Neighborhood Cafe. Seafood. Sandwiches.
Metairie: 1001 Live Oak. 504-838-0022. Map.
Kenner: 910 W. Esplanade, 504-463-3030. Map.
Lunch and dinner continuously Monday-Saturday.
Casual
AE DC DS MC V
Website
WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
Mr. Ed's is a fine example of the latter-day New Orleans neighborhood restaurant. The original neighborhood cafes were nearly extinct when the first Mr. Ed's opened. The local love for such places was easy to revive, with the right, all-encompassing menu. Ed McIntyre put that out there, and his restaurant became hugely popular right away. Part of the program: it's amenable to family dining, from little kids to their great-grandparents.
WHY IT'S GOOD
If there's any part of the menu in which Mr. Ed's stumbles badly, I haven't found it. The poor boy sandwiches are as good as the seafood platters, which are as fine as the spaghetti and Italian sausage and the fried chicken. The complaints I might be able to work up involve little things, like the heating of muffulettas and the sometimes grossly oversize portions. The restaurant defeats such matters with its very appealing prices and routine cooking of everything to order.
BACKSTORY
Ed McIntyre opened the first, modest version of Mr. Ed's in Bucktown in 1989. It grew from there, both in that location and others. Some Mr. Ed's opened and were later sold off. Currently, in addition to the Bucktown original, there's a much smaller edition in Kenner (where Calas Bistro used to be). Mr. Ed's Creole Grill on Veterans Blvd. is owned by a relative and has a rather different menu. McIntyre also owns the more upscale Austin's on Chastant Street, also in Metairie.
DINING ROOM
In Bucktown, there are two big dining rooms with a bar between them, a pleasant but spartan environment. They can get noisy when full. The Mr. Ed's in Kenner is a much smaller restaurant with an almost too elegant dining room.
ESSENTIAL DISHES
Fried eggplant
Fried calamari
Fried mushrooms
Shrimp cocktail or remoulade
Gumbo
Turtle soup
Italian salad
Grilled chicken salad
Fried shrimp salad
Crabmeat au gratin
Eggplant casserole with crabmeat and shrimp
Bell peppers stuffed with shrimp, crabmeat and crawfish
Fried seafood platters (shrimp, oysters, catfish, stuffed crab or combination)
Grilled shrimp
Grilled red snapper
Fried, grilled, baked, barbecued or stewed chicken
Paneed veal with fettuccine
Veal, chicken or eggplant parmesan
Breaded or grilled pork chops
Red beans and rice with sausage or pork chop
Meatballs or Italian sausage with spaghetti
Muffuletta
Poor boy sandwiches (roast beef, ham, meatball, Italian sausage, hot sausage, fried seafood, or panneed veal)
Bread pudding
Lemon ice box pie
FOR BEST RESULTS
Because it attracts so many families and older customers, Mr. Ed's is busier in the early evening than later.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
The red sauce on the Italian dishes could be better. When the place is busiest, there's no comfortable place to wait.
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
- 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
- Good for children
- Easy, nearby parking
- No reservations
This review was updated with new information on 6/17/2010.
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