Cafe Nola

OK… so we went with some friends this past weekend, even after reading the marginally negative reviews. When we entered the establishment, we were greeted by friendly staff and seated in a small room behind the bar. Seating was ok., table was nicely set, and drinks were ordered. As we sat talking, we looked around at the restaurant, and noticed that there were wires hanging from the ceiling, with patches of paint missing on the ceiling. Apparently, some leaks were painted over… and there was a serving tray screwed to the ceiling with drywall screws covering «something». There was a set of patio doors that a breeze came in through… and a space heater in the corner of the room. Not very clean OR nice.
Pricing was moderate… not excessive. I figured.“give it a shot… maybe the food will be excellent and make me forget about the surroundings” Service was slow for refills, and the waiter was wearing a fleece jacket… not very professional. We ordered our meals and were told how plentiful the portions were. My friend and I ordered the «Trilogy», as it was touted by the waiter as a huge portion with a mix of flavors. As we were served, I noticed that the portions were sized very differently between the two same ordered meals… which I thought was «weak». Food was just warm… not hot… and just OK. I ordered a refill of water, and the waiter reached across my plate to grab my water glass and the sleeve of his fleece jacket brushed over my plate. Again…“weak”.
It was at this point that I went to use the restroom. It was a small, foul smelling room. Not foul smelling from someone using it… foul smelling from it having not neem cleaned… possibly ever. Absolutely a disgusting experience. I was disgusted to even touch the faucet to wash my hands. But… I grinned and «sucked it up» and went back to my table to finish the mediocre meal. One of the other men at my table went to the restroom and when he returned made a comment about it. The waiter was at the table and said something like «Oh…we don’t talk about the bathroom». I said «well…at least it was cleaned… in 1976». He laughed it off and went about his business. I tohught «If the bathroom looks like that… what does the kitchen look like?» Really… if the management allows the bathroom to be that filthy, what kind of standards to they uphold for the rest of the establishment?
the bill for 6, with no apps or salads, and two beers each was 300.00 with tip.
I thought «we could’ve gone nearly anywhere and gotten a really good meal for $ 30 a plate». I WILL NOT return to this establishment, nor do I recommend it.

This is the dirtiest restaurant I have ever been in. I felt like I was inhaling 100 year old dusty curtains the entire time. I thought that I’d at least be safe ordering the shrimp jambalaya but when it came out it smelled so bad that I could barely eat it. Ideal spot for a TLC makeover.

Great food, great atmosphere. The waiters were very personable and hot to know us really well. The food was delicious. Not much more to ask for. Get the mint julip.

So bad I’m listening to my boyfriend vomit from seafood poisoning right now!!! We went and I had such high hopes not being a spicy food lover but loving Creole food all the same… The drinks weren’t bad but the food… let me tell you… I created this account to let people know… I asked for very mild on my Drunken Shrimp… It was blander then bland I ended up trying to season myself nothing worked not salt, hot sauce, or even the sauce from my boyfriend’s Jambalaya (more on that next) I ate one fork of it and one shrimp from the whole plate and was still charged $ 18.95 instead of $ 27. My boyfriend had the seafood jambalaya which was really not great either, tomato and cayenne pepper and bad seafood is what that dish was comprised of. Honestly both our plates felt like the chef was giving us a personal «f*** you». I have never left a note telling a place how bad they were but I ended up doing so here… Thanks for ruining my Saturday date night!!!
As avid foodies and risk takers this place was NOT WORTH THE RISK!!!

I stopped in for a couple of drinks at Café Nola this past weekend. The bartender was friendly, it was a nice quiet place to match with our sleepy evening. I had a Turbodog, she had a mixed drink. I was happy that they had a few Abita varieties available, though I wish they had some on tap.
They had some traditional New Orleans drinks (hurricane, sazerac, and mint julep). Unfortunately, they were out of mint when I was there. I mint julep would have been perfect for a summer night.
Looking at the menu, I was a little disappointed when I saw what looked like Cajun-​Italian fusion. I’d be interested in trying some of the food, even though I realize that I have some preconceived notions at this point. The more Cajun food around the better, just not entirely sure how well this place can compete for my affection with Catahoula.

This review is based on a poorly planned Valentine Day about 25 years ago. Hint to all men make reservations and call ahead.
Café Nola, bailed me out that night with my date AMS and saved the day.

Don’t do it you will regret it. At least don’t order online.
I have no idea what the place looks like. I was with my girl friend, I suggested dining in she suggested Creole. I should have checked the Unilocal reviews, Smh I would have never ordered a thing since clearly I am the first to wright a review.
I got the drunken shrimp and the cajun Creole pasta. For starters the drunken shrimp all though stated it would be cooked in a butter sauce was extremely greasy/​oily. It lacked flavor and left a filmy taste in the back of my mouth.
the Cajun Creole pasta stated it was linguine, when it came it was penne instead. there where three prices of shrimp and three pieces of dry chicken. The shrimp was pretty decent, but then again you have to be a moron to mess shrimp up.
All in all I will not be eating from here ever again., maybe I just caught a bad draw but sometimes that’s all it takes

Definitely A for effort when it comes pleasing customers.
I initially called in to inquire about the Prime Rib sides. I wanted mashed potatoes, and I was told they didn’t have it. Although dismayed by this fact, I sadly ordered anyway because they were the only place in town that delivered prime rib.
When the Prime Rib came, loe-​and-​behold, not only did I see a potato, it was mashed!!! WOW. I truly appreciate the effort. A+ for customer centricity.

I may love NOLA as opposed to just like it if I’ve never been to New Orleans, but I have, and can tell a marked difference.
As far as the positives are concerned, I had a wonderful drink here… mulled sangria. It certainly hits the spot on a winter night. The staff here are very friendly and accommodating also.
When I returned for dinner I had the drunken shrimp. While it was tasty, it wasn’t as flavorful as the dishes you would have in New Orleans. My advice to café NOLA would be to not be afraid of spices… people dining in a New Orleans themed establishment expect spice, so lay it on!

This place makes me want to go back and change every other 5 star rating to a 4 in comparison. The atmosphere is about what you would expect between South Street and Old City, classy and respectable but hip as well, with pumpkin string lights along the window overlooking 2^nd Street. We went around 9:30 on a Friday and it was mostly open. The most notable part about our visit though was the phenomenal waitstaff. Extremely friendly, helped us with any questions we had about the menu, and seemed genuinely interested in making sure we enjoyed our stay. Plus with menu items like Voodoo Vampire and Creole shrimp, it was definitely a fun and delicious overall experience.

I just had a beer there and I did not have any cash only a credit card. The guy said I had to have $ 20 min. I said you should of told me this before I sat down. He talked to his manager and said the beer is free. I thought that was very cool. I will now try the food and bring some friends.

We had been walking around CC all day — literally — and my fiancé had finally reached the point of no return and needed to a) sit the F down for a while and b) eat something NOW. Since I know very well how scary he can get with low blood sugar, I was more than happy to find a solution — I was a bit hungry myself, anyway. As we were walking towards South Street, we spotted Café Nola and, after a quick peek at their menu (and a seriously loud stomach grumble from him), decided to give it a try.
The dark interior was a bit worn, and the décor at times kitschy, but we were a bit more focused on getting someone into a better mood. We were there a bit on the early side so it was a bit empty, but at least that seemed to make the service run smoothly and quickly. I wasn’t as hungry as my fiancé, so I ordered the roasted mushroom caps (stuffed with crabmeat) appetizer, which was quite tasty, a fair amount of butter but should I expect anything else from Louisiana-​style cuisine? That came out first, although we had asked for everything at once, but at least we didn’t have to wait long for the other two dishes to come out (otherwise he would’ve taken the entire plate from me). I went with a salad, their tomato mozzarella which came atop a pile of mixed greens. It was good, not great or anything, but hard to compare mozzarella quality after you’ve had it right in Naples, Italy. My fiancé had decided to try their cajun jambalaya pasta, which had sauteed shrimp and chicken with onions, peppers and tomatoes in a spicy cajun sauce over linguini. He had been intrigued by the fact that it came with pasta instead of rice, but we have a limited knowledge of Cajun dishes. I couldn’t try a bite since I’m allergic to shrimp (which I will constantly complain about because I used to be able to eat them and they’re SO GOOD), but he seemed to really enjoy it and dug in with gusto. The menu is a bit pricey since most of the entrees are at least $ 19, if not already over $ 20 each, but we certainly seemed to have quite a bit of food — that is, until he ate it ALL.

I was hoping that the mediocre overall rating was a fluke. There WERE some trustworthy types singing praise. Unfortunately, the apparently hit and miss kitchen was a big swing and a miss. I went for restaurant week, against my better judgment. There was no flavor on anything. I LOVE Creole/​Cajun, but this was no bueno. It sucks that Khyber Pass is on the same damn street. The reviews pointing out flaws said all that has to be said. For $ 60 with two beers (who only has Abita Purple Haze for the non-​mainstream beer, at a place called NOLA?) it was not worth it in the least. Luckily the group had a great time picking out the flaws, like having to ADD SALT to the gumbo. The service was awkward, with the management/​service dynamic resulting in an uncomfortable atmosphere. The lobster ravioli which inexplicably contained crab instead was another strange aspect. Not to mention the blush sauce came out solidified. Not warm, but nearly chilled. Who knows how long it was sitting.
Another tip, the beauty of things like jambalaya is the way the flavors meld over the cooking process. They pride themselves on assembling the ingredients to order. Wait, what? So the proteins are an afterthought? No thanks.
And now for the grand finale. .. the hot sauce. They finally brought out hot sauce, and all they had was freaking Cholula. HAHAHAHAHAHA! With two STOCK Louisiana hot sauces that are CHEAPER than their Mexican counterpart, they screwed the pooch yet again. How do you have Becks and Heineken, yet only one beer from Louisiana? And its a fruit beer. Ugh. Also, nothing on draft. I won’t even get into the salads or the bisque. $ 60 I will never get back. Utter crap. Nola? No love.

It’s too bad that I decided to go here for Restaurant Week — just when I think I’m getting a good deal for a 3-​course meal, I probably got THE WORST meal available at any participating venues and end up spending an arm and a leg for it.
Honestly, the second star is for the atmosphere. It’s a little dark, a little dingy, and a little creepy, but that was the only thing I actually liked about it.
The food was flavorless. My ravioli came out cold, like straight out of the ‘fridge. There was paprika as a garnish on every plate — A LOT of it. Everything needed salt and spice. We were a group of five, and all of our comments were unanimously alike.
There were two people working, with obvious tension between them at all times. Talk about uncomfortable!
This was in no way close to any authentic Cajun or Creole.
Go to Khyber instead and be blown away by their deep and properly developed Cajun flavors.

Great atmosphere, food was great. Great service!!! This the second time for me & my Lover, been here for New Year’s Eve, & it was great. Must check out this place if you are in Philadephia!!! Just make sure you come with an empty stomach, beacuse portion are BIG. You can share a salad with your other half. Enjoy

Ok, just walked in the door from my night at Café Nola and let me just say, 2 stars is being GENEROUS. Let me recount the experience.
We were seated, and started with drinks and appetizers; voodoo shrimp, roasted stuffed mushrooms and Hurricanes all around. The drinks were a bit weak but still tasty, the mushrooms were pretty good, and the Voodoo shrimp were actually quite flavorful. Off to a good start! Thinking we were onto something, we ordered our entrees with a cool confidence…
LITERALLY over an hour later, we were sitting there still waiting for our meals. All the good will from the appetizers went out the window FAST with this dinner service. Missteps included, but were not limited to:
— first, there was the aforementioned wait. And it wasn’t like it was busy; this place was DEAD for a saturday night.
— When our dishes DID start coming out, they LITERALLY (again, LITERALLY) came staggered about 4 – 5 minutes apart. There were 9 people in my party. The waiter would come with one plate, go away for 5 minutes and come back with one more, and so on. It took about 20 minutes… thats not an exaggeration… about 20 minutes for everyone to get our dishes.
— My friend who ordered mussels had about 3 – 4 mussels that didn’t open. As MT pointed out in her review, besides being poor form, its actually quite dangerous. Also, her rice was undercooked and had to be sent back
— The misses lobster ravioli (which was stuffed with crab, not lobster, by the way) were absolutely TERRIBLE. I had half a ravioli to taste and almost spit it out.
— My drunken shrimp and spicy chicken combo was neither drunken nor spicy… nor tasty, nor good, nor hot, nor worth $ 25. It was mentioned about the rice and beans that came with my meal that, «Chipotle has better rice and beans.» I concur.
— My friend Jose had the waiter explain the difference between two of their steak dishes before ordering and decided to go with the one that came with «carmelized onions.» His steak was brought out with the apologies that the kitchen had RUN OUT OF ONIONS, and he was brought sauteed peppers instead. Peppers/​Onions, who can tell the difference, right? On top of that, he said his steak was flavorless. (I will attest that it WAS cooked to a perfect medium like he asked… small miracles.)
— The chefs must be having paprika fights in the back. EVERY SINGLE PLATE looked like it was shot with a paprika shotgun for presentation. Café Nolas paprika budget must be out of this world. I envision the back of the house to just be a bunch of cooks throwing paprika at each other, or sitting in front of paprika mounds like spicy Tony Montanas. Seriously, the paprika thing was crazy.
COMPLETELY and UTTERLY through with this restaurant after dinner, I decided to forgo dessert, but my friends got a few of the bananas foster to try out. My friend Jenny O. told me to specifically mention; «the bananas were underripe and I can taste the grains of the sugar.» The waiter said the dish was «flambayed» (spelling…sorry) but there was no flambé to be found; it was just warm bananas dumped on vanilla ice cream.
UGH.
Besides all of this, the servers were, for the most part, terse and impersonal, the carpets were dirty, there was a cardboard cut out of a lobster with a comb-​over (go there… you’ll see what I mean), the room was cold, ETC, ETC, ETC. What saves Café Nola from the shame of a 1 star rating is A) the appetizers were actually good, and B) the waiter brought us all complimentary shots of some watered down sour apple something or other because it was my friends birthday. Actually, if either ONE of those things hadn’t happened, Café Nola would’ve gotten 1 star. Im actually mad I wasted the calories. I came home and wanted to eat something just so I could have the taste of good food in my mouth before I went to bed. Again, UGH.
For the 9 of us, drinks, apps, entrees and desserts, the bill was $ 432 before tip. Not bad, but I wasn’t happy because I’d rather spend $ 80 on a meal I like instead of $ 60 on a meal I hate.

Unfortunately I’m going to have to agree with MT.‘s review. The sad thing is this restaurant has been at this location for at least 10 years with the same problem. They were formally known as EuroCafe, before changing to Café Nola, but kept the same chef. I was a patron of the restaurant about 10 years ago, and while I loved the food, I had to stop going.
Why? Well the décor and the restaurant as a whole is very dim and dark, probably because they are trying to conceal the fact they have a pest problem. The last time I was here, almost 10 years ago, as I was dining with friends we noticed movement on the walls. The wall is an eggplant purple and with the poor lighting it was hard to distinguish what was really going on. Upon closer inspection we saw a few roaches crawling on the wall, needless to say, didn’t go back.
Flash forward to now, it’s been about 10 years; my friend has been bugging me to try this place, and I repeatedly told her «absolutely not». Well this year it for her birthday, and I figured «hey it’s been awhile, it’s restaurant week, I’ll give them a chance».
We had a 830pm reservation party of 6 which ended up being a party of 3. Upon entering the restaurant there was only 1 other patron, but we didn’t think much of it. Thinking back I should have been a bit more apprehensive. The wait staff was amazing, very attentive and likeable people. Upon being seated we noticed the restaurant was cold (my friend kept on their coats), and very dim inside; dim to the point where your not sure how clean the place is. When I put my hand on the seat cushion (which was a dark pattern) I felt a bit of grit or crumbs. OK, not going to gripe I just brushed it off before sitting.
We got thru the seafood bisque and a Cesar salad, with no incident before our entrees came out. I ordered the Voodoo shrimp which came with a broccoli/​carrots medley and seasoned rice. The rice on my entrée was cold and as I was about to try my vegetables I noticed something moving on my plate. While it was cool in the restaurant, there was no breeze, and since I didn’t have brown rice I was wondering what the … oh wait, it’s a baby roach. I told my friends to immediately stop eating I called the waitress over and pointed out the roach. She took the plate into better lighting (just so you know how dim it was) and responded «oh, yeah… I see it». She rushed in the back and a few minutes later the bartender (?/​male waiter) comes out and asks «do you want us to do it over?»… Ummm, No, we are leaving! Then he asks if I noticed if «the roach was on the plate or on the table»!!!
In any event we left mortified and disgusted, to say the least. The male server told us the owner was coming out to apologize, then he returned a few minutes later to say the owner wasn’t coming out at all, gave us a bill for the drinks and we left.
I honestly feel a bit for the wait staff, but at the same time I’m sure they’re aware of the problem. I’m not sure why or how the place is still open after all this time with the same problem.

I really hate to hate on a Philly establishment, especially since the big chains and New Yorkers keep trying to move in on the restaurant scene in my city, this place was just abysmal.
First problem: the place is just dirty. The décor is kitschy which might be quaint if it wasn’t dusty and grimy. There was a private party going on and they were very noisy.
Second: the service was quite cold. For a place that intends to imitate one of the most hospitable place in America, you’d hope the service might have a bit more spice.
but the most grievous sin of all: we ordered the seafood jambalaya which was a overly spicy, overly salty paella type thing with overcooked rice with AN UNOPENED MUSSEL!
When we alerted the waiter of the unopened mussel, he didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. We had to explain to him that an unopened mussel can get someone very, very sick before he seemed to care in the slightest.
Finally, the manager was able to see the problem, especially when we stopped eating our food, however rather than comping it they gave us a free slice of key lime pie which we were not going to eat considering it came out of a kitchen which didn’t practice basic food safety.
Unless you really want to get sick, steer clear of this restaurant.

Café Nola is a creole/​Cajun restaurant east of Philadelphia’s City Center. Specifically, it is located in the Head House Square section of the Society Hill neighborhood.
I read a review about this place in one of the hotel books where I was staying so I thought I would go and try it out. I was looking for an inexpensive, but eclectic meal with a couple of drinks and I was pretty excited about this place. My excitement level piqued even further when I arrived. It’s exactly what you would expect of a N.O. style restaurant. It really made you feel like you were in the French Quarter section of N.O.
The place looked and smelled old and antique. Hell, the place smelled like my late grandmother’s house and evoked some pleasant memories for me. The bar cabinetry looked like it might fall over from decay and the furniture looked both disturbingly geriatric and charmingly French Creole all at one time. It had floors that creaked loudly when you walked over it and an authentic tin ceiling. In back is a small private room with a sun/​moon roof for even more of an intimate feel. I sat at the bar taking this all in over some cold beers and I couldn’t help feeling that aside from all of this, the place also kind of felt like the waiting parlor of a brothel, with Christmas lights strung up around the entire place and antique nick knack’s everywhere.
I have to say, though – that the food was a bit underwhelming. I ordered an appetizer of fried oysters which looked great breaded in cornmeal and served over a bed of mixed greens. But they were so gooey inside that they had the feel in your mouth of Uni. I like a bit more consistency in my oysters.
For my main course, I ordered the catfish. I was expecting another fried dish but was surprised to see what looked like baked fish. Turns out it was flash pan fried then placed in an oven for a very quick bake. The seasoning wasn’t quite what I expected for a Cajun catfish either. The dish was served with an over seasoned, over blanched medley of broccoli and cauliflower and an additional side of cold slaw.
I’ve seen some other reviews describe this place as a Cajun/​Creole/​Italian restaurant but I don’t recall seeing Italian dishes on the menu. Speaking of menu, there were so many dishes I had a hard time deciding what I wanted (this is why I settled on the boring catfish. Choice is great, but sheesh!). You will find all of your favorite Cajun/​creole specialties such as gumbo, jambalaya and crawfish, though.
All and all, I can only say the place was «OK» and I will go back. It seemed like a great place for a date.

This place was good, but I enjoyed the company and the décor of the place more than the actual food (which was just ok). I don’t think the décor is «creepy» like other people mentioned before. My girlfriends and I thought it was very romantic and kind of whimsical… Great for a first date, especially because this restaurant never seems to be packed, so it allows for some intimacy.
The drink menu looks great. There are so many fun options there, but I just had red wine. I guess that will be an excuse to return for some drinks.
Food was ok, but it needed a little bit more of a punch.
All in al it was a fun night with great atmosphere!