Honey Loaf* (#293, 4/1/14) – 52
Dropped in at another downtown lunch spot and had a decent meal at the Honey Loaf. Though I have to say, there were some flaws. It is located on Canal Street, right on the edge of the French Quarter, so the neighborhood is a little shady, but the place was a neat little location with an interesting set-up.
I’ll start with the atmosphere; again, the location is a little shady, but not a problem at lunch time. The inside is pretty nice. You order at the counter and they will bring your food to you. There are a variety of tables, as well as some comfortable couch seating areas. It almost has the feel of a relaxing coffee shop. There was some light music playing, some art on the walls (including a funky-designed wall just outside to the river side of the place). I’ll give it an 18 out of 30 for atmosphere.
The food was good; basic sandwiches, salads and wraps. I had the bacon brava sandwich which had turkey, bacon (of course) and avocado (nice and fresh) on sliced white bread. All pretty good, but…the name of the place is “Honey Loaf.” I thought they would use some special honey loaf bread for their sandwiches. But okay, maybe not. However, on the menu for salads, it reads, “All salads come with a signature honey loaf and cinnamon honey butter.” Now THAT sounds tasty. I didn’t see an option to order it on its own, but figured I could check it out with the salad that was also ordered by my table. Nope. No honey loaf with the salad. Checking other tables, no signs of honey loaf. Were they out of honey loaf? What’s the story here? I’m sure we could have asked, but that’s not really the point. It’s called “Honey Loaf.” You can’t forget to give people the honey loaf. I don’t know if this is a service issue or a food issue, but I’ll dock them both. Food is a 25 out of 50. EDIT: Interestingly, the owner saw my review on Yelp and offered me a free lunch to try again, so I did. Again, a decent sandwich. And she gave me some of the honey loafs; they were pretty good, but basically a hot muffin with butter. I’ll boost it to a 29 out of 30 for food.
The service was decent; relatively fast to get a salad and a sandwich. But the table next to ours had one salad delivered and 10 minutes later, when the sandwich didn’t show up, the young woman had to go ask. They said, “Oops, we must have lost the ticket.” Again, it happens, but it seems like if you delivered a meal to one person at a table, you may notice that the other person didn’t have anything. There were only three tables occupied, so not like they were swamped. Add this to the honey loaf issue and the service gets a nine out of 20. EDIT: I have to boost the service some after they offered to “make things right.” It still seemed a little chaotic in there and it wasn’t mobbed. I’ll go to 12 out of 20 for service.
Final score = 52. EDITED SCORE: 59.