The Lol-Ha Restaurant Story

Lol-Ha has been around since the 80s. What is now the round palapa bar at the Lol-Ha Beach Bar was the entire restaurant that the daughter and son-in-law of the owner of the property took over to serve drinks on the beach. Their entire staff consisted of one bartender, and one young man for clean up and assistance.

Over time, they expanded the palapa bar to include a snack bar. They taught their crew to make good hamburgers and fries, and their crew taught them to make good cochinita pibil, a classic Mayan dish. Being chief cooks and bottle washers gave them fantastic experience and great camaraderie with their staff.

As time went by, the snack bar grew in popularity but the original small beach bar palapa still exists and serves as the bar today! The restaurant next door opened afterwards and that is when the name Lol-Ha was given to all the food service areas.

Lol-Ha means “flor de agua” in Maya. Water Flower. Hence the Lotus flower logo originally used. Lol-Ha started out as a semi-open air restaurant, but burned down due to fireworks on the beach. It was rebuilt into a more permanent structure as it looks now. Today, the food ranges from beach-friendly bar food that you can eat in your swimsuit with your toes in the sand, to seriously delicious unique dishes using local fresh ingredients in a more upscale setting.

The great thing about having good food on the beach is that there is no dress code in any of the dining areas!