Lolo's Chicken and Waffles - Yuma and Central Ave

Brien:

Last night, Kristi and I went to Lolo's Chicken and Waffles. OH EM GEE SO GOOD!

Kristi and I had been trying to decide all day what we wanted to do. We usually will get together on Tuesday nights and head out on the town to grab some food of some sort. We'd been bouncing ideas back and forth when we'd initially decided on another place (It escapes me now which). Suddenly, a beam of light shone from the heavens onto my forehead, and low and behold, I had the idea for Lolo's. I had been there once about ... oh 8 months ago maybe? But Kristi had never been, but had been wanting to go! So I suggested it to her over IM, and she immediately said, "YES!" We made plans to meet there and after many mishaps for me on the 10 and the 17, (dont ask) I arrived to park right behind her!

My entire family is from the south (Arkansas), but I've never had southern food the way they make it in southern-food-restaurants. Even though I was raised on my grandma's southern cooking, having southern from a place like Lolo's is an entirely different experience. With that in mind, Kristi and I strode into the restaurant. Immediately, the place felt like it welcomed you in. One waitress (who I *think* is Taytay? but could be wrong!) told us to go ahead and seat ourselves. You can really tell the layout of the place used to be a house - there's a long narrow area off to the left side as you walk in, and a few other "rooms" with tables around. I have to admit, its a very comfortable place to be. There were people here from every walk of life, including caucasions, african americans, and even an asian girl! I felt very at home.

Immediately, another waitress (this one I couldn't identify) asked what we wanted to drink. I asked for the southern sweet tea. I love sweet drinks, and I thought this would be right up my alley. Kristi and I bantered back and forth about what we'd have. When the waitress brought the tea, I immediately loved it - it had a VERY sweet kick to it, which I LOVED. Its not for everyone, but I'm a sweet junkie. You should see what I do to my hot tea! Hehe :)

Anyway, I ordered the special that had two fish + 2 sides and cornbread. It was $12.50 (Sorry I can't get you the name - its on the second page at the top! Their online menu isn't currently working for me. Adobe eats my brains for dinner! And I'm an IT guy! I digress.) I chose the mac and cheese and cheesy grits.

After about 10 minutes our food came, and I was immediately in heaven! 2 big pieces of fish and 1 "finger" of fish came with two big bowls, 1 each of cheesy grits and mac and cheese. The first thing I dove into was the grits. I've never had cheesy grits before, and these were great! Pretty cheesy (though theres never enough cheese for me!) but with lots of butter the flavor was awesome! Definitely I'll get these again! The mac and cheese, again, stellar! Very thick and definitely cheesy!



I got to the fish next, and had a little apprehension. You'll find through this blog, that when I order something, I almost always order only boneless things. I'd had a tramatic experience when I was younger after I'd choked on a catfish bone, and since then I've been skittish about bones. Even ones I can't fit in my mouth (ala chicken breast bones, et al). But I dove into the fish anyway, to test it out. My first couple bites were bone-free and I added some of the rooster hot sauce on the table (YAY SPICY!!!!) It was really good! The cornmeal breading was insanely good! As I was eating, I got a few more bones here and there but I tried to not think about it and work around it! In the end I still had two pieces of fish left, which I gave to Kristi to take home.

In all the rush of eating, after drinking all my sweet tea, I decided to try the kool-aid. Oh wow! So good! I loved it! It was the red fruit punch, and man did it have the sugar in it! It was made just as I'd make it, if I were in the kool-aid making business! (And selling it to children to rot their teeth!)

I so badly wanted to try the red velvet cake, but I was so full from all the other food, I just couldn't get a piece. That and they were closing. Their hours? 10A - 7P and we were cutting it close to that 7P. I definitely will give Lolo's another go very soon - I loved everything I had, even with the bones. Next time I think I'm going to actually get chicken and waffles, and BRAVE my evil hatred of bones and get some drumsticks :)

I give Lolo's Chicken and Waffles 4 1/2 fish bones out of 5.

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Kristi:

Let me just start out by saying I love me some fried chicken. When I pass the deli at the grocery store, and the smell of fried chicken is hanging in the air, I have to make sure I don't slide and fall in a puddle of my own drool.

Brien suggested Lolo's on Tuesday, which is funny because Monday night I was obsessing over fried chicken. So I agreed on our dining choice wholeheartedly. I had never been to Lolo's but had heard so many good things.

I bypassed the kool-aid and sweet tea and just got a jar of water. I knew I wasn't going to drink much, so water was fine by me. I tasted Brien's sweet tea though when he got it. Wow...you want some tea with that sugar? I know that's how it's supposed to taste, but I drink my tea with a couple of Sweet 'N Lows, not 1/2 cup of sugar. I tasted the kool-aid too. They certainly don't water it down. It was good and strong, and of course, sweet.

I got the combo plate ($12.50) that Brien mentioned (that we can't think of what it's actually called on the menu...what kind of dingbat reviewers are we?!). I got mine with the southern fried chicken and chose the mac & cheese and fries as my side. We got our orders very quickly, and as soon as the server put my plate in front of me, I salivated like one of Pavlov's dogs. I had been engaged in a conversation with Brien, and I totally lost my train of thought. The smell....the glorious smell. I could bottle it and dab it behind my ears.



My three pieces of chicken (wing, breast & thigh) were sitting on the bed of fries with the bowl of mac & cheese and corn muffin sharing the plate. I started with the wing. Absolute perfection. It took me about 5 seconds to declare that it was the best fried chicken I'd ever eaten. It was so simple, but done so well. No 11 herbs and spices. Just lightly dredged chicken, fried to crispy perfection. Then I tasted the mac & cheese. Sooooo good. I'm not a huge fan of mac & cheese, but I wanted to try theirs because I heard it was so good. I wasn't disappointed. No boxed mixes here, folks. It's the real deal. The fries weren't anything special, but they went well with the meal. The corn muffin was tasty.

I also tried a bite of Brien's cheese grits and his fish. Both were very good, but it put me in an immediate panic: which would I get next time I visit Lolo's? The chicken? The fish? Both were delicious.

Our service was friendly, and the only complaint I had was that we had to ask for our to-go boxes twice. Not a big deal because we weren't really in a hurry. I took enough food home for two more meals.



I'll give Lolo's 4 1/2 greasy chicken fingers out of 5.