25 Best Restaurants: Lola

Since opening in Tremont 19 years ago, Lola has gently grabbed us by the hand and coaxed us into culinary exploration. It seduced us with beef cheek pierogies, Lola fries and charcuterie. It reassured us it was OK to eat this well after midnight and to do so while wearing jeans and a T-shirt. And just as it helped make Tremont a destination, Lola did the same for East Fourth Street when it was reborn there in 2006. Through it all, Michael Symon’s devotion has never wavered — from Lola’s elegant glowing bar to the open kitchen that evokes his Iron Chef stage to the house-cured wild boar salami, duck pastrami and roasted garlic pork rillette on the charcuterie board ($28). “There is an incredible amount of romance to something that you start and can’t serve for six weeks, two months, eight months, a year,” he says. You can taste that same passion in whatever moves you on the menu, whether it’s the beef hangar steak ($31) or the braised pork shank ($31). “Lola is my love letter,” says Symon. “I don’t want people to say this is the best restaurant in Cleveland, I want them to come and say this is one of the best dining experiences they’ve ever had.” Don’t Miss: The cioppino ($32) fish stew gets a smoky kick with house-made sausage swimming among mussels, king crab, squid and tomato. Sweet Spot: We’ll happily camp out for the dark chocolate ganache, bourbon marshmallow, smoked honey and graham cracker ice cream of pastry chef Summer Genetti’s Lola S’More ($9). 2058 E. Fourth St., Cleveland, 216-621-5652, lolabistro.com