MARCH 27, 2002
The smell of the wood-fired ovens, a view of chefs in the open kitchen, tables close together and soft lighting—that’s Lola’s Northern Italian Restaurant in downtown Grand Forks. And since it opened here five years ago, Lola’s has established itself as one of the best bets for dinner.
Lola’s is a unique restaurant set in an old warehouse building. With its old wooden floors, high ceiling and brick walls, it is a delightful setting. It’s a place where you can focus on appetizers and wine, choose pizza or pasta or find an excellent dinner of salmon, lamb, veal or roast duck.
It was the perfect setting for a birthday dinner for my daughter earlier this month. I was glad I had made a reservation for five well in advance, because Lola’s was almost full when we arrived at 6:30 P.M.
Our table was off to the side, near the wine room. Our waitress was with us as we were seated, aptly describing the specials for the evening—a venison dinner and a pasta with shrimp and chicken. She gave us the prices of around $20 and $14, which is helpful.
Then, as we turned our attention to the menu, she described the wines. We ended up with a bottle of Clos du Bois Merlot ($29), and we got serious about our dinner selections. Mary Golden (MG) knew what she wanted immediately: the eggplant parmesan ($15.50), which she thoroughly enjoyed. Al Golden (AG) chose grilled Italian sausage served with polenta, marsala sauce, roasted red pepper and wild mushrooms. He said the polenta was especially good. My son-in-law, Dale Sandstrom (DS), ordered butternut squash ravioli served in a nutmeg cream sauce ($14.25) and a salad ($2). Daughter Gail Hagerty (GH) ordered grilled salmon with a honey and mustard glaze and fried leeks ($19.50). So I said, “Likewise.” She studies food and knows what to order, so I often just ask for the same. And this was a marvelous dinner, served with asparagus and rosemary roasted potatoes. The fried leeks added another taste and crisp texture to the meal.
It was an excellent meal, preceded with warm focaccia bread in baskets and an accompanying spread of butter flavored with sun-dried tomatoes. With a meal such as that, none of us would have wanted appetizers. However, I couldn’t resist ordering a tiramisu dessert ($5.50) to celebrate the birthday of GH. Our waitress was most willing to bring extra plates and forks so that we could all taste it. And this is a specialty at Lola’s: delicate and sweet, but not too sweet. In a word, excellent.
Lola’s was a perfect choice for this kind of a dinner party. The place was almost crowded on a busy Saturday night, and that made for a festive feeling. Lola’s is slightly upscale, but still down-to-earth with its white paper tablecloths. The restaurant has appeal to a wide clientele. Owner Doug Noll says he is trying to make the restaurant affordable to college students, and caters to them with pizza and tap beer for $5 after 9:30 P.M. The restaurant also features pasta dishes in the $6 and $7 range early in the week. Students are an important part of the business, he says. Maybe 35 percent.
The staff at Lola’s seems to be well-trained. Noll says he holds regular sessions to keep waiters knowledgeable about the wines. He wants his servers to be accommodating and never say no to a customer. If they have special requests, he says, Lola’s will meet them.