Lolas Spanish Tapas Restaurant — Restaurant in Great Britain

This is difficult for me to write as I'm generally very positive when reviewing.

However, on this occasion I can't.

We ate here in August last year while away for the weekend and I haven't stopped raving about how good the food was since to family and friends.

So as a treat for my son's birthday, we booked for a party of 10 on Saturday 2 September at 6.30pm.  I did this online and received an email on 10 August stating they would get back to me to confirm my booking.  After a few days I hadn't heard back so I phoned them at 18:51 on 14 August using the number provided and spoke to someone, explaining that I hadn't heard back.  They searched in their enquiries and confirmed they had my booking and everything was fine.  I asked if there was anything more I needed to do and was told no we'll see you on the 2 September.

We travelled an hour and a half to go to the restaurant on Saturday 2 September to be told upon entering that they had no record of my booking.  I explained to the waiter that I had had this booking confirmed when I phoned and they contacted the owner for me to speak too.  He denied speaking to me and had the audacity to say that I must be mistaken and that they were fully booked and could not seat us.

Because the Bournemouth air show was on we were unable to get a booking anywhere else at such short notice and had to return home after an hour of searching other restaurants very disappointed and completely ruining my son's birthday.

Not even an apology...

We were visiting Bournemouth to celebrate our 11th Anniversary and so wanted to find a restaurant that was a bit different and not like all the chain restaurants to make it feel more special. The reviews were not wrong and so glad we chose Lolas!

A cosy restaurant but with great heart. The staff were extremely welcoming and very helpful in providing recommendations and explaining the menu options.

I have to follow a Gluten free diet and was very happy with the menu layout with clear symbols for the different allergens, and plenty of choices which was refreshing to be able to choose from an array of amazing dishes.

The food was just amazing (the Inferno Chorizo with its sauce is lush) and the service was quick and attentive.

We had 6 dishes between 2 which was probably the upper limit of what you'd want for 2 (just wanted to try so much) and a couple of puddings we shared (well and truly stuffed).

Thanks to the staff who made our anniversary that bit more special, it is always great to be able to just relax and enjoy food but when you have a great team of staff it is surprising how it can elevate the experience.

I would not hesitate to go here again the next time we are in Bournemouth, in fact I need to make an excuse now just to go...

Lola's is a family run and friendly Spanish restaurant specialising in tapas. Comparison with food served in mainland Spain is inevitable, but those comparison and prejudices should be left at the door. Lola's do their tapas dishes in their own style and some will be hit or miss. On our first visit in July 2021 we ordered a mixture of dishes including patas bravas, prawn pil-pil, grilled prawns, jamon croquettes, squid rings, and chocolate fondue which we greatly enjoyed. Highly recommended. Our second visit in June 2022 was just as good as the visit, highlights were the garlic prawns, patatas bravas and extra spicy pil-pil prawns. And the service was once again very friendly. Another visit to Lolas with the family in November 2024 and once again great tapas. The star being the garlic prawns. The most recent visit to Lolas was in July 2025 when my wife and I had sangria, pil-pil prawns, ham croquettes, squid rings, deep fried aubergines with honey, bread with alioli, and patatas bravas. Followed by creme catalan and Almond Tart for...