Lola's Chicken Shack — Restaurant in Alameda

TLDR: Lola's Chicken Shack is going downhill with their new owners. LOTS of red flags. The food is still ok, but the new owner is cheap and not friendly.

We've always been a fan of Lola's and used to eat there at least once a week. We've gotten catering orders for parties before and everyone loves it. However, we had a bad experience this past weekend:

I had ordered 100 little tenders - $165. In Raj's quote, he wrote $326. Ok fine, simple mistake... Upon delivery of my order, he forgot an entire large tray of Lola Mac. When I called him, he said it was my fault and that I had cancelled the item. If I wanted it, I'd have to pay more. I told him to look at his quote and receipt-- the Mac was on it... He then blamed the chef. I had asked him multiple times if we ordered too much, but he only told me to increase my order. We had so much left over. Mark, the old owner, used to be knowledgeable about quantities and would give me his honest opinion. This new owner only wants your money. With servingware, Raj gave me a pair of tongs for the Lola Mac (which makes no sense) and 1 set of spoons to share amongst the salads...no spoons or anything was provided for all the dressings. Cheap. The Caesar salad did not have any croutons on it. It was an entire tray of lettuce and some parmesan cheese. He said croutons are by request. I've never heard of such a thing and it does not say "croutons by request" anywhere on the menu. I called him to give my honest opinion (did not ask for a refund) so that I wouldn't have to write a review, but he got defensive, rude, told me to not talk to a "businessman" like this and hung up on me. Very mature businessman he is...way to take ownership and feedback from customers…Strike 3.

So here we are. Along with other recent reviews, Lola's seems to be trending downwards. Such a bummer that a good local family business that worked hard to build up their name went to the wrong ownership.

Pro Tip: If you're in San Rafael, there's a restaurant called Tender Tenders that has a similar menu and the chicken tastes similar to the OG...

My partner and I had the worst and most bizarre experience at Lola's, and I was treated extremely disrespectfully by the owner. On April 14th, my partner ordered chicken tenders, but all of them were burned. They were visibly burned, tasted burned, and had a rubbery texture. When my partner approached an employee to get new ones that weren't burnt, even the employee agreed they looked burnt, so she offered my partner new chicken tenders. The ones the employee brought out were still burnt, so my partner said she didn't want to try those. The employee kept telling her to, and at one point, touched the chicken tenders without gloves to show us the inside. The employee even tried the chicken tenders that she had brought out for my partner. The employee mentioned that the oil is supposed to be changed every day, but the oil that day was old because it hadn't been changed the night before. The employee told my partner and me to call the following day to get in touch with the owner, which is what I did. However, the owner had already left. When I called the next day, the owner had already left. An employee wrote down my name and number, and the owner called me. The phone call I had with the owner was beyond unprofessional and rude. She didn't listen to what I had to say, kept interrupting me, and didn't offer me an apology or a refund. She gaslighted me into thinking my partner and I didn't know what we were talking about. Then she wanted me to come in and talk about this, and I asked why it couldn't be settled over the phone, but she wouldn't give me an answer. I reluctantly agreed to and assumed it would be within the next few days, but no, she said the 25th. I asked around 12 PM, and she said no, but then said 1 PM. I agreed, but on the day I was supposed to go in, I got called in to work, and I sent her a test message. Instead of responding to me or calling me, she left me on read. This was highly upsetting because, years ago, I would go to Lola's frequently and had never had an...

Thank you Lola team for supporting the community and taking precautions to ensure everyone's safety.

If you're remotely close to Alemeda, want to go on a drive, adventure away from home - Lola's will be a good stop. They are pick up only, you can order online or in store, and wait times are fairly short.

We're big fans of fried chicken, and being it's now trending - we make it a point to find local gems. And Lola's is a gem! They have a good size menu, for our first time, we stuck to the 'basics' -

3 piece Tenders (classic) -

This is a signature blend of breading that is slightly seasoned and fried. Good crust on the tenders, and fried to golden brown. The chicken is well coated, leaving it moist inside. And 3 pieces is basically a full chicken breast. So it can be a meal. There are a number of dipping sauces you can get - 1 free, additional will cost ~ $0.40

Flamethrower Chicken (sandwich) -

Don't be thrown by the description, it sounds spicy, but it's THE BEST balance of spices. The chicken cools the flame sauce, the fresh jalapenos add a crunch and freshness, with the onions, and the bread is perfect! Everything is wrapped so well in the roll, all the flavors soak up in the bread which cools it all down.

Onion Rings -

This is what (kind of) lost us. Freshly fried, gave this a very 'fast foody' smell. And made the rings really 'heavy'. Taking a bite of the best sandwich gets drowned by a bite of the rings (oiliness). Coated the tongue and throat, so it was a bit hard to eat, and finish for that matter.

Overall, we're definitely coming back and Lola's has given us a reason to hang around Alameda....