Mia’s Balcony* (#268, 7/19/13) – 32
I’ve driven by Mia’s Balcony many times as it has a great location on St. Charles Ave. Finally, I made my way there (primarily due to a group-on). To start with, Mia’s basically gets destroyed on Yelp. It almost made it more appealing as I wanted to see if it could really be that bad – the service seemed to be the biggest issue. My quick take on the place – I don’t see it staying open much longer. I couldn’t help thinking that it must cost a fortune to have a high-end (high-price) St. Charles Ave location; wouldn’t you spend some money on the workers as well?
Anyway, here’s the breakdown. I’ll start with atmosphere. It is a very nice space in a cool older-looking building. It has a nice deck/patio (not really a balcony) out front, and inside, it is average sized with nice open space and high ceilings. Unfortunately for them, there was nobody else in the place at 7:30 on a Friday night. In some ways, that can be a good thing, but I like to have a little activity around me in a restaurant. The number one atmosphere issue however, was the tv in the bar. The place is split, essentially down the middle, bar on one side, restaurant on the other – though you can look into the bar, just a half-wall type divider. Apparently, with so few customers, they get bored, so the tv was blaring loud enough for us to hear on the other side of the place. Diners, Drive-ins and Dives is a decent show, but I don’t need to hear it during dinner. So out of 30 for atmosphere, I’m giving it a 10.
I’ll bounce to food next. A couple of dishes to evaluate from and the fish was outstanding. Unfortunately, their website is down (another bad sign) and the Urban Spoon menu is from 2010, but it was their main fish special, served with red fish this time and it was very tasty. A solid meal. This shows a major flaw in my ratings/reviews. I often only eat one thing, so if I had this, I probably would have give them in the high 30s for food. Instead, I had the filet mignon – which I was excited about since the menu says it’s wrapped in bacon with a chimichurri sauce, both favorites of mine. Unfortunately, there was no bacon. And no chimichurri sauce. And instead of being cooked medium, it was much closer to well done. In other words, it was quite bad. The potatoes were okay, asparagus was marginal at best. Out of 50 points for food, I’m giving it a 20 – the red fish is the only reason it made double digits.
And now, onto the service. Again, the Yelp reviews killed their service. However, I thought our waitress was nice enough, maybe a little over-attentive at first, but no issues at all. She did tell us the fish was salmon before being corrected by another waiter, but not really a big deal. It did take a little bit to actually get a drink offered, but not a big deal. I probably only noticed because of the Yelp reviews. So service had a chance at a decent score…until the bill. We were actually using a Restaurants.com gift certificate, printed that day. When we offered it up, she said, “I’m sorry, we are no longer accepting those. The owner has been trying to let them know.” To be fair, we didn’t mention it before ordering, but on the other hand, we just printed it that day, specifically for Mia’s. Not all that happy about this development, but whatever. Surprisingly, she came back and said the owner would accept it today. So back on track. The original bill was $52; the updated bill was $37. Let’s see, 52-25 equals…37? We mentioned the discrepancy and she came back with an itemized bill, which included at the bottom an “other charge” for $10. She explained that is the gratuity. Good to know as it was just slipped in with no mention of tip being included. So anyway, that seems like a pretty dirty trick which gives them a 2 for service.
Final score: 32. I believe my lowest ever, which seems mean. It has some good food and some location, but the bad steak followed by them essentially trying to cheat us makes them deserving of a terrible total.
Baie Rouge* (#267, 7/10/13) – 66
I had a bit of a craving for a club sandwich and remembered reading about a new place in a Yelp email, so tracked it down. Baie Rouge had a ton of good reviews on Yelp, so even more appealing. Off I went. It is located on Magazine Street, not far from Napoleon, and I found parking right in front with no problem at all. The place had a cool sign and was much larger than expected and wide-open inside. Right off the bat, I wanted to like it.
I’ll start with atmosphere, since I already did somewhat. It had good music playing – Manu Chao…now that I think about it, they may have only played Manu Chao while I was there, which is a little bizarre, but not bad. Like I said, nice and wide-open, very comfortable. Out of 30 points, I’m going to give it a 25 for atmosphere – high score, but like I said, I wanted to like it from the start, so positive energy gets points.
The service was solid. The waitress seemed a bit bored, but there weren’t a lot of people there at 12:15 on a Wednesday afternoon. She was still nice and the food was very quick – I was very impressed by that. Of course, it was just a club sandwich, but you never know. I think I’ll give some negatives for service for two quirky complaints. No pink sweetener. What the heck is with that? Is there some sort of bad thing done by the makers of Sweet-n-low? Seems like a handful of places don’t have it, instead going with only yellow and blue. I prefer pink, what’s the deal? Anyway, that hasn’t grown into a large issue for me yet. The large issue that I have is….glass ketchup bottles. They drive me crazy. I have said for years that when I’m President, one of my first acts will be banning glass ketchup bottles, especially in casual lunch spots. I have heard a handful of reasons (excuses): they look more classy, they’re easier to refill, etc. I don’t buy it. Ketchup sucks when you have to bang on the 57 over and over until finally you get a few drops. Or even better, stick your knife up in the bottle (who knows how many used knives have been jammed in there). Give me squeeze bottles, please. Actually, I think I heard that scientists have developed a non-stick ketchup bottle. If that’s the case, then okay, you can use those fancy, new, space-age bottles. Anyway, service, 12 out of 20.
Finally, we get to the food. Should I always start with food? Oh well. Anyway, the french fries were excellent (especially once the ketchup came out of the bottle). And then the club sandwich. Unfortunately, it was kind of bland. However, I started debating it (just in my head, not aloud)…I don’t think I like club sandwiches. I used to, but I haven’t really liked one in quite awhile. I think it comes from living in New Orleans. In Connecticut, you can bite into toasted bread and get bits of ham and buzzard and say, “Wow, this is good.” Live in New Orleans for awhile, and it’s more like, “Where is the spiciness and the chunks of shrimp and some kind of amazing sauce?” So anyway, I can’t knock them too much for the uninspired club sandwich. By definition, a club sandwich is uninspired. So I will give them a 29 out of 50 for food. Twenty-five is average, this was a little better than that.
Final score: 66.
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.