There's been much ado about the burger at Lola - good and bad. But Lola serves another sandwich that should be on everyone's Houston comfort food radar. The behemoth creation, a combo of thickly sliced, roasted turkey breast, chunky cranberry sauce, and cornbread dressing stacked onto a sweet, buttered bun, is exactly what it sounds like - the Day after Thanksgiving. The clincher is the gravy, served on the side for drizzling, dipping, pouring or shooting. And yes, you'll think about taking shots of the very generic-looking but not at all generic-tasting brown gravy. It's tremendous and, according to inside sources, is "made with love."
Insert what you will about all the flavors melding and the perfect combo of sweet, tangy, salty, blah, blah, blah. What this sandwich does is fill the void in your hungry soul with a little taste of Thanksgiving to hold you over until November - sans the obnoxious relatives and Detroit Lions "football." It's a primal experience to shove that thick-ass sandwich smothered in gravy (ask for extra) right between your waiting lips and have that familiar taste delivered in one very messy bite, with a little dribble of gravy on your chin. It just feels right.
Once you get past the turkey euphoria, if you have any extra gravy left, put it to good use. Dip those mother-lovin' fries in it and have the poutine without the cheese curds. The fries are tasty on their own, however; they're nicely crisp and seasoned well with a mixture of salt, sugar and parsley (and probably other good stuff too), but it's a sin to let any of that gravy go to waste. Thank goodness my dining compadre had the wherewithal to order fries with her sandwich and the generosity to let me eat some...I'd ordered the side salad. The salad served the "greenery" purpose with gusto. The house-made pecan vinaigrette coats the field greens nicely and is vaguely sweet, with texturally satisfying pieces of pecan throughout. However, it can't compete with the fries dipped in gravy.
This sandwich will help you through the next six months of Thanksgiving-free dining, complete with a nap at the end.
