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Restaurant Ratings

The ratings are based mostly on the degree to which the food excites us, and a little on environment, service, and other considerations. I rate restaurants relative to all other restaurants in the New Orleans area. Here's what the stars mean to me:

starstarstarstarstar
Among the best locally.

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Excellent and ambitious.

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Worth crossing town for.

starstar
Recommended.

*
Acceptable.

No star
Unacceptable.

Cost Ratings
Each dollar sign indicates a ten-dollar range, including a normal meal for the restaurant (dinner, if they serve other meals), not including drinks, or tips. So, for example. . .

1$--$5-15
2$--$15-25
3$--$25-35

. . . and so on, with no upper limit. While this scheme may suggest mathematical precision, know that perception of price varies from diner to diner as much as the star ratings do. So consider this an estimate.

All reviews are based entirely on meals I have personally taken at the restaurant and paid for from my own pocket. I don't take free review meals, nor am I reimbursed by anybody for my restaurant expenditures.

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Chad's Bistro

Neighborhood Cafe. Seafood. Italian. Creole.
Metairie: 3216 W. Esplanade Ave.. 504-838-9935. Map.
Lunch Sunday-Friday. Dinner seven nights.
Casual.
AE DC MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
Chad's is an updated, ambitious neighborhood restaurant that tries to cover too much territory in one menu. The seafood is clearly the best part of the menu, from the simple standards to the more complex daily specials. Reason enough to come here: the revival of the old seafood "boat"--a loaf of toasted, buttered bread filled with fried shrimp and oysters.

WHY IT'S GOOD
The menu is reminiscent of the those in big mid-range restaurant thirty years ago and more. They do everything from poor boy sandwiches and pizza to Italian food, steaks, and even some rather fancy, saucy dishes. The most complicated the dish, the more attention the kitchen seems to pay to it, and the better it is. Everything is prepared to order, if not always delivered as rapidly as you might like.

BACKSTORY
Chad's opened in 2005, before the hurricane. It honors the memory of Chad Barcia, a De La Salle High School football star who died tragically on the rugby field. The rather nice dining rooms were those of the brilliant French bistro Crozier's, which evolved into the French Table and Mirabelle before giving up the ghost.

DINING ROOM
The restaurant is in a nondescript strip mall, but the previous restaurants here left behind a pair of presentable, airy dining rooms and an ample bar. The larger front dining room is the more atmospheric. The waiters are not the kids you find in most moderate restaurants, but more experienced people who seem to have done this for awhile. They give better advice about the food than most servers can.

Oysters Buffalo style at Chad's.

ESSENTIAL DISHES
Appetizer specials.
Fried artichoke hearts or eggplant marinara.
Stuffed artichoke.
Eggplant napoleon with shrimp and pecans.
Crab cakes.
Crabmeat au gratin.
Fried calamari.
Wedge salad.
Seafood gumbo.
Fried seafood boat or platter.
Pepper-crusted seared tuna.
Crabmeat ravioli.
Veal or chicken parmesan or piccata.
Seafood specials.
Filet mignon with crabmeat bordelaise.
Veal parmesan poor boy.
Seafood poor boys.

Strawberry beignets.
Strawberry beignets for two.
Creme brulee.

FOR BEST RESULTS
The Italian food here is just passable. With several excellent Italian restaurants nearby, it's not a good choice. Avoid the tilapia in favor of local fish.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
The menu is unmanageably large. The specials they make with seafood--particularly on the grill--make me think that part of the menu could be enhanced. When you arrive, there's often nobody at the door to greet you.

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

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES

This review was updated with new information on 2/22/2010.

A list of over 320 full, current reviews is here.