When I imagine Des Moines, Iowa, I’d never think oh, that’s where somebody would start a Filipino Pakistani fusion restaurant. Fortunately, Taufeek Shah and his family have more imagination than I do. Not only do they own Lola’s Fine Kitchen, but they have a line of Lola’s Fine Hot Sauce. So even if you can’t make it to Des Moines to try Iowa’s first Filipino fusion restaurant, you can buy their hot sauces online or in stores.

Hot sauce beginnings

The hot sauce name comes from the family matriarch, Taufeek’s mother, whom everybody calls Lola, the Filipino name for grandmother. While it all sounds very folksy, Lola is Carmelita Shah, a retired physician.  In 2015, Taufeek learned to make hot sauce when his mother shared her secret recipe. Everybody who tried it loved it, and soon Taufeek was bottling it and selling it at farmers’ markets around the Des Moines area.

The Shahs opened Lola’s Fine Kitchen in 2018. While it’s not a vegan restaurant, there are lots of veg choices on the menu. And all the hot sauces are vegan.

The flavors of Lola’s Fine Hot Sauce

The sauce comes in six flavors: Ghost Pepper, Trinidad Scorpion, Carolina Reaper, Family Reserve, Buffa-Lola (Buffalo) and Green Jalapeno.  The Family Reserve is the hottest I’ve tried so far. It’s very good, and quite hot. My only gripe is that the opening in the bottle is too big, so before you know it, you’ve flooded your plate with hot, hot sauce.

If you’re shopping for a hot sauce lover, Lola’s has very reasonably priced gift options. You can buy a six-pack of five-ounce hot sauces in a gift box for $44.99. Or, if you really want to show your hot sauce loving friend than you  understand them, buy them a half gallon of their favorite sauce. Imagine their excitement when they pull off the wrapping paper and reveal 64 ounces of Lola’s Carolina Reaper Fine Hot Sauce. You’ll blow them away for only $24.99.

In April 2021,  Lola’s was one of 175 small businesses to join the big companies at Walmart, the biggest big box store of all. That’s an impressive jump from the Des Moines farmers’ market circuit. It’s always wonderful to have another vegan product on Walmart’s shelves, and to see a small brand make it big.