Avery’s Po-Boys* (#266, 6/24/13) – 76
I had heard some rumors about an outstanding po-boy shop on Tulane Avenue, but I had no idea where it was. Well, it turns out Avery’s Po-Boys are not far from my office at all. It’s very close to all of the new hospital construction; and more importantly, it’s really good! It moved quickly into my second-ranked shrimp po-boy in town.
Now to get into some basic details. I simply went for a shrimp po-boy – I went large (12-inch), which was about $12, so reasonable. It was very good; it was more lightly breaded than most shrimp po-boys and had some excellent seasoning. I didn’t even remember to add hot sauce while eating because it tasted great without. As I took the order to go, that’s all I had as far as food. But I want to try the onion rings, which I heard were good. And very curious about this “horseradish cream” that comes with them. Another future stop may have to include the red beans & rice on a Monday – I saw some and they looked very good. On the food scale, I will give it a 43 out of 50.
The atmosphere…hmm, well, that probably has to include the neighborhood, which is very shady. Not a lot of parking and if you have to go down a side street, you can’t be sure your car will be there when you come out. However, once inside, it’s a nice, clean, basic po-boy joint. You order and pay at the counter and they call you or bring the food out to you. Good and basic. For atmosphere, will say a 20 out of 30.
The service is basic also, but good. No complaints at all. The woman waiting on us, possibly the owner, was very nice and the food came out quickly. Another thing I’m curious about is how quickly you get your food right at noon. We were there before 11:30 so there was no wait, but thinking they could get very busy right at 12. Regardless, based on one visit, I’m giving it a 13 out of 20 on service.
Final score = 76.
Liberty Cheesesteaks* (#265, 6/17/13) – 61
I’ve been meaning to check out this new cheesesteak shop on Freret Street and finally made it to Liberty Cheesesteaks for lunch – Philly Grown, Nola Home. I believe it is some recent Tulane grads from the Philadelphia area who have opened up – smartly realizing that there isn’t a good cheesesteak sub (hoagie) in this town. It’s located in the little building that used to house Dat Dog (Dat Dog is now in the big building across the street).
As far as the sandwich? I went for a Steak Hoagie (about $10), which is a cheesesteak served “dressed” New Orleans style. Except I replaced the oil with JJ’s Sauce, some sort of sriracha mayo. Well, I will say, it’s the best cheesesteak I’ve had in New Orleans. I think the best I had before was at Cafe Nino. Unfortunately, I’ve been spoiled forever by Bill Cahill’s Super Subs in New Hampshire, without question, the best sub around. This one was a bit too salty and the shaved steak wasn’t as lean as I would prefer – a common occurrence for me with philly cheesesteaks, sometimes, I believe it’s by design, just not ideally for my tastes. It was a good sized sandwich with plenty of meat – tough to finish it and I was starving. They also offer a variety of french fires on the side, but I didn’t sample those. So my food ranking for Liberty…I’ll go with 28 (out of 50), better than average.
The atmosphere here is a challenge. It’s a very small place with about three tables inside, and no air conditioning. And it’s summer in New Orleans. They also have a handful of tables outside on the sidewalk, which may work if dressed properly. I opted to take mine to go since I was in work clothes. A big boost to the atmosphere score was back-to-back Doors songs when I walked in – L.A. Woman and Love Her Madly. Good music followed as well. So out of 30 for atmosphere, I’m giving them a 20.
The service was good; guy at the register took my order and they had it bagged up and ready to go in about 10 minutes. So I’ll give them a 13 for service (out of 20).
Final score: 61.
Fresh Bar* (#264, 6/3/13) – 59
Opted for a healthy option for a change at lunch, and while Fresh Bar isn’t quite as good as a solid burger joint, this was a decent option. It has a wide-range of salad products, and even better, they will make any salad into a wrap as well. Much easier in the decision-making process if you can just say, “Give me the Cobb Salad as a wrap.”
Overall, it was a decent meal, not overly filling, but good. The wrap wasn’t huge, but thickly-packed. Tasted good, though quite a few salad products in my teeth after, be warned if you have a bunch of fake teeth. There is a wide-range of items – you pick your lettuce, you pick the type of wrap, you pick your cheese, etc. The prices weren’t too bad either, made it out of lunch for under $10. So I’ll say out of 50 points, this gets a 30 on food.
The atmosphere was pretty basic, but a nice wide-open airy place with everything green and white. The walls may be a little plain, but I guess it’s all to look “fresh.” So as far as atmosphere, I’ll give it a 16 out of 30.
The service was also good. Basic lunch-style, you order at the counter, pay at the counter, then sit down and they deliver it to the table. The woman working at the counter was friendly and helpful, explaining how the ordering works without dirty looks. A wrap and a salad both came very quickly, so a good lunch option as far as time. I’ll give a 13 out of 20 for service.
Final score: 59. One concern is the fact there weren’t many people in the place at noon on a Monday. Could be trouble for the Fresh Bar, hope it survives.
Magazine Pizza (#263, 5/25/13)
This will be a different style write-up as I just had delivery from Magazine Pizza. I went for the four cheese pizza, which had mozzarella, ricotta, cheddar and feta cheese. In hindsight, I should read things more closely. I’m not a big fan of ricotta. And ricotta and feta cooked on pizza was kind of weird. I don’t want to knock them too much for my lack of reading though. With only one “visit” (sampling?) of this place, I didn’t think it was anything spectacular. Probably better off getting pizza from Pi on Tchoupitoulas instead.
Diva Dawg* (#262, 5/17/13) – 64
And the New Orleans gourmet hot dog tour continues. Diva Dawg was my third stop at one of these fancy hot dog joints – and my opinion is about the same on all of them. They’re pretty good, but it’s hard to spend a fair amount of money on a hot dog. It’s only like $7 for a basic dog (or dawg) here, but still…I like hot dogs, but I’m good with going to a Delgado baseball game and getting two for $2 and putting a bit of mustard on and being good to go.
Anyway, I went with the andouille sausage dog with creole mustard. It was pretty good, had a good kick to it. The biggest difference between this place and the other two (Dat Dog and Dreamie Wienie’s) is the bread. Diva has a smaller bun, which some people may not like. I kind of preferred it; not like eating a massive hunk of bread with a few bites of meat (or whatever goes into hot dogs). But it’s not as filling. They have a good range of specialty dogs (including a veggie version). Overall, like I said, it was good. Out of 50 points possible in food, I’ll give it a 28.
The atmosphere was decent. Located on Magazine Street, there is plenty of street parking near it. The place is airy and open, nothing fancy. Out of 30 points in this category, I’ll give it a 20.
Service was very good. Very friendly people working, I believe the owner as well. We had some confusion with the shrimp dog, not realizing that it was shrimp on top of an actual hot dog. But they swapped it out with no problem at all. So have to give them credit there. Out of 20 points for service, I’ll give them a 16.
Final score = 64.
Warehouse Grille* (#261, 5/16/13) – 79
Quite pleased with a newly discovered lunch spot in the CBS. Dropped in on the Warehouse Grille on Magazine Street in the former location of McGuire’s (and a variety of other places before that). It’s very close to the World War II Museum, so is a worthwhile option if visiting there. This is definitely a bar with food – one wall is filled with beer taps. It also has a very big outdoor patio area and a good-sized private room.
The menu is limited, but it has a couple of burgers, a couple of sliders and a couple of sandwiches, as well as a handful of salads. An interesting aspect of the place is that they serve breakfast each day until 3 p.m. I think I’ll have to make a trip back to check out the omelets. I went for the Warehouse Club which is chicken, bacon and Canadian bacon on jalapeno bread. Anyone who knows me, knows that the way to get a good rating from me is to put a sandwich on good bread. And this bread was excellent. Plus the chicken and bacon was solid. And they had homestyle french fries. I’ve also tried the lamb and steak sliders and they’re solid as well. The burgers are giant, and once again, great bread. Overall, very good lunch food – and it appears they serve food all the way until close, which is a good bonus in the CBD as a lot of places stop serving. Out of 50 points, I’m giving this a 40 on food (that’s a recent boost, really liking the place, and the hours).
The atmosphere was also very good. We may have been there on a perfect day – it’s nice and cool with a breeze today, so the front doors were wide open giving it a good airy feel. It would have even been a good day to sit on the patio (which isn’t common to say after April in NOLA). For atmosphere, I’m giving it a 23 out of 30.
The service was also good. Plenty of wait staff on hand to take care of the lunch crowd (most inside tables were full). No wait for anything and everyone very attentive without being over-bearing. The one interesting aspect is that with quite a few visits here, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the same servers. Lots of turnover; we’ve had outstanding service and quite shaky service, but overall, they do a good job. I’ll give it a 16 out of 20.
Final score: 79.
Pesche Seafood Grill (#260, 5/15/13) – 63
Donald Link, of Cochon fame, has a new place in the CBD. At Peche, instead of focusing on the pig, he’s focusing on the fish. And it’s an okay place. I just went for lunch and they have a fairly basic menu which is augmented by what appears to be a fairly extensive list of daily specials. I’m thinking lunch may be bad to just it on as it wasn’t all that much food.
Starting with the food, I had a shrimp and oyster sandwich (from the specials menu) and it was pretty good. Fried, of course, but not much. I think maybe three shrimps and two oysters – but a lot of bread. It was really a bread sandwich with some seafood garnishes. I think you need to order a couple of the small players as well to get a full meal. We did try a chicken small plate – grilled chicken with white barbecue sauce. The chicken was very tasty. But overall, not that impressed with my meal. Out of 50 points, I’m giving it a 26 on food, about average.
The atmosphere was pretty good. I like the big open spaces with high ceilings and a good view of the kitchen. They were messing with the music when I was there, trying to get things right in a new place. There were plenty of people eating, but it wasn’t that loud and even when people were seated right next to us, it didn’t seem like we were eating with them. So out of 30 for atmosphere, I’m giving it a 21.
The service was very good as well. The waiter really knew his stuff, could describe all the fish and explain the different dishes and made some recommendations as well. Nice work by him. Out of 20 on service, I’m giving it a 16.
Final score: 63, not too bad.
Crescent Pie & Sausage Company* (#259, 5/10/13) – 61
Ventured into Mid-City on a trip to Delgado Community College and dropped in at the Crescent Pie & Sausage Company on Banks Street. It was a pretty solid lunch stop. They have lunch specials and happy hour specials and some decent food, though I didn’t try the pizza, it looked pretty good going by to other tables.
I opted for the Redneck Brisket sandwich (brisket, peppers, onions, aioli sauce). It was basic, but very tasty – I’d definitely go back for another. Others went with a hot sausage po-boy and even a salad. The hot sausage seems to have been okay and the salad looked pretty basic. The sides (also salad, and cole slaw) weren’t impressive, relatively tasteless; of course, you’re at a Pie & Sausage Company, so didn’t expect much. It may be a little over-priced, but I’m starting to think everything is and my brain just hasn’t caught up with inflation – tasty sandwich, crappy side, iced tea and tip = $17. So on the food scale, I’m giving it a 33, mainly based on the brisket sandwich.
The service was good, but nobody was in any big hurry, including the servers. Everyone was friendly and no real issues, so an average of 10 out of 20.
Atmosphere was good. Good New Orleans-type music, maybe a little Cajun. Very casual, essentially picnic tables to sit on (also has some outside seating). A good place for a basic lunch. I’ll give it an 18.
Final score = 61.
Café Fiorella (#258, 5/6/13) – 43
This place kind of stinks. I guess I should rephrase, just to be polite. If you work in New Orleans and you decide to grab lunch in the French Quarter, it will probably take some time, but we went here and it took close to 45 minutes just to get our food – and we had a salad and red beans & rice. There is a sign on the wall from “Mama Fiorella” that says all food is prepared fresh, so please by patient. I’m guessing they don’t prepare each serving of red beans & rice individually, but who knows. It was probably the salad that held things up that long.
So anyway, if you’re going to just hang out for awhile and maybe have a couple of beers (or a six-pack), then maybe the wait won’t bother you that much here. However, since the place is kind of dirty and dingy with uncomfortable seating, I’m thinking you can do much better for yourself than here.
As far as ratings…will start with service: out of 20 points, I will give it a three. The waiter did apologize a lot for the wait, but he also said, “Ok, grabbing your food now, will be right out with it.” And then he took somebody’s money, went to the register, cashed them out, then refilled someone else’s drinks.
I may have referenced the atmosphere a bit with the “dirty and dingy” stuff, so you know where this is going. They did have music playing, through the tv and one of those tv music stations. I heard some Roxette, I think, which sure makes you think New Orleans. So out of 30 points for atmosphere, I’m giving this is a five.
And on to the food. Get this, it was good! The red beans & rice were (was?) excellent and the grilled shrimp salad had solid reviews. We didn’t even try the fried chicken, which is supposedly their specialty. So that was quite surprising, almost disappointing. When a place starts bad, you kind of hope the food will stink too. But anyway, out of 50 points, I will give the food a 35.
Final score: 43. Must be my lowest ranking yet. Did I rank Fellini? I don’t think I had my ranking system in place. I think Fellini may be worse though.
Bombay Club (#257, 4/10/13) – 62
Don’t be misled, The Bombay Club is not Indian food. It seems to take its name from what you would imagine a British club-type place would be like in India in the late 1800s. It’s connected to the Prince Conti Hotel within a couple of blocks of Bourbon Street, but it doesn’t come across as being a hotel restaurant. The casual-style bar is essentially part of the restaurant which gives the overall place a more casual feel. There is live music most nights, just a small band playing basic jazz music (Louis Prima and the like); good volume so you can still talk.
The food here was very good – I had the stuffed shrimp, which was very good – the stuffing is quite rich (no surprise). Added some asparagus with it, which was also good. I also sampled the drum, which was outstanding – a massive hunk of tasty fish with bearnaise sauce. I would get that if I went back. So for food, I’m going with a 38 out of 50.
I always forget where drinks come into my ratings. Should that be under food or atmosphere? Regardless, they have a very extensive martini list here. If martinis are your drink, come by this place and at least visit the bar. While not a martini, I went with “Death in the Afternoon,” primarily due to the name. It’s a champagne cocktail with the bubbly being mixed with absinthe. I really want to like absinthe, but I continue to struggle to finding good combinations for it (the sazerac seems to the best use thus far). This drink was decent, but don’t think I’d go for another – an edit here, very interesting, “Death in the Afternoon” is a drink invented by Hemingway, and he even has a book by that name – a book that has now been added to my reading list.
The atmosphere is mostly described above, except for one quirk – the tables were very wide. I felt like a little kid trying to lean up to the table to be able to hear what’s going on across the way. Not a big deal, but weird. I would say out of 30 points for atmosphere, I’ll give them a 19.
Service is where the problems came up. As far as I could tell, they had a manager, a bartender, a hostess and two waiters. And it’s a decent-sized place. In other words, the service wasn’t good. Our waiter, Luan, was either incompetent, frazzled or overwhelmed. We ordered drinks which took forever, but still planned on having another. He came by the table, picked up our empty glasses without a word and left. Interesting. It also took quite a while to get the bill, even though I asked quite early (figuring it may take a while).
They even had a local celebrity sighting, as piano great Ronnie Kole came in with his wife. After much doting by the manager, Luan managed to ignore them for quite awhile as well. So for service, they’re getting a five out of 20.
Final score = 62.
Death in the Afternoon.