Lola’s, a Spanish restaurant in New Orleans’ Bayou St. John neighborhood, is at risk of closing due to rising costs and declining customer visits, leading its owners to seek support from the community.
Pilar and Isabel Miranda, identical twin sisters who own the restaurant, said their late father, Angel Miranda, opened Lola’s on Esplanade Avenue in 1994 and named it after his mother.
“This is where all the magic happens,” Pilar Miranda said while walking a WDSU crew through the restaurant’s kitchen Tuesday.
After their father’s death in 2011, the sisters took over the restaurant, working to preserve his legacy. However, they said rising ingredient costs and fewer customers have made it difficult to keep the business afloat.
“The prices of food cost and just overall everything, even just our overhead for basic utilities, it’s just, it’s doubled,” Isabel said. “So yeah, it’s hard when you’re a small mom-and-pop restaurant having a corporate budget to really keep up.”
A few days ago, the sisters posted on social media to share their struggles and ask for help from their loyal customers. The announcement comes as several New Orleans businesses closed this summer, including Gris Gris on Magazine Street in July, shops in the French Quarter affected by construction barricades, and Stanley Restaurant near Jackson Square, which closed on Monday.
“A lot of these restaurants that did shut down didn’t really give the community, like, an opportunity to come and support prior, or letting anyone know or heads up like, ‘Hey, this is what’s going on,’” Isabel said. “So, I felt like this was the time for us to really say something before it got too bad.”
The community has responded to the call for help, like Adrian Breaux, a customer who traveled from Kenner to dine at the restaurant Tuesday night.
“We saw a post on Facebook that said that they were struggling a little bit and needed some love from the local community,” Breaux said during his meal. “Summertime is a hard time in New Orleans, and everybody really just needs to come out and show all their local small establishments some love because they need it.”
Longtime neighborhood residents who started eating at Lola’s when Angel Miranda first opened the place have also shown their support.
“We have lived in the neighborhood over 40 years. We were here when Lola’s started, and it’s a great place,” Vivian Cahn said while out to dinner with her husband and son.
Tuesday night, the restaurant was filled with the sounds of customers chatting and the aromas of Spanish cuisine. Pilar said her favorite dish is their garlic shrimp.
“I love olive oil. I love garlic. I love shrimp, lemon juice, wine and that is everything that is in this dish,” Pilar said. “So, I would say I stand on ten toes that this is probably our best tapa in-house for sure.”
WDSU asked Pilar whether eating the food at Lola’s reminds her of the place’s namesake, her grandmother.
“I actually never met my grandmother,” Pilar said. “She passed away before I was even born. But it does remind me of my father’s cooking.”
Which is why, for the Miranda sisters, keeping Lola’s open is deeply personal.
“I watched my father slave in this restaurant day in and day out, Isabel said. “We would hate for something that he left for us to go down the drain.”
With festival season in New Orleans approaching, the sisters said they hope the recent outpouring of love and support from the community will continue.
READ MORE:Lola’s restaurant in New Orleans seeks community support to avoid closure
