. I could have done with a bit fewer greens on top, but the BBQ beef on the pizza was incredible. Thank you to the reviewers who recommended the homemade soft serve ice cream with virgin olive oil and sea salt on top!!! It was incredible, and the perfect end to a very enjoyable meal. Overall, the atmosphere and service was very nice, the food was very good, and the price was very reasonable.
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Peter Hedlesky
This place has been recommended to me several times over the past few years, and one night while at Cafe Vin next door, we watched dozens of people going by on the sidewalk to wait in line or pick up takeout from Pizzeria Lola. Id heard that there can sometimes be an hour wait for a table, so this past Saturday, when we happened to be in the area around 4pm, we decided to stop by and see if we could get a table. We were seated right away and were attended to by a pleasant and knowledgeable waitress who helped us select a pizza. Perhaps our expectations were too high, but I must say that we were extremely disappointed in the food. The Caesar salad was OK, but the pizza - I think its called The Iowan - was just so-so. Im frankly mystified by the wildly enthusiastic praise from other reviewers. The restaurant itself is charmless but at least its less noisy than the Punch Pizza wed gone to. The pizza, while several notches above Punch, is nothing to wait on line for. (Certainly not for an hour!) We tried dessert, as it had been highly recommended by a co-worker - the soft serve ice cream drizzled with olive oil; it wasnt worth the calories. Obviously, a lot of people are devoted to this place, but I dont get it.
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John Smith
The pizza was decent. Nothing like Ive had in Italy but not bad for the midwest. But the atmosphere is pure hipster. They have all kinds of rules about what you can and cant do by the bar and whatnot. Takes forever to get a table. The wait staff is typical hipster meaning couldnt care less. Prices are quite high. Another highly rated place where Im assuming nobody reviewing it has been to Italy to know what pizza should taste like or how if you spend money in a restaurant you should be treated professionally. These people will gladly make you stand over by the bar for 2 hrs drinking local trendy craft beer in anticipation of getting that burnt pizza. Ive been here twice and again Ive had pizza in Italy and both times Ive been to Lola the crust was burnt. They burn the crust here and attempt to call that "authentic". Uh, heres a tip. They dont burn the crust in Italy. If you like the hipster scene this place is for you. If you care more about been seen at a popular place than actual good food this place again is for you. I can name 4 places without even trying that have better pizza in the twin cities than this. Overpriced, hipster, trendy, snobby...any of these accurately describe this place.
