The Restaurants We Can't Live Without By Tom Fitzmorris. . . Revised July 2009 Mr. B’s Bistro Contemporary Creole. French Quarter: 201 Royal. 504-523-2078. Map. Lunch and dinner seven days. Sunday brunch. Nice Casual. AE DC DS MC V www.mrbsbistro.com   WHY IT'S ESSENTIAL   Mr. B's is the archetype of the gourmet Creole bistro as we know it. Its menu offers the definitive versions of three major New Orleans dishes (chicken-andouille gumbo, barbecue shrimp, and bread pudding), and fills the rest of the menu with top-notch contemporary Creole cooking. And it's a comfortable meeting place in what may be the best location for a restaurant.   WHY IT'S GOOD   First-class food without formality is the formula behind Mr. B's. The cooking has never been complicated or the scene formal. The wood-burning grill (something they pioneered in modern times here) turns out first-class fish, poultry, and steaks. The remainder of the menu has a distinctly local style, and employs first-class fresh ingredients. An almost-all-California wine list is perfect for the food, and the bar makes generous drinks.   BACKSTORY   After closing restaurants for years following the family split, the Brennans (on the Commander's Palace side of the family) opened this seminal bistro in 1979. It was the perfect restaurant for the time: the Baby Boom generation wanted good New Orleans food, but didn't like the pomp of the grand restaurants. Mr. B's became the most widely-copied restaurant in town, serving as the prototype for dozens of gourmet Creole bistros. It launched the restaurant careers of siblings Ralph, Cindy and Lally Brennan, who with their cousins now run the empire. Cindy Brennan Davis is the managing partner of Mr. B's now.   DINING ROOM   The wide, long, dark-wood-paneled dining room always has a buzz. Full of local people (especially at lunch), the restaurant offers the opportunity to run into friends without trying. Live piano at night adds to the liveliness.   ESSENTIAL DISHES   Crab cakes. Duck spring rolls. Grilled jumbo sea scallop with wood-grilled portobello mushroom. Fried oysters with bacon-horseradish hollandaise. Gumbo ya-ya. Barbecue shrimp. Bacon-wrapped shrimp and grits with redeye gravy. Hickory-grilled redfish. Grilled chicken with sweet garlic glaze. Braised rabbit with cider, bacon and shallots. Honey-ginger glazed pork chop. Bread pudding. Hot buttered pecan pie. Bananas Foster cake.   FOR BEST RESULTS   Mr. B's has a strange reservation system. They accept reservations for a limited number of tables, but for most of them it's first-come, first served. Be sure when you call that you tell them you're local, and don't ask for 7:30 or 8 p.m. reservations unless they know you well.   OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT   The service staff is not as sharp as it was before the storm. While that's a common problem around town, I'd say it's a little more noticeable here, where you expect every waiter to know you if you're a regular. The menu could use a little more range.   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 +2 Value Attitude +1 Wine and Bar +2 Hipness +2 Local Color +2   SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES    Live music Romantic Good for business meetings Private dining room (fewer than 25) Private dining room (more than 25) Open Sunday Open Monday Well-known chef Historic Valet parking free Click here for an index to current reviews of the 200 Essential Restaurants, and others. © 2009 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com