Mr Ed's Creole Grille. Metairie: 5241 Veterans Memorial Blvd . 504-889-7992 .

Last Updated on Friday, 08 April 2011 09:08

Restaurants - Neighborhood Cafe

Mr Ed's Creole Grille

Metairie: 5241 Veterans Memorial Blvd. 504-889-7992. Map.
Casual.
AE DC DS MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
Here is the New Orleans neighborhood restaurant, but even though the menu is very familiar and quotidian, eating here is not like eating at, say, Mandina's. The food--even the poor boys--comes out resembling more the offerings of an ambitious bistro than those of a corner joint. This is particularly true of the daily specials. The pricing seems to be designed to woo people away from the chains. And the food is better, too.

WHAT'S GOOD
The ingredients are impressive, especially in the seafood department and in the daily specials. In the more everyday dishes, where raw materials matter less, the kitchen shows a thorough knowledge of how to make everyday food taste great--in the fine New Orleans tradition. I suspect that some of what they served originated from outside the restaurant, but you'd never know it from the eating.

BACKSTORY
Ed McIntyre, who by then had opened five Mr. Ed's neighborhood cafes around town (and sold off a few of them), premiered this one in 2008. (He has since spun it off to a relative.) It's a smaller and less ambitious eatery than his original Mr. Ed's in Bucktown, but it triggered a tremendous business in its first year. Things have cooled down a bit here, and you can usually get a table immediately.

DINING ROOM
The main dining room is dark, but in terms of the colors and the lighting. And a bit battered, considering it's not much more than a year old, and more reminiscent of a bar than a restaurant. (The signs leading to the video poker complete this effect.) A few tables are jammed into unlikely corners. The servers are neighborly and casual.

ESSENTIAL MENU
Starters
»Louisiana blue crab dip
Spinach and artichoke dip
»Fried eggplant
Crispy catfish
»Turtle soup
»Creole gumbo
Soup of the day
»Bleu cheese iceberg wedge
Club salad
»Cobb salad
Grilled chicken Caesar salad
Shrimp and avocado salad

Sandwiches
»Hamburgers (numerous options)
Roast beef poor boy or open-face
Fried shrimp, catfish or oyster po-boy
Meatball and mozzarella po-boy
Grilled chicken sandwich
BBQ beef sandwich
Club sandwich

Entrees
»Red or white beans and rice, with sausage or pork chop
Meatballs and spaghetti
Chicken parmesan
»Roasted half-chicken
Grilled or breaded pork chops
Pot roast, baked macaroni, vegetables
Ribeye steak
Crabmeat au gratin
»Fried oyster dinner
»Fried catfish dinner
»Fried shrimp dinner
»Fried seafood platter
»Daily dinner specials

Desserts
»Bread pudding
Key lime pie
Praline cheesecake
Brownie with ice cream

FOR BEST RESULTS
The grilled seafood is the best part of the menu here, followed closely by the soups. Some of the more ambitious specials--mussels, for example--are much better than one expects.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
The best of the daily specials are terrific, but there are some serious clunkers in there--notably things like liver and onions.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

• Dining Environment
• Consistency +1
• Service +1
• Value +2
• Attitude +1
• Wine and Bar
• Hipness -1
• Local Color -1

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES

• Good for business meetings
• Small private room
• Open Monday lunch and dinner
• Open all afternoon
• Unusually large servings
• Quick, good meal
• Easy, nearby parking
• Reservations accepted

ANECDOTES AND ANALYSIS
When I step into this restaurant, I feel as if I've entered a time warp, to places like Sal & Sam's, the Red Onion, and the old Augie's--all big, ambitious restaurants of three decades ago. The menu is the same, the look is the same, and so are the customers. But this is 2011, and while the restaurants in the city keep after one another with new dishes and ingredients, there is clearly a place for this kind of stuff. It's funny that the most conservative food is found in the city's youngest neighborhoods.