NOLA is chef/restaurateur Emeril Lagasse’s casual eatery in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter. Open since 1992, the critically-acclaimed restaurant fuses traditional Creole, Acadian and Southern cuisine with global influences. Chef de Cuisine Philip Buccieri works closely with Chef Emeril to create an innovative menu showcasing rustic Louisiana cooking with local ingredients and some ethnic twists. The three-story restaurant features an open-action kitchen, chef’s food bar, and a signature wood-fired brick oven. NOLA was renovated in 2017 and is now open daily serving lunch from 11:30 am - 4:00 pm and dinner from 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm Sunday - Thursday and 4:00 pm - 11:00 pm Friday & Saturday. NOLA also offers a daily happy hour from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm.
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Came from out of town for a friends bday and was blow way by the food for the cost. Our server was amazing. We were a troublesome party due to lack of planning on some of our party’s planning and the servers took it very gracefully and didn’t skip a beat. Coming from a culinary background, I really appreciated it. And the oyster special was out of this world. Thanks to the NOLA staff.
Food and service was great. Noise level very high. Felt like we were eating at a bar.
Service was incompetent and rude. Threw menus down on the table, and were so quick to take plates they dropped utensils multiple times. Tried to push drinks, and if you didn’t order any, then they basically barely came to your table ever again. Extremely unorganized, and wait staff were constantly bumping into each other or yelling across the room at each other. So loud, weird and odd atmosphere. Overall, 0 out of 5 stars. There are so many better established places to spend your time and money in New Orleans.
Overall a good experience...some items are overpriced, but you expect that going in
It was just way too loud in the place and it was impossible to carry on a conversation
One of my top 5 in Nola . Always a delightful !!!
I don't like cornbread, but my wife ordered it...to me it didn't taste like cornbread...it tasted very good. I ordered the gumbo...my wife ended up eating half of that and would have eaten more if I had let her.
The appetizers were followed by Fish Creole and the Garlic Drum fish. Everything was hot, tasty and fork cuttable.
This is an Emeril restaurant and showed that it was worthy of when he was the Chef at the Commander's Palace.
Great Boudin Balls and the cocktail was delicious! Our server was perfect - very attentive and had a great wine pairing recommendation. We will definitely come back.
After a long day at work, NOLA is a great place to come to for meals prepared “better” than your mom’s homemade dishes!! They are made with love ❤️ & I enjoy the atmosphere & group working as 1 unit!!
I was looking forward to dine at NOLA and had a poor experience
Everything we ate was excellent. Shrimp salad special grouper special. Garlic encrusted fish. All amazing. We will tell everyone going to New Orleans to visit NOLA
Great selection
GreAt location
As in most all Restaurants in the French quarter.... cleanliness is not the top priority
The hostess that we checked in with (aarived about 5-10 min early) told us to sit in the bar area. We Sat there, no one offered us a drink, menu or etc. After our reservation time another hostess came over & asked if we woukd be ordering. We said yes, we were waiting for our table. She loudly & rudely said well thus table is for dining customers & we would need do move to a stool aling the bar itself. Mind you there were numerous tables open throughout the restaurant. We woukd gladly stayed where we were even, if someone had even acknowledged us. Long story short we were seated at our table, well after our reservation time, we sat waiting for anything from water, food, bill etc. This is my second time dining here. The food was blah, pasta stuck together, pizza overcooked, salad with dressing sittinf in the center, bartender blowing her nose behund the bar, throwinf bottles into trash with a crash. Overall it did not live up to what I would expect the owners expected standards woukd be.
Hostess checked us in then ignored us for 15 minutes. Really bad first impression. We had a counter reservation but there was no one seated there so why would they not seat us or communicate? No excuse for poor communication . Lazy service at the hostess stand
Casual environment, incredible flavor! The Apps, entrees, and desserts were all wonderful.
We visited as a group of 8 on a trip from out of town. We made a reservation for 9:00 pm and were sat by 9:10. We were seated by the door so it was a bit cold when it opened but not much anyone can do about that! The problem came when our food took a long time to come out, and then 7 of us got our meals and the 8th persons didn’t come out right away. The first 7 meals arrived cold, and then it was a good 15 minutes before the last person got their meal (a pretty long time when everyone else has their food), and it was piping hot. We suspect there was a mix up in the kitchen and they held our meals for as long as possible (hence why they were cold) and finally brought them out while still waiting for the last meal. It would have been fine had they just been honest about it, but they claimed they had no idea why the last meal was taking so long when we twice inquired about when it would be out. They didn’t offer to remove it from the bill, but then again we didn’t ask either because it likely wasn’t the servers fault and didn’t want to make a big deal of it. The food was very good, just cold. Overall a mediocre experience, and they could definitely work on improving service!
Wonderful food and excellent wait staff! Staff was very attentive and professional. The drinks were great, and the food was excellent.
Came her 2 times in 3 days when we were in New Orleans. Great food at a great price with great service
Fabulous meal and felt really taken care of as I had flowers delivered that they had ready at our table to celebrate our engagement. Great food and great service.
Good but not great.
Amazing experience. Really enjoyed the counter seating. Food was outstanding. That was the best pork chop I’ve ever had in my entire life!
Overall very nice
I expected to be blown away. The food was as good as mine at home. I expected more from Emeril. He needs to throw a little more bam into his recipes. I was underwhelmed. The service from the waite staff was stellar. They couldn't do enough for you.
Excellent service and food, and menu with interesting selections. The noise level in the restaurant was so high that we had difficulty carrying on a conversation at the table.
Great food and excellent casual service
The food was ok for the price. I did expect more than a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream as I was celebrating a birthday but the food thing is I don’t have to go back.
Food was over the top. Great service. Was very clean. Liked it so much were going back a second time for this trip
Gator is delicious ! Best way to end our Nola trip <3
Loved this restaurant 20 years ago. Nothing like it was.
Always the best no matter how many times we go. They pay attention to detail
The food and service we're phenomenal! Very efficient but not rushed. We will definitely return on our next trip to New Orleans. The only negative was from me, the tea drinker. The hot tea was pressed in a stainless container that must have had coffee in it before so it left a bit of coffee taste. My husband says I'm picky but I don't care for coffee so I don't want my tea to taste like it.
Excellent crest food choices. Great service by all who took care of our table
We sat upstairs in a room that looked like a hotel conference room. The lights were bright for dinner which they did eventually dim while we were dining. The air conditioning blew cold air on us the whole meal. My husband ate with his jacket on and I was cold with my sweater. The food and the service were both good.
We had a great time. The service was FANTASTIC. Our waiter was amazingly honest which I highly respect in a fine dining experience. I asked him about three different things on the menu. He got a quarter out and we did a coin flip. He said you can’t go wrong with any of them. He was right I’m glad heads won. Without bad mouthing other restaurants he told us some great reviews of what he thought for other alternatives later in our stay based on what we were looking for. I am not a local but I frequent New Orleans often and will certainly be back.
Our main waiter was very busy and not to attentive to us. The food was just ok.
The BBQ shrimp are worth the mediocrity you get from visiting this once great restaurant. It is a shame this is what it has turned into. The oyster loaf is on a bun that NO REAL CHEF would ever serve to a guest they care about. It was huge, not good, too big to eat, and did a terrible disservice to the delicious fried oysters. Why not at least toast the damn thing? Avoid this dish. My friend had the shrimp and grits, with cold grits. I never understand why I get inattentive service when the restaurant is not crowded. 'Why do my finished plates sit in front of me still?', I wondered. They need to train their servers that they are in NOLA and NOLA servers are some of the best. Pay attention or go home.
Go get the BBQ Shrimp, and leave. You're now in the know. IF you adhere to this, you'll leave very happy. The sauce served in this dish is world class.
Food was cold but pizza taste great!!
This is my 5th time eating here. Had this been my first, there would not have been a second time. Food was sub par. Service was nonexistant. 5 of 6 entrees were room temp. 3 were so bad they got sent back. Table next to us came in about 5 mins after us and finished entrees 10 mins before we got ours. Waitress, we thought left. Waiter who helped out did all he could, and he did it very well, but the damage was done. Cream Brulee desert was something out of a gas station refrigerator section. I don't know what has changed since last Feb, or if we just hit a really bad night, but there will not be a 6th visit. This review and a low tip, on food only will say just how bad it was. We were about 5 .minutes away from asking for manager, but did not feel like waiting any longer for something we asked for!
Food was excellent. We had shrimp and grits as well as the drum and the flavors were amazing. The cocktails were good but maybe a little light on the alcohol. The only negative was it took a while for our food and we were rushing to a ghost tour so had to eat in 20 min. Overall we loved the restaurant and will definitely return.
I last visited 20 years ago and loved this restaurant. We saw it on Open Table, made reservations and were impressed! Great food and service. I will be back!
FAQs
NOLA Restaurant is rated 4.3 stars by 12591 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.