Camellia Grill (#15, 2/28/2001)
Ohhh-verrr-raattteedd. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. So many people from out-of-town make the run to Camellia Grill and I’m just not sold on it. The best thing about it is that it serves food very late. The wait staff is usually pretty entertaining, and by wait staff, I mean guys who grab your order at the counter. It’s an old-school diner setting with pretty good food, but is it worth waiting in line more than 10 minutes? I don’t think so. Especially not when everything is rather expensive as well. I did have a fun experience there once when Io saw a guy I know come in, but he didn’t see me. I told the waiter his name and told him to just mess with him like he knew him. And the waiter played it perfect, going with a full game, betting he could guess his name and then doing it. Good late-night entertainment, but even better when I posted on Facebook that the waiter at Camellia Grill guessed my name out of the blue and this friend of mine commented quickly with, “Oh my God! Same exact thing happened with me. It was crazy!”
Calhoun Grocery* (#13, 1/12/2001)
This was a little deli counter in the corner super market across the street from Tulane on Calhoun Ave. (near Claiborne). They had your basic po-boys and sandwiches and it was a good place for a quick stop for some lunch. I don’t even know when it disappeared, but recently saw that it is now some sort of craft store or maybe a karate studio or maybe something else, just not a grocery/deli.
Vaquero’s* (#10,12/20/2000)
Vaquero’s was from back in the old days, before Katrina. There were two different locations, one was on Prytania Street (now La Thai) and one was on Carrolton where there is a sushi-type place (corner of Willow). I believe Vaquero’s still exists in Metairie. It was a good lunch stop – my favorite dish was the chimipoquitos – they must have been pretty good if I still remember eight or so years later.