04/18/09

DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE!

by NOLAFoodie

Okay, so I am born and raised in New Orleans. Needless to say, I KNOW good New Orleans food, especially gumbo. This place is absolutely AWFUL and the service is PATHETIC. I ate there yesterday evening with some co-workers. I really was expecting so much better for such a popular restaurant in the French Quarter. Unfortunately, we made a big mistake when choosing to eat at the Gumbo Shop.

There's a board near the front entrance with the daily specials. After we took a look at the daily specials, one of my co-workers had her mouth set on the blue margarita. So, we were seated quickly and our server came for our drink order. Of course, my co-worker quickly ordered one of those blue mararita specials that was prominently displayed on the "specials of the day" board. The server gave her the funniest "are you nuts?" look. He knew nothing about the special cocktail of the day. So, we laughed it off and she ordered something else. Only to notice ten minutes later, another customer with a big blue margarita drink on their table.

The silverware was wrapped in a cloth napkins at the end of the table in a pile. When unwrappped, one person had food crumbs fall out. The hot sauce bottles on the table had noticeably not been cleaned in a while with crusty dried-up hot sauce around the cap. When our food came, a few of the plates had dried-up food stuck on the bottoms of the plates (note: more than one). Food quality was definitely less than average. Presentation was AWFUL. All of the plates and bowls were too small and the food was overflowing. They serve the bread (which was good) wrapped in a napkin and plopped on the middle of the table. The gumbo was definitely not the best that I've had, although it was "decent". The red beans were not good. They were soupy and should have been served in a bowl. The mashed potatoes were too salty. The brownie "pie" was actually just a brownie on a plate with chocolate syrup. Appetizer dishes were never removed from table.

• Pros: Bread, Location
• Cons: Food Quality, Parking, Service, Cleanliness, Ambience

02/17/09

Horrible!!!!

by chocolots

Husband and I drove 200 miles for my birthday weekend in N.O. I picked Gumbo Shop for my birthday dinner. I didn't receive my entree so I told my waiter and nothing was done. I went to management twice and finally they agreed to bring out my entree but only after going back in forth for 30 mins. I said no thanks and asked to have it removed from our bill along with the desserts that we ordered. I wasn't in the mood since the manager, Oliver, came over to the table in front of the dining room and blamed THEIR mistake on the fact that we were "drunk" . We each had a beer with dinner and a bourbon and coke an hour before, hmmm...

He retotaled our beer and charged us ala carte on everything which jacked our bill up worse. We refused to pay the complete bill since the food we had was hardly touched since we were left to wait for my entree. The manager followed us out and said because we hadn't paid our total bill that he had called the police. My husband was LIVID after that was said (since they ruined my birthday dinner, already) and yelled at the manager. The manager pushed my husband and said , "You better get out of my face!" We have been married for 12 years and I have never seen my husband that angry. My husband was just about to take it to the next level. So.........I paid the manager the remainder as to spare his a** and spare my husband a night in jail. I saw nothing good coming out of this situation. Customer service IS NOT THEIR FORTE.

We have NEVER had an altercation like this before. It was like we were on candid camera, punked or something.

Gumbo Shop WAS my favorite but now I'm still in disbelief. I think the Gumbo Shop is frequented by tourists that do come in straight from Bourbon St. and they have gotten burned out by them. We were coming their for a nice romantic dinner not for the night from he!!

• Pros: Used to be GREAT
• Cons: Now it is worse than horrible!

09/04/08

if you like throwing up then eat there

by djdiva

Went the 2nd of Aug and well what can I say a local told us to go there for a lite meal before we go and eat later...

Umm the gumbo (seafood was awful) it had little bitty shrimp 3 crab claws that didnt have any meat, the ett was sweet... My B-F had the chicken gumbo which was good.. The bread pudding was too dam sweet!! Of course later I got sick!!! And didnt feel good the rest of the night!!

yuck

• Pros: the chicken gumbo and the hot sauce
• Cons: the food!!

08/23/08

It's alright

by simi81

We decided to try this restaurant on our recent trip to New Orleans. I am vegetarian while my husband is definitely non-vegetarian. After having a couple of drinks and appetizers on Bourbon Street we decided to try this restaurant. Even though there was a wait outside, we were seated pretty quickly (since it was just the two of us). The service was alright and the food was ok too. Their vegetarian special was rice and beans, nothing to write home about (not that I was expecting much, I was just glad to get something vegetarian). On the other hand my husband was disappointed with the chicken and andouille gumbo, which they claim to be the best in town.

07/03/08

Avoid if you want to save your money and your apetite!!!

by mpt00

Avoid if you want to save your money and your appetite!!!

I taught we ordered gumbo soup. Well the soup was absolutely awful. If you add the terrible service the place become one of a kind NOT to go there again restaurant. Non of us found any sea food in the soup more then 1.2%. Service was really BAD. And the tip was already included. Plus if you like to be seeing from outside while you are in the restroom this would be your place.

Well I would not recommend it at all. There are much nicer restaurants out there.

• Pros: location
• Cons: th restaurant itself

02/29/08

DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE!

by nolaniceguy

Okay, so I am born and raised in New Orleans. Needless to say, I KNOW good New Orleans food, especially gumbo. This place is absolutely AWFUL and the service is PATHETIC. I ate there yesterday evening with some co-workers. I really was expecting so much better for such a popular restaurant in the French Quarter. Unfortunately, we made a big mistake when choosing to eat at the Gumbo Shop.

There's a board near the front entrance with the daily specials. After we took a look at the daily specials, one of my co-workers had her mouth set on the blue margarita. So, we were seated quickly and our server came for our drink order. Of course, my co-worker quickly ordered one of those blue mararita specials that was prominently displayed on the "specials of the day" board. The server gave her the funniest "are you nuts?" look. He knew nothing about the special cocktail of the day. So, we laughed it off and she ordered something else. Only to notice ten minutes later, another customer with a big blue margarita drink on their table.

The silverware was wrapped in a cloth napkins at the end of the table in a pile. When unwrappped, one person had food crumbs fall out. The hot sauce bottles on the table had noticeably not been cleaned in a while with crusty dried-up hot sauce around the cap. When our food came, a few of the plates had dried-up food stuck on the bottoms of the plates (note: more than one). Food quality was definitely less than average. Presentation was AWFUL. All of the plates and bowls were too small and the food was overflowing. They serve the bread (which was good) wrapped in a napkin and plopped on the middle of the table. The gumbo was definitely not the best that I've had, although it was "decent". The red beans were not good. They were soupy and should have been served in a bowl. The mashed potatoes were too salty. The brownie "pie" was actually just a brownie on a plate with chocolate syrup. Appetizer dishes were never removed from table.

• Pros: Bread, Location
• Cons: Food Quality, Parking, Service, Cleanliness, Ambience

07/25/07

canned seafood

by eridgway

My fiance and I just ate here less than an hour ago. We were promptly seated in a very crowded and cramped dining room, the bread thrown on table right in front of her in a cloth napkin. Our dinner was brought out to us very quickly. I had the seafood gumbo, which was not terrible after adding some of the pepper blend that was on the table. She ordered the combination plate and substituted the crawfish etoufee for the red beans and rice. The shrimp creole was not too bad after adding hot sauce, other than the shrimp being terribly overcooked. and then the crawfish etoufee. it was nothing but mush. the crawfish was EXTREMELY overcooked. I cannot say this enough, MUSHY. like gerbber 1st foods mushy. the jambalaya was dry and bland. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone, you would have better luck at the McDonalds on canal street, it was that bad.

• Pros: fast service, they open the cans fast
• Cons: food, food, and the food

07/06/07

Do not eat here!

by innovator82

I just got back from visiting New Orleans--a city known for its food--and I can honestly say that the entire experience I had at the Gumbo Shope was horrible, from the service to the food itself. The Gumbo Shop definitely caters to tourists, but as a tourist myself I thought I would try it. The prices may be reasonable compared to other restaurants, but the food you receive for it is horrible. I got the Combination platter, which included portions of the jambalaya, the crawfish etoffee, and the gumbo with shrimp. The entire plate looked liked it came out of a can. The jambalaya was nothing more than a pile of rice, and it was terribly dry. The etoffee and the gumbo both looked like some kind of mush that came out of a can that you would expect to find in some school or military cafeteria. No culinary effort at all went into the preparation of our food. As for the service--I can say that it was barely on par with the low quality of service you would expect to find at a local Waffle House at 1am in the morning. The waitress never smiled once, did not inform us of the special that had been written on the board in the waiting area, failed to give us plates even after bringing to our table an appetizer and bread, and was just all-around an unpleasant person.

In a city known for its Creole and Cajun style cuisines, it would pay to stay away from the Gumbo Shop and maybe spend a few bucks more to actually get a decent dinner that does not look and taste like it was microwaved out of a can.

• Pros: Food is inexpensive
• Cons: Food tastes disgusting, service is horrible, not worth the cheap prices

03/10/07

Gumbo gumbo goooood

by peachacid

Boyfriend and I went here early in the week for lunch. There was a brief wait as the hostess sat another couple, but that was it. We were seated outside, which was perfect as the weather was not too hot, not too cold. The table was rather close to our neighbors (the two tables could also be used for a group of four) but it turned out fine as they were nice people! The food was excellent. Boyfriend ordered chicken andouille gumbo, which he really liked. I ordered red beans and rice with sausage, which was awesome. We were served a nice crusty loaf of bread before the meal, and had we asked could have gotten another for the meal. The waitstaff was friendly and efficient, and the prices were great. At other times I have heard this place gets really crowded, but this is the case with really good places!

• Pros: Nice outdoor seating, friendly staff, good food
• Cons: Little cramped, sometimes there is a wait

06/09/06

Best cajun food in the city

by arkywabbit

I have to rave about the crawfish etouffe my wife and I enjoyed this past Tuesday. It was very rich in seasoning and had to have more than a pound of crawfish in it. It was the best I have ever tasted. The night we ate there was a wait problem. One of the waiters went home sick and they were very crowded. Our waiter was taking care of 8 tables and doing a bang up job. Got our order out in great shape and still stopped by peiodically to check on us. I was so impressed that we went back and had lunch the next day. The food was excellent then as well. I had the blackened catfish po boy and it was sweet and very flavorful. I would reccommend the Gumbo Shop any time and am looking foreward to going back in October.