CreoLa
Categories: Cajun/Creole, Caterers, American (New) [Edit]
344 El Camino RealSan Carlos, CA 94070 (650) 654-0882 Reserve Online
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
Mon-Thu 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
Fri 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Fri 5:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
Sat 5:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
126 Reviews for CreoLa
One of CreoLa's Favorite Reviews
My husband and I just ate here the other night, after dropping the kids off for Parents Night Out at My Gym. Hooray, an adult dinner! And what a great dinner it was...we started with some bacon wrapped oysters that were simply amazing. My husband got the Cajun Feast, I got the Taste of New Orleans, every bite was wonderful. Inside was very nice, since my view was blocked I couldn't even tell we were right on El Camino.
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The husband and I had our first dinner out together at this very special restaurant. He ordered the salmon, I ordered the steak, and we traded dinners. He usually gets the blackened drum fish.
It's fabulous, from the salads and appetizers, to the entrees and desserts (warm bread pudding with white chocolate sauce - mm!). The ambience is really nice too. It's right next door to another favorite restaurant of ours (organic Thai), so if it's too crowded, there are other good options!
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This place is so cute, yet elegant, and plays great jazz music while you dine. The staff is so sweet too. My mom and I ate way too much here because everything was amazing. I would highly recommend the blue note salad and then the beignets for dessert. Any of the main courses are outstanding and if you do not like an ingredient, they are more than willing make the dish to your liking. Also, they now have a full bar!
I went to CreoLa's on Valentines Day. It was really sweet, small, and elegant. I enjoyed the food. It was delicious. The host was very sweet and personable. The Chef came out and said hello to everyone as we waited for our tables.
It was a very small restaurant, but elegant and charming in it's own little way. I was very satisfied, and will be going back for sure (of course during lunch, when it's a little more kinder on my wallet =)
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Yelp...you've done it again. I was worried for a moment because some Peninsula recommendations really don't live up to the hype. However, this is the Yelp I've come to know and love.
The foodie, his dad, and I went here after the excruciating disappointment of discovering the the Caribbean place in Oakland closed. I preface the actual food review section of this by saying that my grandmother was from Alabama and could cook some gumbo...This is the best gumbo I've had since grandma passed. The dark roux is perfect, not too creamy. They didn't turn it into jambalaya. Yum. The blackened redfish was exceptional as was the steak that the foodie had. Double Yum.
There is a tendency among Creole restaurants to make every dish taste the same, but Creola has done an outstanding job of making each dish distinct and delicious.
This place is second to The Palace is Santa Barbara only because the Palace offers this rum chocolate souffle that is to die for. Creola's dessert menu has good things on it, but I was to content to eat any more.
In short, we're going there again on Monday for my birthday. And maybe the following Thursday.
__________________________________________________ ____
**UPDATE**
We indeed went again for my birthday. I had the Catfish Belle Chasse - it was good, but it wasn't the blackened redfish. The foodie had a Mint Julep that apparently was very strong, and thus not very tasty. However, his etoufee and soft shell crab "A Taste of New Orleans" was very yummy.
The head chef is a really pleasant guy and always greets us with a big smile and a handshake. Service always excellent. Parking simple and free.
They brought me whipped cream and fruit with a delicate berry sauce as a birthday dessert. Much obliged and delicious.
This is definitely the top restaurant choice is San Carlos for me.
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I can see why my friend loves this restaurant so much! Thanks for the recommendation, GracieCY!!
This is a very versatile restaurant--great for small groups, bigger groups, families, date dinners, birthday dinners, casual dinners, fancy dinners, just for fun dinners!
Let's get right to the point---I loved the food! For somebody who's unable to handle much spiciness to foods, I tend to stay away from creole cuisine, since most places add too much spiciness to the dishes. However, the chef at CreoLa did a great job flavoring the dishes with the right about of spiciness (for me anyway). The dishes weren't overwhelmed with spiciness so I was able to taste all the flavors.
We started with crawfish hush puppies, which I really enjoyed. I'm picky about fried foods, but these puppies were not overfried or drenched in oil. The remoulade sauce was light enough that we were still able to taste every bite of this appetizer dish.
My friends and I shared 3 dishes..the Cajun Feast, the Shrimp CreoLa, and Taste of New Orleans. My favorite was the crawfish stuffing on the shrimp CreoLa dish. The jumbo shrimps were really as they described--JUMBO, and it was so flavorful and juicy still!
The alligator picata from the Cajun Feast did not impress me, but it's always fun to try something you can't just order at any other restaurant. I couldn't take much of the sausage from the Cajun Feast--this item was too spicy for me, but my friends enjoyed the spicy bites of this dish. The crawfish etouffee from the Taste of New Orleans was good too, but I was too full by the time I got to it to really enjoy it for its worth.
So even though we were all stuffed, we STILL had dessert. How can you pass up dessert?? We shared the bread pudding and beignets. The bread pudding was a nice surprise to me. It was nothing like I expected. I don't usually like bread pudding (probably because the ones I've tried weren't tasty), but if I ever have bread pudding again, it will be here and ONLY here! The beignets were alright--just reminded me of a fresh, warm donut. They're still good though, but it was nothing compared to the bread pudding!
I want to come back already!
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(actual rating is 3.5 stars)
Came here for dinner with the bf and a friend. It was my first time having authentic cajun food (I don't think Nola's counts), so I wasn't sure what to expect. I had the CreoLa special which had shrimp and something else with some crawfish stuffing. It was quite tasty. The other 2 had a jumbalaya/alligator combo plate. Alligator (not) surprisingly tastes like chicken. The jumbalaya was ok - not as flavorful as I would have hoped.
Service was good except for the fact that the busboy (is that even still the term?) crashed the water glass onto the wine glass and subsequently tiny chips of glass were on our table. He apologized profusely and cleaned the mess up. It was a bit irritating, but no one got hurt, so it was ok. Our server was great - very helpful as it was all of our 1st time having cajun food. The restaurant was extremely cold and the tea I ordered at the end was flavorless (I shoulda just gotten coffee).
Cajun food isn't my favorite, but I still had a good time at CreoLa.
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I had a Maker's Mark Manhattan, escargot, Cajun combo (jambalaya + gator something or other), and bread pudding with some kind of extra goodies I forget. Everything was delicious, except the main course was kind of so-so, thus the 4 stars. The sauce on the gator was pretty strong, very tangy, so I couldn't really taste the gator that well. So that wasn't quite my thing. But everything else really was delicious. Efficient service too, if a touch comically overpolite.
Excellent little spot! LOVE the decor and ambience, and the food is spot-on. I do love discovering a great restaurant on the peninsula, it's like finding an oasis in the desert.
Cute restaurant, cozy ambience. Food was OK, but I expected more given the recommendations and reviews. The shrimp and alligator combo was not as exotic or unique as I had hoped. I personally felt that the food did not live up to the ambience and hype. Was hoping to be more impressed. I forgot to mention some of the good parts: service was very attentive and polite, ambience was great, and parking was easy.
Great food and a great atmosphere! You actually forget that you are on El Camino Real in a funky little shop area...even when you are sitting at the window! My rating is a 4.5 (hint hint...Yelp, get us 1/2 stars!) star rating not 4.
I had the "Taste of New Orleans"...which is a soft shell crab and crawfish etouffee. I have always wanted to try soft shell crab and let's just say that while it tasted good...it kinda freaked me out a little. I'm too used to cracking and removing the shell and doing all that work...plus it was just kinda weird for me. Tasted good though! The etouffee however was awesome! I'm always leery on the gumbos and rices because too many places overspice to make it "cajun" (kind of like American Mexican places that think more chiles = more Mexican...NOT!!!), but this was PERFECT!!! I could only get through 1/2 of it but it made a great dinner the next night. Yummy little crawdads surrounded by a great roux over perfect rice. Seriously...does it get much better?
My friend had the Filet Mignon...very tender and very tasty. We also had the Hush Puppy Caeser salad (tasty little things those pups!) for an appetizer...nothing amazing but a nice salad. For dessert, even though we were stuffed, we had to go big. I had the beignets (because I'm addicted to them and wish they were served everywhere!) and he had the Combo Pie. Both very good...perfect toppers to the dinner!
Chef Edwin is a super nice guy and I will be using this as one of my "go-to" restaurants for company lunches!
3.5 stars, if I could.
Reservations were easy, Opentable.
Parking lot is dark, but since it was nighttime, there's plenty of parking around the neighbor building.
Arrived too early, but was seated promptly.
Walking through the dining area, you can smell the food from the customer tables.
Ordered the Crawfish Hush Puppies, good w/ the remoulade sauce, but they seem tiny, McNuggets are bigger than this. I think there were six.
The Taste of New Orleans was good, got to try both soft shell crabs
and the crawfish Etouffee. I enjoyed the crab more.
Rounded out the meal with beignets... three 'pillows' topped with powdered sugar, fruit, whip cream.
Despite the non-SuperSize meal, I was full.
While I didn't go for early bird dinner or prixfixe, I'd probably recommend that over a regular day. The price can't be beat.
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I went here a lot about five years ago but we stopped going when I moved away from that area. I was looking for a special meal for my birthday, and saw their Mardi Gras Mondays info and decided to go back. The only thing we could remember is that it was spicy & pricey.
Service was slow from the start. I'm not sure why - the restaurant was busy but our server didn't seem to have many tables. (I was out of water for most of the meal, etc.).
My friend got the Mardi Grad Monday menu, and I opted to just get an entree. He chose the crawfish hush puppies to start, then the house salad (no choice), then chose the Shrimp CreoLa for entree and chocolate pie for dessert. I had the crawfish etouffee for my entree (just the etouffee, no soft-shell crab).
The hush puppies were tasty, but a small portion (four small pieces). The salad was romaine, pecans and mandarin oranges - nothing special. The Shrimp CreoLa was really tasty. Four large shrimp with a good sauce and delicious crawfish stuffing. My crawfish etouffee was spicier than I like, but was still really darned tasty. My mouth was burning but it was worth.
As it was my birthday, I mentioned it when I made the reservation on opentable. Nothing was mentioned about it, so when it came time to order dessert, I asked the server if they do anything for birthdays. He said not usually, but they would if it was his (pointing to my friend, who ordered the prix fixe menu with dessert included). I thought was was really awkward, but whatever. He told me I could order dessert, and I felt weird but asked if it would be complimentary and he said no. So I didn't order any dessert, and my guest ordered the French Silk pie for his. After a long wait, the server brought out two desserts - his chocolate pie and bread pudding for me, with a lit candle and beads to wear. Even more confusing, given the server's awkward exchange earlier.
The French silk pie was tasty, but the portion was quite obviously half of a regular one - it's a round individual-sized pie, cut in half. Similar treatment for my bread pudding. Both were good, but the portions were very awkward.
The special menu pricing & unadvertised portioning was weird - and the server really made me feel awkward throughout the meal, hence the two stars. The etouffee was really great, so I might go back for lunch, but they don't do lunch on the weekends.
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I ordered the butter milk fried chicken. The portion consisted of a small drum stick and thigh. There was hardly enough food to qualify for a child's plate. I love buttermilk fried chicken, but this was the blandest I have ever tasted. I was very disappointed and would not return to this restaurant.
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Went here on a Monday for the price fixe menu, and really liked it. I had the crawfish hushpuppies to start, and they were really good. I've never had hushpuppies before, and man, fried cornballs? It's good, just like the Bluths said (see Arrested Development episodes featuring Cornballers)!
Yeah yeah yeah, salad, whatever -- for my entree I had the Shrimp Creola and that was also really good. My bf ate most of my dessert, so I can't really remember what I had.
I got really tired of what Palo Alto and Santa Clara has to offer, so this was a good change of pace. I thought there would be more people there since it was "Mardi Gras Monday," but it was really quiet. It's a really nice place -- I thought it used to be a residental home, but I guess it's not. They have couches in the back -- with pillows!
My husband and I have been enjoying eating at Creola for ten years now. Eddie and his staff have always done an amazing job with great attention to the food (the chef is very picky about quality), always friendly and on-the-spot service. The vibe is a bit festive (which we love, even if it's not 'Fat Tuesday!) and the food is consistently amazing. We agree wholeheartedly with other yelpers here who have highlighted the 'filet mignon'. We too, think it is one of the best around. Our other favorites include the 'casian salmon', 'ahi tuna' (seared) and the 'crawfish etoufee'. And, on the rare occasions when we indulge in dessert, don't miss the 'warm, but light beignets' served with fruit compote, combo pie or the delicious bread pudding! Creola is at the top of our short list for local restaurants -- you won't be disappointed!! Lynne & Dan
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What a great little place. I took my mother, grandmother and wife for a birthday dinner.
The menu had lots of great options. I had the Caesar salad with hush puppies and a wonderful shrimp dish.
Everything was tasty and fresh.
The waiter was very knowledgeable and patient with my 90 year old grandmother.
The place filled up as we were finishing and the service went a little down hill, but overall it was a very enjoyable experience.
I look forward to going back.
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It took my brother's birthday for me to finally get to try this place! I drive by CreoLa all the time and have always wanted to eat here but my girl has always shot down the idea. She's a little on the conservative side and doesn't like trying something new.
When we walked in, we were a little surprised by how nice it was from the inside. It wasn't what I expected from looking at the exterior.
Service was very good. Our servers were friendly, made menu suggestions and were very tentative.
The food was delicious. Our appetizers included some sort of deep fried cornbread balls (Hush puppies?) and the softshell crab. I wasn't into the appetizers too much but I really enjoyed my entree. My GF and I both had the special which was some sort of tomato based broth with seafood (Fish, clams, muscles) and pasta. The seafood was really fresh and the broth was very flavorful. It totally hit the spot on a cold night.
My bro wanted to experience his first Beard Papas for dessert so we went to Redwood City. But I'll definitely be sure to try their dessert the next time I visit.
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I recently had dinner there for Valentine's Day, and it was a wonderful experience for me and my date. We were served a four course meal from a price fixed menu, and it was difficult to decide from the list of scrumptious plates. I went with fried green tomatoes, a greens salad, crawfish stuffed redfish and bananas foster. My favorite of the night was definitely the fried green tomatoes, it was a very unique blend of sour, sweet and spicy.
I've gon here for lunch on occasion, and it's always delicious. The gumbo is wonderful, and they always have beignets!
I went here with a (large) group for lunch last week and we had a pretty decent time.
It's a tiny restaurant with ample parking and they do take lunch reservations. All are big pluses in my book. When making the reservation, I let the matre d' know that we had two birthdays in the group and to please tip off the waiter and they totally forgot so minus half a star for that. In fact, one of the birthday people found a SPIDER crawling on her po' boy plate (eew!) so minus another half star for that. The chef came out and apologized, replacing and comping the dish so it wasn't a huge deal.. but yeah.. kinda gross.
The food itself was pretty good. I had hush puppies, a shrimp dish and bread pudding. All were excellent and very fresh. One of my coworkers is from the south and wasn't too impressed with the seasonings (calling it 'california creole') but everyone did seem to agree that it was tasty nonetheless. It isn't exactly cheap but they do have lunch specials that are pretty reasonable considering the quality. I think it's a pretty good find and am interested enough to go back and try a couple other dishes... Oh yeah, and the lemonade is really good. Definitely try it if you stop in for lunch :-)
I have been to CreoLa a couple of times and I like the food, especially because I like to think of myself as a Southern Belle. Their prix fixe options are pretty nice because they take away the hassle of trying to decide between lots of options, but the serving sizes are a bit smaller and they don't note this size difference on the menu. The owner told me that since the beginning of the year, the lunch prix fixe portions have become larger, but I haven't been to CreoLa since then.
The hush puppies here are great and it's a nice change since it seems like barely anyone in California has even heard of these! The fried chicken here is a little bland, but I love really really salty fried chicken. Their cupa cupa cupa special with three cups of jambalaya, beans and rice, and gumbo is pretty good as it adds variety and textures. Their bread pudding is amazing. There aren't many really Southern restaurants around so CreoLa definitely stands out to me for this type of food.
The service here is amazing and everyone is super friendly. I can't complain about that. When they thought it was my birthday (I had a tiara on for Halloween), they treated me especially nice and catered to me, calling me "Princess" the whole time. I definitely cannot disagree with that kind of treatment!
Inspired by Jen.
We were talking steak and Creola came to mind. They are known for it's Southern inspired New Orleans cuisine, but a hidden gem lies here. The filet is out of this world. I have no idea where Edwin finds his meat or who supplies it, but I gotta tell you any true lover of steaks would be hard pressed to find a better filet than the one he serves up here.
The entire menu offers some creative dishes with some of them with an Asian influence. For example, the wasabi crusted chicken (you can get it in the seafood version as well) is light, but full of mouth watering flavor.
Excellent well thought out wine list and I like the fact he uses Reidel stemware, which is a huge plus in my book. For the cocktail people, he does offer a full bar that serves up some pretty good knock-you-on-your-ass concoctions.
If you ever go, his pecan pie is the best ever. Trust me on this.
Well deserved 5 Stars!
Update:::: The maple pork chop is serious good. Ok, now I'm getting super duper hungry.
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So, I was lucky enough to be invited out to dinner here for some amazing Creole food. This was an almost perfect meal.
The decor was home-y, comfortable, and totally tasteful. The service was some of the best I've had in the bay area. The maitre'd, or host, or owner... whomever he was, he was great. Polite, funny, helpful. He kicked ass big time.
I had hush puppies, a great salad with pecans, a jambalaya sampler with gator schnitzel, and some great beignets.
The hush puppies were heaven, small litter corn flavored fried pieces of heaven. The salad was pretty good as well. You know, it's a salad, what more can I say about that? Oh man, the gator. I've had decent gator, and I've had bad gator... now I can say that I've had GOOD gator. Pounded into little medallions, then breaded and fried like schnitzel, and served with an awesome caper, demi glace pan sauce. The jambalaya was good, but the gator made my headswim in goodness.
The dessert, the beignets were a bit tougher than I've had before, but even a tough beignet is better than 90% of the desserts out there, so I was happy, very happy.
Great food, great service, great company, lots of fun. This place is a straight up winner. Bonus points for being accessible from CalTrain.
One of my favorite things about the place: The bathroom is dubbed, "The French Quarter."
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I've been going to CreoLa for a decade. Solidly, and consistently, five stars for the food--I've loved everything I've tried. (Try the wasabi crusted portobello mushroom.)
It used to be five stars for the service, too. Heck, it used to be six stars for the service--we felt welcomed the way we would in someone's home. But since the new owners took over and most of the wait staff changed, the service has gone downhill. It's not *bad* service by any means, but it feels like the timing is off somehow, compared to the way it was before.
For example, on my last visit:
We came at 5:30 and had reservations. The hostess was sitting on the couch in the foyer addressing flyers. She had to go into the kitchen to find someone to seat us. The person she found fiddled on the computer and went to peruse the dining room before seating us. It took several minutes. This was just silly--the restaurant was practically empty and remained less than half full until we left at 7pm.
Plus: The specials were written down on a piece of paper. (I can never remember what the specials are when they are presented verbally.) Minus: They were out of one of the specials. At 5:30.
The waiter came over to take our orders while my face was buried in the wine list. I would have ordered a glass of wine but I chose not to because I felt crowded by that. It must be hard for waiters to know whether you are ready to order or not, but I don't remember ever feeling crowded like that with the old wait staff.
At the end of the meal they gave us the dessert menu and abandoned us for about ten minutes. I don't mind a wait like when it's obvious the staff is too busy, but in this case, the restaurant was only 1/3 full. It didn't matter that much because we weren't in a hurry, but compared to the way the restaurant used to be run, it was a noticeable lapse.
The new owners have had the place for at least a couple of years now, so it's been enough time to work out service glitches. I'm concluding this is what they consider to be good enough service.
I'll still go back--just not as often as I used to.
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Just returned from lunch (and on Fat Tuesday no less!) and another amazing meal at CreoLa. We have never had a bad meal there and the service is so attentive. Even if you have to wait a little longer at lunchtime than you are used to, it's worth it.
Yum- I have passed by this place for years, and wondered about it- finally went last night with a friend. We had a rocky start-- walked in around 5:40 and the host needed to figure out for a long time how he was going to seat us, then gave is an hour window to have dinner because of reservations. I felt sort of pressured to eat and get the hell out- but later as we were eating he came by and told us to take our time, so we did. 4 stars for this- I think that they need to have tables for walk ins, especially that early in the evening..
Now on to the food- It was so good- crawfish hushpuppies- yum- I had the filet mignon- my friend had the jambalaya and the soft shelled crab- We shared bread pudding for dessert!
I need to go in for lunch and try the po boys! I will definitely go back here, but I will make a reservation first!
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Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!
A taste of old New Orleans in San Carlos? Yes, sir!
If you can look past the strip mall location on El Camino Real, a cheesy, plastic-y interior and decorations a la L'Olivier, this place is pretty amazing.
The place itself did not remind me of New Orleans, despite the pictures on the walls. It reminded me of a small cottage in the country or, perhaps, a cabin in the mountains with just a hint of a Bob Evans / Cracker Barrel decor.
Now that I am done making fun of the surroundings, I can really explain why the place was so good!
Everyone (from the host to the busboy to the waiter) was very attentive, polite and knowledgeable. The restaurant felt very comfortable, homey, quiet and inviting. It definitely attracts an older, quieter crowd, so the place is perfect for a nice, relaxing dinner with friends. I felt as though our conversation was a bit too loud for the people at the adjacent tables.
The entrees range in prices from $15 to $27, and for $16 more, one could make it a 4-course meal. How can you pass it up, right? I started with turtle soup, which was excellent. Don't think about baby turtles, just eat the soup. Next, they brought out a small salad with lettuce, pecans, tangerines and some sort of a house dressing. The tangerines and pecans made the salad great.
For my entree, I opted for rice with red beans and andouille sausage. The plate was huge; a lot more than I could handle. The sausage was a little too crisp for my taste, but it was flavorful without being too fatty. Rice and beans tasted like, well, rice and beans. How exciting could those be, right? I have to say that as someone who doesn't like shellfish, I had very limited choices on the menu. A lot of dishes at CreoLa contain shrimp, crawfish or both. I guess it's not a big surprise for a N'awlins restaurant.
For dessert, I opted for Combo Pie. It was a big tart generously covered with chocolate mousse, whipped cream, almonds and shaved coconut. The Pie was served on a plate decorate with chocolate sauce, raspberry coulis and dry roasted peanuts. It was decadently rich and sinfully delicious.
To summarize, it was a great, unpretentious restaurant in an unlikely place. If CreoLa had been in San Francisco, you'd easily shell out $80 per person. If you don't mind the fact that CreoLa is hidden between a few tile and bathroom supplies stores and a few fast food restaurants, you can taste authentic New Orleans food for about 1/2 the price.
Enjoy!
It was tempting to dish out five stars just because it's the only place I've found in the bay area that serves decent hush puppies. My wife is from southern Virginia and she also approved of the crawfish "quiet dogs"! We both had the red beans and rice with chicken and Andouille sausage - portions were good and the dish had excellent spice and flavor. The prices were a little on the high side for Cajun and clearly, this place is targeting upscale clientle. Perhaps I'm just being paranoid but we walked in with jeans and the maitre'd looked at us and asked if we wanted take-out! We'll be back and plan to sample a few more items on the menu.
UPDATE 4/11/08:
I went back for lunch with the usual work crew. Sadly for health reasons I am not drinking anymore so I wasn't able to participate. My friend was ordering hurricanes and when he ordered his second one the chef brought it out.
He thanked me for my yelp review and said as soon as he saw hurricane on the ticket he knew it was me because he knows I love them. He added an extra shot as a floater. Gosh... I wish I could have drank it. Watching my friend drink it was pure agony. It looked delicious.
If you want to suffer the torture of the damned, start up a Creola hurricane habit and then have your doctor tell you to quit drinking. Arrgh!
Thanks to the chef, we love your restaurant!
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Creola is a great Cajun restaurant and really the only true choice in the area (sorry Kingfish and NOLA).
They're now open for lunch Wed-Fri. I have mainly eaten lunch here and I have to say their lunch is awesome. My favorites are the bacon wrapped fried oysters and the Jambalaya extra spicy.
Why is the Jambalaya so good? Smoked duck. Smoked. Yes it's smoked. Smoking is good. Sausage and chicken on the side, not mixed in the rice. This is brilliant. Even though this is a hard core down home dish, the presentation makes it feel lighter than it is. This means you might have room for some of their excellent pecan pie.
Other standouts are the shrimp and fennel bisque which is shrimpy and fennel-y and if you're hungry try the Taste of N'awlinz for dinner. Nothing quite like a fresh deep fried softshell crab.
The owner/chef is chill. He will not steer you wrong with his wine recommendations and the cocktails they have recently added (fresh Hurricane anyone?) are the bomb.
If you want a really high quality and tasty lunch at a place where you can get loaded and still feel like the Monopoly guy, I suggest Creola. Your broad will like it too.
I've been here only a couple of times. I like the food, the decor, the service ... Basically, everything else except the slightly higher prices.
Their crawdads, if you can get them, are excellent.
I've had great dishes here the few times I came. The desserts are good too, so save room!
They serve bignets! I tried them for the first time. Kind of like a funnel cake. Good though.
I'm no cajun food expert... but Creola sure has tasty dishes! My favorites are the Hush Puppies, jambalaya and deep fried catfish. The crabcakes appetizers are awesome too... This place is unpretentious and home-y - and the quality of the food and service is hundred times better than Nola's in Palo Alto (who seems almost poser-like).
It can get pretty crowded with locals on Fridays and Saturdays... so reservation is recommended... the only thing I don't quite like about this place is the lack of real bar where people can have a drink while waiting for their tables.
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Best meal I've had in San Carlos.
Excellent simple dishes prepared perfectly.
Very crispy fried chicken, and a bacon reduction gravy on the mashed potatoes.
Also, the bread pudding was excellent.
With a fresh mandarin orange salad, it was great.
also only $18 for they price fix lunch.
I've been to this place for both lunch and dinner. The menu's a little different between the 2, but still serve roughly the same stuff. This is a nice place to go for a quiet and nice dinner or for a special occassion. The food is delicious here. Love their salmon and jambalaya. Service and the ambiance is excellent. The waiters and waitresses are so friendly. Price is reasonable for the qualty of food.
Oh yes! Can you say comfort food? Finally tried this place after passing it a million times over the past few years..It doesn't look too cool from the outside, but inside, white table cloths and the ambience that your are in New Orleans with some light jazz playing in the background.
I had the Shrimp "Creola" with crawfish stuffing and my husband the "Cajun Feast" which consisted of alligator piccata and cajun jambalaya.. For cocktails we had a Mint Julep and the Hurricane, which was a bunch of dark rums with a tropical punch..oh yeah! For dessert the bread pudding with white chocloate and frangelico sauce.. Our bellies were bustin' out the seams when we left but it was worth it! Good service too...
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Where is everybody?! Creola offers very tasty Cajun cooking in a warm setting but we were only 1 of 3 tables during all of lunch on a Monday a couple of weeks ago... would have expected more people here!
Got the 3 course lunch special for $16. The cupa-cupa-cupa was a perfect way to sample their dishes - you got a cup of gumbo, cup of red beans and rice, and cup of cajun jambalaya. All were really tasty. Then I got the bread pudding for dessert which was fantastic!
Our waiter did a good job serving us but his accent was a bit hard to understand. When he was recommending the bread pudding, I had to ask him 3 times what "red ruding" was. But it all worked out in the end.
Bottom line: Perhaps because it was Monday, not many ppl were there. But this place is good! Check it out for lunch, although it might be a slightly pricier lunch from $10-20.
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An early dinner at a New Orleans-inspired bistro with a couple of friends? Sure, I'm in!
CreoLa is located on a nondescript section of El Camino in San Carlos. If you sit by a window, you get views of the cars or Caltrains passing by. The interior of the restaurant is nice though. Very cozy, and I am not using "cozy" as a code word for crowded. It was easy to conduct intimate conversation during our meal. The parking lot is a bit small, and can get crowded quickly (as evidenced when we left).
For a starter we ordered the Crawfish Hush Puppies. They were everything that fried food should be: golden, light and not at all greasy. The accompanying Remoulade sauce was delicious, nicely spiced.
For my entree I chose the Big Easy, which is blackened Drum (also called Redfish) with dijon mustard, hollandaise sauce and almonds, served with green beans and fondant Yukon potatoes. The fish was cooked perfectly. The blackening spices had a little heat to them (I admit to being a bit of a heat wimp), but it wasn't the type of heat that builds as you keep eating. The hollandaise was good, though I prefer mine to have more lemon in it.
The potatoes were fabulous. In my rush to taste the crispy-carmelized on the outside, tender-buttery on the inside pillows of goodness, I put a good-sized chunk in my mouth before registering that yes, they were very hot! It's interesting what your brain processes during those couple of seconds: do I spit it out in front of my dining companions, thus embarassing myself or do I swallow this mini meteor knowing that I will feel that molten sensation travel all the way down and settle in my stomach. I chose the later followed by a big chaser of water. Social and dining faux pas averted.
I had heard that the desserts at CreoLa were good, and having a sweet tooth anyways, I couldn't pass it up. I went for the Combo Pie - a combination of their French Silk (chocolate) and Cajun Velvet (peanut butter) pies. The pie actually comes as a very generously sized (it must have been at least 4 inches in diameter) individual tart, garnished with real whipped cream and raspberry and chocolate sauces. I was able to finish just under one half of my pie, so it would actually be perfect for sharing.
The one misstep was with service. One person in our party was still eating his salad when the waiter brought out our entrees. All entrees arriving at the same time = good, setting an entree on the table to get cold while a diner finishes his salad = bad. At the time there were only two, two-person tables seated in the restaurant, so it wasn't like the kitchen was backed up. The rest of the service was fine though.
An overall good dining experience. Make sure you look for the little artsy crafty diorama of a crawfish couple dining on humans in the waiting area.
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I was going to be spending time in Half Moon Bay and needed a nice place to go afterward to enjoy something that would put me right to sleep after my meal so I could wake up refreshed after the Labor Day weekend.
Enter CreoLa.
Based on the reviews on Yelp i figured they were from people who hadn't ever had authentic creole food and consider going to Popeye's chicken a Cajun restaurant. Boy was I wrong. When I made the reservation I was able to talk to the owner, Eddy and he was extremely nice and couldn't wait for us to come on down and enjoy dinner. I figured hey this guy could be the nicest guy in the world but that doesn't mean he can cook.....(yeah you see where this is going)
So we show up and the first person I bump into is Eddy, we chat for about 10 minutes and I'm praying the food is good because they've nailed every other important thing down. I ordered off of the Monday Mardi-Gras menu and had the hush puppies, Shrimp Creola, and bread pudding for dessert. My fiance had the jambalaya, fried chicken and the pecan pie. The Jambalaya was so good I ordered another helping to tide me over while i anxiously awaited my shrimp creole to arrive. Felt like I was in my Aunt Cynthia's house eating a Sunday dinner. Only difference is Aunt Cynthia never made a Hurricane like the one I drank at Creola.
The fact that this otherworldly establishment is located in San Carlos, in basically the middle of nowhere adds more character to it. I'm sure the locals aren't running around telling people about this jewel of a place. But if you have the time and have a group of hungry friends that want some great food, this is the place.
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Tried CreoLa on Monday night - their 4 course / $25 option. The Hush Puppies were delicious! Their jambalaya is well seasoned, and the alligator was... interesting. ;) The salad was good too - nice to have something light - but we got dessert to go, just too full to enjoy a slice of pie!
I think some of the vegetables used were not fresh, which is the only thing we found bad about the meal.
The service was great as well. We were never rushed, and spent close to two hours there.
Two adults getting the four course meal + bottle of wine + tip came out to $100. Worth it for tasty food and the great ambience.
I was both surprised and pleased by their wine list: a good balance between French and Californian. The food is great, though I am no expert on Creole food; just going with my taste buds.
Another solid bet on El Camino Real. I believe that food quality is as consistent in the Peninsula, as it is in the city...