Lola's Waterfront Cocina Latina — Restaurant in Hopatcong

Dear Management/Owner of Lola’s Restaurant,

I am writing to express my complete disappointment with the service my table received during our recent visit. Unfortunately, the experience was far below the standard I expected, and I feel it is important to share the details so that they may be addressed.

From the very beginning, the service from our assigned waiter was unpleasant. The moment he approached the table, we felt an attitude from him—especially after we asked about happy hour and to speak to a manager for clarification. His demeanor throughout the entire meal was consistently unwelcoming. At no point during our visit did we hear a “thank you” or any words of appreciation from him. His only interactions with us involved taking our drink and food orders, without politeness, warmth, or professionalism.

When I ordered a Coke, I was served one from the tap without being informed there were two options available (bottle or tap). While this may seem small, the lack of communication and his overall attitude made me feel it wasn’t worth addressing with him. The truth is, he was rarely present at the table. I only saw him passing by to drop off food or take an order, each time with the same expressionless, dismissive attitude.

From my perspective, I believe we may have been treated differently because we are Latino, as the majority of guests that day were white. I cannot say for certain, but his demeanor toward us felt prejudiced. We were also a large table, and instead of seeing that as an opportunity for great service and gratuity, he seemed inconvenienced by us.

The only truly positive service we received came from the food runners and busboys, who were exceptionally kind, polite, and attentive. They brought napkins, asked how the food was, and checked in on us—things our waiter never did.

Adding to the disappointment, we were charged a $90 gratuity, which I feel was undeserved by our waiter. I would have much preferred to give that amount directly to the food runners and busboys who actually provided good service.

After we left, someone from our table mentioned overhearing the waiter whispering to the manager—possibly making negative remarks about our table—simply because we were splitting our bill the traditional way. This is unprofessional and none of his business.

We chose Lola’s after a 6-hour drive back from Buffalo, NY, passing many other restaurants to dine at yours. It is unfortunate that we were met with such poor treatment. This is not meant to attack but rather to give constructive feedback. I strongly believe this waiter could benefit from proper customer service training—perhaps even learning from the outstanding attitudes of your food runners and busboys.

I would appreciate being contacted by management or ownership regarding this matter. I am not comfortable publicly naming the waiter at this...

Terrible experience, do Not recommend. It's valet and parking, even with valet, is not sufficient for capacity of restaurant. They told my niece, who was joining our table and whose food was on the table to drive away and come back later. The menu is a digital screen and it was filthy..sticky, definitely not cleaned. We were trying to go through the menu options and they said burgers were unavailable even though it was a menu 'option'. I asked the waiter for the specials and he listed the specials that expired 2 hours earlier AND didn't even bring out what we ordered. The meal was over priced for what you get. Great view by the water, yes, but watered down salsa with chips and a meal with no sides or substance is not worth the price tag. Forget trying to get change. I asked the waiter for singles and he brought me back larger bills. I asked the hostess for change and she told me I could get it at the bar. I went in to the bar for change and the c**t gave me an attitude and told me she couldn't give me change for valet. I had to get 'change' from valet, and instead of the guy giving me singles and letting me choose what I wanted to tip them, he was trying to barter his tip with me. Very unprofessional. They used my e-brake which is broken and doesn't release and now I have to go to a mechanic and have it fixed. My niece got sick and was in the bathroom as soon as we got home from eating there. They have a nice location with inadequate parking, but service was HORRIBLE! Terrible experience in every regard and my niece got sick from her meal. Also, not for nothing, but they do speak English in both Texas and Mexico, so not sure why no one that was helping us could speak English. I guess it makes it easier to provide horrific service and dining experience and not care about...

I was having some friends over and made a reservation for 6 at 7pm on a Saturday night in June. In the notes of the reservation I politely requested a lake view. When we arrived the first thing we noticed was the staggeringly steep driveway/cliff to the parking lot. There were numerous staff helping guide cars to the valet parking. We got to the restaurant 30 minutes early so we let them know we arrived and took some pictures down by the lake. Our table was ready on time on the second floor inside. Unfortunately I feel like we got one of the worst tables in the restaurant in front of the kitchen. I was literally sitting with my back to the lake and watching people in the kitchen. So it wasn’t a great start to begin with and then it was LOUD. I found the inside environment extremely overstimulating. I personally was not a fan of the live singer walking around the restaurant shoving his mic and phone in your face expecting a tip. Everytime he was near us I honestly just tried to avoid eye contact so he wouldn’t come over. When we kindly told the staff how we were unhappy with the table, they said they would check for us but ultimately could not move us. The food and drinks were good. However they did forget to bring out one of the side dishes and then left it on the bill which I had to ask them to correct. Shoutout to the parking staff RUNNING up and down the cliff driveways. Also shoutout to the staff who jumped into action when another customer started choking and was ready to start the Heimlich maneuver. Clearly this was an extremely busy time for the restaurant and everyone was trying their best. Overall, it seems like a nice place with a great staff and service with managers present and I just had a negative experience. I look forward to going again with my boyfriend during a...