A new restaurant specializing in spicy chicken is now open in Ballston Quarter’s food hall.
Hot Lola’s is the one of the newest additions to the mall’s Quarter Market food hall and is helmed by Chef Kevin Tien from Petworth’s Himitsu. The menu features chicken sandwiches in four levels of spiciness, from mild to eye-watering. Each is $7.50 and topped with slaw, pickles and a special sauce.
Chicken tenders with slaw, pickles, and toast are available for $8.50 those who want to go bun-less.
Tien previously told Eater he use Sichuan chili oil and spices to flavor the signature sandwiches, making for a style that’s akin to Nashville hot chicken, but unique.
“The only question is, how hot do you want it?” reads Ballston Quarter’s website for the eatery.
Patrons can indeed order on a scale from “TOO HOT” down to “O.G. HOT” down to “Warm + Numbing,” according to the menu. A non-spicy version is also on the menu.
A 4 percent “Fair Wage + Wellness Provision” that pays for employee health insurance, as well as dental and vision, is added to the price.
“After careful research, we have come to the conclusion that this is the best way to reduce wage disparity and provide health benefits for all full time employees,” the restaurant wrote in an open letter about the fee. “No portion of this Hospitality Provision will go to ownership wages or investor dividends.”
The eatery is part of the 25,000 square-foot “food hall” in the newly-renovated Ballston Quarter mall, where only about half of the planned restaurants are open amid construction delays.
Ice Cream Jubilee opened in the space last Friday, following Hot Lola’s and Spanish small plate restaurant Copa Kitchen and Bar earlier this month. Mi & Yu Noodle Bar was the first Quarter Market eatery to open, on March 4. Korean rice bowl restaurant Rice Crook also appeared to be open earlier this week.
Second photo via Hot Lola’s Menu