Crystal Wise
Aside from a handful of sandwich shops that have Cubanos on their menus, Cuban cuisine has been difficult to find in Fort Worth.
With their new restaurant, Lola’s Cuban Food, in the Southwest area of the city, Miquelin Herrera and Linaim Morin are helping change that.
For years, the married couple ran a popular food truck by the same name near downtown on Henderson Street. There, they built a following on the strength of their authentic Cuban fare.
Whenever they were asked about opening a permanent spot, the two always said the same thing: “Someday.”
That day came in April when the two opened a brick-and-mortar location in a strip mall on Bryant Irvin Road in the space last occupied by home cooking spot Rufus’ Bar & Grill.
Crystal Wise
It’s a spacious location, in both front of house and back. “It’s perfect for what we want to do here, which is more than just serve food,” Morin says. “We have live salsa music, DJs — we want it to be a whole experience.”
The extra legroom in the kitchen has allowed the couple to greatly expand their menu, which includes oxtails, pork chops, tamales, stuffed plantains, empanadas, and bistec encebollado, a classic Cuban dish made with steak and onions.
Most of the favorites from the food truck made the jump to the brick-and-mortar, including the Cuban sandwich and the excellent thick-cut plantain chips. For sides, there are now two kinds of yuca, fried or steamed; tostones; rice and beans; and three types of potatoes: stuffed, fried or mashed.
There are also several new seafood dishes, such as grilled lobster and stuffed squid.
“We couldn’t really do seafood in the truck, at least not how we wanted to do it,” Morin says. “You don’t know what you were missing until you get a full kitchen.”
The couple moved from Cuba to the U.S. in 2014 and launched the food truck five years later. Many of the recipes are based on those from Herrera’s grandmother for whom the truck and restaurant are named.
“The reason why we started the food truck in the first place was to give Cuban food more exposure here,” Morin says. “Not a lot of people know about Cuban food, but once they try it, they love it.”
4608 Bryant Irvin Road, Ste. 440, lolascubanfood.com
