Chan "504 boy in Beantown" K.'s Profile

I almost forgot what Louisiana food tastes like...  This place is the closest you can get to New Orleans food in Philly.  

I went with the acadian gumbo and andouille sausage sandwich.  The gumbo was very good.  A little bit of a misnomer, considering that it's called acadian gumbo.  For an acadian (near Lafayette, more western Louisiana) gumbo, it was a little watery and needed a little bit more okra.  It was closer to New Orleans gumbo.  I also asked for either Tony Chachere's or Zatarain's creole seasoning which they didn't have.  But whatever, it was very good.  And for me, beggars can't be choosers.  The andouille sausage sandwich was excellent too.

Most importantly, this place has my 2 favorite beers of all time.  Abita Amber and Abita Purple Haze.  Both can be found in every establishment in Louisiana but nearly impossible to find here.  I'll definitely be coming here for pre-drinking or watching some football.

Also, I'll definitely be coming back for their dinner menu which has etouffee and jambalaya.  

One big negative: I came here for a Saturday late lunch.  The tv had a hockey game on when a southern bar definitely should have SEC football on every TV.  But I guess you can't replicate college football saturday above the mason-dixon line.

Overall, compared to a touristy french quarter restaurant, I'm giving this place 4.5 stars.  If this place was located in uptown New Orleans, this place would get 3.5 stars.  In Philadelphia, where the only competition is Cafe Nola, I'm rating this place 5+ stars.

I've been a repeated customer since this place opened within couple of steps from my front door.  I recommend the single cup hand poured brew of their Stumptown coffee.  Very smooth.  Every server is very helpful and friendly.  

They also have assortments of pastries, teas, and etc from other local businesses in the area.  The chocolate brownies were awesome.

The most HONEST people ever.  

I took my car in after "check the engine" lit up.  After eval, they said the light was a malfunction, and they didn't charge me anything.  Fix the light for free.  And they waited 15 mins after the store closed for me to pick up the car.  Other places, I probably would have gotten billed $75+ just for testing.

I've been here multiple times and always have gotten great service.  Reasonable prices.   Quality people.

Awesome store.  Possibly the best store in New Orleans and I hate shopping.  I bought some gifts, and they all were home runs.  

Store person was very helpful and friendly.

Great location (near Rendezvous Bar or Balcony Bar).

I don't know what they put in the coffee here, but it was the one of the best I've ever had.  Or maybe I was hungover.  I was in Vegas for a 4 day buddy's bachelor party extravaganza.  I did eat here for 3 straight days for breakfast (at 2pm).  I tried everything from the Eggs & Beef Bourguignon to Salmon Eggs Benedict.  The food was awesome.  My only complaint was that the pitchers of orange juice was ridiculously expensive.  The 4 pitchers of the orange juice was about 33% of the bill for 6-8 people.  Otherwise, the food price wasn't too outrageous.  The orange juice was phenomenal but not worth the price though.  We always sat on the outdoor patio with a great view of the Bellagio fountain.  The service was somewhat slow, but I'll give them slack because this place was always busy.  At least the servers were always super nice.

I came here on a Saturday night after already being in the Warwick Melrose for another function (when the open bar shut down at midnight).  From what I heard, this place usually had a line and had a waiting list earlier in the night.  Sounded lame but when we got there, our group got in without any hassle.  Very classy place and great ambiance/decor.  Very mixed group of people:  the trendy bar hoppers vs the older crowd that were the hotel guests vs the TX-OU weekend party-goers.  Lots of people but had enough roaming space.  The music was rather dull and drinks were somewhat overpriced.  Since living in New Orleans for many years, I have a higher standard for jazz/piano/lounge music.  The servers were super nice.  Overall at that time, I already displayed some delayed motor skills, so I had a great time.

Came here for a University of Texas alumni football game watching party before I had to go to a wedding.  We stumbled across this coincidentally while driving around Pacific/Mission beach area and saw a big sign saying the "Official Home of Texas Longhorns football".  We were actually driving around to find a random sports bar that would televise our Texas football game.  Awesome.  The other TVs had other college football games.  Also, there were a small contingents of Notre Dame alumni also.  

The food was very good.  The place was packed with burnt orange t-shirt wearing Texas alumni.  I had some green chili stuff (which I can't remember the name) but it was great.  Huge jars of beer and multiple tequila shots later, this afternoon turned out to be a great afternoon.

I was here for a weekend for a wedding.  For the hotel itself, this place was really nice.  Very 5 star-esque, hotel decor, service, and awesome bathroom.  Of course, other than to shower or sleep, I didn't spend too much time in the room because there's too much stuff to do in San Diego.  The bed wasn't uncomfortable like Motel 6 or anything.  For such a nice, classy hotel, the continental breakfast was very mediocre.  I probably shouldn't be griping about the continental breakfast, but I got to give at least one constructive criticism.  The pastries and donuts were all stale and tasted old, and I was hungover from a brutal forced-alcohol-consumption wedding reception.  Considering that I paid a 5 star-esque price for this hotel room (booked late), I want 5 star-esque everything.

Came here after having a few for Center City Sips from somewhere else.  We got lucky to get a sidewalk seating because it was nice outside.  Also, great view of all the drunk people in Drinker's (always looks so much fun from the outside but not much sometimes when you go inside).

Anyways, I went with pulled pork sandwich.  As for getting a bbq-type sandwich for being above the Mason-Dixon line, this was pretty good.  A little greasy and also could have used a little bit more smoke flavor.  Good fries.  Overall, most of us were pretty satisfied with our meals.  All the guys went with big meat sandwiches with beer and were happy.  Some of the girls complained about their salads, but I don't care about that.  

Small beer selection but they do have the 20 oz Arrogant Bastard.  The place looked nice inside but I was only inside for a minute just to get a table outside.

I've been here couple times before but never stayed very long due to the overcrowdedness.  I went here last Sunday when it seemed that the entire Center City of Philadelphia looked like a ghost town (presumably most people were at the beach), so we had no problems getting a seat and prompt service.  I woke up very hungover, so I was definitely in the mood for a big meal.  

I heard about Good Dog burgers as being one of the best burgers, if not, the best burger in the city.  I went with their signature burger which has the Roquefort cheese stuffed in the 1/2 pound beef patty.  It sounded great.  As I took the first bite, because I was so hungover-starved, the first taste was awesome.  I was thinking this could compete as one of the better burgers I've ever had.  Then, I got to the middle of the burger with the Roquefort cheese.  It was okay for awhile, but as I was downing the the 2nd half of the burger, I could only taste the Roquefort cheese.  The stuffing was over-powering the burger and its grilled onions.  My final verdict was that this burger was very average.

I heard from others that their other burgers and sandwiches are awesome.  I'd be willing to go back some other time to try other stuff.  As for the bar itself, it seemed that they had a good beer selection.  The service that day was also very good.