Biscuits & Buns on Banks (#296, 4/13/14) – 70
Living in a new neighborhood means I probably have to find a new go-to breakfast joint, so I tried Biscuits & Buns on Banks. It was a good stop for sure. Solid food, a bit of a wait and a little pricey, but I recommend it.
Starting with the wait. It’s a small place, maybe 8-10 tables, so you’re going to have to wait if you go for breakfast/brunch on a weekend. Just the nature of weekend breakfast in New Orleans (except for Pepperoni’s usually). But once you get inside, they take care of you quickly and the food comes quickly. I’ll group this all in service, for which the only real negative I saw was a low-personality waitress, which could be attributed to it being about noon on a Sunday and she had probably been going for a while. The owner/manager was also bouncing around and she was very friendly. Out of 20 for service, I’ll give it a 16.
The atmosphere was also good. It was a fun little breakfast joint. While waiting, you can stand outside or sit if the bench is available. In addition, if you want something to take the edge off the night before, you can wander to Banks Street Bar next door and go for a bloody mary – they will call your mobile when your table is ready. Once inside, the thing that jumped at me was that it is very clean! You walk through the kitchen to get to the tables and you can see everything and it looked spotless, which is impressive following a full Sunday morning. I’m giving it a 24 out of 30 for atmosphere.
The food was also excellent. I just had an omelet but it was very well done with excellent sliced sausage links and plenty of cheese. The breakfast potatoes needed something extra, not much taste there. I haven’t been able to find a menu online, but they had a wide-range of much-heavier dishes and some interesting variety. If you’re looking for some fun, different breakfast options, I think you can find them here. And as far as its namesake…the biscuits were okay. As someone commented to me, “Uh oh, that’s not good.” But they weren’t bad, just not really anything sensational, maybe a little dry, as biscuits often tend to be. Anyway, for food, I’ll give it a 30.
Final score = 70.
Nonna Mia* (#295, 4/5/14) – 72
With my new Mid-City neighborhood, I have opened up a whole new region of restaurants. My first stop since the move was at Nonna Mia Cafe on Esplanade Ave. It’s walking distance to my house and seemed like a good stop for a late Sunday lunch. And we were right about that!
The food was excellent, though perhaps a little pricey for a casual Sunday – need to keep in mind that they have small plate options for many of the meals. They have a wide-range of foods: pasta, salads, paninis, pizza, calzones, etc. So probably by avoiding the more expensive items on the menu, I could have avoided the meal being a little pricey. Regardless, I went for the tortellini, which was outstanding. And it looked very cool, fun mardi-gras style. 
Also saw a salad, the lobster ravioli and a huge chicken sandwich. All were well reviewed by my group. For food, I’ll give it a 37 out of 50. High score!
The atmosphere was also good. I didn’t explore the inside seating much, but they have a great outdoor patio which we enjoyed a lot. I’ll give it a 22 out of 30 for atmosphere.
The service was decent, though it featured a common theme of New Orleans restaurants, the waitress may have been lost for a bit. So we waited awhile for the check, but no big deal. The food came out reasonably fast and no issue with drink refills. I’ll give it a 13 out of 20 for service.
Final score = 72. Nicely done.
Blind Pelican* (#294, 4/4/14) – 69
Dropped in at the Blind Pelican on St. Charles Ave on a Friday afternoon for the much talked about happy hour. And it was a good stop. The oysters are extra cheap during happy hour – $3/dozen), the atmosphere is good with solid indoor and outdoor seating, and the drinks are reasonably priced as well.
Starting with the food here – the raw oysters were good; they were also huge. For me, that’s not necessarily a good thing, but most people like that. I also tried the char-grilled oysters; some online reviews had knocked them, but they tasted good to me. We closed with the crawfish quesadillas ($9.95), which were just okay. Nothing to complain about, just not spectacular. It was a lot of food though. I was stuffed after the combination. For food, I’ll give it a 33 out of 50.
The atmosphere was good for a happy hour place. It was semi-crowded, but not crazy noisy. There was a wide variety of people which always livens up the people-watching opportunities. It has tv’s and as mentioned, indoor and outdoor seating. For a happy hour stop, I’ll give it a 23 out of 30 for atmosphere.
The service was decent as well, though right on the edge of not being great. Every time we began to think our waitress may have forgotten about us (or gone home), she would appear, so she cut it close, but overall good. Also, food and drinks were relatively prompt. I’ll give it a 13 out of 20 in service.
One weird thing, which I’m not sure how to categorize it, was with the happy hour menu. It took some time, but I believe the happy hour special is just on raw oysters. However, to get that special, you need to order a round of drinks.
Final score = 69.
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.
Munch Factory* (#292, 3/14/14) – 68
I don’t venture out to the Lakefront too often, but had some business in the neighborhood, so worked in a lunch at The Munch Factory. While it’s a goofy name, it’s a pretty good place. Worth dropping in for lunch sometime.
They have a variety of small plates, salads and sandwiches for lunch, as well as shrimp and grits, which seems to be a very popular item there. I went for a grilled chicken sandwich with pepperjack cheese and it was quite good, though kind of messy. It started falling apart before I could eat it all. I had a tomato & basic salad as my side and that was quite good actually. I surprised myself by even ordering it, but a solid choice. With one visit for the food, I’ll give it a 32 out of 50 on food.
The service was very good. It’s not “freaky fast” or anything, but you should be able to get a lunch down in an hour. People were friendly and it wasn’t terribly busy. I’ll give it a 15 out of 20 in service.
The atmosphere was solid as well. It’s a pretty basic place, but clean and open. Nothing special, but no knocks on it either. I’ll give it a 21 out of 30 for atmosphere.
Final score = 68.
McClure’s Barbecue* (#291, 3/11/14) – 67
I’ve always said that New Orleans is not really a town for barbecue, but it’s slowly starting to pick up. McClure’s Barbecue is a place that began as a pop-up restaurant and has now established itself Uptown on Magazine Street. The building it moved into, just across from Le Bon Temps, has an interesting history as the last few places there include a veterinary hospital and a tattoo shop. I was a bit surprised by the hours, seems like staying open past 9 on the weekends they could do pretty well with the Le Bon Temps crowd.
Another concern was that it is a hike from downtown; if you only have an hour lunch break, you may worry about getting there and back on time. However, no need to worry, we easily made the round-trip as they have food ready to roll. You simply order at the counter and within minutes, good-tasting barbecue is sitting on the table in front of you. As far as service, I’ll give it a 16 out of 20.
The food was quite good, some of the better barbecue I’ve had here in town. The best thing is a wide-variety of sauces (seven total). And another good thing is they actually give you a description of each of the sauces. Often barbecue places just put the sauce out and say “North Carolina” or “Mojo” and you really aren’t positive what it is, but good descriptions here. I had a pulled pork platter with 4-cheese macaroni and the barbecue jambalaya. Both excellent sides. The pulled pork was very good as well; I tried three different sauces with my favorite being the South Carolina, though I wish I had tried the NOLA East sauce (sweet & spicy, hoisin and soy sauce). I’ll give it a 33 out of 50 for sauce.
The atmosphere was good too. Typical barbecue joint fashion with picnic tables and benches – though well finished, clean, shiny. They have about eight tables. I’m a bit concerned that we went at noon and there was only one other table occupied. Hopefully they do good evening business, but again, keep in mind, they’re quick, so you can make it there-and-back quickly from downtown. Atmosphere is an 18 out of 30.
Final score = 67.
Brigtsen’s (#290, 2/21/14) – 83
One of the long-time places that I’ve been meaning to check out is Brigtsen’s in the Uptown Riverbend area. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, and they all proved true. Another excellent old New Orleans style place with amazing food.
I made reservations for 8 p.m. on a Friday with three days advance notice, so not that difficult to get in. The atmosphere is old New Orleans, a little stuffy. You definitely need to dress up; not sure if there’s an actual dress code, but you should look right to go here. It’s Mardi Gras season, so they had some fun Mardi Gras music playing, but very low volume. Being in an old house essentially, it has multiple rooms, but the room we were in had space (tables not stuffed next to each other). For atmosphere, I’ll give it a 23 out of 30.
The service was excellent. I believe co-owner Marna was the one who greeted us (could be wrong on that), but she was very friendly and even dancing a bit in her mardi gras outfit. We arrived about 7:40 for the 8 p.m. reservation and waited at seats in a little hallway for about 15 minutes. We had a little delay in putting our food order in, but really no issue at all. The food came relatively quickly and the waitress was there when we needed anything without being over-bearing. I’ll give them an 18 out of 20 in service.
The food was also excellent. I definitely recommend the seafood platter. It is a big dish that includes two different baked oysters, a good-sized piece of drum almondine, a nice plump scallop, shrimp cornbread and some interesting cole slaw. Slid all-around. The tuna was also good, but had a large amount of sauce/salsa. Probably too much of that, but still tasty. Prices are high (approaching $30 for most entrees), so be ready for that. You’re at a high end restaurant, you’re going to pay high-end prices. Out of 50 points in food, I’m giving Brigtsen’s a 42, which is very high for me!
Final score = 83.
Cake Café* (#289, 2/4/14) – 59
Seems to me that eating lunch at a cake café is a good idea, so I dropped in at the Cake Café in the Marigny/Bywater area. Their specialty is bakery items, such as cupcakes. But they also serve breakfast and sandwiches.
I opted for an omelet with sausage, cheddar and peppers and it was outstanding. A nice spicy Andouille sausage. Very good stuff. The eggs were perfectly done as well. Usually don’t think omelets taste much different, but this one was high-end for sure – and not too pricey. The sandwiches also looked large and tasty. Also, with the purchase of any meal, you can buy a cupcake for $1. I went with red velvet. It was pretty good, but maybe a bit too much icing. We also tried a piece of king cake – Nola.com has been running stories on places with different king cakes. This one had a goat cheese and apple king cake; it wasn’t very good. But overall, seems like a solid place food-wise; I’ll give it a 30 out of 50 for food.
The atmosphere was definitely “Bywater.” A very basic building with no frills, but comfortable with plenty of street parking nearby. I’ll give it an 18 out of 30 for atmosphere.
The service was decent as well. Only weird thing was when I ordered my omelet and asked if I could choose my own ingredients, the woman said “We’re kind of an off-the-menu place.” So I said, no problem, I can order something from the menu, but she gave me an exasperated look and said, “We can probably do it.” Weird. The food came out pretty quickly, so all decent there. I’ll give it an 11 out of 20 for service.
Final score = 59.
Sammy’s Food Service (#288, 1/24/14) – 60
After seeing an article on Facebook about the top 10 po-boys in New Orleans, I figured I better check some of them out. Actually, I think the article may have been the 10 Po-Boys You Must Try, or something like that, so not really positive it was the 10 best. My first visit was to Sammy’s Food Service & Deli.
They have a very extensive menu with a variety of items, but I went for the recommended “Ray-Ray,” which is southern fried chicken breast, grilled ham and Swiss cheese. While the sandwich was recommended, I wasn’t sure what to do on size, so just spent the extra $2 on the large. Note to self (and other): Don’t spend the extra two bucks on the large. My lord; it is a giant sandwich. I ate half and was still stuffed. I do think the other half will work cold, so brought it home. Overall, an interesting and tasty sandwich. I’m not sure I’ll rush back to get another, but definitely willing to try some other items there. As far as food, I’ll give it a 28 out of 50.
The atmosphere here was decent. It is what it is, a basic deli where you order at the counter and wait for your number to be called. They have a fair amount of seating, but it’s basically a no-frills place. Atmosphere is 20 out of 30.
The service was decent. It took a little bit to get my food; I would say almost a half hour. They were quite busy and I believe also had a logjam of chicken orders. But overall, no real issues. Service is 12 out of 20.
Final score = 60.
Phil’s Grill* (#287, 1/16/14) – 79
In a very exciting New Orleans eating development, Phil’s Grill opened a downtown location on Camp Street in the CBD (sadly to say, it didn’t last long downtown, not sure why, but the Camp Street location closed in March of 2015). I think Phil’s is one of the better burger joints in town (only had Jefferson Parish locations, so adding this one allows me to count it).
As far as food, Phil’s has a great variety of burgers. You can choose from angus beef, bison, chicken, mushroom, filet, alligator, etc. You build your own burger by checking off what you want on an order pad and handing to the server. For instance, I’ll take the bison, cooked medium, on jalapeno bread with horseradish honey mustard, lettuce, tomato and bacon, as well as jalapeno jack cheese. They have a lot of toppings and sauces and a good selection of sides as well (I really like the grilled vegetables, which is weird for me). I like this place a lot, but I will say, if you just want a regular beef burger, it’s probably better to run by Company Burger – better burger, better price. But if you want some fun varieties or if you have a group of people with varying tastes, this is a great place to go. I’m giving it a 40 out of 50 (big score!).
The atmosphere here is very good. It doesn’t look like much from outside, but it’s a very long, narrow building with extra high ceilings. The building was built in the mid 1800s and once served as a recording studio. The tables are spaced out pretty well, so no need to listen in on everyone else’s conversation (unless you want to). I’ll give it a 23 out of 30 for atmosphere.
The service was good also; the woman who seated us didn’t seem too enthused, but the waiter was great. He knew everything about the menu and rattled off specials (a venison burger….hmm, may have to try that) easily. It wasn’t super-fast but decently quick, prefer they cook my burger right rather than fast. I’ll give it a 16 out of 20 for service.
Final score = 79 – that’s right up at the top for my listings. Well done.