Lola Gaspar

Went last night 2÷16÷2016.
Service was great, the waitress who had a piercing in her nose was very talkative and friendly. She recommended some dishes for us as well.
It just so happened to be Taco Tuesday (win) so the Al Pastor tacos were $ 1.00 dollar each. The thing I really liked was that the meat was sliced al pastor like the ones you get at Tacos el Gordo, not the grinded, shredded type. I ate about 4 of these.
Chili Cheese Fries — really good flavors here, I liked the chili. ⁴⁄₅.
Bacon Wrapped Dates — this is like my 2^nd time trying this at 2 different restaurants. I came to the realization that I dont really like dates or too much blue cheese, love bacon though.
I want to come back here soon and try the fried chicken, and a couple other things I saw on the menu. Happy hour is everyday 4 – 6 I believe with $ 3 draft beers /​$ 3 well drinks /​$ 4 sangrias I believe. Im coming back here for Happy Hour on a Taco Tuesday!

So amazing! Came here with a friend on Valentine’s day and we were blown away. Everything we had was so good. I am craving the mushroom tacos and the white prawn tacos.
We started with the chips and guacamole as well as the bacon wrapped dates. I am not a blue cheese fan but the bacon wrapped dates made the blue cheese totally worth it.
Can’t wait to go back. The location is so adorable

My classmates and I came here for happy hour, which is 5−7pm, Monday through Thursday. We had the bacon wrapped dates (stuffed with bleu cheese!), the carnitas tacos and the short rib tacos. The short rib tacos 2 tacos for $ 5 is such a steal, especially at a restaurant with quality ingredients,
excellent service, a nice ambiance, and delicious food. You can see that a lot of care goes into each plate. I will definitely be coming back here to try the shrimp tacos, dinner, and the cocktails.

Really, really good. We tried the avocado tacos, mushroom tacos and the white prawn tacos. All of them were phenomenal. I’m a huge taco lover and this place blew me away. It’s definitely tapa sized so keep that in mind when you’re ordering; they come with two tacos per order and are street size.
The happy hour is awesome! 5−7pm Monday through Friday, they offer all tacos at half off which made our bill come out to about $ 20 lol. We also tried the grilled Caesar salad but that was a huge let down, it was basically 4 – 5 strips of romaine lettuce that was smokey, nothing else really going on.
Overall, I’m so happy I tried this place and I’ll definitely come back over and over again.

I had the crispy chicken relleno here and it was good. It was more visually appealing than tasting good, but it was still a decent dish. The other items my friends ordered tasted great though, and I especially enjoyed the charred octopus one of them had.
The atmosphere is rather nice, and it was just a nice spot to eat food and enjoy drinks. The sangria was okay though, it wasn’t really all that good and I felt it was a little pricey for sangria.

Excellent.
Do not miss out on the Cod. The coconut broth sent me to heaven and back down to chow down some more. Service was great, food was outstanding and the overall vibe makes for a over the top dinner. I will be back!

I made a reservation and specified that it was my wife’s birthday. They stuck us in a tiny corner ledge facing a wall. The host didn’t even bother to accommodate us after I asked him the first time. We ended up leaving. I’m just rating it based on costumer service.
We walked over to the next door restaurant Kutsi and had great service, head chef greeted his costumers, and served excellent food.

I have told people that this might be my favorite restaurant in Orange County.
After my visit last night, I need to point out some gripes:
The food was on point — it always is, and that’s why I come and that’s why I tell people to come. But two things did not sit well with me:
Service was slow/​not great (not quite «bad»). Our waiter was friendly, but after all our food came out, he disappeared. I had to get extra plates, twice, from the busboy, new set of silverware from the busboy, and the busboy also put in our order for the second round of drinks. I wanted to tip the busboy instead. I hope he gets a cut.
I made a reservation via opentable. Upon arrival, they either did not have it or did not have a booth, which I had specifically requested. Of course, it is a request, but the restaurant was near empty, except the booths, which were taken. The right thing to do was to seat those patrons at the counters or bars, assuming they did not all have a reservation with a specific request for a booth. At least something opened up after a few minutes of us sitting at the bar.

I came here with coworkers one day, when they had queso with chorizo and fell in love. Since then, I haven’t seen it on their menu. I still come here for happy hour with my coworkers and with different groups of girlfriends. I’ve been here at least 4 times now.
If we get the long tables outside, it’s perfect. The food — guacamole, bacon-​wrapped dates, sangria, tacos — are picture perfect and absolutely solid choices. I’ve had their salad too at happy hour but it’s a tad small and plain. However, the space is relatively cozy and the high tables are too small for any amount of food.

I was looking for some tapas tonight and decided to check out this place. The food is delicious, the right portions, and we were seated right away. Will be back soon!

This place is a must visit whenever I’m in DTSA. The bacon wrapped dates are to die for. I’ve even ordered two orders to go and had that for dinner solo — they’re that good.
Service can be a little iffy, but expect that going in and chill and enjoy the vibe.

Best drinks and food in Santa Ana. The Mezcal cocktails are pure sex. Tacos are fantastic. Best octopus dish I’ve had.
There’s a great painting that looks like a gothic Paris Hilton (giant feet and everything).
As a bonus, there’s a bartender there with a really cute butt. You’ll know who I’m talking about.

i love lolas, one of the best tapas places in oc! every item i got was on point! parking might be a bit of a pain cus there is no designated parking lot, but their food makes up for it! they have metered parking as well. lola’s has two seatings: inside and outside. inside can be dark. i personally like sitting outside cus that area is super nice, kinda like a courtyard. and once it gets dark, they have lights around it. really pretty. good place to take your date i think ;) since this is a tapas, it is ideal to come with a good group of 3 – 4 so you can try more of their food! they only thing is that since this is tapas, theyre menu constantly changes, except for crowd favorites.
CHIPS & GUAC — seems nothing special, but i really liked this dish as my starter. chips were really fresh, not too oily. seems like they just made it cus it was still hot. the guac was really good as well. just enough salt/​lime/​onions/​peppers!
BEEF CHEEK TACOS — omgosh, this was such a surprise. ive never had beef cheeks before, and it was SO tender and soft at the same time. it just disappeared in my mouth lol. and it was marinated perfectly. so much flavor. came with 4 pieces.
BACON WRAPPED DATES — i wanted to like this dish, but i personally dont enjoy blue cheese. so when i read the description, i was hesitant. however, since it is crowd’s favorite, i decided to give it a try (and my friend likes blue cheese so she could eat it). after taking one bite, i was most certain i was not a fun of blue cheese lol. blue cheese smell/​taste is really strong.
CHILE RELLENO (no picture) — this dish was super delicious too. when i opened up the chili, stuffing/​rice insde was still very hot and it had just enough kick to it. this is rather a bigger dish so remember when you are ordering!
QUESADILLA — forget which protein i got with this, i think it was the rib eye one. but it was so good. again, the meat was soo tender! and they packed it in with avocado. comes with hot sauce and it gave us a good kick.
CHORIZO FLATBREAD — amazing dish. bread had just amount of crisp to it and comes with a lot of toppings as well. each slice was packed with so much flavor and ingredients. loved it.

I love this place! We’ve been coming here for years.
Ambiance: Very nice outside, very LOUD on the inside. Depending on your mood, choose patio or interior. I’d def recommend dates to be outside; their patio has a cozy romantic feel with the view of a fountain. The interior is decorated in a dark, Gothic feel-​very cool!
Service: Fast and friendly
Food (I’d recommend)
–Bacon wrapped dates
–Carnitas tacos
–Al Pastor tacos
–Chicken Renello
–Octopus
–Prawn tacos
–Barbacoa Rolled tacos
Drinks:
–Sangria
Tips:
–Happy hour weekdays from 5−7PM! Tacos are $ 5!!!
–Parking on 3^rd is a short walk away
–The sign is barely visible, just look for the restaurant nearest to the big fountain!
–Stop by Gypsy Den for a coffee and embrace their awesome interior after dinner!

Always evolving and never disappointing, Lola is my go to place to unwind after a long day in the office. At the beginning I was always worried whether or not the changing menu would be a negative for me. I mean, how many different dishes can you come up with before you start producing mediocre entrees? In my experience, the food keeps getting better and better.
From Bacon Wrapped Dates, Beef Short Rib Banh Mi, Chorizo Flat Bread, Boar Mac & Cheese, Crispy Chicken Relleno, Sous Vide Skirt Steak, Coconut Black Cod, and Quinoa Vegetable Enchiladas. Lola knocks it out of the park each time. Never getting old and stale, the new menu changes keep me coming back. If you come hungry, you’ll leave happy. Confused on what to get? Ask your server and they’ll steer you in the right direction.
Inviting, attentive, personal, and down right awesome, the service here never disappoints. We always sit outside with the same server, Blonde Female, and she’s hilarious. The bartenders are a hit and miss. We ordered Black Label neat twice… both came with an ice cube.
And how can I forget their Sangria. Oh wonderful elixir… perfectly balanced. Not too sweet and not too bitter. You’ll always catch me with a carafe by my side.
Small complaint would be the noise level. Some times nice, mellow, and quiet. Other times the music is way too loud. Almost club level loud.
My advice is to always put a reservation in. No mater how small your party is. At times it may be empty and other times they may be filled to capacity.

We came here with 9pm reservations on a Friday night and I asked to be seated in the patio, which is really cute with lights hung up on the plants.
We were a party of 4 people and all checked in for the «surprise», which was a Polaroid picture of the group and a free dessert (panna cotta). I really like this unique check-​in offer! But the panna cotta was so small, I wish we had received two since all 4 of us checked in and committed to not using our phones the entire meal! I was yearning to snap more pictures of the food to share on Unilocal.
The food was really good:
— bacon wrapped dates with blue cheese
— jamon iberco with bread, tomatoes, and manchego
— seafood salad (tuna, yellowtail and avocado over cucumber noodles)
— bacon cheeseburger with fries
— shrimp and chorizo tacos
— crispy chicken relleno
— grilled octopus with sausage
— panna cotta
I really enjoyed everything except the iberco ham, which is just prosciutto, and the crispy chicken relleno. The crispy skin was corn flower and was too grainy. I really liked the seafood salad, but it was so tiny. The bacon cheeseburger wasn’t the best I’ve had, but the fries that came with this are amazing! I’d order the fries on its own if it’s possible!

This place is very small like many of the restaurants in downtown Santa Ana. I do enjoy the interior design, which is an eerie gothic feel inside. There was a very creepy portrait of a girl on the wall and on the menu which was rather freaky!
We came on a weekday and their happy hour was 5 – 6 on tacos, sangria, pints and a few things. Chapter One had happy hour til 7. Only if we knew at the time :| But I am happy to have tried this place because I would have gotten the Barbacoa rolled tacos anyway! I loved the pulled pork with the hard shell crispy taco!
I don’t recommend the salad here, extremely small portion and drenched in dressing.
My friends got skirt steak dish which she claimed to have tasted like curry.
This place is pretty hard to find, just look for the fountain and a big bush.

Lola in Tagalog (Philippine dialect) means Grandmother. This is not your Grandma’s food.
Located in DTSA (Downtown Santa Ana), it was my first time in DTSA and it won’t be my last. I liked the atmosphere of this area. My kind of place.
When I was a kid, we always had Sunday lunch /​dinner at my Lola’s house. So why not come to this Lola for dinner with the family? I didn’t realize it was a bar setting, oops my bad.
Here’s the rundown:
Bacon Wrapped Dates — WOW! There was blue cheese inside these lovely morsels and they made these so GOOD! This is a must get dish here.
Fresh Guacamole w/​Chips and House Salsas — The tortilla chips were fresh and we got a second helping of it was well. Yum. The guacamole was very good. The two salsas were also very good.
Barbacoa Short Rib Rolled Tacos — this was just okay. Te meat was tender, but it was lacking in flavor. Pass on this one.
Smoked Conchinita Pibil — Delicious! The pork was very tender and super flavorful. The rice and beans that accompanied this dish were great in complimenting the smoky pork. The added bonus was the fried banana YUM. A really good dish. Get this one.
Cheeseburger (kids meal) — a great bargain, $ 5 got you a nice sized burger (fully cooked through, yes!!) some fries and a couple of strips of bacon on the side. Wow, it was very tasty. I might try their burger next time for myself. It’s really good.
Tip: don’t bring the kids here. It’s a bar atmosphere and it’s loud! So loud we tried to go outside, but they smoke outside, driving us back inside. Lol. My error in bringing my son here. Good thing we always have ear plugs for him. I didn’t take any stars away for it.
Parking was free on the metered street parking on Sunday’s. YES!
Service was excellent. One of our dish took a long time to come out, but the waitress communicated the issue with us. I like that. Instead of wondering what happened to that dish, we knew why it was late coming out before we even noticed it.
My Lola was a great cook, Lola Gaspar definitely knows how to cook as well.
2015 Review #88

Yummmm! This place is as delicious as I remembered it a few years ago. The menu has had a pretty big makeover since then but I have no complaints! Their happy hour has some drinks and tacos for $ 3 on weekdays from 5−6pm. Luckily, I got the Sangria to try before the cutoff time and the white prawn tacos after.
Soooo good! I will definitely try one of their cocktails the next time I’m here as they all sound pretty yummy and unique. Service is friendly and quick, so that’s a big plus. I’d recommend getting a seat on the outside where there’s a small patio since this restaurant is tucked right in this area without any cars driving by, Not only do you get a nice breeze but you won’t be distracted or interrupted by outside commotion. Not to mention, it’s simple and nicely decorated! :)

Love Lola… If ever we are in the DTSA area this is my go-​to Tapas spot. Ambiance is great. Food is great. Vibe is on point. Good drinks, good food & good company and you’re set. Call it a date night, or a night out with your girlfriends… Lola will not disappoint you. Lowdown listed below:
Shrimp Tacos: a must try! Really enjoyed these.
Rolled Tacos: crunchy goodness
Bacon wrapped dates: BACON wrapped dates, ’nuff said
Cheeseburger: definitely share! Quality burger
Cod: it was just ok after trying all the other items listed above
The other taco we shared but can’t remember after the awesome bartender gave us «on the house» Bear f?$&er drink!
Drinks are always on point, unique & strong! Looking for Tapas? Look for Lola.

Pero Bueno… espectacular. vale! ;-D