Lola's Filipino Cafe & Mini Store — Restaurant in Florida

Friendliness of staff was great, but the food was not good at all for me. I've eaten a lot of Filipino food and have even been to the Philippines and have never had potato in my lumpia (nor am I used to it being the size of an eggroll). If I wanted big noodles in my pansit I would've ordered lo mein at a chinese restaraunt. I prefer glass noodles only. The flavor was ok. The pork adobo tasted more like chicken adobo and was too salty for my taste. I ordered one meat and one side and was charged for 2 meats and 2 sides. I didn't realize it until I looked at my receipt in the car, so be sure to double check the pricing. I didn't make a big deal about it because they're a new business and I like to support. Lastly I ordered a pack of the siopao and hopefully it is good because I wouldn't come back to the subpar food that I tasted this time around. Not a good first impression. The staff made this a 3 star experience but the food received no stars.

IN RESPONSE TO THE OWNER'S RESPONSE: Let me address a few things for the 'owner'.... To start....you were NOT "sorry for the way that I felt" or your response in its entirety would have been a bit more considerate. You were offended at my honest review and instead of genuinely inviting me back to try your cuisine again you insulted my taste buds by calling them "finicky".....VERY unprofessional and unwelcoming.

My receipt shows that I was charged for 2 meats and 2 sides. Your combo meals show 1meat 1side and 1meat 2sides. I didn't see a combo for 2meats 2sides so you can understand my confusion about the charge and that's why I suggested to others for them just to double check the pricing. If I wanted to I would've come back inside to have it corrected. I have no problems doing that. And I'm sure you all would've obliged. I will state again that my reason for not coming back about the charge was to support the business.

Lastly, it is VERY fair for customers to give authentic and honest reviews/feedback of their experience whether favorable or not. It may not be what you want to hear, but it is up to the business owner to embrace that feedback should they choose to, address anything that can be factually corrected, and make the customer feel as if that feedback is immensely valuable. This is especially true in the case of a brand new business.

I appreciate your offer to return. But will respectfully decline in lieu of my "finicky" taste...

The owner and her husband are very friendly people. Drove out of my way for lunch to try it out heard great things. The food was mediocre at best. I got the pancit and chicken adobo two of my absolute favorites. The pancit wasn’t very flavorful and didn’t have enough vegetables in it. The chicken adobo was ok but again the flavor wasn’t pronounced. I put it in the fridge at work thinking I’d eat it the next day but I didn’t want it. I ended up throwing it away. I’ve had much better Filipino food locally. I feel the hot buffet is a downfall and everything should be cooked to order not just sitting in a hot well. I gave 2 stars because they were extremely nice and appreciative of our patronage. The food could use some help. I’ve never had pancit that was mostly noodles and hardly any veggies. I was definitely missing the snow peas and cabbage. The carrots would’ve been better if they were thicker cut and not so thin. The lumpia was different than what I’m used to. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. If you want my honest opinion on this review. I probably wouldn’t order food from here again. There’s better Filipino cafes in OP and Jax...

As a Filipino, we were looking forward to trying another find. The chicken adobo wasn't good, neither was the BBQ sticks. We ordered 2 and they were dry and charred and burnt to a crisp. The beef plate was also overcooked and dry as toast. Inedible for both of us on both meats. The redeeming factor for 1 star was good beef lumpia & pancid. Her service was also rude, as I have always had to carry a certain spring water for my wife and her health, and she would not allow us to eat there with a Bottled Water. We had to buy her water. Though I would I purchased one for me, but my wife can only have this kind. She refused us over a bottle of water. This has never, ever happened in years of eating fine dining and hole in the wall family owned, big chain restaurants, etc. They've always allowed her to bring her spring water. We were kicked out for this. We'll never return. And there's much better Filipino restaurants in Jacksonville all over, as we are blessed to find so...