Review: Lola in Great Neck

Upscale. Innovative. Middle Eastern. Founder Michael Ginor was the son of Israeli expats, a globe-trotting gastronome and a partner in Hudson Valley Foie Gras, the country’s largest producer thereof. He sought to jam all his experiences and passions into one showstopping dining experience that was walking distance from his house. With Lola, he succeeded.

Ginor kept up the globe-trotting until he died in 2022. From 2012 onward, chef-partner Lenny Messina was his steady hand. Now entirely in Messina’s court, Lola hasn’t missed a beat, although a refreshed dining room is brighter and less loungy: The original brick wall remains, but the dark-wood floor has been replaced with lighter tile; gone are the red bulbs that once dramatically backlit the booths.

Messina streamlined the menu and ushered in a new emphasis on vegetables. Salads of roasted beets (with feta, watercress and mint) and romaine hearts (with spicy green-goddess and "tons of pecorino") now join Lola’s modern take on fattoush, the classic Middle Eastern chopped salad. Vegetarians will also gobble up the caramelized cabbage with rice and lentils or the honeynut squash with date-honey brûlée and strained yogurt. 

You'll find no better hummus on Long Island; whether naked or topped with roasted mushrooms or chicken shawarma, it reaches new heights of silky smoothness. Another great excuse to gorge on Lola's tender, puffy pita is a suave, smoky babaganoush, sweetened with pomegranate molasses. Two other unmissable starters: roasted cauliflower with lemon and tahini, and malawach, a rich-yet-flaky, Yemenite-style flatbread topped with mushrooms and roasted garlic. In fact you could have a grand meze meal composed entirely of starters, but that would mean missing the Hudson Valley duck with saffron rice or the roasted Hudson Valley chicken on sourdough croutons with sweet-and-sour onions and black truffles.

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