Second Line Cafe

The first time I ate here, I was excited to have a Cajun restaurant so close to my apartment. The second time I ate here I realized it’s nothing to brag about. The gumbo and jambalaya looked like it had been sitting a pot for days, and was re-​heated. The beignets were full of air but were good, for just being fried dough.
All in all, I won’t probably come back. It just wasn’t good enough to make me say YUM.

Let me lead with the fact I am from Louisiana and I have had some of the most flavorful Cajun recipes. Lets start with the waiter we had had. He was kind of rude. We ordered gumbo and when it was brought to us it was cold. We asked if he could heat it up and he was nice to us but when he walked to the back we could hear him yelling because of your request. He also spent a long time joking with another table he was waiting. It took about 20 mins before he actually took our order. But even with those flaws and a general feeling of not being welcomed we still tipped and we very polite. Now for the food. we ordered gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish étouffée, red beans and rice and shrimp po boy. You know the gumbo was cold and after it was reheated it was average at best. The red beans and rice were great by far the best part of the meal. The shrimp po boy was also good. The jambalaya was nasty you are better off making it from the box. And lastly the étouffée was was above avg. overall this place is below avg. there is a good chance we won’t be back. I feel that there are other places locally the can prepare good Cajun food. My house or your house to name a few places better than this place.

Sadly I must have come on an off day. The croutons on the salad were old deep fried beignet cut up into small pieces. Or at least that is what it tasted like. It made the salad taste like old used oil. Not very good at all.
The shrimp on the po boy were great! Not over cooked and well seasoned. That was all I ate from the po boy. No sauce was on the po boy just mayonnaise. The bread was a bit thick for me.
Finally the beignet I got were over cooked. Sigh, I honestly was hoping at least they would be good :(but they were hard and chewy…
I guess I have been spoiled as I have had luxurious silky crème filled crispy but chewy beignet before so I may have had my hopes set to high.
All in all this café seemed to have a lively atmosphere with a wonderful server who made my meal worth staying for. With a very authentic feel. I am hoping I just ended up coming on an off day.

Who’s a fan? This guy. Po Boy with Shrimp is delicious. Red Beans and Rice is always a fav. In the past, the Po Boy tended to be too salty for some reason, now it seems to be fine. Just a heads up if you go there and it is too salty, just give them another chance and let them know. The half Po Boy deal is worth it.

Update to my review 1 ½ years ago. Got the combination platter again. Again delicious and filled with flavor, the jamabalaya however was the weakest of the trio. Had lots of andouille but just lacked that spicy punch. The iced café au lait could have been stronger. The beignets were a great desert to what was an enormous lunch.

Sometimes you have to give a restaurant a second chance. I saw an online deal for Nola Second Line Café and decided to have lunch here.
My eyes were bigger than my stomach so I ordered a 6 inch Po-​Boy sandwich, cup of red beans and rice and an order of beignets. My purchase before the online deal was $ 18.50, but I got enough food to feed two people so let’s say lunch would normally be around $ 10 per person.
The Po-​Boy was the best I have had in Tampa. The sandwich started off with a generous portion of french bread and was piled with breaded shrimp, lettuce, tomato, and pickles. The restaurant does not skimp on the shrimp like many restaurants do. The sandwich was served with a side salad. On our first visit the sandwich was served by itself so I am glad to see the sandwich is now a nice sized meal.
The red beans and rice was filled with generous hunks of Andoille sausage. My cup sized portion was served with two slices of french bread and was easily a meal in itself. I would recommend the bowl sized portion if you were going to just have the soup for lunch and you have a hearty appetite.
Even though we were stuffed we made room for dessert! The beignets were still warm after we finished eating our meal. These powdered sugar covered fried treats were such a deal! For $ 3.10 you get three huge beignets.
I am so glad I gave this restaurant a second chance. I will definitely be back for lunch or coffee and beignets.

This place is just okay. The beignets are delicious and coffee is good, but the other food is average. The interior is very humdrum, and always looks like they are half closed. I appreciate a small business trying to make it work but they miss the boat — I think they would be smart to move to a more prime South Tampa location, freshen up the inside, and re-​market themselves as an easy place with special breakfast (beignets and café au lait) and straightforward cajun lunches. Think they would do very well.

My first review on The Second Line Café aka The NOLA (New Orleans, LA if you didn’t know) Café. The place is easily missed if going North on Plant Ave. Second Line is the only New Orleans food spot in Tampa (I’m looking for more!!). The Beignets are great, and the owner is friendly and shows his appreciation for coming. Every time I’m by TGH/​Davis Island I have to make a stop.

This was from a while back (late 2011)…just now finished my thoughts.
What a great concept! Unfortunately, poorly executed. Upon entering, the A/​C must have been broken. Making our way across, the décor left quite a bit to be desired. They do have a couple of neat mardi gras costume items.
The prices on first glance were pretty high. We hoped that for those prices you would get something worth those prices. My corn & crab chowder wasn’t so «thick» but the flavor was good. But at $ 6.99 for the cup I would pass on next time. We also had a crawfish wrap. Full of rice & spice, but lacking enough crawfish. The flavor was good. The shrimp po boy was good and cup of red beans and rice were also good but at $ 9.99 for the 6′ sandwich and $ 4.25 for the cup o rice, it’s hard to feel super compelled to come back in a hurry.
We had to top off the afternoon with a café au lait with hot chocolate and a «professor» with an order of beignets. That was an absolute delight once the coffee cooled down enough to sip.
Not really excited to go back, but noticed a new «Cajun menu» available at the old Wooden Door (don’t know the new name) at Westshore and Euclid. Just worried about parking. That place has never had enough.

A fine little breakfast/​lunch spot close to downtown, near 4 Green Fields. It has a New Orleans/​creole/​cajun flavor, and the only place in Tampa that serves genuine beignets, fried on the spot and sprinkled with powdered sugar like Café du Monde in the French Quarter. Regrettably their coffee, café au lait and even dark roast are a bit weak compared to New Orleans potent chicory blend or west Tampa café con leche.
In addition to a few other breakfast items, they offer a list of sandwiches and NOLA specialties like jambalaya, gumbos, red beans & rice, and other creole dishes. Either to-​go or table service, and they tend to get busy at lunch time. Fine for easy weekend brunches, or after church with a glow of virtue that counteracts the powdered sugar.

I kept getting signs that I need to try a beignet. Signs as in 2 friends posting beignet pictures on facebook, so maybe more of a craving for something I’ve never had. ha. Unilocal brought me to Nola Café.
It’s a cute little decorated place. My friend & I halved our Shrimp Po Boy & Roast Beef Po Boy sandwiches so we could try both. Nothing too fantastic, but still good. Lots of shrimp, roast beef, lettuce.
The real shining star was what I came for: beignets! Overall service was a bit slow (especially for just sandwiches), but this made it all better. We had to wait a while for our dessert, but they’re made fresh so that they come out melt-​in-​your-​mouth-​hot. MMMMM. Originally, my friend & I were going to share, but after our first serving of 3, we wanted more! 4 people in our party, 4 servings of 3 beignets: 1 for each of us.
My quick tip: don’t share your beignets!

Yes, they have beignets. However, they aren’t meant to be served cold! Very disappointing. It the short amount of time it takes to cook them, there is no excuse for not making them hot & fresh. Why do you think people wait in line at Café du Monde? Because hot & fresh is the only way to eat beignets.

I ordered red bean and rice, a traditional Creole dish, served with Andouille sausage. Since Nola specializes in Creole cuisine, I was expecting a spicy and delicious taste sensation. Instead, what came out was luke warm and had virtually no flavor. I tried dumping hot sauce in, but it was a lost cause. This red beans and rice tasted like it had come from a can. I’m thinking Goya, LOL! My friend’s food was equally disappointing, not to mention the portion sizes were a joke.
On the other hand, the coffee was good and the beignets I ordered for dessert were simply mind blowing. They came out HOT, loaded with powdered sugar and were indescribably amazing. I realize now that Nola is primarily a coffee house. On that basis, it’s worth going for the beignets alone. Just don’t make the mistake of ordering their food!

I’m a big fan of this place. The Jambalaya is delicious. I’ve been to New Orleans and this is as close as you’re gonna get without getting on a plane. The place is a bit plain looking, but looks are deceiving. The food is fantastic.

Good New Orleans style food, but expensive for what you get (smallish portions). Very nice flavor to the gumbo. Decent jambalaya Coffee and begniets are very good. I would go there more if it was a more reasonable value. Worth a try.

This place was really good! My boyfriend, a New Orleans native, gave it his stamp of approval. The beignets were delicious (a la Café Du Monde!!) and the iced coffee was great! He loved that he could get a taste of New Orleans right in Tampa. The only negative I’d say is that the breakfast sandwiches aren’t very hearty. He ate it, but was wanting for more. But that may be the New Orleans in him! Otherwise, the food was great and I’d highly recommend!