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.
5 Fifty 5 (#242, 12/30/12) – 55
One more Sugar Bowl time meal. We ran by 5 Fifty 5 in the downtown Marriott on Canal Street. It’s an interesting place in the fact that it’s pretty good, but not sure if I’d ever go back. A victim of New Orleans. There are so many great restaurants, not really worth going to a hotel restaurant unless its simply sensational. Another bad thing is their website. I hate websites with music, especially restaurant websites. Do I really need music when I am looking for food options? So I turned the music off on the front page. Then I click the “menu” link and what do I get? More damn music. Nothing makes me less likely to check other pages than knowing I’ll have to turn the music off every time.
But anyway, the place was good, service was solid. We had an Asian waiter who had a fairly strong accent (no issue with that), but then he stepped it up by making some jokes, but very dry sense of humor, so I was confused, thinking, “This guy has no clue…wait a minute, he’s messing with me!” So that was good.
I don’t actually remember exactly what I had. I believe I had the 555 redfish, and I also had lobster mac and cheese. Man, I need to do this posts more promptly so I remember things better. They also had a fun bread basket, which is a very under-rated part of any meal, especially when you’re starving, which I usually tend to be. And I need to remember pictures too. Sorry about that. Anyway, the food was solid, going with another 25 out of 50; service was very good, so 15 out of 20. Then the atmosphere…well, it was a hotel, so it’s taking a hit, I will go with 15 out of 30, for a total of 55. I don’t think 55 is bad, is it? Maybe I’m turning into a tough grader. Well, tough luck, 5 Fifty 5, sometimes life isn’t fair.
Le Citron Bistro* (#241, 12/29/12) – (-60)
Closed in 2026.
A little “bistro” theme for this weekend. And this is a place that I have been very excited to review. I’ll just cut right to the chase – based on my new rating system, this place receives a negative-60. It’s the worst restaurant experience I have had in New Orleans. So that’s pretty exciting and probably makes it worth visiting.
Le Citron Bistro is located on Tchoupitoulas (actually Religious), on the way to Walmart downtown, so a bit of a shady neighborhood. But it’s in New Orleans’ oldest building above Canal Street, so that’s pretty cool. You walk inside into the bar area (oh, by the way, didn’t have trouble getting late reservations on a Saturday night) and then you turn around the corner and there are a variety of rooms. We had a group of about seven, so they put us at a semi-private table – everything looks very old, not in a bad way, just vintage furniture and such, almost like an old farmhouse, again, pretty cool.
Our waitress, who appeared to be the only one working, shuffled to us and took our drink order. Which led to another cool thing – it took about 20 minutes to get those drinks. As far as we could tell, there were only two other tables of people in the entire place. I ordered an appetizer and one of us ordered soup and then she disappeared for quite a while. Maybe 20 minutes later, she re-appeared with those items. So we finally had the chance to order after being there about 40 minutes or so. Then the food made it to the table after about another 45 minutes. While the wait was brutal, the worst of it was, she just ignored us. Now and then, she would wander through to the other tables, but nothing for us. No “is there anything I can get you?” or “Sorry about the wait, we kill all of the food ourselves and huntin’ ain’t too good right now.”
Some good entertainment came when a decent-sized group came in and the woman said, “Do you have a reservation?” They said no and she said, “Sorry, but we’re really backed up right now.” One guy looked around in confusion as it was only our table and one table of two at that point. We were waving our arms and telling them to leave.
I really have no idea why this place was so messed up, but the terrible service is making me give it a negative 100 in that category. Then the food is a 25 (out of 50) – everyone agreed it wasn’t bad, although some parts were cold. This is probably high on the food, but I think we were trying to come up something to give the benefit of the doubt. The atmosphere was good – the old building and all with music playing, though being put in a semi-private area didn’t do anything for me, so I’m giving a 15 out of 30 in atmosphere for the final score of minus-60.
Please, go there and let me know if it’s not that bad.