Lola Gaspar — Restaurant in Santa Ana

TL;DR: Amazing food, get a group of friends and go there now so you can order everything and get to taste it all. Also, fabulous drinks.

Lola Gaspar was a delightful find for our group. A group of friends met up for beer at a The Good Beer Company and after a few tastes and a pint or two realized that we needed to eat. 4 of the 5 of us love tapas and so we decided to introduce our friend to the delights of tapas. Since none of us had ever been here we were a little apprehensive but we shouldn't have been.

We walked over and the inside space was tiny and didn't seem to have room for our group but the outside was empty and the heaters were on. I'm usually the one who objects to eating outside because I get cold quickly but even I was fine. After looking over the menu, we asked our waitress what we should expect in portions for several of the items because different tapas places vary on amount of food delivered as it is expected to be shared.

I should have taken a picture of the menu so I could remember everything we ordered but honestly, everything was great. We didn't have a single bite that was mediocre or sub par.

The chips and guacamole were delicious and the two salsas that came with; one was slightly sweet and the other more smoky, chipotle style. We went through guacamole quickly and added the other salsas to different dishes. The nacho fries were easily one of the favorites of the night with several people making noises about ordering a second if we had room in our stomachs which we didn't. We also ordered the dates and I really wanted a second order of those. The steak make-your-own tacos were my favorite of the tacos but others loved the prawn and short rib better. I don't remember what the third order of tacos contained other than pork but they were apparently delicious also as a second plate of those were ordered.

For desert we ordered the pot de creme and the bread pudding and neither lasted long although I think the bread pudding won the dessert round. As for drinks, great cocktails, beer and wine. A well rounded drink menu to make...

If you are a real food lover looking for chefs to fall in love with, I beg you to stop and eat here at least once in your lifetime.

And let me warn you, this place is anything but a restaurant! But man, magic is hidden here, and you must enter to find it!

Lola Gaspar is a dark, small bar in a hidden area of downtown Santa Ana. For those of us who aren't familiar with the area, finding it requires a few brave steps and lost missteps.

Once you enter, tell them you’re a first-timer. Go straight to the bar and ask them to make you a cocktail. Then, just stand there and watch a beautiful piece of art shape and form right before your eyes! Oh, and plan accordingly so you don’t end up driving. Believe me, you’ll thank me later.

The first time, I accidentally found this place while looking for another bar. As soon as we walked in, the bartender said, "This is my favorite song, so we all get a shot," and they handed us shots. And as you can probably guess, we never left to find the other bar.

And this whole time, I thought it couldn’t get any better, that the amazing cocktails and great company were all I could ask for until I ordered food one night. And I found myself falling madly in love!

The Pastrami tacos are out of this world. Honestly, everything they make is extraordinary.

I always go back chasing the dishes I had ordered prior to that time, only to face a whole new menu and more dishes to fall in love with. I don't understand how they can be so creative. I mean, each plate they bring is as beautiful as a piece of art and tastes like bites of heaven.

They have indoor and outdoor tables, and I've heard on certain days that they barbeque in the outdoor area and serve it right there on tortillas, but I haven't had a chance to experience it yet.

A little note: The plates are smaller than the usual restaurant serving sizes, so it might seem a bit pricey but they are so worth it. If you have the money I say order everything on the menu. Don’t panic! The...

So this was a tough one to write ... but here goes. We were all excited to eat here as we read all the good reviews online! Unfortunately, by the end of the night we realized the best thing about most of the dishes were the plates they were on. Now you might think that's harsh, it's not. When going to a restaurant that has supposedly real 1,500 Yelp reviews avg-Ing 4/5 stars you expect at least something to wow your taste buds instead of feeling like we were at an Applebee's! :/. We ordered the following: mushroom tacos (prob best thing they have), shrimp/pork tacos (oily mess!!), beef barbacoa taquitos (egh is what comes to mind here), steamed mussels (fishiest tasting dish without any sort of flavor, def not fresh), guacamole (something forgettable), chicken relleno (not bad flavor overall, but chicken was a bit chewy), and last but not least natural American Cheeseburger with fries (thought that comes to my mind here is did I make this at home and forget that it was on the grill?!! Meat had zero flavor and they tried to mask it with a useless array of sauces!!). I would've given them 1 star here but because of decent service we had, & the fact that I've owned multiple restaurants in the past and know how hard it is to run a place and make good unique tasting food, 2 stars makes sense. They are trying here but seriously they need to try harder as most people who can see good food from forgettable food will stop coming here. p.s. Oh also, for what we had above with two drinks, it shouldn't have been a $160 meal. If that's what they demand from us patrons than we demand they make...