Spanish.
Carrollton: 1506 S. Carrollton Ave.. 504-865-1612 . Map.
Lunch and dinner continuosly seven days.
Casual.
AE DC DS MC V
Website
WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
If your taste for Spanish cooking has been sharpened by the increasing number of restaurants serving that exciting and growing cuisine, Cafe Granada is probably already on your list. The menu here keeps expanding, adding to some of the best paellas, tapas, and other Iberian Spanish dishes in our precincts.
WHY IT'S GOOD
The selection is enormous for such a small restaurant. That's particularly true of the hot tapas section, which encompasses over thirty selections, ranging from the familiar empanadas, croquettes, and seafood morsels to interesting exercises with duck and lamb and many vegetarian tapas. The paella is rustic and chunky, and exotica like lamb tagine and a Basque dish or two flesh out the possibilities.
BACKSTORY
This place opened after the hurricane as Fiesta Bistro, serving many Spanish dishes but insuring its business with more familiar Mexican dishes. After about a year, the owners were convinced they could make it on the Spanish food alone. They changed the name and the menu, added live guitar music most nights, and found an appreciative clientele.
DINING ROOM
Cafe Granada is not much to look at inside or out. Many previous restaurants and stores wore the old building hard. Yet there's something that seems right about it, especially when the guitarist starts strumming. It is inevitable that several tables of Spaniards will be seated--sometimes in large parties.
ESSENTIAL DISHES
Shrimp and crabmeat croquettas.
Beef or Manchego cheese empanadas.
Mussels al diablo (steamed, in a spicy red sauce).
Calamari sauteed with olive oil, parsley, and garlic.
Sea scallops on a rosemary skewer.
Braised baby octopus.
Lamb chorizo.
Duck confit with citrus salad.
Carpaccio with manchego cheese.
Grilled eggplants with mushroom duxelles.
Andalusian gazpacho.
Fabada (lima beans, tomatoes, artichokes).
Tortilla Espanola (a kind of omelette).
Paella.
Chicken Basque style.
Steaks with chimichurri (South American pesto).
Grilled lamb chops with artichokes.
Stuffed quails.
Almond flan.
Creme brulee.
FOR BEST RESULTS
As in Spain, this restaurant is busier and better later in the evening than earlier. Start with sangria and spend a lot of time reading the menu and asking questions.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
The premises are in dire need of renovation.
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 -1
- Consistency +1
- Service
- Value +2
- Attitude +1
- Wine and Bar
- Hipness +1
- Local Color +1
SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
- Live music some nights
- Sidewalk tables
- Romantic
- Open Sunday lunch and dinner
- Open Monday lunch and dinner
- Open all afternoon
- Easy, nearby parking
- Reservations accepted
This review was updated with new information on 1/18/2010.
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