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.
Bayona (#256, 4/4/13) – 78
Finally made it out to Bayona, the Susan Spicer French Quarter restaurant. Right off the bat, it’s my type of place. It’s in an old house/cottage with a cool little courtyard. Inside, there are a variety of rooms and neat spaces. Even though it’s very close to Bourbon Street, it seems to be tucked out of the way; and with just a small unlit sign, it adds to that effect.
It’s a little strange in that they ask you to put in appetizer and entree orders at the same time as it has a small kitchen and it could greatly delay your entrees. Hard to say, we had a group which may confuse things. Regardless, it was fun space to hang out and the food was great.
The website has a sample menu, as it changes quite regularly. I had a hangar steak which was designed to come with portobello on top, but I skipped the mushrooms – actually, the sauce included mushroom parts and I kind of liked it, which is bizarre. The steak was excellent as well as the appetizers that we tried (including an interesting oyster combination). I would say out of 50 points, this place gets a 40 for food. Keep in mind that it’s pricey, but it’s worth it.
Atmosphere was excellent as well – as I said, I like the old cottage style with different rooms, adds good character. The room we were in only had about four other groups. One large group was kind of freaked out by a bug on the floor. I was entertained when the waitress said, “Oh, that’s not a cockroach, that’s just a june bug.” Oh well then, so much better. The table had Europeans – do they not have roaches in Europe? If not, then they had a good traditional New Orleans experience. Back to ranking, atmosphere…25 out of 30.
Service was decent, but not great. It took a little while to get drinks, which is always a problem. But not really a big deal, I have had much worse – see the next entry for evidence of that. Out of 20 points, I’ll give them a 13 on service.
Final total = 78.
Nosh* (#255, 3/25/13) – 53
When the Groupon drifted through mentioning sliders, you had to know I’d be on board. And I finally used it (always a bonus when I actually use the Groupons that I buy) to visit Nosh. Located on Dauphine in the French Quarter, it’s a very low-key, not-fancy, diner-style place. It’s a little bizarre as it features sliders and…breakfast? Not sure about that, but as far as the breakfast goes, Yelpers and the like don’t seem to like it. But for me, I was all about the sliders.
They have quite a variety, beef, buffalo (it’s bison), turkey, fish, pork, and even portobello, though I’m not sure why anyone would want to eat mushrooms. Speaking of the portobello, it is actually “petite portobello” according to the menu, and according to my eyes. Wow! Two little mushrooms on the roll, they weren’t much bigger than a quarter each.
I went for a couple of beef and one buffalo and they were pretty good. I opted for whole wheat buns as I’m on a bit of a health kick. I also tried the sweet potato fries and the tater tots – good quantities of both of those and they were pretty tasty. Overall on the food side, I’d say good. Hmm, I’ll go with a 30 out of 50. Didn’t knock my socks off, but not bad; if I’m in the area, I’ll consider going back, but doubt I’ll make a special trip.
The atmosphere is pretty basic. Seems like they could liven it up some, but maybe it’s still new. Regardless, will have to give it a 15 out of 30 in the atmosphere category.
Service….might be a problem. Our waitress was very nice, new to the job so won’t hold that against her – and she did get everything right, so really no knocks there. It just took a very long time. If they’re just cooking breakfast and sliders, it doesn’t seem like it should take 40 minutes to get food. A little bit of a challenge to go here on a one-hour lunch break. So I’ll give it an eight out of 20 in service.
Final score: 53.
Sante Fe (#254, 3/17/13) – 50
As I’ve said many times, New Orleans is not really a place to look for great Mexican food. However, Santa Fe was a pretty good stop. A nice, casual place with covered patio seating which is great when the weather is good. Located on Esplanade Avenue, it’s a good stop after a run to the Fairgrounds for some horses. Assuming around Jazzfest it’s a madhouse.
Interestingly enough, this place was started by a German chef and more bills itself as Southwestern food and not Mexican, again confirming the lack of Mexican food here.
The word on the street was that this place had outstanding bean dip – and sure enough, it did. I’m not really a big bean dip guy, but it was definitely worth a try.
For the main course, I went with some sort of combination that included a chicken enchilada, beef relleno and a pork tamale. All solid choices. Again, nothing spectacular, but it was good.
Food-wise, my grade is a 30 out of 50. It was solid, but not great. The atmosphere was very good (other than the crazy-annoying parrots in the trees); I’ll give it 20 out of 30. Service was solid as well, however, my big knock would be that I went on a Saturday at about noon once and they only served brunch – and the brunch was awful. If you don’t like juevos rancheros, you’re out of luck. It seems to me that brunch at a Mexian )or Southwestern) place should still have quesadillas and fajitas. But regardless, that was pretty annoying, so instead of knocking the food, I’m taking those points off service, giving it a zero for service.
Final score: 50.
Toups Meatery (#253, 3/8/13) – 75
Toups Meatery in Mid-City is a pretty cool place. A good location on Carrollton Avenue and a friendly set-up inside, as well as outdoor tables. It seemed like an open and airy, as well as friendly place. I’m in for a return trip.
The food was very good; opened with some chargrilled oysters (a special) and then went for the Toups Burger, which was a combo of beef and pork. I like these people who are working on mixing up their meats. I support this practice. It also had squash on it, instead of pickles. Not sure what to make of that, but it wasn’t anything negative. The word on the street is that the pork chop is awesome, but since it was just lunch, I went a little lower key. So for one lunch trip, I’m giving the food a solid 38 out of 50. Hmm, no mention of price….can you tell I didn’t pay? It’s not a cheap lunch, but everything is well worth it.
I mentioned that the atmosphere was good; I liked the set-up and seating, etc. I’m going with a 21 out of 30. And the service was excellent as well. We had a very friendly server who wasn’t overbearing and knew what he was talking about. All good, so a 16 on service.
Final score: 75.