Freret Street Po-Boy & Donut Shop* (#282, 11/12/13) – 59
If you find yourself planning on going to Company Burger but forget that it’s Tuesday until you get there (closed Tuesdays), one option is to go a block or so down the street to the Freret Street Po-Boys & Donut Shop. It doesn’t really substitute for a Company Burger, but it’s a decent place with a wide variety of items on the menu.
I went for a cheeseburger (due to the Company craving, I assume). They had a couple of options, one expensive and one cheap. I went for the cheap one. It wasn’t a large burger or anything, but no complaints, a solid basic meal. Also had a look at a six-inch po-boy, which was good, I hear, but also $9.99. So a little pricey. The biggest issue may be the amount of items on the menu; they try to have po-boys, different sandwiches, seafood platters, creole-type dishes and….donuts. Not sure what to make of that, but they do add a good smell to the place. They serve a variety of breakfast items as well, so will have to come back and try the breakfast sandwich for $3.99. Overall on food, I’m going to give it a 28, better than average, but nothing spectacular.
The atmosphere was very basic also. Sort of a diner-style in a small place, making it crowded at lunch time. You can hear much of the conversation of the workers, which isn’t a bad thing in my mind, they seem to enjoy what they’re doing and it has good energy. The energy helps boost it up to an 18 out of 30 in atmosphere.
The service was friendly; as mentioned above, it seems like the people working there enjoy being there, which is always a benefit. However, as also mentioned above, they may be too ambitious with the menu as it took quite a while to get a burger. Nothing too bad, but a bit slow. I’ll give it a 13 out of 20 for service.
Final score = 59.
Rory’s City Kitchen* (#281, 11/9/13) – 51
This is a solid stop for me as I can’t even find any reference to it online; in other words, it’s a bit under-the-radar. Rory’s City Kitchen is located on Oak Street, a little ways past Squeal BBQ on the same side of the road, right across the street from a little convenience store. They basically serve one offering per meal, such as red beans on Monday, smothered cabbage another day and fried chicken another. They also serve basic breakfast plates daily, including a breakfast sandwich for $3. It is a tiny place where you order at the counter and then sit on the one bench and wait.
I dropped in for a couple of breakfast sandwiches – they had a couple different sausages and bacon, so I went with smoked sausage. They grill the sausage and scramble the eggs, then add some cheese and drop it between two slices of white bread – in other words, very simple. And it’s solid. If you’re looking for a quick sandwich with no hassles (and no high prices), drop in. I’ll give it a 28 out of 50 for food.
The atmosphere is next to nothing. No knock on it; it’s just a storefront, but it was as expected, so I’m giving it a 15 out of 30.
The service left a bit to be desired. I was the only one there when I walked in and had a bit of the feeling that it was annoying that she had to get up to serve me, but nothing openly negative. I’ll give it an 8 out of 20 for service.
Final score = 51. Though it’s a low score, it’s not a bad place, it’s just a no frills, grab your food and go place.
Mister Gregory’s* (#280, 11/8/13) – 50
Another downtown lunch spot is Mister Gregory’s on Rampart, across from Louis Armstrong Park. It’s a airy, open little joint with a coffee shop-type feel to it – in fact, I think their focus is different coffees and such.
This was another lunch drop-in for me and I opted for yet another Reuben. The bread was perfectly-toasted and my first bite was outstanding. Unfortunately, as I had more bites, I found that half the corned beef was corned fat. I know some people may like a good amount of fat on a sandwich like this, but I must have had the last of the batch or something. There were bites that I couldn’t even chew. The sandwich came with a little side of tasty pickles and olives and I also tried a squash salad which was decent. I don’t think I’ve ever had a squash salad. I wanted to like everything, but that fatty meat did me in; I’m going to have to drop it to a 15 out of 50 in food. One other annoying flaw – they charged 50 cents for a glass of tap water. I guess it’s only a matter of time before more people do that. They want to get their $2.50 for iced tea, so no more free water.
I really liked the atmosphere, just a fun little open casual lunch spot across from the park. They had good old music playing (Sinatra style tunes) and in general, it had a good vibe. I’ll give it a 22 out of 30 for atmosphere.
The service was friendly, though not the fastest thing out there. It was a little tight to make it from the CBD to here and back in an hour. Not too bad, just be prepared as nothing is pre-made. I’ll give it a 13 out of 20 on service.
Final score = 50.
Little Gem Saloon* (#279, 11/5/13) – 68
I almost like I’m cheating by adding The Little Gem to my list after just having a few appetizers, but I’m giving it a go anyway. The Little Gem is a historic building/club that started its jazz music in the early 1900s. It just recently re-opened after a long layoff; and it’s really an upscale place. I’m looking forward to getting there to listen to some music because of its history, and because they get a lot of good musicians in here.
I tried the crab fritters, which are basically crab balls with a tasty tabasco-based sauce. They were outstanding, as they should have been at three for $11. I also tried the frites with aioli which I have heard are excellent – and they are. The salads also looked pretty good. They also had half-price beer and wine for happy hour which was a pretty good deal. I’m thinking I need to get back there for a real meal, but in general, everything was very good, just expensive. I’ll give the food a 36 out of 50.
The atmosphere was quite bad, but let me clarify quickly. We were there for a little food before a Pelicans game, so there was some sort of live podcast being done and it was pretty awful, just some guys fooling around. In some ways, the ridiculousness of it made it a little funny, but almost painful as well. On a normal night, I would expect the atmosphere is very good – a fancy, old-time feel place. I’ll give it a 22 out of 30.
The service was fine, except we were charged full price for our drinks at first. When I asked about it, it seemed like we had done something wrong. The waitress begrudgingly agreed to check on it and came back with the bill adjusted, like she did us a big favor. This despite the big sign in front of the doors advertising the half-price drinks. I won’t knock it too much because it was taken care of, but a little weird. Service is a 10 out of 20.
Final score = 68.
Bayou Burger* (#278, 11/1/13) – 71
It’s not often I get down to Bourbon Street, and even more rare that I go there and eat a meal. But the night after Halloween, we were just wandering around and dropped in for a burger at the Bayou Burger and Sports Company. It’s actually a decent set-up, pretty big place with a lot of tv’s located less than halfway up Bourbon Street.
They have a wide-range of specialty burgers which are perfect for people on vacation in New Orleans – in other words, their health factor even made me hesitate. Instead of the deep-fried burger or the beef/spicy sausage covered with every hot item possible, I just built my own burger – and it was pretty good. All of the food seemed decent and I would definitely recommend this place if you’re wandering the French Quarter and crave a burger and not something overly fancy – especially if there’s no line on a Friday night. I’m going to give food a 38 out of 50.
The atmosphere was as expected of a Bourbon Street burger joint/sports bar. No complaints at all; I bet it’s actually a good place to watch some games on a Saturday or Sunday. I’ll give it an 18 out of 30.
Service was good as well. I can’t imagine the hassles these people go through trying to conduct your job amongst a massive number of drunk people, but they seemed good with us. I’ll give them a 15 out of 20.
Final score = 71.
Terrazu* (#277, 10/3/13) – 65
Continuing to make the lunch rounds, I hit up Terrazu, which is located in the mall-type area at Plaza St. Charles a few blocks off Canal Street. They are a few steps above a coffee shop with a range of coffee drinks and smoothies, as well as sandwiches and salads.
I decided to continue a new quest – to find the best Reuben in New Orleans…well, actually, I guess I didn’t have a Reuben here, I had a Manhattan Club, which was corned beef and pastrami with swiss cheese and spicy creole mustard. So it was close to being a Reuben. But then when they brought it to me, I don’t think there was any pastrami on it. I ate most of it before realizing, then poked around and didn’t see any. It still had excellent flavor though, but again, it just wasn’t enough food. However, and this will contribute much to the “service” score, I was just about done and a woman came to our table and handed me another half sandwich. She said something about how the sandwich fell apart while she was putting it on the plate, so she wanted to give me more. I’m not sure if she meant that usually there would have been more and she fixed the falling apart half, or maybe she felt bad that it wasn’t presented properly, so she gave me more. Regardless, it was a tasty sandwich with chips for 10 bucks. I’m not holding back points for quantity since I had enough, but next time, it may not be the same deal. Food score is 34.
As mentioned above, the service was great! Extra food is always accepted. I’ll give them a 15 in service.
The atmosphere was fine. It’s a small lunch spot with about six tables. It’s located in the lobby of an office building with other shops around it. Nothing special. I don’t think it’s worth a special trip, but if you’re wondering around the CBD, you may as well stop in. 16 out of 30 for atmosphere.
Final score = 67.
Reuben’s Soup & Sandwich Company* (#276, 9/26/13) – 67
Getting quite slow on finding new restaurants. I have to admit, not eating out every meal does save some money! Who knew? Anyway, Reuben’s is another CBD lunch spot. Located on Gravier Street right in the middle of a lot of tall buildings means you better look at getting there early to avoid a major lunch rush. We managed to duck in just ahead of a bid crowd.
I figured that going to place called Reuben’s, I better sample a Reuben. It turns out that the owner’s name is Reuben, so the name doesn’t come from it having some spectacular take on the Reuben sandwich. I’m kind of thinking that if your name is Reuben, and you open a sandwich shop, you better come up with a really good Reuben. No? Anyway, the Reuben here was good, just not great, and it was pretty tiny. I tend to like hearty portions, especially around meal time, so that disappointed me. It came with a bag of chips for $9.00. There is an option for a half-Reuben, but that seems insane; I don’t even think it would count as a snack. I’m going with a 32 out of 50 on food, it tasted good, but not enough of it.
The atmosphere was good. Typical “sandwich shop” style. You walk in, order at the counter and they call your name (they actually called our name and brought it to us). It’s a decent-sized place, probably like 20 tables, but again, in a busy neighborhood, so it could be crowded (it’s only open 11-3). I’ll give it a 20 out of 30 for atmosphere.
The service was good; I believe Reuben himself took our order. He didn’t get excited when I ordered his world-famous special Reuben, which he worked for years to perfect to honor his own name, which should have tipped me off that it may not meet my expectations. Even after the crowd arrived, they kept the line moving and kept pumping food out, so that was good. All very friendly as well. On service, I’ll give it a 15 out of 20.
Final score = 67.
Merchant* (#275, 9/3/13) – 56
In the quest to eat at every restaurant in New Orleans, I am slowly knocking off a string of lunch stops in the Central Business District. My latest stop was Merchant on Common Street.
It’s a very basic lunch stop with a counter with about 8-10 seats. You order at the register and can sit at the counter and watch them make your food. There’s also a large picnic-table type seating spot. It’s an open, bright area, but quite small, doesn’t look like that space was ever intended to be a restaurant but someone forced it in. I wasn’t a big fan of the seats at the counter – they’re bar stools, but they are locked down with a foot rest, so if you have longer legs, it’s kind of hard to sit comfortably at them. Not awful though. So overall atmosphere, well, it’s open and clean, so will give it a 15 out of 30 (seats took away a few points).
The menu is somewhat limited, which isn’t all bad. I went for the prosciutto sandwich; it appears all sandwiches are pressed on either a baguette or “sprouted grain bread” (not sure what that might be). The guy recommended going baguette because with their current press, the other bread wouldn’t hold up well – and I like that. I appreciate when they give you advice like that. Anyway, the sandwich was very good and I heard the kale n’ beans sandwich was also good (though I may doubt a little bit, I’m not sure kale is actually supposed to be eaten). Each sandwich came with a small side salad as well and that was decent. I’m not sure if it was worth $12, but it was good, so I won’t knock the price. One warning is I saw other reviews said the crepes are not enough food at all. For me though, the food was solid, I’ll give it a 27 our of 50 on food.
As far as service, again, I’ve seen other reviews saying it’s slow, but no issues for us. Since there was nobody else waiting for food (bad sign that a CBD lunch spot has very few customers at noon?), ours was very quick. In and out in less than 30 minutes. As noted above, the guy serving gave a solid recommendation as well. So good service; I’ll give them a 14 out of 20.
Final scored = 56.
C&A Seafood (#274, 8/24/13) – 68
Ventured into a bit of a shady area on a Saturday afternoon when I wasted too much time to be able to go to Crabby Jack’s or Avery’s for a shrimp po-boy (they both close early). I have been driving by C&A Seafood in Gert Town pretty much every day on the way to work, so finally decided to drop in.
I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn’t really looked at the building in the past, but it’s a decent-looking stucco type look and inside it’s clean and bright, but not industrial bright. Apparently it’s run by a Vietnamese family (for those outside the city, New Orleans has an ever-growing Vietnamese population) and the cases in front are filled with tons of boiled seafood – dungeness crab, king crab, shrimp, crawfish, lobster, etc. I saw multiple people coming in to pick up large orders.
I just had friend seafood on my mind and was just going to get fried shrimp, but thought for variety purposes, I should add oysters as well. I was quite glad I did as the fried oysters were some of the best I have ever sampled. The shrimp was pretty good, very large, but the issue was that the breading went all the way over the tails, so it was a bit tough to figure out where the shell was – ended up chewing on chunks of shell which is never a positive. It also came with french fires which were good. Out of 50 points for food, I’m giving this place a 38, very good.
Atmosphere was better than I expected, but it’s still basically a walk-up tot he counter and go place. It would be an okay place to eat at (I took mine home), but nothing special – nothing bad either. I’ll give it a 17 out of 30 for atmosphere.
The service was good; again, you order at the counter and they call your name when it’s ready. Not many people there on a late Saturday afternoon so it was pretty quick as well. The guys working seemed nice and willing to work, no bad attitude or anything (again, not a given in New Orleans). I’m giving them a 13 out of 20 in service.
Final score = 68. I’ll definitely be back.
Empire State Deli (#273, 8/22/13) – 55
I made my first lunch sojourn to One Shell Square – the tallest building in Louisiana (51 stories, 697 feet; it was also the first Southern skyscraper to surpass 200 meters). It has a bunch of little lunch stops in the building, including Roly Poly, Subway and some independent places. My independent stop was the Empire State Deli, a taste of the Big Apple in the Big Easy.
This doesn’t look like much from outside the doors, but it was actually a pretty good place. I had a pulled pork sandwich which was good and the veggie burger received solid marks as well. They had a good variety of deli-style sandwiches; I may have to go back to try the reuben as I haven’t found many tasty reubens down here. One pet-peeve issue for me was they advertise a sandwich as coming dressed the way you like (by the way, in this area, “dressed” generally means lettuce, tomato, mayo, but could mean pickles, onions, etc. Somehow you’re just supposed to now what it means). However, lettuce was a 10 cent charge and tomato was 20 cents. Not really a big deal, but again, you’re charging for a slice of lettuce? Out of 50 points for food, I’ll give it a 28.
The atmosphere is pretty minimal. A bunch of basic chairs in a fluorescently-lit open area – typical office building lunch spot. I’m going with 15 out of 30 for atmosphere; average for the type of place it is.
Service was decent. You order at the counter, then wait for your number to be called and you go pick it up. The food came fairly fast, so no issues there. I’m giving a 12 out of 20 for service because of the speed of service. It’s a lunch stop, so it should be quick, but that’s not a given down here.
Final score = 55.