CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio – Lola’s Bistro, a stylish and classic Parisian bistro, will open on Monday, Sept. 8, in the space that was Rick’s Café for four decades, then Bell + Flower for six years.
For those who are curious, the Chagrin Falls restaurant is not a Michael Symon venture. Symon closed his Cleveland-based restaurant named “Lola Bistro” in 2020.
This version of Lola’s Bistro (note the possessive) is part of the Next Cool Restaurants Ventures, operated by restaurateur Rick Doody. NCR owns several restaurants in Northeast Ohio and Florida. Among them are 17 River Grille, Bar Fuoco and JoJo’s in Chagrin Falls, Bar Italia and Cedar Creek Grille in Beachwood and The Lakehouse in Cleveland’s Flat’s neighborhood.
Doody and Joe Saccone purchased the Lola’s space in late 2023 and began building a new restaurant with an old soul. They decided to name it Lola after Doody’s dog, something they playfully and subtly pull throughout the concept.
In nearly two years of construction, they made considerable changes to the space. The biggest were knocking out part of a 175-year-old brick wall that divided the patio and restaurant then turning it all into dining space as well as giving the business a new façade that brightens the interior.
The former patio is now a dining room with a roof and skylights vaulted over two faux olive trees. Both the original and the new dining rooms have accordion-fold windows that open to the street on warm days. Small café tables on the sidewalk provide prime people watching positions.
The interior space was designed by W Design, owned by Wendy Berry. Berry and Doody are married. The vibe is vintage, as if the black-and-white penny mosaic floor and the textured tin ceilings have always been there. A custom oak bar that stretches the length of the original room seems to have survived the ages.
“We want it to feel like we’ve been here 125 years,” said Tony Ciuprinskas, a executive assistant on the project.
Most of the tables, from France, have deep blue enamel tops. These are mixed in the dining rooms with marble tops and white table clothes. French blue and white dominate the color scheme.
The elevated ambiance is broken up with a playful dog motif. Dog statues welcome guests at the patio, dog busts pose on shelves and dog caricatures adorn dishware.
This is a place where details matter. Ciuprinskas quoted Doody as saying, “Our business is a business of a 10,000 details.”
Cleveland chef Michael Herschman is in charge of details in the scratch kitchen. In the past Herschman owned and operated both Lopez and Mojo restaurants in Cleveland Heights. Both are now closed.
“We’re looking to give people a tribute to classic bistro cuisine,” said Herschman. “The preparations are intrinsically detailed, but they’re simple traditional flavors.”
In France a bistro is a casual place where anyone might stop for a killer hamburger and tallow-fried pomme frites — or French comfort food — for lunch or the end of the workday. That’s a contrast to the more upscale “brasserie” style restaurant which requires fancier clothes for fancier food.
“We want to keep this approachable,” said Doody. “We want people to come back two, three times a week. We want it to be a hangout.”
The bistro has a full menu from hors d’oeuvres to sandwiches and salads as well as entrees and four steak frites options. The daily specials deserve attention including beef bourguignon, cassoulet, whole roasted chicken, lobster thermidor and bouillabaisse Marseilles.
Entrees range from $21 for coq au vin or a vegetable tian to short rib aux braises for $34.
The wine list is simple and mostly French, complemented by a craft cocktail program. A signature Tiny Tini offers a small vodka martini as a starter. Mocktails are also available.
Lola’s Bistro seats 21 at the bar and 167 in the dining room and sidewalk café spaces. It will open for dinner, then add lunch services. Reservations are available.
Lola’s is at 86 North Main Street, Chagrin Falls.
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Dining and Cooking