Neighborhood Cafe.
Carrollton: 3016 S. Carrollton Ave. 504-866-3683. Map.
Dinner Tuesday-Saturday, 4 p.m.-11 p.m.
Casual
AE DS MC V
Website
WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
Even though it was never an especially great place to eat, everything else about Ye Olde College Inn made it a local classic. The funny name. The highly visible location. The decades-old sign depicting an oyster loaf. The worn-out old building. And the menu, which seemed to have arrived by time machine from 1950. All that made it one of the restaurants people constantly asked me about after the hurricane. Problem was, the only thing that stayed the same was the name. Different building, different menu, different style.
WHY IT'S GOOD
The College Inn desperately needed updating, but I think they went a little too far. Many of the innovations smack of gourmet bistro food and service, instead of the down-home grub for which the College Inn was famous. And it's all just okay, from the creative new dishes down the the once-standout hamburger and shrimp remoulade.
BACKSTORY
The College Inn opened as a branch of the Pig Stand--a barbecue joint--in 1933. It evolved into a more standard neighborhood restaurant. After running it for over seventy years, in 2003 the Rufin family sold the College Inn to John Blancher--the owner of Rock 'n' Bowl, another local icon. Blancher looked like a good savior. He and his son John Jr. (who runs the place day-to-day) also understood that the College Inn was in desperate need of updating. The issue was forced by Hurricane Katrina, which did so much damage that the building had to be torn down. The restaurant moved into an even older building next door, but it looked so different and the food had changed so much that it was, to my sensitivities, a new restaurant.
DINING ROOM
Atmospherically, Ye Newe College Inn is very cool--a single big room with a high, wood-beam ceiling, a skylight, concrete floors, lots of open space. The College Inn's former schedule of being open almost any time people might be hungry (into the wee hours in its heyday) has been replaced by a five-day, dinner-only routine.
ESSENTIAL DISHES
Shrimp remoulade.
Barbecue shrimp.
Oyster and artichoke soup.
Turkey and sausage gumbo.
Iceberg wedge salad with blue cheese.
Roast beef poor boy.
Fried oyster or fried shrimp poor boy.
Havarti, bacon and oyster poor boy.
Hamburger.
Chicken fried steak poor boy.
Red beans and rice.
Grilled fish.
Crawfish-smothered fish.
Fish Creole meuniere (fried, with a light brown sauce).
Fried seafood platters.
Cartwright filet mignon (with spinach and mushrooms).
Double-cut pork chop with duck jambalaya.
Hamburger steak.
Daily lunch and dinner specials.
Bread pudding.
FOR BEST RESULTS
The College Inn's most famous dish is the chicken-fried steak. Do not order this. Seafood is actually the best thing they cook.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
Most restaurants need to move forward. This one needs to move backward. There is a place for the kind of food the College Inn used to cook. It needed to be polished, not eliminated.
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
- Service
- Value +1
- Attitude +1
- Wine and Bar
- Hipness -1
- Local Color +2
SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
- Medium private room
- Open after 10 p.m.
- Historic
- Unusually large servings
- Quick, good meal
- Good for children
- Easy, nearby parking
This review was updated with new information on 1/3/2010.
A list of all 300 full, current reviews is here.