NEW ORLEANS: Gordon Biersch

Our second night in New Orleans, we went to dinner at Gordon Biersch, which I guess I originally thought was a local brewery but turns out it was a chain restaurant with 32 locations around the country. I had wanted to go to Cochon, the most critically acclaimed restaurant that haunted me during my pre-visit research of the city. Exhausted from a long day of exploring, we settled for the closest restaurant to the hotel, and that was Gordon Biersch. While waiting to be seated, I checked out the Yelp! reviews and started getting a little nervous. As bad as most the reviews were, I like to decide for myself.

SERVICE
First of all, our server was a real nice guy. Slightly creepy - there was one point where he paused and look at me like he wanted to wear my skin - but nice. He was friendly, cracked some jokes, and was pretty conversational (mostly about where he buys kale). That being said, this guy should NOT be a waiter. He was just too scattered brained and could not multitask.

FOOD
For checking in on Yelp! we got a coupon for free garlic fries, so we started with those. They were very tasty, with lots of chunks of garlic, so not a great choice for a date! For my meal I got the Cajun pasta (which I asked for with no shrimp and it of course had shrimp in it when brought to the table). It was only slightly spicy but very flavorful. It could have been a little hotter when brought to the table, but it was still warm, and I’m not only to be picky. The portion was very large, definitely enough a full meal left over the next day.

DRINK
Being in the brewery restaurant, I had to try their brew. I got the Hefeweizen, which was good. Not my favorite Hefe I’ve ever had but it was still crisp and very flavorful.

All in all, I’d give this place 3/5 stars. I’d go again, but definitely request a different waiter.