Lola's Grill and Pupu Bar

Some friends of friends took over the old Champions space and re-opened it as Lola's Pupu Bar and Grill.  Not only do we love to support our friends, but also we love to check out new places.  We were stoked to find out they had tater tot nachos on the menu.  TOTCHOS RULE!  Roman thought that tater tot nachos were just regular nachos with tater tots on them.  Imagine his surprise when they were brought to the table and he found out that the tater tots were the base of the dish.  Ah to be 21 one again where everything is new in the world.  

A few of us went straight from work to get some happy hour drinks and scope out some seats.  We sat at the bar and enjoyed $3 beers and well drinks until 6pm.  Having never been to Champions, I am not sure how much the place changed.  Lola's has a pool table, some dart boards, a stage, and a kick ass private karaoke room that rents for just $50 for 4 hours.  That is a seriously good deal and the room is super nice.  Once the gang started to arrive, we closed out our tabs to move to a table.  I noticed that I had been charged $5 per drink instead of the $3 on the happy hour menu at the bar. When I asked the ladies, they were unsure of the specials thinking maybe that the drinks were only for the late night happy hour.  New place means new employees learning new things so I did not get upset.  The bartender found out that indeed the drinks should have been $3 but the drinks were put on my tab after happy hour ended and so the prices were different in the computer.  She made up the difference to me with a free drink.  It was not very busy so we spread out over several booths and everyone ordered their very own totcho dish.  Our waitress kept our drinks filled and soon all the totcho orders came out.  Even though we ordered about 10 orders at the same time, they still came out pretty close to each other which was nice for all the starving nacho connoisseurs.  The waitress misheard one couple saying they wanted to share so an extra one was brought out.  This is way better than when someone is forgotten and they just have to stare at everyone else eating delicious nachos stomach grumbling while the kitchen makes the forgotten dish. 

In typical Grannysauraus style, she ordered a loco moco.  Granny is seriously the most picky person I know.  She patiently orders her food wherever we are, asking nicely to get it without onions or something simple like that.  But Grannysaurus is cursed when it comes to receiving her order how she likes it.  We even joked with the waitress about the curse and it still came out wrong with onions on it.  I couldn't help but laugh.  Poor Granny.  She did not make a fuss though.  She just sighed and then quietly removed the onions so she could enjoy her loco moco.  The curse lives on!

Nacho Friends!

Lola's Tater Tot Nachos - $5 during happy hour, $8 regular

Drooling over some loco moco as the boys wait for their totchos

Nacho Picaso (5) – PRESENTATION: Great presentation, it's just a pupu size but it looks great and you can see everything you want to devour. RAD: Tater tots!!! LAME: I want even more taters!  And a little more cheese. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 5, even on the last bite there were some toppings.  Friendly service, darts & pool, good beer on tap. 

Nacho Libra (4) – PRESENTATION: Small plate, good for one person, lots of real cheese! RAD: Real cheese!  Fresh tomatoes and lots of olives.  Sids of salsa are key! LAME: Would love salsa on the side.  EDIT:  The tables DID get salsa!  We missed it at the dart boards. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4, tater tots were nice and covered with toppings.  More side options would add flavor variety, but the real cheese and tater tots are delicious.  Love the option of karaoke, darts and pool!  Drinks always tasty.  Poke is fresh and delicious!

Northside Nachette (3) – PRESENTATION: Looks delicious, many toppings. RAD: Hot nachos!!  Tots were crispy. LAME: $8 for a tiny plate of nachos! TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 5, plenty of delicious toppings, no tot went without.  Waitress needs practice.

Dankster (3.5) – PRESENTATION: Looks scrumptious, nice portion for 1 person. RAD: Tater tots! LAME: Not enough cheese.  Cards held like bar tab for food.  TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3.  Service is slow.  They just opened.

Z (3.5) – PRESENTATION: Potato (a lot) tot mountain. RAD: olives + tot combo + salsa. LAME: More CHEESE! TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3, needs more toppings.

Tango Tango (2) – PRESENTATION: That's what you get for $8?  Where is the cheese? RAD: Aha!  Cheese is hidden under sour cream drizzle.  Tater tot quality was good. LAME: The wait.  I counted 4.5 jalapenos which is not very spicy.  Not that great.  Despite the tiny portion, I did not finish. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 2, not very creative or spicy.  Olives, sour cream cheese, tomato…in minuscule quantities.  It's kinda like ordering soggy tater tots (small order) with sour cream.  New place that was Champions.  Parking was easy.

One eyed Jack (4) – PRESENTATION: It looks delectable and delicious. RAD: It's tater tots and the bartender is hot and very nice. LAME: The first 20 minutes took forever to bring drinks. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4.

When in Roman (4 for originality overall, flavor was MEH) – PRESENTATION: Tots instead of chips?  YESSS. RAD: Again, tots.  LMAO.  It smells amazing.  So crisp! LAME: Needs more cheese. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3 on toppings.  The tots are amazing, but the toppings are sparse.  Lola's is cool.  The server was fast and nice.

Shananigans (3.5) – PRESENTATION: Small in size.  The $5 happy price looks worth it but the regular price of $8 is a bit much for the size. RAD: Tater tots are my favorite.  Jalapenos and olives are always a bonus.  Real cheese (although sparse). LAME: Small, not very much cheese.  Bland flavor, nothing unique to rave about. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3, basically a pile of tots with a handful of toppings.  Tots are cooked perfectly, nice and crunchy.  The tots are definitely delicious, but overall the dish is lacking.  I dig the atmosphere.  The booths are large and cozy.  Pool tables, darts, a stage for shows, and a swanky karaoke room you can rent for $50 for 4 hours.  I will definitely be back to check this place out again.  Happy hour is from 3-6pm and 9pm-12 with $5 pupus and $3 drinks. 

Nacho Nate (4) – PRESENTATION: Great presentation with bowl and plate good for showing.  Nice and neat while still being messy. RAD: Ingredients taste nice and fresh with good cheese and crisp taters. LAME: Needs a little more toppings but who doesn't ever want more tots!  Needs more spiciness. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3, salsa should be auto on top and not as an optional side.  Cool spot, nice servers, good happy hour. 

 

Nacho Granny (4) – PRESENTATION: $10.  Onions!  But awesome looking. RAD: Large portion and Tom Tindale helped me pluck onions. LAME: Picked onions off for a few minutes.  This is lame because I ordered it without.  Also there was a discussion about my bad luck with easy custom orders.  TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: Plenty gravy makes me happy.  Love the music. Now to play some darts.

It also happened to be Kiss A Ginger Day.  Any reason to give this lovely lady a smooch.