Lola Ceviche & Peruvian Tapas — Restaurant in Pineville

My husband and I were really excited to find a local Peruvian restaurant in Charlotte because we are originally from south Florida and the Peruvian cuisine is top notch down there, but Lola was quite disappointing. Upon first glance, the restaurant has wonderful curb appeal, with soft lighting and thoughtful decor. However, we first ordered a few appetizers and were told after about 15 minutes that they had run out of some items. The first appetizer we received were baked scallops which were overcooked and dry. I will say the presentation of the baked scallops was very nice, but the most important part, the food, was subpar at best. We then received our two different types of ceviche - Mahi and Shrimp. The fish in the Mahi ceviche was soft and tender, but the lime juice it sat in tasted like it was from lime juice out of a bottle instead of fresh squeezed - very bitter and rancid. The same went for the juice in the shrimp, but the shrimp were so hard and over cooked that a fork could hardly go through them. We then awaited our main courses in hopes they would redeem the appetizers. Our main courses took over 1 hour to come out to us. The waitress did apologize several times noting there was only one chef in the kitchen. After a long wait, my husband’s main dish came out - only. A grilled salmon with vegetables and risotto. We decided to split his meal since mine was no where in sight. The salmon and vegetables had great flavor, but were very over cooked. The risotto it came with was atrocious. It was very hard and undercooked. We did advise the waitress and she stated that since it was risotto it was supposed to be hard, but we all know risotto is much softer than rice. She did offer to remake it, but given the time we had already spent waiting we told her not to worry about it. Another 20 minutes went by and the waitress came back to our table stating they were going to bring us a free appetizer for the long wait. They brought us some fried yuca cheese balls. The appetizer was not bad, but it was not something we would have ever ordered, as we typically do not order fried foods when we go out. After the long wait, my main dish came out, the dish had wonderful presentation. I ordered a grilled Mahi in a cream sauce with shrimp, calamari and scallops. My husband and I took a bite of the fish and immediately recognized that it has been deep fried and breaded rather than grilled as the menu stated - which was a huge disappointment. The shrimp and other seafood in the cream sauce were, once again, over cooked and hard just like the ceviche. The white rice the meal came was another set back - undercooked hard granules. After all this, the waitress decided to bring us some fried tempura with balsamic glaze to substitute the hard risotto from the salmon we had received. Overall, the food experience was awful. The only star I could give in this review is solely towards our waitress and the manager that was working because they tried to apologize for the kitchen’s performance several times. If you’re coming to Lola in hopes of great Peruvian food, this is not the place. You’re much better off spending the extra...

I hope this review provides adequate constructive criticism.

It's clear the owner has talent, and is at heart, an artist. We found the food to be good and the decor lovely, but at almost every step of our experience here, we felt there were "red flags" that need to be addressed. I'm by no means a good writer so I'll just go by each thing we noticed:

the food was pretty good. It's clear the owner uses good ingredients and the plating was great. Unfortunately, the value proposition here does not exist. Far too expensive for both quality and quantity. I know inflation is tough but ceviche is a low labor food, and other dishes are essentially stews with rice. Again, low levels of labor. We're next to harbor freight in pineville, not fine dining in uptown charlotte. I'm going to make an assumption, and if wrong I will stand corrected, but it seems like the fish on the ceviche is tilapia. Tilapia is arguably the cheapest fish available and factually the most toxic farmed food in the United States. You should switch what you use if this is the case. My ceviche was tasty but for $21, I was starving after my meal. We got the aji chicken stew with rice, which was $17 for a small plate. It had MAYBE $2 of food on the plate. If you're going to say a chicken stew has potato and eggs, don't give someone a single thin slice of boiled egg on top with maybe 2 small chunks or potatoes. No way could I justify paying 17 bucks for essentially 4oz of chicken, 1 oz of potatoes, and 1/6th of a hard boiled egg next to a cup of rice. Little did I know about their battle with pineville, but due to their food licensing, they must serve plastic utensils and bottled water. I can't pass judgement on that now that I know the reason, but still didn't feel right when seeing the prices. If someone asks for water, you must clarify with them that it is not tap and that it would cost them money. A 24 pack of Costco water is like 6 bucks....don't charge them $2 a bottle without making sure the customer knows this. Whether it should be front and center on the menu, or have your staff let customers know...you pick. Our incredibly simple 2 dish order took a long time to come out, all while watching a group of 8 get dish after dish next to us.

Overall, I fear the talent/artistry is overpowering the business sense here. Prices are too high with too many loose ends thru service or value. YUNTA in south-end is a good direct comparison to this restaurant, and that is a fine dining establishment at roughly 15-20% lower prices. LOLA is trying to be something I dont think it should try to be, especially for the area. Focus on value.

While I'm just a stranger on the internet, I know food and I know business and I want this business to be successful because i can see the owners talent. Make some slight adjustments and I think yall will do well. I can promise I'll return once more soon but right now, I couldn't recommend to...

This is one of the best meals I have had in Charlotte! If you are looking for a flavorful and freshly prepared meal with high quality ingredients and an extensive menu then you have got to try Lola’s right now, don’t wait! This is a hidden gem not just for the excellent food but also for the ambiance and service.

I had one of the many choices of ceviche dishes. It was bursting with fresh herb and tangy citrus flavors and the fish was very tender. The portion size is spot on and very satisfying.

The baked beef empanada that I had was truly outstanding! It is a nice mix of savory flavors with a touch of sweetness from the raisins that makes for an amazing combination.

The cocktails were a perfect complement to the meal and the dessert was a perfect ending. The pisco sours were well prepared with an extra foamy top and just the right touch of bitters. The homemade dessert trio is the way to go so you can get to try the creamy lucuma ice cream, the alfajores filled with a lucuma cream, and the chocolate lucuma cake made from their grandmother’s recipe. Lucuma, a fruit I had never heard of before, is the star of the dessert show and for good reason with its creamy, nutty, caramel like flavor enhancing the taste of each item in the trio.

The overall experience was great and the prices were more than reasonable especially considering that everything is prepared fresh and in house including the desserts!

I would suggest you ignore any reviews mentioning concerns about time waiting for your food and language barriers. The food is prepared from fresh ingredients which is rare these days and is only found at family owned places such as Lola’s. Because of this, it does take a few minutes longer for them to prepare it and is worth it. We had tickets to a show uptown after the meal and everything came out as we expected and we made it to the show in plenty of time. The family that owns Lola’s is very nice and welcoming and their service is very attentive. Simply said, there is no language barrier at all. I cannot wait to go back and try many of the other delicious dishes on the menu and experience the nice hospitality of this wonderful...