My friend John was paraphrasing what he had read in the Wall Street Journal, as we were scratching our heads over the not-so-good, not terribly professional service we had been receiving at various stops in New Orleans a couple of weekends ago. Surprising, because both of us were of a similar mind that the service at restaurants in New Orleans is typically higher because of a seemingly larger class of professional and dedicated servers. And, he had a very good perspective having been to New Orleans over a couple of hundred times over or more the years.
It was also surprising given the restaurants where our group was dining: Brennan’s, Galatorie’s, SoBou – part of the Commander’s Palace family of establishments – Emeril’s, and Drago’s near the river. In contrast to the others, the service at Commander’s Palace was fantastic, as it always is – the food was even better. At the others, the service was at varying degrees brusque – especially at the terrific tiki bar in the Quarter, Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 –unfriendly, not polished, and at the worst, at SoBou, unknowledgeable, even in terms of their menu, and nearly incompetent. The wine service was laughably bad. The staff never responded to several calls over an hour-and-a-half that the women’s restrooms was out of toilet paper. And, our group of twelve, was told that they would only accept four credit cards. I had never heard that before. Thankfully, the food was very good. We all enjoyed the meal, with a number of smirks along the way. The quality of the service was in shocking contrast to what we had at its sibling Commander’s Palace the next day.
Thankfully, the service issue didn’t really affect our enjoyment. A big group of friends, usually excellent food helps. Not to mention a fair amount of alcohol. But, it was unexpected, given past experiences there.
An excellent fish dish at Galatoire's, where the service was not terribly good. The food was great, though, as was the lunch.
It was also surprising given the restaurants where our group was dining: Brennan’s, Galatorie’s, SoBou – part of the Commander’s Palace family of establishments – Emeril’s, and Drago’s near the river. In contrast to the others, the service at Commander’s Palace was fantastic, as it always is – the food was even better. At the others, the service was at varying degrees brusque – especially at the terrific tiki bar in the Quarter, Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 –unfriendly, not polished, and at the worst, at SoBou, unknowledgeable, even in terms of their menu, and nearly incompetent. The wine service was laughably bad. The staff never responded to several calls over an hour-and-a-half that the women’s restrooms was out of toilet paper. And, our group of twelve, was told that they would only accept four credit cards. I had never heard that before. Thankfully, the food was very good. We all enjoyed the meal, with a number of smirks along the way. The quality of the service was in shocking contrast to what we had at its sibling Commander’s Palace the next day.
Thankfully, the service issue didn’t really affect our enjoyment. A big group of friends, usually excellent food helps. Not to mention a fair amount of alcohol. But, it was unexpected, given past experiences there.
An excellent fish dish at Galatoire's, where the service was not terribly good. The food was great, though, as was the lunch.
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