Johnny Sanchez

I came to New Orleans for a conference. I was sooo lucky I found this place on my first night. I visited the restaurant 4 times in less than 5 days. Yes, the food is just that AMAZING!!! Great drinks, staff and service. Everything is fresh. Each dish has its own unique flavors, textures, colors and magic. Don’t forget to try the arroz con pollo, it’s a killer!!! ;-)

4 solid stars. This place sits squarely with 4 stars IMO. Great food, tasty margaritas and a banging Besh happy hour deal for tacos and margaritas. We have been here a handful of times and it’s never a disappointment. The chorizo tacos are the bomb. I just wish they would play something other than NBA in the bar! Ha

I was skeptical going into the slightly empty Mexican restaurant since we were in New Orleans but the menu had some good options and I ended up loving what I ordered. We had a bunch of appetizers including crispy brussels sprouts, shrimp and tomatillos, and the gulf snapper tiradito all of which were delicious. I ordered the goat tacos with pickled cactus as my main entrée and two tacos was completely filling because they are large tacos. And they were so so so tasty. This is a good spot if you are looking for a less crowded place to eat that can accommodate large groups of people. The service was pretty slow though so keep that in mind if you are in a hurry.

Fantastic food… this place definitely is not «Chopped.» The pork belly taco, do yourself a favor and get them. The barbacoa tacos are damn good too. My wife had the chicken enchiladas and the mole will change your life.

BLUF: Fancy mexican food. Not bad.
The atmosphere is a little on the business young professional side; felt a little stuffy for mexican food in my opinion. Service was fine but ate at the bar.
I’m an idiot and got chicken mole enchilladas and I don’t care too much for mole. It was good but the mole overpowers everything and that is all you can taste. Good mole I guess.
Wife got goat tacos and hers were good. She also got some corn side dish that was interesting and good.
The food was definitely good but noting too special. I’d go back and order something different.

We’ve been looking forward to trying out Johnny Sanchez since before we moved to New Orleans. I am a huge Aaron Sanchez fan and also have been dying to get to a John Besh restaurant (and since most of them are way out of my normal eating out price range. this one fit the bill, literally)
Finally gave it a go yesterday and went for happy hour (everyday from 3 – 6) knowing that the prices were a little high on the regular.
We got the pitcher of margaritas for 17.50 which equaled about 6 margaritas. so even if there are just two of you, it’s worth it (2 regular margaritas would be $ 18 total). The margs were strong and yummy. And we took our leftovers to-​go (dontcha love New Orleans!!!).
Their chips and salsa are delish. I liked the green salsa and the boyfriend liked the smoke-​ier red salsa. The chips were great bc their are some plantain chips mixed in.
I have very high guacamole standards and theirs was pretty good but not my fave.
I ordered the pescato tacos on the regular menu which were amazing. I’d definitely get them again.
My boyfriend ordered the pork tacos and the chorizo tacos from the happy hour menu (both $ 5 each) and a side of the street corn (sooo yummy!) he was very happy with everything.
We will definitely return. and keep coming to happy hour since that price fits our budget better.

I was so underwhelmed by Johnny Sanchez that I didn’t even whip out my iPhone to take a picture of everything I ate and drank. Basically, this place is like a date you’re completely feeling whatever about. You don’t want to actively seek that person out again, but you may get lonely and desperate on a cold night. You will likely always regret it after the fact.

Do not waste your money in this place. Very expensive for Mexican food.
Twice I went for lunch, quality was mediocre, service was bad, prices probably twice as much as you would spend somewhere else.
Obviously you are paying for the names «John Besh». Save your money.

Highs and lows. First, I would come back and try more. There’s a lot of really good gourmet tacos out there right now so if you want a fan, you’ve got to step it up a little. We had lunch there today. There weren’t a ton of tables sat but it still took quite awhile to get our food. I can’t really imagine what happens when you’ve got 130 people in there. The service was just ok at best.
Loved the chips and salsas. They’re very good. We split the pork belly tacos, goat tacos and a side of frijoles charros. I would have ordered the chicken enchiladas with mole but it was $ 22. They don’t charge $ 22 for it at Frontera Grill in Chicago! Anyway, the beans are usually pintos but for some reason these were black beans. The flavors were good but the dish was really really too salty to finish.
The pork belly tacos were just terrific but the goat tacos were so tough I could barely bite through the meat. The spice level on the salsas and tacos was perfect. It’s too bad there were misses really because the flavor profiles were excellent. I really like this cuisine and it’s really hard to find across this country in this quality. The execution of the dream is the problem here. The prices are all over the board and like some of John’s other restaurants, like Willa Jean, the prices don’t seem to reflect real food costs or are commensurate with the dish. The tacos are very reasonable and the happy hour menu is a very good deal.

I am a Mexican food LOVER so I knew I was going to be in for a treat.
Went around 11am before a Saint’s game. Perfect location, walking distance from the Superdome
Not a lot of seating but charming NOLA decour.
Wait staff was very friendly & served us with plantains, chips, & green & red salsas. The red hands down top salsa I have tasted in my life.
Ordered a hibiscus passionfruit margarita (bit overpriced $ 12) but very refreshing and delicious. They also serve a variety of seasonal ritas!
Entrée: the goat tacos which were mouth watering! The meat was pulled tender & juicy! The picked cactus added a nice zing topped with cheese which was very flavorful overall. Will be back!

Cons: not super duper quick for lunch (or maybe that was because the mess of 30 or so people having a holiday party in the back room); also, the lunch menu is pretty limited so if you want some of their signature items come during dinner
Pros: Amazing tacos (I dreamt about the pork belly one last night); glorious, filling empanadas; excellent service, not counting the delay for the food. Please, do yourself a favor and get the brussels sprouts — they’re unbelievably tangy and tasty and pretty much blew my mind away.

In short, I’m not a fan of Johnny Sanchez. The atmosphere is fun. The wait staff is really nice. It’s the food that falls short.
I have been there twice now. Once with some friends who work down in the CBD for lunch and a second time to meet up with my cousin before a Saints game. We had a reservation for both visits, which was absolutely critical for the Saints game.
So far, I have tried the carne asada, pescado and the cabrito (goat). The pescado was their best taco. It’s a few pieces of lightly battered gulf fish with a jalapeño vinaigrette. It’s decent, maybe a ³⁄₅. The other tacos are just not good. The carne asada and cabrito aren’t worth eating. The meat is dry and not particularly well flavored. I find their tortillas a little dry. It’s hard to have a respectable taco without a strong base tortilla.
At any rate, Johnny Sanchez is decent place to visit and spend time pregaming for something going on near the Dome. The servers are prompt, and they have lots of good drink options. The food ranks fairly low IMHO. I do not plan on repeating Johnny Sanchez.

I came here with a vendor for work not long ago, and I had the daily special — lobster enchiladas. Holy cow those things were good! We started with guacamole and chorizo queso, which were both excellent with the house-​made tortilla and plantain chips. Then my enchiladas came out in the little cast iron skillet, filled with cheesy lobstery goodness. The sauce was perfect, the enchiladas were perfectly cooked, and there was an excellent balance of lobster and other filling. Very well done.

Can’t say I was bowled over. The service was great, but I can eat and drink the same quality of Mexican food for half the price elsewhere. The room is pretty, parking’s a chore.

I went to this location with a few co-​workers for lunch before a work event downtown and it was delicious. Two beers and three tacos later (plus tip) I dropped $ 39.00.
I didn’t think that this was ridiculously priced because the food was delicious (especially the dips and chips!!) But, I wish I could order each taco a la carte. I hate being forced to order two of the same tacos! What if I don’t want two steak tacos?
Luckily, one of my friends split the pork belly taco with me so I wasn’t forced to only eat delicious steak tacos.

John Besh does it again and this time with a Mexican flair, along with Aaron Sanchez!
We brought a large party to Johnny Sanchez and weren’t disappointed with the service, the food or the drinks! They probably could have left the crickets off my guac but that is just a personal preference and the only thing that may have made my experience better.
Given we were such a big group– I’m pretty sure we had a taste of most of the menu. We started with the guacamole and chips, the ceviches, the queso fundido, and the shrimp and octopus tostada. Delicious and it only set us up for more delicious food to come!
For our main course, we just told them to bring out one or more of each of the tacos that they serve from goat to veggie, pork to oyster, beef to fish each one was better than the last (although my favs were the goat and the fish).
And the margaritas were flowing from the large pitchers that were on the table.
Did I have way too much to eat and drink? Of course. But that was half the fun!

I stopped in last Saturday to meet some friends and was HAPPY to take advantage of the HAPPY hour specials. We were hanging out in the bar area which had plenty of space for a small crowd to gather without blocking up the works. We split a few pitchers of the margaritas which were very good and not TOO sweet. I love that! And I tried the Al Pastor tacos (a GREAT deal at 2 for $ 5 during happy hour) which were super flavorful and had nice big chunks of pork (if you like that sort of thing, and I do!) and grilled pineapple which added a nice little sweetness.
There is so many things on the menu I can’t wait to try, so I hope to be back soon!

Four stars for outstanding service, very good food & pretty cool ambiance. Truth be told, if Johnny Sanchez was in San Antonio, it would have earned three stars max, but it’s not, and finding a quality «Mexican» food experience in NOLA is a bit of a challenge.
Compared to similar food in the area, JS is in a different league than Juan’s around the corner, although Juan’s puts out better chips & salsa and better margaritas, but lacks the ambiance and service. Casa Borrega is the closest thing to a true competitor to Johnny Sanchez in terms of unique food offerings and pricing, with a much cooler NOLA vibe & patio seating, but lousy service (at least the night we went).
Bottom-​line, if you’re in the area and in the mood for some amazing chicken enchiladas, arroz con pollo, octopus/​shrimp ceviche, salsa & plantains and don’t mind paying for superb service, give JS a try. If all you want is the best tacos in town, go around the corner to Juan’s. For the best NOLA vibe, go to Casa Borrega (and hope for decent service), or do what I do, and enjoy all three, knowing that a trip to San Antonio for a legit five-​star Mexican meal is what I really need.

My boyfriend decided on a whim to try dinner here on Sunday 4÷26÷15. No reservations, but we were going to try anyways.
I’d have to say dinner was just GREAT, from the service to the food!
Our server, Gigi, was amazing. She was very friendly, quite tentative and sold each item on the menu with enthusiasm! I wanted to order everything she described and recommended.
We started off with the complimentary chips and salsa, which were quite above average of all others. The salsa wasn’t runny, especially the green picante which usually is at other restaurants. The tortilla chips were also mixed with thinly sliced and fried plantains, which were amazing! It complimented the salsas so well!!!
For appetizers, we ended up choosing the Brussel sprouts salad, which was very good. What impressed me was that on Unilocal,I saw others posting an appetizer with bone marrow. It wasn’t on the menu that night though, but our server went to ask the chef if they could whip it up, AND THEY DID! Exceptional!!! We also ordered the Mexican corn. Twas delicious!
As for entrees, Gigi recommended us to get the yellowtail neck… where they give you a portion of the fish and you pull out the meat from the bones. SO DELICIOUS! This is so highly recommended!!!
All in all, even though we ordered mostly appetizers/​tapas, we had a great time! Food was great and ambience was very chill!

CARDINAL SIN: THEIR CHIPS SUCK!
Overfried to the point of being brittle, bitter and churro hued. I sent mine back and look what I got, even darker shards (see pic). In Texas, bad chips — a restaurant’s first impression — are a death blow. Texans!!! Am I right???
ENTRÉES DON’T OVERCOME THE CHIP SUCKAGE:
My two, 4″ tacos were no better than Izzo’s but without the topping options. I surprised myself by actually saying «B**CH PLEASE» when the outrageously priced $ 12 ungarnished twin shells landed in front of me like a plate from the Jetsons auto-​vend.
DON’T BE A SCHMO, EAT NEXT DOOR AT JUAN’S
If not, get the Flameado appetizer for $ 10. It’s about a pound of fire melted cheese and institutional chorizo*** that can be divided into eight 4″ tacos, feeding two. Lagniappe: you can top these with the excellent in-​house free salsas (roasted tomato, tomatillo, and habanero).
*** & THEIR BOURGIE CHORIZO ISN’T EVEN MADE IN HOUSE!
It’s sourced.
Sysco?
At these prices…
WTF?