Streetfare By Lola

If you remember Lola’s on Broad Street, you might think they just moved to this location, but as the guy at the counter pointed out, Streetfare bought this business from Lola, and that the true name for this establishment is simply Streetfare.
It takes some doing to find this Piada-​esque joint, particularly if you are looking for it under the Lola name, and when you do make it to the dimly lit food court tucked away in the Fifth/​Third lobby, you may find it difficult to believe this unassuming kiosk is generating all this downtown hubbub. Well, believe it.
As the only vendor in the food court, it’s remarkable how simple the menu is. They offer torpedo sandwiches, wraps, pasta salads, quesadillas chips, and a modest selection of drinks. Everything fits on a small chalkboard. It’s also remarkable how affordable the prices are (my veggie quesadilla was enormous and cost a mere $ 6), and I can assure you the staff of Fifth Third are all drooling Streetfare junkies.
If I have any misgivings, and I’m reaching here, is that it would be nice if they had a second person on staff during lunch hour. As cool as our guy was, he could only move the line along so fast. It was a few more minutes to wait, but you know what? I’ll survive.
Now that I know how to find this place, I will most certainly be back. And so should you.

A friend suggested we go to this place for lunch and I’d never heard of it. It’s located in the lobby of the ⁵⁄₃ building, across from the lobby entrance to ⁵⁄₃ Bank. It’s similar to a Piada or Chipotle in that you build your lunch for one flat price. I got a green salad and was really impressed with it — it filled a standard take-​out container and he was generous with the toppings. All of the toppings and dressings are housemade except for the canned artichoke hearts. The Spicy Thai Peanut dressing was amazing. The subs are from a local bakery and my friend said hers was really good. We got there around noon and during that time there was never a line of more than 2 people and there was plenty of seating available, so apparently people just don’t know about this place. I don’t dine out a lot during lunch, but this will be where I go from now on.

I had seen the adverts for this new restaurant for a few months and finally decided to give it a go. I wasn’t disappointed in the least. The menu is simple yet diverse and plentiful. You choose your style of entrée, i.e. torpedo (slim hoagie-​ish sandwich), noodles, salad, or wrap, choose your meat (if any), then cheese and a plethora of toppings from traditional lettuce and tomato to the more esoteric like tzatziki and sauteed artichokes (YUM!).
I went with a steak tortilla flat (think steak quesadilla here) with salsa, cheese, grilled onions and mushrooms, and sauteed artichokes with sides of fresh salsa and sour cream. It was HUGE for the price you pay. (Keep in mind, here, that I’m a woman who does not eat as much as say a man or someone with a larger appetite may eat). However, the tortilla was at least a good foot in length and roughly 6 inches at its widest. They do grill the tortilla on a foreman-​like panini press, and it was truly delicious and toasty warm.
As mentioned in the first review, some of the toppings are a bit «drippy,» but I will attribute this to them being prepared on site with fresh ingredients, which do tend to produce juices.
Overall, I give this little place a thorough commendation for taste, style, choices, and general speediness.
On a last note, they have indeed updated the credit card to an electronic reader.
So, come one, come all, and enjoy streetfare without having to really deal with the mercurial elements of nature in a convenient downtown location!

Lola comes across the Square for this Chipotle-​style kiosk offshoot. What’s even better, it decided to make it’s home in my building just as the weather is turning frosty! It’s inside the lobby at the Fifth Third building (the retail part), so it may be difficult to find if you’re specifically driving downtown to patronize this new lunch spot. Check out the write-​up on
, ‘Streetfare Opens Downtown on Wednesday,’ for neat background info on the owners, Kevin and Lori Ames. This is the same couple who brought you Lola (obvy) and Burgers, Dogs, and Fries.
The concept is simple, effective, and familiar: choose your item (green salad, noodle salad, torpedo, tortilla flat… and there may be some others), choose your protein, and then choose toppings and condiments. I chose the ‘torpedo’ and was expecting something a little more slim, crusty, and European… But it was more like a traditional hoagie roll. No problem, the bread was pillowy and flavorful. I had the italian beef for the innards, with various fresh and pre-​prepped toppings. The fillings and toppings seemed to contain a lot of liquid and has the potential to make your sandwich or wrap soggy, but i ate mine before this potential was realized. This place can accommodate whatever dietary phase you want to be in… Salads for January resolutions and noodley goodness for those comfort food days.
As with any new business, there are a few aspects that will likely be improved as the location begins to settle into it’s new digs. First, upon approaching the counter, it is difficult to know where to stand to place an order. Then, the choices can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you were in e midst of a lunch rush. A short list of pre-​designed offerings could go a long way for customers who don’t really feel like thinking about lunch. The Ameses have done this with the BDF stores, so it seems like a probable evolution. Lastly, they have an old school credit card impression thingie… so your cc purchases might take awhile to process. Can’t they get one of those Square doodads for an iPhone or something? I’d imagine the more traditional card reader is on it’s way.