Lola’s Handcrafted Sandwiches

We were visiting the Tyler area on a cross country road trip. Our family that lives here highly recommended Lola’s and took us there for lunch this afternoon. The sandwiches were amazing. I had the Grilled Cheese, which comes with cheddar, swiss, blue cheese crumbles, and prosciutto on white bread. My boyfriend had the TABC, which the man at the counter highlighted as their best sandwich. It has turkey, avocado, bacon, and cheddar. Also delicious. This place is definitely worth the trip if you’re in the Tyler area.

Lola’s sandwiches are really something special. They live up to the hype for the most part. The Cuban is really exceptional. I would rate 5 stars if the hours were better, 3 is a bit early to close.

I recently moved to Tyler and wanted to find local restaurants to visit. My husband and I found Lola’s on Unilocal and thought we would try it. We went on a Saturday afternoon and their little shop was very busy. They had a great couple playing live music. Their sandwiches are large and delicious. And don’t forget to order the homemade chips! We got the balsamic version and they were great, I may have licked the plate. If you are near the Tyler area, I certainly would recommend you visit Lola’s.

I love the Cuban sandwich. Their staff are polite and helpful. Great sandwich shop that is locally owned and a must try! The only downside is they run out of things sometimes (other people’s experience) but I’ve never experienced this myself.

Didn’t really like the loaded chip thing but just not my thing. But man the sandwiches are so good!

This is my first time here. I had the Italian beef sandwich and kicked up chips. Both were amazing. This is a cute little dining place with very friendly staff and the day I went there was someone performing live music and singing. I will definitely be back.

Excellent food! The sandwiches are freshly made and each one I have tried has been amazing. If you are lucky enough to come in when they have their Kentucky Hot Brown give it a try. I’ve been eating at Lola’s since soon after their opening and try to eat there as often as I can.

My husband had the Reuben sandwich and he said it could have had more corned beef on it, but it was very tasty. He had the lemon dill potato salad and he didn’t love it but it was good. He thought the potato chunks were too big. I had the TABC it was delicious, I thoroughly enjoyed the sandwich and the homemade chips that I ordered. My daughter had the Chicago beef and she ate the whole thing, she is only 11 years old. She also enjoyed the homemade chips. The sweet tea my daughter had was good according to her. I had water. The restaurant looked clean and well maintained. The staff was helpful and polite. It was 10:45 am so I think we were the first customers today. They open at 10:30am. My daughter said there was No Toilet Paper at all in the women’s restroom. She was forced to use a paper towel. TMI! Seriously at the beginning of the day there should be toilet paper in the restroom for customers and employees. That is why I gave this place 4 stars, also because my husband said his sandwich was skimpy on corned beef.

Live music on a Saturday for lunch was pretty cool! The homemade chips are great and so is the grilled cheese. The Cuban had too much pulled pork and a tiny portion of ham, which was the part I was looking for. Nice people, neat strip center, lots of outdoor seating; great for south Tyler.

Food was really good. The only problem was the music. They had a great guy singing live. It was ruined by the radio they had blasting in the back. Irritating.

Seriously love this place. Awesome sandwiches, homemade bread is amazing. The guys that own it are super nice and care about the quality of food they serve. By BLT was AMAZING! So was my guests rueben. Good prices, friendly service.

Every sandwich is amazing! Very high quality ingredients and friendly service. Our absolute favs are the Chicago Beef, Ruben, and the Cuban but they are all good. Try the chips kicked-​up. When they first opened it was a little slow but they have really solved that. Great local place!

Friendly staff and great sandwiches. The place is small and nice. Very clean. This will be a regular go to when I’m in town and looking to grab something.
Go by and check it out. Family friendly and nice people.
Sandwiches, soups, salads, and it’s NOT a chain.
Support local business owners! The food could not have been better. Great experience.

Well, I’ve been avoiding Lola’s for a while, mainly due the fact that their sandwiches are way overpriced. $ 10 for a sandwich that doesn’t even come with chips or a pickle.
So, I decided to call in a BLT, today. Pretty simple sandwich. 30 minutes after I ordered, I finally got my sandwich to go. The genius that gave it to me said, «sorry about the wait, I just realized your order was just sitting there for a while.» Got in the car to find a massive sandwich that only a gorilla with an oversized mouth could bite into. So, I took it back inside to get them to cut the monstrosity in half, so it could be eaten by a normal-​sized primate.
By this time, my sandwich was cold, soggy, and here’s the kicker… wait for it… they sold me a big hair with a sandwich around it. Yay Lola’s! Keep up the great experiences.

GREAT food. I don’t know how I hadn’t discovered this place until this week except for the fact that I work downtown practically and they’re so far south. I went for lunch on Monday and had the Chicken Parm… (Delish). Even though they were super busy and it’s an order at the counter type of place, the food runner still went out of his way to bring me something extra I asked for but didn’t receive. The owner even came out to say hi and to ask how everything turned out. Chris is a very nice man and runs a great shop. Will definitely be returning.

Looking for a great sandwich in E. TX then you have to stop by Lola’s! Their Rueben is ranked the #2 sandwich in E. TX for a reason and they rest of their sandwiches look equally as good.

There’s really nothing else to add that other reviewers haven’t mentioned. Great sandwiches– my personal faves are the Cuban, and the Reuben. Great homemade chips, and my 4 yr. old loves the grilled cheese. It’s locally owned, so that’s a huge bonus.
Generous portions, and generally above average friendly service. My main beef is– the tip jar on the counter is extremely tacky. Seriously, there’s not a wait staff, and I would never consider leaving a tip to… well, let’s say a Target checkout employee. I’m paying for a product, and the employee that rings up the order, takes my cash, and hands me my sandwich, is simply doing their job that pays an hourly wage. If the tip jar said «donation» on it, maybe it would make more sense. Other than this extremely liberal, «I’m entitled to a donation,» mentality, Lola’s is a strong 5 stars.

I had a Mob Boss sandwich and it was legitimately amazing. The prices are very fair for the amount of food you get. The service was great. Super friendly and nice!
Definitely a must go if you’re near! You won’t regret it! Will definitely be coming back

Rating system:
5 stars — Must try. You’re really missing out if you don’t. I’m either a regular here, repeat patron, or would be if it wasn’t cost or distance prohibitive
4 stars — Highly recommended, but may have minor things that keep me from being a regular
3 stars — Good most of the time but not great. Will only eat here if I have a particular craving, or am unable to eat at my 4 or 5 star choices
2 stars — Do not really like it but will only eat here if I have to (eating group overruled my veto)
1 star — Avoid. Save your money, time, and stomach
If you like gourmet sandwiches, then Lola’s is the place to be. A lot of reviewers have already talked about the freshness, homemadeness, and other general qualities of the food and place in general, so I’ll give some specific food reviews to maybe help the decision process. I’m sure everything is good, but I haven’t made my way through the entire menu yet.
Cuban — Cubans are a pretty basic sandwich in general. You’ve got your bread, pork, ham, mustard, pickles, and cheese. But what makes or breaks a Cuban, in my opinion, is the pork and the bread. These are absolutely essential and Lola’s nails it. I’ve had Cuban sandwiches from Cubans and non-​Cubans. Some are good, some are not so good. And every time, it has come down to the pork or the bread. Lola’s homemade bread is not only good in and of itself, but it’s perfectly flattened and crispy (some places do not flatten to an appropriate thickness, or either have bread that is too hard or too soft). You’ll notice that upon first biting into the sandwich. After you have a big chunk of it in your mouth, you’ll then notice how juicy and delicious the pork is. My only suggestion for making the pork even better, is adding some more garlic and cumin to the mojo. I think this would bring out more of the flavor of the pork.
Chicago Beef — This is one messy sandwich, so I don’t suggest ordering this for takeout. But it is so good. The au jus was very tasty. I was tempted to just drink the pool off the plate when I finished with the sandwich. Not only is the beef flavorful and juicy, but the giardiniera is excellent as well. You really can’t mess up giardiniera but some places really skimp on it. The amount on the sandwich is enough to get some on practically every bite, which is important to maximize the taste of a Chicago beef sandwich! Salty, crunchy, tangy, juicy, beefy, and a little spicy. I believe you can ask them to make it extra spicy if you want the extra heat.
TABC — All of the flavors of the TABC are well balanced and go together perfectly (turkey, bacon, cheese, avocado, tomatoes, red onions, and chipotle mayo). Although the contents of the sandwich are hot, the bread was room temperature (I don’t know if this is the case every time or just today). Although I didn’t mind it, it would have been better if the bread was warm or toasted. Otherwise, the sandwich is great and will make it even harder to decide between the Cuban, Chicago Beef, and this, the next time I go back. I do want to draw attention to the star of the sandwich, the turkey. I’ve had a lot of turkey sandwiches, but this is probably the best turkey I have had on a sandwich. The flavor is really good. Its not like it has any kind of super seasoning or anything like that on it. But you can tell that this was homemade (and if its not, then it is still really good!!!) so it has a strong turkey flavor, which processed turkey loses. It is also at the right thickness and is very moist. When the sandwich came out, the meat was glistening with its juices. My guess is that their other turkey sandwich is very good as well since it has the same meat.
Lemon Dill Potato Salad — I’m not a huge potato salad fan. In fact, I rarely eat it. But I would definitely get the potato salad here again! The lemon dill potato salad has a light and refreshing taste. I don’t even really know how to describe it any other way. The lemon, dill, and red onion work very well together here and coupled with just enough mayo to bind everything together, make for a great accompaniment to a sandwich that is not too heavy.
Mediterranean Orzo — This was my least favorite of the things I have tried so far. And not because it wasn’t tasty, because it really was, but I’m not a huge fan of cold tomatoey type dishes. But the sundried tomatoes, basil, pine nuts, and olives taste great together and if a sauce was made out of these same ingredients, would make for a pretty good vegetarian pasta sauce. In fact, while I was eating it, I was thinking that I should make this into a spaghetti dish. But if you don’t mind all these cold, then you would probably like it.
I hope Lola’s stays open for a long time! Great place, super nice workers, and good food. I think the only other thing I want to try is the BLT, but I’m afraid to add too many sandwiches to my rotation haha. Keep up the good work guys!

We just recently moved back to East Texas from California and my new hairdresser told me about Lola’s. This was only our first visit, but already, we know we’ll be back!
Hubby & I shared the BLT… Normally, I *rarely* ever eat any kind of bread — but WOW! — the *homemade* white bread just looked too good to pass up: it is thick and soft on the inside, toasted/​grilled on the outside, with surprisingly nice, yeasty notes… all in all quite frankly, scrumptious! The Bacon was perfectly «extra crispy» (as requested; and, there are *8* pieces of it on just one sandwich), along with big slices of tomato, crisp lettuce, and mayo (I am unabashedly more than a bit of a may-​ho, so also requested side to slather on). This really is a HUGE sandwich, so either take the other half home for another meal or share! (Dad-​gum, wish I’d taken a pic before devouring!)
Oh, and we also shared the house Lemon Dill Potato Salad — just delicious, a most unexpected delicate-​flavored gourmet delight! Maybe next time we’ll try the homemade potato chips… On second thought, NOT! Really had to restrain myself from trying them because I know that once I get started… well, it’s just better for me if I don’t start! (BTW, their «Kicked-​Up Potato Chips» looked just like loaded nachos calling my name as they headed to some lucky peep’s table — now, THOSE were super tempting!)
Next time (soon), it will definitely be either the Grilled Cheese sandwich or the Chopped Salad w/​homemade bleu cheese dressing for me, and the TABC sandwich for hubby. Apparently they make everything from scratch on premises, and seriously, you can taste the difference… more akin to the Central Coast Wine Country gourmet farm-​to-​table foodie-​fare we were accustomed to in Cali — come check it out!
BTW, they welcome doggies at their outdoor tables… dog-​loving staff brought our Bull Mastiff, CB, a big bowl of ice water! (For us, this is a big plus as our fur child travels everywhere with us :)