Cheap Eats 2019: Hot Lola’s

Cost:

Szechuan Province meets Nashville in Hot Lola’s chicken sandwich.

About Hot Lola’s

Cost:

Location(s)
4238 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, Virginia 22203-1823
Eat Great Cheap 2019

About Eat Great Cheap 2019

This article is a part of Washingtonian’s Eat Great Cheap feature, our annual list of where to eat (and not break the bank) right now. Our food editors put together the best new restaurants around DC where you can find Detroit-style pizza, Japanese egg-salad sandwiches, chicken-nugget-filled tacos, and more—for $25 or less per person.

The best reason to visit Ballston’s Quarter Market food hall is this hot-chicken sandwich place from Kevin Tien, also behind DC’s top-tier Himitsu. His menu features just a few things—fried-chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, Kewpie-mayo slaw, and curly fries. The standout offering is the Szechuan-meets-Nashville sando, layered with an ultra-crunchy, chili-oil-painted breast, plus cooling slaw and creamy comeback sauce on a sesame bun. Among the five heat levels, we go for the pleasantly searing OG hot and the tingly and numbing dry hot.


Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.

Food Editor

Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.

Jessica Sidman
Food Editor

Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.