Two weekends ago, my husband and I had plans with some friends to go to Crepes in the City downtown for dinner. I’d never been there before, but had heard good things and was excited to go. Turns out, I was a few months too late. It’s closed! The night was salvaged by the fact that we ended up at The Over/Under instead, which, I discovered, is a fun, trendy, upscale sports bar with pretty decent food.

This review, however, is not about The Over/Under or the late, great Crepes in the City (R.I.P.). Upon returning home that night, I felt compelled to employ my top-notch Google investigating skills and find out why a restaurant that everyone seemed to love had to suddenly shut its doors. I didn’t find an answer to this, but what I did find was information about a brand new restaurant opening in the same space called Lola. As your resident Food & Drink Snob, I felt it my duty to check the place out…

I made a reservation for 6 people on a Friday night. This turned out to be entirely unnecessary, as the place was pretty much empty when we first got there, with the exception of a couple people sitting at the bar. Keep in mind that we were there at 6:30pm, which is on the early side of the dinner rush. By the time we left 2 hours later, the restaurant had filled up significantly. Also, Lola’s opening night was less than a week earlier, so I’m guessing that most St. Louisans still don’t even know this place exists.

Lola’s interior won me over immediately. I’m big on the whole “atmosphere” aspect of dining – a restaurant could have the best food I’ve ever tasted, but if I’m forced to sit under a glaring fluorescent light, odds are I will not be heading back there any time soon. Lola is trendy with an exposed brick wall and light techno beats bumping in the background, but still manages to be warm and cozy thanks to the soft lighting and comfy pillows scattered along the benches of some of the larger tables. The bar is the central focus of the restaurant when you walk in, and is directly across from a small elevated stage where they feature live music and entertainment Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday during brunch.

The cocktail list is extensive with a fun local flair– most of their “lofty libations” are named after St. Louis locations and buildings. I tried The University martini, which was delicious. Drinks are poured and strained in front of you at the table, and they leave the extra (which is enough for at least one more full drink) for you to refill your glass as needed. At first, this really excited me – two drinks for the price of one! But then I realized that their martini glasses are actually quite small – roughly half the size of a standard martini.

The dinner menu includes about 12 smaller, tapas-style plates in addition to soups, salads, sandwiches, and crepes (in honor of their predecessor). I tried the Marie sandwich (a blend of goat cheese, smoked mozzarella, ricotta & blue cheese topped with sliced roma tomato and arugula served on sourdough) and a side of pomme frites. The sandwich was good, but the best part about this meal was the garlic aioli dipping sauce that came with the fries. I’ll go back to Lola for that, if nothing else – I’m daydreaming about it now as I write this. De. Lish.

We ended our meal on a sweet note, and ordered a berries and cream crepe for the whole table to split. This was a regrettable decision, only because the crepe was so tasty that we found ourselves wishing we had ordered more. Lola has a very limited selection for dessert – this crepe and one other item were the only options – but I’m guessing the menu might be expand after they’ve been open for awhile.

The other people I was with all seemed pleased with their orders, and everyone was pleasantly surprised at the reasonable pricing. The one major criticism we had was the inconvenience caused when our food was brought out at all different times. By the time the last person got her entrée, a couple of other people had already finished eating. This may have been because some people ordered tapas-style plates while others did not, or the fact that this is a super new restaurant and the cooks and servers are still finding their groove. Regardless, it was not enough to ruin our experience.

I definitely recommend trying Lola, and I think it has a lot of potential once they work out some minor kinks. If this place can acquire some staying power it would be great for the downtown restaurant scene and all St. Louisans who like good food, reasonable prices, and a fun atmosphere.

Carlie is the Food and Drink Editor for Girls Guide. By day she is an educational textbook editor, and she moonlights as a foodie and barfly. You can email her at carlie [at] girlsguidetothegalaxy [dot] com, and you can follow her on Twitter – @carbirwin.