Lola’s Chicken Shack

This was my first time here at Lola and I got to say Best Freaking Chicken Tenders I have ever had in my lifetime the size of the chicken strips are amazing and when I tried different BBQ sauces they offered omg that was the icing on the cake omg. If I could give you guys some more stars I would. Until next time love you guys.

Lola’s chicken tenders are amazing. They’re super flavorful and very reasonable priced. They’re crispy on the outside and crazy moist in the inside. They’re levels above any fast food chicken tenders and on par with some of the best that I’ve tried. If you’re feeling carby then you can get them in a sandwich. Either a Semifreddis roll or a waffle. They got a wide range of sauces you can choose from, ranging from strawberry BBQ to basil pesto. Another cool thing about this place? They’re vegetarian friendly and their sides are super delicious too.

I’m going to keep it brief. They have two types of tenders. Regular and the other is like a specialty tender with sesame and I believe peanut. OMG get the specialty tenders they are worth it.
Mac n cheese: just buy it (cut a chunk of chick into pieces and garnish)
Cheesy fries: super crisp. Thinly cut. Topped with bacon. Buy them.
The sandwiches: Disappointing. I feel like the sour dough roll overpowers the delicately seasoned tenders. The bread is way to thick they need to cut it
Great place lovely location.

Got the Cabo Chicken Sandwich and it was pretty good! The price is decent for the amount of food. Will be going here again if I’m ever craving some local chicken.

I will be honest, I am usually cautious about anything made with chicken breast. It probably years of disappointment with dry crumbly crusts married to stringy and equally dry chicken inside.
Since my first experience at Lola’s was to support the local Boy Scouts, I felt it was for a good cause and the price was reasonable, so worse case, I would have to bring home the tasteless shoe soles for a salad later on.
Well, to my surprise, the chicken strips offered did not disappoint. As a matter of fact, my son and I both finished our 3 piece orders with a side of fries on top of that!
Now, taste is ALWAYS subjective. But if something is dry as cardboard, that is usually very tangible. Not with Lola’s Signature recipe chicken strips that I had nor the Classic ones my son had. Dry, crispy outside, no oil dripping or creating an oil slick on the plate. That tells me the temperature of the cooking oil was just right.
The inside… Wow. Moist, tender, evenly cooked throughout and almost falls apart when you bite into it. This is how chicken breast should be cooked!
With the plethora of available sauces, there is something for everyone, even if it is ketchup (which my son chose, I had the Chipotle mayo, yum!)
Pros:
Cooked evenly and not dried out
Crispy crust but not overly cooked
Price is very reasonable for what you are getting (comparable to fast food pricing)
Fast service
Friendly staff — family run business
Cons:
Food presentation is a little lack luster (we do eat with our eyes first don’t we?)
Parking can be challenging on weekends
May cause me to come here more than a few times a month!

great chicken– get the signature!- great prices (i can feed my family of 5 for less than $ 30) — and great friendly service!
This is a super family friendly spot that I take my 3 kids under 10 and never feel pressure to make them «sit down and be quiet» like at many other restaurant.

Ordered a flamethrower, a honey mustard, and two fries. The flamethrower and one fries came in five minutes, the rest is… well, no idea. I’ve been sitting here for twenty minutes, during which time I asked the hostess twice and was assured both times it was coming – still no sandwich. I understand things can get hectic at lunch, but MANY sandwiches came out of the kitchen while I was waiting, and for people that ordered long, long after me. Literally an entire high school lunch wave came and went between when I ordered my lunch and now – still sandwich-​less! The person I was eating with waited patiently until I convinced them to eat without me, at which point their sandwich was cold. Truly disappointing.
I mean, I understand missing an order – it happens when things get crazy. But being reminded twice, promising to fix it both times, and doing nothing? They obviously had the capacity to deliver my sandwich – sandwiches were coming out of the kitchen ten per minute – but the hostess simply was not capable of getting my order made.
Very bad experience, will not recommend.
Update: In the end, it took a full 35 minutes for my chicken sandwich to come. Twice (literally twice) a waitress stopped by with a container of honey mustard sauce, when I had clearly stated (and clearly restated) that we were waiting for a honey mustard SANDWICH. Some vague promises of a compensatory dessert were mentioned (and unfulfilled), along with many excuses to the tune of «you can’t always get it right» and «sometimes we just can’t plan ahead like we’d like to». To clarify, I was nothing but polite the entire time – no tirades, no self-​righteous yelling or anything. I did nothing to warrant this treatment – it was simply a case of the staff not caring enough to make sure a customer got their lunch.

So delicious and very reasonably priced. The staff was very friendly and very attentive for being a casual restaurant. I had the baja salad. It was amazing! The chicken was fried to perfection. I also has a cuo of the Buffalo chicken soup. It was creamy and just a tad spicy. I would definitely reccomend it. I cant wait till im back in the area so I can come in again and try some other items.

Dear Lola’s, thank you for being consistently amazing each time we visit you! My five year old is a very picky eater, but she will beam with joy if I tell her that we’re getting Lola’s Mac for lunch. If you want to order like my family, get the 5 piece chicken tenders meal w/​fries (get 2 pieces signature and 3 pieces grilled), Lola Mac, onion rings, and an extra order of fries. Get that delicious chipotle mayo for your dipping sauce. And if you’re feeling hungry, also get the Asian salad with the signature chicken.
You know what, I feel darn good about spending my money here because they support the community. They do many «Dine & Donate» events where they will donate a portion of their sales. We went to the one they had during Christmas time and were able to get photos taken with Santa. And did you know that they were awarded «2016 StopWaste Business Efficiency Award» for their efforts to reduce waste that gets sent the landfill?
BTW: No, we don’t work at Lolas, we’re not related to anybody to works at Lolas, or affliated with them in any way — we’re just their #1 fans and we want everybody to know that. We heart Lolas’s!

Not gonna lie, came here as an alternative. I’ve been here once and it was a good impression so I didn’t see why I haven’t come back since.
Very satisfied with a home-​y meal. Chicken and waffles sandwich is great, honey mustard kinda made my bottom waffle very soggy, but not gonna lie, that’s some good sauce.
Tried the flamethrower chicken sandwich because I love me some spice and this definitely had that kick. The chicken wasn’t dry at all, but the bread bun was kinda what brought it down. It was just left kinda «fresh» and cold. It was tougher to chew. If it was toasted and had a bit more sauce, lettuce, tomato or something, that would bring it up a notch.
The lady who worked the front was also very nice.
Overall, it hit the spot.

Disclaimer that we ordered delivery via Caviar. So, it maybe more tasty if eaten fresh at restaurant. Our food was room temperature when it arrived.
Fries were solid. Chicken tenders were ok. Nothing really special about the flavor or texture. We ordered grilled, classic, and signature. I thought the cost was reasonable.

Hand’s down the juiciest tastiest chicken strips you’ll ever have. Downside is that it’s just a chicken strip… Well the upside is they incorporate chicken strips into almost everything. I tried their Chicken and Waffle Sandwich and was very surprised. And everything else they serve Mac and Cheese, Cookies, soups are pretty average.
All of the times I’ve been there it’s never been too busy which I consider a plus Customer service is consistently good. The owners are there most of the time with only a few exceptions.
Metered street parking but you can use the coin metered parking lot in the back of Citibank and walk through the alley (but this is pretty hard to find).

I’ve bookmarked Lola’s since they opened, but I never made my way to Alameda– or I did but I didn’t find parking, so I opted for something else.
But finally, one day, I decided it was time to try and see what all the hype was about. I read the reviews and they were pretty mixed in terms of the place. So I went in with a blank slate, hoping to see what will impress my taste buds.
It’s a pretty small place and takes over this AMAZING bakery that used to be there when I was in high school. There’s a decent amount of places to sit. It’s an order and then seat yourself concept.
Ever walk into a place and then you just stare at the menu? You can read and understand English really well, but for some reason you just stare at the menu and you glaze over the words and nothing make sense to you. For the weirdest thing, I felt that way and I just stood there lost staring at the menu. It wasn’t difficult or anything or overwhelming, I just was confused. Haha must of been a ditz moment.
My partner ordered 5 piece chicken tenders (7.39) for us and a side of cheese fries (4.57) (since it was a special and the picture looked good). The chicken tenders are hand breaded and comes three different ways of your choice: classic, signature, and fire grilled We opted for the classic and since it was the 5 piece, it came with 3 choices of their signature sauce. I got the honey bbq, the honey mustard and the zesty ranch.
First off, the prices are super weird here but I guess they figure that in with tax and what not.
Secondly, the food came out really fast like less than 10 minutes and was served to us.
Thirdly, let’s talk about the food.
The chicken tenders were SUPER juicy and breaded so well. It was perfect, I mean I have nothing to complain about and for the price, it was worth it. The portion was pretty huge that I had to cut it with a knife to eat it. If you were to come here for anything, get the chicken tenders. I wasn’t impressed with the sauce at all. It was solid, like hard and when you dipped your chicken in, it was a glob. Must of just been sitting in the fridge the entire time– they need to at least keep it at room temperature. Despite the different variety of sauces, I felt that they were all about the same concept and taste. I only liked the honey bbq, the other two was meh. Should of just gotten 3 of the same sauce.
The cheese fries was their fries with lola mac 4 cheese sauce drizzled over the top of the fries and topped with piece of honey cured bacon. The fries itself were perfectly fried and crispy. The sauce actually took away from the fries and made it soggy. I love mac and cheese, but this sauce was not the business and skimped on the bacon.
We also got an order of the mac and cheese, and I wasn’t a fan. Love the idea of using shell macaroni since you can get a lot more cheese in the hole but it wasn’t cheesy. It was just more like. heavy on the cream and grainy. Nothing impressive and it was barely luke warm/​cold to eat.
I normally would of gotten the chicken and waffle sandwich, but like I said, I just got so confused by the menu and plus, I saw some other people get it and heard comments like it was soggy and the chicken was better.
With some sauce adjustments, I’d probably come back just for the chicken tenders they were breaded to perfection and cooked so juicy. They have a coke machine and serve beer here.
Come and try it at least once?

Busy after the high school lets out; very busy!
Lola’s totally keeps their word and delivered. And I felt kinda bad about taking them up on their offer. But, as soon as I started eating those onion rings (those onion rings though), I forgot what the kerfuffle was all about.
I no longer felt bad. I now need more onions covered in a crunchy panko shell and fried until the outside is crispy and the inside melts upon saliva contact. Really, this is the only way onions should be served at all times. Always. Forever and ever.

This place has such a funny name but the food is no joke! They are known for chicken dishes and they do it very well. Offerings range from tenders to sandwiches/​wraps — even soups and salads. Great spot for lunch.
It’s a fast casual type of place where you order first at the register, then given a number stand, and you go find a seat. Décor is all CHICKEN RELATED (art, quotes) –HILARIOUS. Bathroom is kept pretty clean which is much appreciated. A couple TVs mounted on the wall which makes it a cool spot to catch some sports while you eat.
My usual is the 3 piece (5 if I’m starving haha) grilled chicken tenders — portions are generous & that’s usually enough for me. The chicken is tender & juicy. You can also mix & match (grilled plus fried) One order comes with your choice of 3 dipping sauces & there’s a huge array of them. I always pick the ones that are more unique. I’ve also tried their chicken curry soup which was quite tasty as well.
Great casual lunch spot on the island!

Lola’s Chicken Shack has great chicken fingers. I ordered the signature fingers with spicy, slightly crunchy breading, sesame seeds, and almond pieces. Very tasty. The chicken itself was fresh, very juicy and filling. I ordered four. After half of the fries and only three pieces I had to throw in the towel.
The fries were crunchy and slightly seasoned. Two sauces come with the four fingers, I ordered BBQ, ranch and ($) spicy ranch. I wasn’t feeling too adventures that day. The sauces complimented the chicken and fries.
The chicken and fries were hot and fresh and there are plenty of sauce options; the service was great. I heard there are things other than chicken fingers and fries if you’re interested.
I sought out a chicken finger place in the Bay Area during a short trip and Lola’s delivered.

I’m really excited to graduate college this year. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s going to be bittersweet for sure. At the end of it, at least I’ll have a thousands-​of-​dollars prize: a diploma in the Bachelors of Sciences for Unilocalology.
All the skills I’ve learned to this date are really paying off. Now, when my friends are in a total bind on where to eat, I can quickly pull up my trusty Unilocal app and peruse through my bookmarks and find a place I had already been previously interested in. If that isn’t sufficient enough, I can activate the GPS powers of my smartphone and find the best joints in the area. I truly have the power, and it’s all thanks to the hard work I’ve done.
In this case, I wanted to play a day in Alameda, and Lola’s Chicken Shack consistently showed up as one of the top spots on the island. Since it was literally across the street from the arcade I wanted to hit up, it just was an easy choice. Parking is somewhat of a hassle – you have to get lucky with street parking or go to one of the dedicated lots and shell out some change (except on Sundays!).
Lola’s is in the heart of Downtown Alameda, which is a really nice and quaint neighborhood that serves as a pretty sharp contrast to the areas of Oakland that loom nearby. Families and couples are plentiful, and it just seems like a really wholesome and pleasant area. Lola’s itself is filled with the same demographic, and it’s brightly colored with two TVs and tons of paintings of chickens to really emphasize a welcoming atmosphere.
The style of ordering is such that you go up to the counter, order, get a number, sit down, and get served your food. I went with the flamethrower sandwich since I’m super fire all the time. OK, that simply is not true. I just like spicy food, I guess. My brother got the Lola’s chicken sandwich (the classic chicken with coleslaw), and we both agreed to share some cheesy fries with bacon bits.
The food came out pretty quickly – under ten minutes – and the sandwiches were served with some nice crunchy bread. The chicken itself was crispy and light – pretty good! The sandwich as a whole was lacking to me, however, as I could only really taste the chicken and the semi-​spicy sauce they spread onto the bread. Not much more really shined through at all, and it wasn’t amazing, to put it shortly.
The cheesy fries basically tasted like french fries with the sauce from macaroni and cheese on top with bacon bits mixed in. It wasn’t anything special to me, and I could only really try to get through it instead of totally enjoying it.
All in all, Lola’s was just average to me. Cool atmosphere, good service, but the food itself wasn’t incredible.
Source: Tremaine E., B.S. in Unilocalology, Class of 2016.

I’ve passed by Lola’s many times on my walks up and down Park St. From the outside, it didn’t seem busy so I never went in. However my craving to find good chicken strips got the better of me and the different dipping sauce options called out to me.
I ordered 4 piece tenders, 2 original and 2 signature, so that I could try both. All were nicely fried but the signature was my favorite. It was a little spicy and the sesame seeds and flavor were spot on. They are lightly breaded and juicy, even after a bus ride home with me.
The only reason why I didn’t give it 5 stars was because the chipotle mayo sauce was bland and the pesto tasted like it came out of a jar. While I was waiting, many people ordered their tenders with BBQ sauce. With all the different sauce options, I’m sure I’ll find the right ones for me!
I will definitely go back and try other sauces. The workers were friendly and I only waited about 7 – 8 minutes for my food to come out!

Located in lovely downtown Alameda (Home of the Nuclear «Wessels»!), Lola’s Chicken Shack (LCS) appeared on my radar when I was scouting out places to eat close-​by the USS Hornet. After a long morning there we were ready to chow down – and after seeing Chicken & Waffles (C&W) on their menu I was down!
C&W– This is an interesting take on C&W, as it comes out in a sandwich form. You get two tenders sandwiched between two of their homemade Green Onion Waffles, and topped with Bacon, Tomatoes, Lettuce and their signature Maple-​Mustard Sauce. While that sounds pretty good, something about it just didn’t work for me. I think I wasn’t a fan of the Maple-​Mustard Sauce and the Waffles themselves were much too floppy. It would’ve been much better with just some Maple Syrup and kick the mustard to the curb. Overall, too much savory and not enough sweet. 2.5*
Lola’s Mac & Chicken– This was an excellent rendition of this classic dish; the four cheese blend was velvety and rich, and the chunks of chicken tenders gave it a nice, meaty crunch! 4*
Lola’s Homemade Potato Chips– Always nice to see places that are willing to make their own house-​made potato products, so we had to give these a whirl. While crispy, and not greasy, I felt like they were a bit burnt and needed some kind of seasoning to put them over the top. 2.75*
Service & Ambiance– LCS is my favorite type of lunch establishment, where you order and pay at the front; take your number; grab a table and the food is brought out to you. The service was fast, friendly and brought the food out to us pretty quickly – but not *too* quickly. The store is clean, well-​lit and has a silly/​quirky chicken motif that I dug. 4*
Value– This is definitely LCS’s strength, as we were able to feed three adults and a child for just over $ 30! That’s almost unheard of these days – especially for a place that makes most of their food in-​house. 5*
While I wasn’t too impressed with their rendition of C&W, everything else about LCS was pretty good, and it’s hard to beat their value. My advice is to stick to just their Tenders and Mac & Cheese. LCS gets a mild recommendation for a decent, inexpensive meal.

This is about my fifth time dining here. My daughter and I love the food and it’s a very unique cozy dining experience. We enjoy coming to Lola’s.
The dining room is usually filled with the irresistible presence of Andrea (I hope I have that right) who makes your experience incredible with her fearless positive energy. A unique and extraordinary treasure! Andrea remembered us from a previous visit and we keep our fingers crossed that she will be there each time we visit!
But if Andrea is not there, you will be faced with a terse, disinterested staff who don’t make eye contact or move any facial muscles when taking your order. There will be no greeting. There will be no engaged response to questions. I even felt surprised we made it through the transaction with zero engagement. I’d have to say if it weren’t for my admiration for Nancy the owner and Andrea in the dining room, I would never come back after the disinterested, terse service arduously delivered by the other members of the staff. My last experience demonstrated such a stark contrast. Two registers ringing two sets of customers. To my right, Andrea taking an order at the counter gleefully answering questions and making suggestions. My cashier? Almost seemed angry. :sigh:
I hope Lola’s owners sharply lower their tolerance for some of their personnel’s stark lack of interest and ice cold demeanor — the warmth and charm of the atmosphere evaporates immediately when you get one of them. I’m certain many silent customers just choose not to return after a visit with zero engagement. I’d hate to see yet another earnest and sincere business owner lose even a single patron to staff who just doesn’t care enough to take some small interest in their guest’s experience. They have some great role models in that building!
Lots of love and careful energy goes into the preparation of the food at Lola’s! A few small inconsistencies aside, this is extraordinary food that is set apart from ordinary by bold flavor a and fresh ingredients!
Thanks Nancy and Andrea for another great experience! See you soon!