Kobe Teriyaki* (#252, 3/7/13) – 57
I believe my first Gert Town meal was at Kobe Teriyaki on Earhart Blvd, a couple of blocks off Carrollton (Gert Town is one of the many New Orleans neighborhoods). I drive by the place regularly on the way to work – just as I had driven by the string of other restaurants which tried to give it a go in this location. However, after reading a Gambit story about it, I figured I’d give it a try.
Parking is odd (no real spaces, but doesn’t seem to be a problem, and the place is nice and clean with a fast-food style set-up. Prices were very reasonable and it was quite a bit of food. Overall, a decent place for a basic lunch.
I ordered the combination bowl, which was chicken (teriyaki) and beef (teriyaki) over rice with vegetables. A decent meal, which also included a salad (essentially a container of lettuce). The menu states that the wings are the best on the planet and one of the people with me gave them a try and admitted they are very good, so those may be worth trying. My biggest “food” complaint was a drink complaint. No artificial sweeteners at all in the place. Bizarre. “There’s sugar in the cup right there.” Like, maybe I’m diabetic and can’t just dump real sugar in my drink (or maybe I’m not and I just like sweet and low). So for food, I’ll give it a 30 out of 50 (average-tasting food for what you would expect, but very good quantity and reasonably-priced).
The atmosphere is….well, a typical fast-food type atmosphere, though probably cleaner than any fast food place in New Orleans, so I’ll give it a 17 out of 30.
Service was fine also. You order at the counter, then get your own drink and they bring the food out to you. So essentially average, 10 out of 30.
Final score is a 57.
Dreamy Weenies* (#251, 3/5/13) – 75
While the New Orleans burger-craze has been getting a lot of attention, there are also quite a few hot dog joints opening up. I believe Dat Dog is the leader as far as wieners, but Dreamy Weenies is a pretty solid option. Located on Rampart Street on the edge of the French Quarter right across from Armstrong Park, it’s a better option for me as it’s downtown. Plenty of parking usually and it wasn’t overly crowded (maybe bad for them).
I just had a basic beef frank, but they have quite a variety and, based on yelp and friends with meat issues, the vegetarian and vegan options are a major bonus.
I would say as far as a food rating, it’s a solid 37 out of 50 – it’s just a hot dog, but pretty good size with a decent bun (whole wheat buns available too, I should have tried that). The atmosphere is excellent. As I said, right across from Armstrong Park, a nice, high-ceilinged, clean place with plenty of seating. They played some New Orleans music while I was there. I’ll go with 22 out of 30. The service is basic; you order at the counter and they bring it out to you. It’s family-owned though which means people are vested in the product/service, which can’t be over-rated in New Orleans. The guy who waited on us knew the menu perfectly, gave us good information and was good and friendly, I’m going to give a 16 out of 20.
Final score for the Weenies – 75.
Two quick notes – it’s cash only (ATM on site with $0.99 charge) and there’s no booze. Just fyi, if you want hot dogs and beer, go to Dat Dog. If you want hot dogs, followed by some tasty drinks, then eat here and wander to Bar Tonique a couple of blocks down.
Wayfare* (#250, 2/27/13) – 79
There’s been a lot of talk about this Wayfare place, one of the latest cool spots in the revitalization of Freret Street. So I finally checked it out. And…I think I’m getting cheap. It was very good, no doubt, but getting a ham sandwich and chips with a drink (non-alcoholic) for about $17 seems a bit much. But it is a solid place and I liked the feel of it a lot.
So to cut to the chase and the ratings. Starting with the food, the media day (ham and pork) sandwich I had was excellent and the macaroni and cheese that I sampled was outstanding. Other items looked good on the menu as well; and for the non-carnivores, don’t be afraid of the menu, they say they always have vegetarian specials and options. The sandwiches themselves aren’t terribly pricey, but to get anything with it, it jumps fast, so that’s my only knock. Out of 50 possible, I’m giving this place a 37 in food.
Atmosphere was outstanding; I really liked the feel of the place. It has a nice bar and wide-open spaces. Very casual, but comfortable. I’ll give it a 25 out of 30 in atmosphere.
You order at the counter and they bring the food out to you, so pretty basic service. But very friendly staff and people offering refills and anything else regularly (without being annoying). Solid service, so a 17 out of 20 there.
Final score: 79. Pretty darn good.
Charcoal* (#249, 2/25/13) – 47
I don’t like to wait long before checking out new burger joints; and this time, it took me about 11 days to get to Charcoal on Magazine Street (at intersection of Jackson). I linked into their Facebook as their official website is pretty much worthless.
I was pretty excited to check this place out as it has some very interesting sounding burger – bison, to start with, always like a good bison burger, but also venison, elk and antelope. Crazy. I’ll probably pass on the deer, but I’ve never eaten those other creatures and I sure want to. Having said that, for my first trip, I figured I was best off going for a bison burger so I could properly evaluate it.
And it turns out it was….okay. Paying $15 for a burger is a bit crazy, and in this case, it was more bread than meat; and it probably could have been cooked a little more. I opted for the Hawaiian Sweet bun, just too much bread and the patty itself wasn’t substantial. So an average burger, not a good start at a “gourmet burger bar.” They do have sweet potato tater tots which I thought were quite good. Also homemade chips come with each burger and they were decent. So out of 50 possible points on food, I will give this a 25, for average (probably loses points due to high prices – Cowbell burger is much better and cheaper, with fries).
Atmosphere was not impressive at all. They have bar-style seating along the walls and against the counter and it’s not that comfortable – seemed pretty crowded in general. It didn’t seem to have any “feel” to it at all. Just a neutral place – I hear they have an upstairs area, which was closed, so I’m not sure if that’s better. I’m going with a little below average for atmosphere, so 12 out of 30.
The service was pretty bad – though being so knew, I can understand struggles. You order at the counter, then find an open seat. Keep in mind, you need to get a clipboard to fill out your order in advance. Of course, the clipboards are at the counter, so you can wait in line for 10-15 minutes, then realize you have to fill out the paper, which holds everyone up even longer. The women I dealt with at the register struggled quite a bit, but made it through. I would recommend they get some sort of self-service screens and let people enter their order themselves, then pay at the end. I see no reason this wouldn’t work. Anyway, service, I’ll go with 10 out of 20 (and only that high due to new-restaurant benefit-of-the-doubt).
Final total: 47.
Artz Bagelz* (#248, 2/17/13) – 57
Finally! I have found a decent bagel outside of NY/Connecticut. Artz Bagelz makes a pretty good bagel, though maybe I’m just thinking that because I’ve been away from good-bagel country for so long. Regardless, I had a asiago cheese bagel for breakfast and it was pretty darn good. One flaw was me ordering the spicy cajun cream cheese. That sucked. Well, way too spicy. I need to be smart and just get the basic cream cheese which I like just fine. They also have bagel sandwiches here, so it may even be a worthwhile lunch stop.
As far as a rating…I guess I would give it a 30 out of 50 for food. I’ll give it 15 out of 30 for atmosphere – just general bagel shop style seating, nothing special (though it does look like it recently expanded, which would have been necessary since it was still crowded on a Sunday morning). The service, well, again, nothing special, it’s a bagel shop. You order at the counter and they call your name later, so I’ll say a 12 out of 20. Final score: 57.
Gott Gourmet* (#247, 2/13/13) – 77
I can’t quite figure out why I had never been to Gott Gourmet. I’m not sure I understood what it was. Or perhaps the word “gourmet” threw me off? I don’t know. But regardless, I went for the first time and it’s an outstanding lunch spot on Magazine Street. In fact, it made a strong enough impression that I went back the next day as well. Day one, I went for a pulled pork wrap and then followed up with the St. Patty’s Day Massacre (a reuben). Both were very good and I would highly recommend this place for a lunch stop. Seems like a specialty is the ancho-honey slaw, which was on both of my sandwiches. I also recommend the jalapeno cheddar tortilla if you’re going for a wrap. They have a variety of sides as well and the salads also look excellent. Probably the biggest knock would be the prices – you’ll pay more than running by Subway or WOW (guessing $15 per person, hardly insane), but it’s definitely worth it.
For the food, I’m going all out with a 25 out of 30. The atmosphere is very good, a spacious place (tables not crowded on top of each other), clean, and comfortable, so I’m giving a 35 out of 50. The service was solid as well, collecting a 17 out of 20 for a grand total of 77. Whoa! One of the highest scores I’ve given. Nicely done, Gott Gourmet.
Breads on Oak (#246, 2/11/13) – 68
I’ve been passing Breads on Oak daily for a while now, so finally decided to stop in. I originally thought it was just a bakery type place with fresh bread, but they do have a menu with lunch items., I had a ham and gruyere (which I hoped was cheese of some sort, it was) sandwich and it was pretty good. However, it was over $10 for just a pretty basic sandwich, so a bit pricey. Of course, it’s all handmade bread, so pretty good. They also have vegan and gluten-free options. I took mine to go, but they do have some tables inside, as well as a few out on the sidewalk, so a decent little cafe.
As far as ratings…the food was good, but including price, it takes a hit, will give an 18 out of 30. Atmosphere was solid, just a good old mom-and-pop style place….so I’ll go with 30 out of 50. Service was good, very friendly people, I enjoyed them so I’ll go with a 15 out of 20. Final score is 68, which is quite solid.
Mais Arepas (#245, 1/29/13) – 57
I’ve seen this little place on the edge of a shady part of town on Carondelet, but just one block off St. Charles. I haven’t been able to find a website for them, but will link to the Yelp page for Mais Arepas. It’s a casual place, described as Colombian Creole. It seems decent for lunch or dinner, and reasonably priced, but you have to be ready for some different food. I am not overly familiar with Columbian food apparently, but the specialty is the arepas. They have a wide-range of them – oh wait, you don’t know what an arepa is? Well, neither do I. Basically, it appears to be a tortilla-type grilled pocket stuffed with a variety of things. I went with the pulled pork with friend plantains – I find it hard to go wrong with plantains. Having said that, I didn’t have the plantain appetizer, which I understand has mozzarella cheese melted over it. That sounds like a dish for me. Anyway, the arepa was quite good, though rather greasy. They did not have iced tea (also no hard liquor), but gave me some weird fruit/juice/drink concoction. It was pretty tasty, so ask about that.
As far as a rating, food is probably a 26 out of 50. The service was decent (though not fast), so it gets a 13 out of 20. The atmosphere was pretty good; it’s a casual, pretty open dining area with Columbian (I’m assuming) art on the walls and low music playing. I’ll give it an 18 out of 30.
The grand total is…57. I think that’s pretty good.
La Fin du Monde* (#244, 1/24/13) – 21
My first (and likely only) stop at La Fin du Monde was doomed from the start. I had to do some errands in the lower-Magazine area and then thought, “Hey! I haven’t been to Cafe Rani in ages and they have that great pasta dish for lunch!” So I was pretty upbeat about lunch. I have to admit, I was a little confused by the weird words on the door. What does this “La Fin du Monde” mean? Well, apparently it means that Cafe Rani is no longer there. Which stinks. In some research, I found out Cafe Rani simply closed the door one day and never re-opened, then this place jumped in.
I can’t find a website for them and I can’t really remember the menu. Put it this way, after reading the menu, if I wasn’t trying to eat everywhere, I think I would have left. I still can’t figure out what they are trying to do. I guess it’s sort of breakfast. I had no idea what most of the things were and made the mistake of saying, “Frittata? Hmm, that might be good.” Then, to avoid admitting to the waitress (very over-friendly, maybe because I was one of the only people in the place, not like Rani, another bad sign?) that I had no idea what a frittata is, I simply said, “Soo…what’s in the frittata?” And she checked and list and said it had chicken with seasonal vegetables. That seemed reasonable so I went for it.
It arrived shortly after, and it turns out a frittata is some sort of egg dish, essentially an omelet. And it’s very small. I’m okay with eggs, but I knew I was going to starve the rest of the day. And then…well…don’t you think it’s worth mentioning that, along with the chicken and seasonal vegetables, this frittata is full of mushrooms?! Good lord. It was awful. And I was starving. Essentially, I ate far more mushrooms than I’ve ever had, maybe combined, in my life. And yet I still starved. I should have just left and gone to Wendy’s.
Anyway, as far as a rating, food? I’ll go with 15 out of 50 – didn’t know what half of it was, menu wasn’t impressive and they forced mushrooms on me. Actually, due to the mushrooms, I’m dropping it to a 5. Atmosphere? That stunk too, I was the only person inside in a pretty bare place. I’ll go with 10 out of 30. For service, the waitress was ridiculously friendly, but don’t want to hold that against her too much – the main issue is that if someone asks what’s in a dish, get it right, many people don’t go for mushrooms. I’ll give a 6 out of 20. Grand total = 21. Not too impressive. Skip this place.
Oh, and one more thing. What about the name? Apparently it means “end of the world” in French. Really? That’s what you want to call your restaurant? As it was pointed out to me, they opened in late-November, so maybe they were trying to play along with the whole Mayan thing. So yeah, you have a name that is cute for about a month, then it’s just bizarre. I also thought maybe the owners really believed the world would end, so they said, “Man, I’ve always wanted to open a restaurant. Quick, let’s do it now before the world ends.” And followed up with, “Eh, don’t worry about the menu and making anything good, we don’t need to make a profit, we’re all going to be dead anyway.”
St. James Cheese Company (#243, 1/21/13) – 63
Here’s a good little lunch spot located uptown – the St. James Cheese Company. I am surprised it took me so long to go here, but a solid place. I think the ideal thing would be to go here when you have a day off work. Have a sandwich, maybe some white and relax on the patio.
Having said that, do NOT go here and order the Croque Monster and then plan on going for a run later. The online menu says that it’s the Croque Monsieur, but trust me, it’s a monster. Simply a massive amount of cheese, to go with some ham and thick bread. I’m not complaining, but it ruined me for hours. I just laid around on the couch all afternoon. There were plenty of other cheese-related sandwich items that I’d be up for trying in the future, so I expect to be back. The salads also look very good.
Also, keep in mind that it’s a small place with a lot of people just hanging around, so probably not a good spot to try to run in for a quick lunch grab.
As far as a rating. For the food, I’m going with a 35 out of 50 – it’s cheese, cheese is always good, on almost anything. Except ice cream. The service was basic; you order at the counter and they give you a number and bring the food to you, so probably a 12 out of 20. The atmosphere is pretty good too, assuming you are looking for a lunch-type atmosphere and not some sort of romantic candlelight dinner, so I’ll go with a 16 out of 30.
Final total is 63. Wow! Pretty high-ranking, I think. Not bad.