Lolita's (Mexican) in the Back Bay

[opinionatedchef]

In the last year or so, the exec.chef, Brian, and some other staff from La Verdad, joined up with the new Lolita's in the Back Bay (Dartmouth at Newbury St.), part of one of the Boston dining empires iirc. We've had dinner there twice in the last few months and we've had some very good food there.

I will mention right away that the atmosphere may be the thing to deter non-20's diners here, and it is my least favorite thing about Lolita's. It's a real shame too, because the chef is working hard on an ambitious menu. I'd call the decor kinda cheesy, myself(but YMMV)- all black and red, and cheap mismatched furniture like someone rummaged through some bad recycled restaurant furnishings store or a failed Friday's. More caveats: your meal begins with grapefruit granita(delicious) over dramatic dry ice, and ends with cotton candy(no thx.) So far the waitstaff have been either very young, inexperienced and pretty waitresses, or experienced Latin waiters. It's a 20's something hotspot, it seems, and it gets louder and more crammed the later you go. On our 2 visits, we have gone early to avoid the noise, and have enjoyed the low keyness.

This is a big menu with a lot of variety and a lot of different sauces, dressings, salsas. Ex- the table tortilla chips come with a trio of salsas-- and they were all terrific. None are the watery kind; they all coat your chip and have a lot of distinct punch. The red salsa is actually the best I've ever been served (chipotle and orange notes I think) and I'd be happy to eat it on anything. The guac is generous, also comes in 4 varieties; we got the basic one which was just fine. Pepita coated tuna taco app had many other elements- baby spinach, watercress,avocado, crema and sauces ; very pretty presentation. (Caveat- stay away from the too sweet, weak red sangria.)


While the quality and grilling of our jumbo shrimp entree - were tops, we had thought that the shrimp would be cooked in the chipotle orange sauce, but it sat on a little sauce instead, and lacked flavor. So we added some of our excellent salsas and some chipotle aioli, and that was fine. The highlight of the evening was our Spice coated Grilled Salmon in a fantastic complex corn broth, with zucchini ribbons. The salmon was unusually meaty(brined maybe) and had a lovely bit of smokiness to it. (The menu description of the salmon is misleadingly simple.) Our two sides were exceptional -a chile relleno and a green rice with melted cheese. While the rice was a bit overcooked, its tomatillo cilantro component made for a memorably complex dish, and the chile relleno couldn't have been better.

(On both our visits, we left as a large birthday party was seated at one of the room's big rounds. Lolita's had tied red and black balloons on the guest chair and it looked and sounded like a fun time would be had by all.)
It will be interesting to try the nearby Tico some time for comparison, though we've not rushed there because a really disappointing experience at Radius, and a so-so meal at Via Matta> made us not so confident in Schlow and his empire.

We're looking forward to returning to Lolita and hope some of youall will try it.

[C. Hamster]

Lolita's 20 something chick lounge atmosphere is too much if a turnoff to ever set foot in the place.

Too bad they don't do lunch.

[Beachowolfe]

"Lolita's 20 something chick lounge atmosphere is too much if a turnoff to ever set foot in the place."

-said nobody ever

[cambridgedoctpr]

50 year old wonmen and even some 50 year old men might not like that

[MC Slim JB]

My preferred description of the vibe is "Goth bordello". But my bigger issue is the generic sorta-upscale-faux-Mex food. An awful lot of that going around.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[opinionatedchef]

Well you will never find me complaining about the delicious use of wood fire grilling and cumin, cilantro, lime, avocado, and chiles. esp. chipotle, in my food.

[opinionatedchef]

We returned tonight and again were really impressed by the food. Everything that was terrific before was terrific again. We did deviate in one way; we decided to live large, and had the Pork Belly Guac (instead of the trad guac) which was bacony (duh) rich , spicy and generously portioned. The rojo table salsa is still the best salsa I've ever had- thick and rich with chiles, not tomato paste; the chips were perfectly fried and not too thick or too fragile , and were not greasy. The grilled salmon filet was one of the best salmon preps I have had- a generous grilled fillet in a 'corn broth' that was really a luscious light corn chowder. Green rice was cheesy and strongly cilantro flavored. Their chile relleno was lightly battered and fried and served on a robust ranchera sauce. Served as a side, $6 was a very reasonable price
for this excellent dish, as was the $23 for the salmon.

Yes, the heavy techno drum beat was obnoxious, but the food was delicious, and everything we had was fresh and of the highest quality. In addition,our banquette table was very comfortable, table spacing was generous, and our waitress could not have been more pleasant or efficient. I think Lolita's is a real plus for the Back Bay dining scene, and if you focus on your DCs and the food, and not the interior decor and drum beat, you can have a very enjoyable dinner there.

[cambridgedoctpr]

i am pretty hard core about food but with noise, there is a limit.

[MC Slim JB]

Be forewarned that Tico won't be an apples-to-apples experience; it's doing a Schlow-priced take on pan-Latin-American, emphasis on small plates, vs. Lolita's upscale faux-Mex.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/