Lola's — Restaurant in Pontiac Township

Sometimes you run across a restaurant that just makes you smile. If you are just passing through on Interstate 55 and need a high quality break from driving, look no further! Lola's Homestyle Filipino Cooking is genuinely one of those special places. Lola's is clean, bright, welcoming, authentic and well managed by the owner. The kitchen was immaculate and busy (see pictures). If you have $15 to $20 for dinner, Skip the fast food and get some classy made from scratch food here at Lola's for the same money ( thank me later!!!). Offerings include rotating authentic Filipino dishes, as well as Ginger Garlic Short Ribs, Crispy Chicken Tacos, Pork BBQ Skewers, Ahi Tuna Poki, Crispy Pork Belly (a specialty here!), Korean Burnt Ends Tacos, Chicken Adobo Wings, World Class Ramen, Pancit Noodles, Beer & Bagoong Chicken Skewers, Popcorn Chicken (choice of ten different sauces), Fried Rice, Bangus (fried fish), Crispy Pork Egg rolls (top notch!), Stir Fried Veggies, Loaded Longanisa Fries ( cheesy sauce and green onions). Desserts include "Halo Halo", Sweet Potato Fries (powdered sugar & marshmallow fluff) and authentic made from scratch Ice Cream ( Mango, Uber, Buko Padan or Black Sesame). Many drink offerings including various flavors of Boba, lemonades, and sodas. I hope the folks in Pontiac appreciate such a special restaurant and having it well staffed and managed by on-site, working ownership. The attention to detail, care put into service and the immaculate cleanliness is a rare find in today's restaurant industry at any price level. I hope Lola's Homestyle Filipino Cooking gets the support from the citizens of Pontiac for many years to come. Do yourself a favor and patronize these folks. Well done to the ownership and staff at Lola's....

Best Filipino food I’ve found outside of my family.

My husband and I were visiting Pontiac a few weeks ago, and I was ELATED to find Lola’s. All of my Filipino family lives in the Seattle area, which has always made it difficult to get my pancit fix. We used to live in CA, and I was never able to find a place that got the pancit right…Lola’s does the pancit right!!!! The only difference from my Auntie Norma’s pancit is she would add shrimp and a slice of lemon to squeeze on top, but everything was the same.

Don’t even get me started on the lumpia!

My great-grandmother (whom we used to call Grandma Lola because we thought she was trying to tell us her name was Lola) used to make the BEST lumpia. People would order it from her for their family events. My aunties tried to learn it from her, but no one ever really mastered it like she did. So, when she died, so did the lumpia, and every family event since has had outsourced lumpia.

Lola’s lumpia is on par…or, dare I say, may be even better than my great-grandmother’s lumpia!! It feels like sacrilege to say, but all I know is I had tears in my eyes as I happily feasted on lumpia and pancit.

Another menu item I loved was the pork bbq skewers. I could’ve easily eaten several orders of these; really tasty.

We live in about 90 mins away, but I know I will make the trek out again when the craving hits!

To Anna and team: Salamat! You provided a slice of family and home for me. Keep up the...

I have to first say that I am Filipino, born and partially raised on Luzon, Manila. The wife and I were near Pontiac and I was craving some home style food. To my surprise there was a local Filipino restaurant nearby (Lola's). Quickly looked at their menu and headed their way. We were the only people inside for only a few minutes, then they got pretty busy. I was happy to see the locals enjoying Filipino food. My wife had the ginger garlic beef, I believe this dish is called Imbaliktad, this was so good. I had the bangus and we both shared the 2 piece bbq meal and a small order of lumpia. The bangus (milkfish) was Delicious, took me back to when my own LOLA cooked this for me. People, I am serious. So good. The bbq stick was traditional style,slight tanginess coming from the calamansi served with Filipino vinegar that has 🌶️ in it. On our way out the door, I asked the ladies if they had a tip jar. The lady working the grill said they do and they DONATE their tips. WOW, really wow. You know what this tells. It tells me the person who owns Lola's pay their worker proper pay and the workers their have a big heart. I promise you this, if wherever I'm back down there, I will be...