Acadiana

This was my second time coming to this restaurant and the first time I was there I would say it was a solid 4 star experience. The reason I’m giving this place only two stars is because of one word: SALT. My entire meal was SO SALTY I couldn’t even enjoy the food (although I did eat it because I was starving-​I didn’t eat all day expecting this large, delicious three-​course restarant week meal – I just kept drinking water to get it all down!). I ordered the gumbo as an appetizer – it was salty. I could tell that undernearth the salt there was a good flavor though. My main dish was the pork loin and thank god it was served over a piece of cornbread because that helped with the salt. The pork tasted like it had been preserved in salt and then salted again and again during the cooking process. There wasn’t just too much salt on top-​it was throughout the entire piece of meat. I think there was bok choy underneath the corn bread but it seriously lacked any flavor, although it was also-​you guessed it-​salty! For dessert I had the bread pudding, which came out ice cold. I asked them to heat it up for me because it just seemed wrong to waste the calories on a cold dessert that should be warm. Even then, it was very dry. The ice cream that was on the side tasted like it had gone bad (maybe it was some sort of natural frozen yogurt?!).
My husband had the eggs for his appetizer and he seemed to like them enough. For his main dish he had the seafood gumbo which came with a lot of shrimp, which was a plus, but again it was SO SALTY. I’m not sure what the kitchen was doing but they need to put that salt shaker down! For dessert, he had the pumpkin crème brûlée and it came out ice cold too. It was disgusting he didn’t even eat it.
Overall, I don’t recommend this restaurant. Who knows, maybe the kitchen had a bad night but for a salt lover (I even put salt on my salads) I just couldn’t take it. All night afterwards we kept drinking water to try and combat the saltiness.
The one plus was the service – our waiter was super friendly.

Extensive bourbon/​whiskey/​scotch list (flights available). I went for restaurant week and was pleased with the selection. The appetizers and deserts were slightly limited but the main course was the full menu. I had the Deviled Eggs, Roasted Duck & Mint Chocolate Cake. I saw the duck and became full. It was a half duck and it was filling; it was tender and seasoned very well.
It was very loud in here. Not due to music or the kitchen but general conversation.

I visited this place twice, once for brunch (during restaurant week) and once for dinner. Both experiences were extremely positive. For brunch, we had a set menu with three courses. Even though it was during restaurant week, I didn’t feel that we were given a less-​than-​ideal meal. I definitely recommend visiting this place during restaurant week! As for dinner, I ordered the gumbo. The gumbo was hearty and flavorful, perfect for a cold winter night! The atmosphere of this place is lively. Perhaps not the best restaurant for a quiet one-​on-​one dinner.
Will definitely return, especially with a small group of friends.

This was unexpected. It was beyond delicious. I had no idea food from the Louisiana area could be so good! We came here on an evening during the Thanksgiving weekend. It was not too busy. Our server was Lisa and she was super knowledgeable of the menu as well as Louisiana cuisine in general. She taught us a lot! Let me break it down for you:
Service: 5 stars: Lisa was excellent. She was attentive, had a great sense of humor, and most of all, knew the menu quite well. She helped us navigate the menu and answered all of our questions with a smile on her face.
Ambiance: Great holiday décor, beautiful seating. Loved the environment and location.
LOCATION: Very close metro either at the convention center, gallery place China Town. There is a circulator drop off right next to the restaurant on 9^th and New York Ave NW. It is also across the street from CityCEnterDC which has garage parking if you need it.
Appetizers: 5 stars: they bring you a complimentary basket with biscuits in it that has a side of spicy marmalade and cream cheese. The biscuits are warm, soft, and yummy. We also ordered fried green tomatoes that comes with a spicy sauce and shrimp on top. The shrimp on it was delicious. The tomatoes were a 3.5 stairs total.
Dinner: I had the BBQ Shrimp dish that comes with a warm, soft french baguette for dipping. The sauce has an infusion of Creole flavor and Worcestershire sauce. It was intoxicating and delicious. The shrimp in it were succulent and full of flavor. I highly recommend this dish. 5 stars!
Dessert: 3.5 stars. How can you not love fried dough? The apple butter sauce was it was unreal though. They also bring you a complimentary piece of chocolate with your check that has dark chocolate, some type of nut, and marshmallow.
All in all, it was a 5 star experience and I am so happy we finally experienced Acadiana. We definitely plan to go back!

When you clear every crumb off of your plate, you know it’s real.
And that’s how I knew it was real after I completed my meal at Acadiana, because not one crumb was left anywhere on my plate.
I’ve had this place bookmarked for a minute, and I finally got the opportunity to try it out this past Sunday. I will be the first to say that it is one of the few places on Unilocal that actually DOES live up its hype.
First off, the place is super cute. It’s a nice spot to go for a date night or a girls dinner. The waitstaff are charming and attentive, and they do a very convincing job of pushing the daily specials to the customers. I trusted our waiter’s every word, and he was correct on everything he recommended I would like.
I’m a bit of novice drinker, and the rose petal drink I ordered was perfect. Light, airy, refreshing, pretty… yes, the drink tasted pretty. We got charbroiled oysters as an appetizer, and they were very tasty. I don’t even like oysters like that, but they did a great job on them. I settled on the special of the day for my entrée – the crab stuffed flounder — and it was ahhhmaaazing. The plating made it seem like it wasn’t going to be enough to fill me up, but boy did it! I love when a presentation doesn’t look overwhelming and yet satisfies my palate.
If I may critique anything, it’ll be the dessert and biscuits. We shared the bread pudding for dessert, which was yummy, but it came with a bite-​sized portion (literally one bite) of ice cream that was hard as rock. Also, I gotta call out those mini Popeyes biscuits they served us when we first were seated. Absolutelyyyy not. Those need to be burned off the menu, lol they were that bad.
Overall though, I highly recommend Acadiana. It has great food, great service and a great atmosphere!