A few weeks ago, I was making plans with a couple of close friends to catch up around the holidays. We finally found a night we were all free, and I forwarded them the link to Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar and asked if they'd heard of it yet. They both got back to me saying they hadn't heard of it but would love to go. It was a date!
With only an awning marking it, Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar, which is on Dartmouth Street between Newbury and Boylston, is easy to miss if you aren't looking for it. I found the door, and ducked inside. The interior is very dark, illuminated with only subdued red lighting.
I spotted my friends at the bar, sipping on their first tequila drinks. Kathleen tried the Broken Heart and Lindsay had the Lolita. I was sitting out on drinks for the night, nursing a week-long cold, but if I had been up for a drink, I would have joined Kathleen and tried the Broken Heart too, which has Gran Centenario Rosangel, St.-Germain, Patron Citronge, white grapes, and fresh raspberries. (You're all probably well aware of my St.-Germain obsession by now.) The Lolita sounded intriguing as well with Sauza ‘100 years,’ Patron Citronge, fresh lime, cane syrup, and a squeeze of grapefruit.
I came very close to trying one of the fancy, non-alcoholic drinks and then just couldn't talk myself into spending $8 on a non-alcoholic drink. But they do sound tasty!
As soon as we were ready, we approached the hostess stand and asked for a table. We were led to a four-top with a good view of the rest of the restaurant. Shortly after we were seated, our waitress brought out a dish of grapefruit granita, with smoke made from dry ice erupting from it. With our consent, she splashed tequila on top. We were presented tiny spoons and each took a bite to cleanse our palates. It was quite an interesting way to start off the meal.
After the grapefruit sorbet, our waitress brought over a bucket of chips and three different sauces to dip them in.
Being guacamole fiends, the first thing we asked for was an order of the fresco guacamole. While Lolita has four different kinds of guacamole, and we were almost swayed by the one with crab, lobster, and a butter-wine drizzle, we all decided on the simplest rendition. The fresco is a mixture of avocado, tomato, serrano chile, diced onion, and cilantro. It was excellent!
Then we decided to try a couple of appetizers -- I find that's always the most fun. We got the crab and roasted poblano vertical nachos. I wasn't sure how to interpret the word vertical and thought that it just meant a high stack of nachos, but when the platter arrived, we saw that the nachos were actually standing up in the bowl. The presentation was pretty cool, but I was glad we had a bucket of nachos on the table to dip into the remaining crab, poblano, grilled corn, black bean, and jack cheese mixture. There were not nearly enough chips.
We also had the spinach and cheese quesadillas. These came stuffed with chihuahua cheese, spinach, pickled jalapenos, and queso fresco and were delicious with some of the guacamole slathered on top.
I should mention that one of my friends doesn't eat red meat, so we veered toward seafood and vegetarian options. There are tons of pork and steak options on the menu that I plan to try on future visits, like the carnitas and rib-eye tacos.
Before dessert the waitress presented us with an array of sugars: regular, cinnamon, and chocolate. I wish I had been in the mood for coffee!
We couldn't pass on dessert and explored all of our options before selecting the bananarama.
Fried banana caramel cheesecake burritos arrived before us, standing in caramel sauce and flanked by chocolate ice cream. What's not to love about fried cheesecake and warm bananas?
Just as we finished dessert and thought we could eat no more, look what arrived!
Green apple cotton candy with Pop Rocks! We reverted to childhood, pulling long strands of cotton candy, popping them in our mouths, and waiting for the crackle of the Pop Rocks.
To pull us further into childhood, our waitress dropped off temporary tattoos and a damp towel, so we could apply the tattoos right at the table.
Overall, I had a great time at Lolita, catching up with friends and eating fabulous food. I can't wait to get back there to try some of the drinks and much more of the food!
What's your favorite thing to order when you go out for Mexican food?
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