Lola, Minnesota, Ahhhhhhhhh

Pizzeria Lola

5557 Xerxes Ave. S.

Minneapolis, MN 55410

(612) 424-8338

http://www.pizzerialola.com

First of all BIG props to this place for not claiming Neapolitan.  They simply say that they create artisan pizzas, correct.  Neapolitan is something altogether different and very specific.  Simply having a wood fired oven and thin crust DOES NOT MAKE YOUR PIZZA NEAPOLITAN!  This pisses me off so much that I'll be yelling a blog out soon about that.  Back to this gem.

A Korean immigrant opened this place, from what I gather from her website (the place was super busy when I was there and no time to chat....next time) and this place rocks.  The crust is thin yet the edge is delightfully thick and pillowy, chewy yet there is a bit of a pull, blistered a bit and very flavorful, you can taste the yeast, feel the bubbles, really nice.  And although the house combination pizzas have quite a few toppings the dough holds up very well.

The oven, ahhhh the beautiful oven.  Really nice and the centerpiece of the restaurant.  I love an exhibition kitchen and none are better than this one.  This oven is almost smack dab in the middle of the dining room, very cool.

I had the Lady Zaza.  Kimchi, housemade korean sausage, serrano peppers, other asian flavors.  Sofaking good.   I don't think I shared more than a slice.  I really enjoyed this one.  Very original and done quite well.  Reminds me of the mashed potato pizza at Urbn in San Diego.  I avoided that one for a long time, sounded stupid and lame to put mashed potatoes on a pizza, but man is it good, my favorite at Urbn.  I'll be going there soon so I'll hold further comments till I can give it a proper presentation.

Cousin Dan had this beauty, the Sunnyside (obviously named because of the eggs).  There's other stuff on it as well but the main attraction is the egg, obviously.  And again, done very well.  I doubt I would ever order this on my own but I was happy to try a slice.

This one was too far down the table so I have no idea what it was other than the obvious arugula. 

Mushroom-ish one and the standard Margherita, both were yumm.

I love this one.  All the family, long table, many pizzas, what a great night.

Cousins Dan, Heather, and Breah

Cousins Ben, Dawn, and baby Olivia

Cousins Mike and Katy

And for some reason I don't have a photo of Jim and Corinne who were also there, and a very important part of the night and my life, very much.  I'm an idiot, at times.

DVA