The weather was too nice on Friday to be stuck indoors working so my friend and I decided to take an extended break and venture down to Lola for lunch. Lola is part of Tom Douglas’ restaurant empire here in Seattle, which also includes the famous Etta’s and Dahlia Lounge. Open as of July 2004, Lola boasts of menu of Greek and Greek-inspired dishes. The lunch menu consists mainly of smaller dishes, including a wide variety of meze and kebabs, whereas the dinner menu features more hearty fare such as goat stifado and roasted chickens. Should you ever find yourself wandering around Belltown late one night, keep in mind that Lola has a tasty-sounding “late-night” menu. Lola also offers a weekend brunch and even weekday breakfast.

To drink, my friend and I each ordered a “dry soda” just because it sounded unusual and had good flavors. We later learned that Dry Soda is actually the brand name. Dry Soda is a Seattle-based company. They make sodas that are supposed to be less sweet and “all natural.” I had the kumquat soda and my friend had the lavender soda. There are also rhubarb and lemongrass versions. Both sodas were good, but I thought they could have been fizzier. And, at $4.00 each, I might as well have ordered a glass of wine or something with booze in it.

We started off by sharing an order of the Kalamata-Fig spread which was absolutely delicious. Salty from the olives and slightly sweet from the fig. It was served with small wedges of yummy homemade whole-wheat pitas. For our entrees, my friend and I both ordered the same thing. How boring of us, I know, but we couldn’t help it because this dish just sounded so interesting: Haloumi Cheese & Cherry Kebabs. Haloumi is, not surprisingly, a Greek cheese which is made from both goat and sheep’s milk. It has a very high melting point making it able to stand up to intense frying and grilling. The kebabs were on the small side, although I’m not really sure how much grilled cheese I could eat in one sitting so that was fine with me. The cheese was chewy and meaty and the sweet-tart rainier cherries were a nice accompaniment. I would have liked to see some grill marks or at least a bit of char somewhere - these are kebabs after all - but that’s a minor complaint. The kebabs at Lola are served with pitas and tzatziki and your choice between Greek salad and “smashed” potatoes, which are really more like “cracked” potatoes and were good if a bit dry. Overall, it was a pretty tasty meal. It cost a bit more than I normally like to spend on lunch, but what better way is there to kick off my birthday week than by splurging on food!

Lola is located at 2000 4th Ave, at the corner of 4th and Virginia. Reservations can be made by phone (206) 441-1430 or online via Open Table.