Duo

Went to duo while in town for a friend’s bachelor party. We only went for the night club on the second floor, not the restaurant. It was pretty lame, like a college bar trying to be something its not. The DJ was not good at judging the crowd and just as everyone was getting into a song, he would switch it to a totally different type of music. I don’t expect to hear every song beginning to end, but when the whole dance floor is jumping and dancing, why would anyone switch the song? When I go to a club, I expect dance floor lighting that paces with the music. It seemed more like mood lighting and minimal dance lighting thrown in the mix. It was far too bright which makes for some awkward moments when you’re as bad of a dancer as I can be at times.
Drinks were cheap ($ 4 Red Bull + Vodka, $ 2 Bud Light) but it didn’t make up for the bad music and poor dance floor lighting. Won’t be coming back, there are better places in State College.

Never been to the restaurant on the ground floor, but the second floor which to turns into a nightclub on weekend nights is the best place for music and dancing on the weekends (better than Indigo)!

Since it’s new I went two stars instead of one because it’s sure to improve. Had the eggplant entrée, really bland, kind of cold. Décor is carry over from previous tenant and is abominable. Really surprised they didn’t do something to at least cover it up. Highlight of the night? Coffee came but tea didn’t. On inquiry the waiter says: «oh right, sorry, no tea, the machine’s broken». Not kidding. That happened. The other waiter later clarified that they had no tea bags.

A group of five of us, two of whom were visiting from out of town, had dinner at Duo on a recent Friday evening. It ended up being a fairly typical State College meal — with a not-​very-​State-​College price tag!
We decided to split some appetizers. The Oysters Johnny were a little unbalanced– quite garlicky! However I enjoy garlic so I probably enjoyed them more than my dining companions. The shrimp with jalapeño jelly was fine– nothing to write home about and the jelly was certainly mild enough even for someone adverse to hot and spicy. Our last appetizer was fried green tomatoes, and we’re quite sure that only one of them was a green tomato! Fried green tomatoes have a distinctive taste and only half of what we were served was green. Perhaps they had an overstock of red tomatoes? Or just got shorted on their order of green. The fried green ones were fantastic, though.
For entrees, four of us decided to split four of the different options. The eggplant stuffed with crab and shrimp was really very, very good — full of flavors and a generous portion! If you only go to Duo once (and that may be a reasonable choice), get the eggplant! The Cajun pasta was also delicious, although I don’t care to think about how many calories were in the rich sauce. The five shrimp served on the pasta seemed to be thrown on as an afterthought tho. We ended up eating those almost as an aside.
Our third ordered the chicken with something that could have been either rice pilaf or cous cous. It was fine, but the chicken was quite dry and he was right when he said that he got the better end of the deal trading with the rest of us. The last of the sharers got a redfish dish that was nicely prepared. Both the eggplant and the redfish came with roasted red potatoes that were fine, but nothing to write home about. Our last dining companion got a salad. It was a generous portion but rather than looking green it seemed as though the lettuce was a bit out of season, which I suppose you’ll have in central Pennsylvania during the winter. Although maybe not for the price of Duo.
We were too full for dessert so I can’t speak to that. I can say that the cocktails that we ordered were spot on. My hurricane was almost as good as Tony’s Big Easy used to make and certainly better than most places in town. The praline cocktail was also good, although it came out red and nothing on the cocktail menu suggested cranberry or any other red ingredient.
A matter of concern is that the cocktail menu listed a mint julep with Jack Daniels as the key ingredient. Although Jack is *technically* a straight bourbon, I have NEVER heard of anyone making a mint julep with it. At least resort to Jim Beam! Speaking of Jim Beam, it’s the main ingredient in the Sazerac! For a restaurant claiming to be New Orleans-​inspired, what an uninspired choice for rye!
Lastly, for five of us with five entrees, three appetizers, and somewhere in the neighborhood of two glasses of wine and five cocktails, the bill came to $ 196. I’m okay with spending $ 40 a person to dine out in State College. I’m not as pleased when the chicken comes dried out, the fried green tomatoes are red, the shrimp on my pasta is thrown on top as an afterthought, the salad looks like something from a salad bar, and a cocktail might be watered down with an ingredient not listed on the menu.
I’m torn between two stars (because I’ve CERTAINLY had better) and three (because when I think back on it, we all did enjoy it well enough). My three stars are a relative rating because it seems as though other reviewers had the same experience and still found it to be a-​okay.
There are enough places in State College to dine where the kitchen has its act together. For now, stick with them. I agree with the poster who said that Spats remains the go-​to for this sort of food. I’m certain that I’ll give Duo another chance, but I’ll probably give them a few months to work the kinks out.

In this new year I’m trying to get my early opinions out early.
So, with that in mind I stopped in with a group at Duo for a drink Wednesday evening, past the dinner hour. It was not busy (they’re still in soft open).
The cocktail menu listed a number of options, some standard, some targeting the drinker who enjoys a classic cocktail, and some targeting those looking for something innovative. I ordered directly off the drink menu — a Mint Julep — though I upgraded my bourbon. I was impressed with the result. I’ve had horrific experiences ordering them even south of the Mason-​Dixon line, and so I find them a good way to test a bar.
My companions both explored variant margaritas with the bartender’s guidance, and didn’t have any objections.
I look forward to having a small plate — or a few — with my cocktails next time.

I agree with the other reviewers.
Cold food.
Prepared wrong.
Described wrong.
Overpriced.
Servers not trained well.
Two of us had appetizers, drinks and dessert and it was over $ 100.

I went on a Saturday night with a few friends. We were excited to try the food at Duo. There was a band playing jazz music which was nice and it wasn’t too loud. It was relatively empty inside and we were told to sit wherever we wanted. Our waiter took our drink orders and asked if we were ready to order. We weren’t. When he returned we ordered, my friend decided to just have a drink. Our waiter then proceeded to ask her if she wanted a «salad, an appetizer, nothing? Well, OK then». What? We were a little shocked at his pushiness. His attitude didn’t really improve for the duration of the meal.
I ordered a fish entrée (I think rainbow trout?) which was nicely portioned, but over spiced. It still tasted alright. My entrée came with potatoes which tasted okay but were cold. It seemed as though they were oven roasted but my boyfriend’s were also cold, so perhaps they were intended to be a dry potato salad? I was unsure of this. My boyfriends entrée was fish as well, but his was fried. The batter was way too thick and it tasted like the oil used for frying. I could not taste the fish. It was not good. Our waiter was also not versed in the preparation methods of any of the dinner entrees as we specifically asked him how each was prepared (I didn’t want fried, I got lucky), the menu also does not go into much of any detail. We asked him what the «traditional creole» was and all he could say was there is rice and tomatoes. We assumed it was jambalaya, but wanted further clarification, he just stared at us.
All in all I was not impressed. The beer list is decently long and the bartender was very friendly when we were leaving. Perhaps Duo would be better enjoyed at the bar with a cocktail. I only had wine so I cannot speak to the quality of the drinks made. I am willing to give it another go as maybe they are just working the kinks out. They do, however, have a strong competitor less than a block away, where I know I can get a great meal.

My husband and I really love cajun/​creole food. So we were very excited about the opening of Duo. Unfortunately, we found the food to be clumsy, the bill to be overpriced, and the ambiance to be uninspired. Duo has opened in the former space occupied by Tony’s Big Easy. It looks like little if any renovation occurred. The floor is still brick/​tile. The walls are decorated with fake stained glass. The place is fine, but not fancy at all. The ambiance does not lend to «upscale» as they advertise at the door. We ordered two small plates – pecan shrimp with jalapeño jelly and petite crab cakes. Then we split one main course – redfish with a shrimp and crab cream sauce. Much to my dismay, all of these items were fried food. The batters were different, but all with some sort of a corn meal base and all too heavy. The sauces on all three dishes were not subtle but again, rather clumsy. The shrimp was terrible. The redfish was the one dish that could have been great, but the batter was too heavy and the sauce lacked sufficient flavor. The food was just okay, and I was surprised and disappointed by the amount of fried food – especially given the «upscale» billing. We were especially disappointed since we asked the waitress how the food was prepared, and she had a great deal of trouble articulating how. «It’s hard to explain,» she mumbled. She was very nice, but was not trained properly. I did enjoy my house Malbec, but that was one shining light that evening. When the bill arrived, we were astounded. We could have gone to one of the top restaurants in town for the price. I am hoping to hear that this place improves with time. Until then, when I am hungry for New Orleans cuisine, I will head to Spats.