Lola’s, A Louisiana Kitchen

My guess is it's the chargrilled oysters.

Whatever the reason, the fortunes of the restaurant location in the old Holsum bakery on West Charleston Boulevard seem to be taking a turn for the better.

If you're not familiar with the location, I'm not surprised. Since the old bakery was renovated a few years back, a couple of restaurants have occupied the site, but never seemed to catch on with the public.

It would seem that there's a dual threat to the longevity of Lola's, which opened in October. Las Vegas has had a succession of New Orleans-oriented restaurants over the years, and none of them was able to survive for very long. Yet here was a succession of people coming into Lola's on what should have been a slow weeknight. And I'm thinking the oysters deserve at least part of the credit, but maybe that's because I was positively thrilled when I learned Lola's would be serving them.

In 20 years in Florida I'd had, as you might imagine, a lot of oysters prepared a whole bunch of different ways and have a fondness for the squeaky/crunchy/rubbery little nuggets. So when, on a trip to New Orleans, dear friends who were living there tried to tempt us with a place in Metarie that served them chargrilled, I wasn't impressed. Until, that is, I tasted them, and had an oyster revelation.

I won't claim that Lola's oysters quite live up to those that prompted an epiphany, but they sure come close. They're grilled right within earshot, in an open space behind the bar. And our half-dozen ($11.49; a dozen is $19.99) arrived swimming in garlic, lemon and cheese (next time we'll ask for even more garlic) with a very appealing smoky taste, none of which overwhelmed their inherent flavor of the sea. In two of them the ocean flavor was a little too assertive -- always a risk with oysters -- but the others were more agreeable. And the grilled crusty bread was just perfect for soaking up all of the juice that had settled in the shells.

So let's just say we were off to a good start, but things didn't exactly go downhill from there. If you're not familiar with bronzing, think of it as a milder form of blackening -- basically the same spice skill set, but without a turn in the blazing-hot skillet to form the black crust, which sometimes is a little too crusty.

The bronzed catfish ($14.99) at Lola's was absolutely, positively perfect, the fish gently flaky, the coating just spicy enough. And a perfect foil for that fiery fish was a mound of grits, rendered mellow with the addition of Gouda, and an earthy, meaty ragout of andouille sausage and mushrooms.

Chicken and sausage jambalaya ($9.99) was a characteristically soulful melange that was, in true Cajun fashion, much more than the sum of its parts. Lola's also offers an option of adding some shrimp perched on top ($3), and they were steamed perfectly.

We had planned to save room for dessert but had failed because we had cleaned our plates, but we weren't about to capitulate without some of Lola's bread pudding ($5.99), and indeed it was a custardy triumph, crowned with a just-sweet-enough rum sauce.

Service throughout was excellent, our waiter personable and professional. The decor is fairly simple, with a few of the expected Mardi Gras beads but not so many as to be kitschy, and the blues/zydeco/I swear a bit of bluegrass music adds a lot of atmosphere. Paper place mats were fine, but cloth napkins would be a big improvement on the paper ones now in use. So we had a couple of quibbles, decidedly minor.

I heard reports that Lola's Saints banner was stolen right around the time of the Superbowl, so right now, the restaurant is flagless. But in a figurative sense, I'll say this of any banner that Lola's should bear:

Long may it wave.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.