Sunday, February 13, 2011

Pizzeria Lola & Cocina del Barrio Reviews

Recently, I checked out a few relatively new restaurants in the area, that I had to update you all on.

First, a few girlfriends I checkout Pizzeria Lola in Southwest Minneapolis. If you check out the website, be sure to read the owner's story, it's amazing about quitting the climb up the corporate latter and pursuing her dream of a restaurant.

The food there was amazing! We started with two pizzas to split between the four of us, the Seasonal Pizza that contained: Butternut squash, spaghetti squash, brown butter, Taleggio & sage. Plus, the Sweet Italian that was topped with a delicious red sauce, smooth mozzarella, onions, provolone and sausage.

The Seasonal Pizza, hands down, a favorite

As wonderful as the pizza was, the dessert is what really took the cake here. They have a house made, soft-serve ice cream that was beyond words. So creamy and smooth, I can't even begin to describe how delicious it tasted. Plus, the fresh and warm chocolate chip cookies we paired it with, made it even more wonderful.

My mouth is watering just looking at this right now

I'm a gal who lives for dessert, and this was right up my alley.

This week, Ben and I tried the latest addition to the Barrio franchise, Cocina del Barrio in Edina with some friends. This Barrio is more food centric, with more food options, but still has a great drink menu and tequila selection like the other locations.

We started with their delicious chips, salsa and guacamole, which are seriously some of the best I've ever had no matter which location you go to.


For the main course, Ben had the Chicken Tostada and a Skirt Steak Taco. He liked both, but said he felt the tostada was built up with a lot of greens and didn't have a lot on the meat side to give it substance.
Ben and his Tostada

I had the Pork Carnitas Taco and the Potato Sopes. The Potato Sopes were filled with Goat Cheese, and a spicy salsa, and I just loved them! I was so glad I took a leap to try something brand new.

Potato Sopes

I absolutely love trying out new restaurants with friends, especially during these cold, winter months when we all feel so trapped in doors. Going to Barrio this past week was a great way to break up the work week, where we can fall into such a boring routine. We left that night feeling fat and happy!



1 comment:

Ann said...

You look lovely, and that food looks delicious! I'm always nervous to try new restaurants, but those both sound AWESOME! :)