Lola's Cafe — Restaurant in Omaha

I've been here a few times now. My original review plus follow up are below. The menu feels smaller than it a when we first started going. I've had some great bakery items and some mediocre. It's really a guess as to what's going to great, but if you hit the right one it's a great reward.

The pumpkin loaf was fantastic. 5 stars The citrus cake flavor was good but our slice was dry. 3.5 stars The frittata was very good. 5 stars. Good sized portion and the salad was nice on the side.

Update: Returned today. Had the toastie again, same result. Saw someone else post about it raving about it and was wondering if maybe I was missing something, but it remains a 4 (which is still good but just wasn't where I thought it was going to go and my previous review remains correct from my point of view)

The farro salad I give a 5 star. It was nice, light and something I don't see often. I could have this all the time.

Their yogurt parfait i give a 4.5 star. Very solid offering. Everything is balanced. The portion is small, but it's a delicious light option.

Below is the recipe from the first visit

A beautiful bright and airy restaurant to have brunch at, though they also serve dinner which we need to try next.

Chai 4 stars - you must really love Cinnamon. We felt like it was a bit overly poured on but you can probably ask for less in the future if you think its too much of a garnish.

Toastie 4 stars It's their breakfast sandwich, I loved all the different components I just felt it wasn't balanced for bread to filling ratio.

Blueberry sourdough pancakes 3.75 stars They were decent but for myself, I just didn't prefer the sourdough part of it. If you like sour pancakes though this might be for you.

Eggs polenta 5 star I really enjoyed the flavor combination on this dish. It's not a very filling dish, but for myself it's the perfect portions since I don't eat that much. If you're a bigger eater you might need something else to go with it.

They have different baked goods. You can go up to the counter and it's around the corner on your right. Lots of cafes have water that you go up and get yourself.... here they will bring you a carafe to your table.

Parking is available in the back, they have doors from the back to go into the restaurant, but one of the side doors is...

For the record, I am too lazy to write reviews, even when I have a less than stellar experience, so please keep that in mind! I love finding cute coffee shops around Omaha, and this used to be one of my favorite places to study. However, the past couple of experiences haven't been great. Most of the staff were very rude and pretentious, with the exception of one hostess who was friendly. I learned the hard way they have a no-screen policy on weekends (in order to cultivate a "fine-dining" experience), but there was no signage to indicate that. The no-screen policy is odd considering that a large portion of their demographic (from what I've seen) is graduate students and young adults, like myself. I understand if they made changes to their policy, but they should have been explicit with their signage and kindly updated me on the policy because I clearly had no idea. As I was about to sit down, I couldn't even get a word in before a staff member abrasively informed me of the no-laptop rule. I don't know if it was because of how I was dressed (in comfy athletic clothing) or the fact that I was carrying a backpack (or both), but I felt an immediate sense of judgement (and received a few stony glares) from most of the staff upon walking in the door. I have worked in the restaurant industry and understand how difficult it can be, so I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. I have never felt so unwelcome in a restaurant or cafe before today. I'm so disappointed because I used to love coming here, but I felt like they wanted to rush me out because I didn't belong. Maybe next time I'll wear a Chanel number and I'll be treated differently!

Update: I’ve visited twice since October 2022 for business meetings (not my own choice) in faux-luxury clothing (from Tj Maxx, I might add). I noticed a completely different vibe in the way I was treated. They looked at me like I actually mattered. Although I didn’t like how the cashier automatically pressed the 25% tip button when I ordered my food. This supports the fact that this restaurant only views people who have money (or who can cosplay as a rich person)...

When we were considering moving to Omaha my husband and I were taken to Lolas one morning for breakfast. I had the Toastie, citrus cake and a hot chocolate. My husband had the eggs polenta. We have since tried most items on the menu and really enjoyed the Toastie and the baked goods.

The first time we came we were greeted at the front and sat quickly. The server was cheery and happy to help us.

Unfortunately each time we have gone back after the service and attitude in the air has progressively gone down.

The last time we tried to go for breakfast was the last chance. It was a Sunday morning at 10:41am when we walked in the door. We walked up to the desk and waited for almost an entire minute for the receptionist who was standing over by the counter to notice us. She walked over and asked if we had a reservation. I said "no we do not, it would not let me pick one this early" she responded with "well I am sorry then we cannot sit you as we have these tables reserved for our 12pm reservations. I took a look around and counted 11 open tables, and there were only two of us. We just wanted a toastie and citrus cake and would have been gone in 45 minutes....plenty of time before the 12pm reservations.

The other 3 times when they would actually seat us the service was terrible. We didn't get one refill of water, we had to go find the server to get the card run as she stopped going to our table.

Overall, good food options....