Wood Pizza & Bistro* (#316, 2/27/15)
Wood Pizza & Bistro seems like it will be a gold mine when there is nice weather. It has a lot of outside seating and is advertising it’s 4-6 happy hour. I will definitely come back for that. On a bitter cold February day, however, we had to sit inside. There are only three tables, a bar and a pizza bar (6-8 seats facing the “kitchen” area). The bar is very impressive, looks great, a lot of draft beers and good selection of other booze. As this was a quick lunch stop, we were very pleased when out tutti carne pizza – prosciutto, sausage, peperoni, maybe more meats. $16 total for the pizza and it came out very fast. It’s very thin crust cooked in the wood oven (I assume). Solid place. Hit it up for happy hour for sure.
Dis and Dat* (#315, 2/24/15)
A decent cheeseburger following a ridiculously long wait (45 minutes) does not make for a good lunch break. The place is small and cramped with limited parking and today it was freezing cold. Needless to say, not much of an impression made on me. I tried the burger with the sausage on top and like I said, it was decent, but after waiting as long as we did and being late back to work, it’s not worth risking it again.
Johnny Sanchez (#313, 2/4/15)
Good choice on Johnny Sanchez for a Pelicans pre-game stop. I highly recommend making it during Happy Hour (3-6). Half price drinks (includes cheap pitchers of house maragaritas) and $5 for pairs of tacos. They had a good-range of tacos and all seemed to be good-sized. I had a pair of pork tacos and a pair of chorizo/potato tacos. All solid. Good service at the bar and everyone was friendly with good decor. I’d go back.
Seed* (#308, 9/15/14) – 67
Definitely ventured out of my comfort zone on this trip to Seed. I am most definitely not a vegan-restaurant guy, but I thought I’d give it a try. It’s located in the old Blue Plate Diner building at the edge of the Garden District and the CBD on Prytania Street.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised; I’m not really one for tofu or “fake meats.” But I had a Seed Club Sandwich with hummus, avocado, tomato, sprouts and aioli and it was excellent. Not sure if there was anything different with the bread, but that was also good. The sandwich came with a quinoa salad which was also good – and they say loaded with protein. The macaroni and fake cheese was also decent, though doesn’t match up to mac and real cheese. There were a few other items I would consider trying as well, so as I said, pleasantly surprised. A very healthy meal, and also tasty. For food, I’m giving this a 37 ranking; sort of tempted to go higher because my rankings are often based on the type of place it is, so as far as vegan, this place is awesome in my opinion!
The atmosphere was also good. It’s a very bright and open place with the tables spread out well. A good place for lunch. I’ll give it a 20 out of 30 for atmosphere.
The service is going to get docked, unfortunately. There weren’t many people in the place, but it took a long time to get our food – over 30 minutes, which stinks when you’re on an hour lunch break. We asked for the check as soon as we received the food, but I guess they didn’t understand, as we had to ask again in order to try and rush out and get back to work. The server was friendly though, maybe just kitchen back-up? I’ll give it a 10 out of 20 for service.
Final score = 67.
Café Degas (#307, 9/12/14) – 71
Made a Friday evening visit to Cafe Degas on Esplanade Ave in Mid-City. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, and actually think I may have gone years ago, but never had it listed. It’s advertised as the longest running and most Gallic French Bistro in New Orleans. I wasn’t really sure what “Gallic” meant, but some wikipedia research leads me to believe it’s just an ancient name for the region of Europe which is now France.
We had 7:30 reservations for the dinner and I was very surprised to find the average age in the place to be about 65. It wasn’t THAT early! We were seated at a good seat on the “porch” area, which is an enclosed area at the front – they can open the windows, or plastic curtains or something. That would have been nice so we could watch the people and the street outside; of course, it would have sweated out the place, so not an option.
For food, I had…yikes, I can’t actually remember. It was the fish special with a tasty light/white fish, but I can’t remember what kind..perhaps amberjack. I know it was pretty good, but not a good sign that I don’t remember it. The perils of ordering a special, you can’t refresh the mind with a trip to their website. It came with squash and potatoes which were decent as well. We also had a cheese plate which was pretty good. They brought bread (I don’t like hard bread as much) and butter. Overall, I am going to rank the food as a 35, even though I don’t remember it!
For service, it was interesting. On some level, we definitely felt like outsiders. Almost like it was only a neighborhood place and we weren’t completely welcome. They weren’t rude, just not friendly. We chalked it up to being a “French” style thing or something, but who knows. Food and drinks came quickly, but refills were a little lacking. I’ll give it a 13 out of 20 for service.
The atmosphere was somewhat covered above with seating and the age of the other customers. I liked it; I like the old-house style and casual atmosphere. I really think it would be nice on a cooler day if the front was open air. Overall atmosphere is a 23 out of 30.
Final score = 71.