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Nola (Cajun cuisine)  $$$

 8.5
JaT Rating

535 Ramona Street, Palo Alto, 94301  (Directions)


650-328-2722


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Bourbon Street party in downtown Palo Alto


Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 739
Reviewed: 8/13/2005
Rating: 8.5
My photo gallery 		I went to Nola to celebrate a friends birthday, and we had a special menu with only a few items for each course so its not the full experience. We also had the entire front first floor room to ourselves (we were a big party though). I would like to return in the future to a regular sitdown experience and update the review, but as it is, I was pretty darn impressed with Nola.

First off, as you can tell in the pictures, the place is decorated quite nicely. Incredible cajun art on the walls with a heavy New Orleans focus. The place was clean to boot, so no complaints.

The wait staff was very attentive to our group, even given our large size. We had constant service throughout the evening, waters topped off frequently, etc. So can't say enough good about them either.

I started off with a drink special they have, the Hurricane (picture 6). Its a lot of rum and fruit juice basically (sorry not a mixed drink expert). It was large and did the job tho. Tasted very good too. I would order this again on my next visit. I ordered the small version, even though it looks massive in the pic, they actually have a larger one.

We had some appetizers that were ordered for the group, but most were meat so I didn't sample them. The highlight I had to mention is picture 7, which is alligator meat. Crazy.

I opted for mixed salad, which tasted good. Standard salad, nothing to report.

The main course for me was the Jambalaya (picture 9). I opted for it with just the seafood. They also offered it in pure vegetarian form as well. Good to see that Nola caters to the Vegetarian crowd. It arrived and was decent. Wasn't the best thing I ever had, but was consistent with the level of the experience (cost, environment, location, etc). I wouldn't consider it to be a hidden gem of a meal or anything, but I enjoyed it.

For dessert I ordered the Beignets Du Monde. Its like a Portuguese Malasada (deep fried donut type of thing) smothered in powdered sugar and a rich chocolate sauce. OMG, we have a winner here. It was pure heaven. I ate it quickly while it was still warm.

I stepped over to admire the bar and it was fully stocked, very nice. We hung out here for a few hours and then left to goto Rose and Crown pub to continue the festivities of the night. I found that to be a mistake. While we were leaving, Nola was absolutely jumping. People were lining up to get in. It was definitely the hot spot in this part of town. We got to Rose and Crown and it was your basic bar experience. A bunch of guys with turned-up collars striking poses for the 2 or 3 girls in the place. It was claustrophic and smoky. Just unpleasant in general. (NOTE this is in sharp contrast to the wonderful lunch experience we had at Rose and Crown). Anyway, we were a little regretful for leaving Nola.

I would like to return to Nola and stay for an entire evening of eating and drinking fun. As it was, though, I had a great time on this day and consider Nolas to be one of the best places to bring a group of people for a party celebration in the area. The prices are a bit on the high side, but you get what you pay for.
 
7
Agent Rating


Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 187
Reviewed: 2/3/2009
Rating: 7
My photo gallery		 I’ve been to Nola’s two times in the past 4 months and it’s still a wonder to me why I’ve put off writing this review for so long. I guess Nola is unimpressive to me each time I’ve been here. The portion size is at the top of the scale and quality is good but the taste just doesn’t blow me away for an establishment like this.

The first time I went was for lunch. I ordered the Famous Skirt Steak. I wasn’t impressed with what was served and the actual cost of the plate. It seemed like I received a lunch portion of the meal with a small amount of steak, small amount of smashed potatoes, some green beans, and onion strings. For dessert we ordered the Beignets. There were six of these fried treats but this was like a meal in itself shared between two people.

The second time I came by first for drinks in the bar, which was packed so it was basically standing room only at the time. They wouldn’t seat us until everyone arrived and we were only a party of four. Finally everyone arrived and we were seated on the second floor. We each ordered a hurricane and I proceeded to order a burger. Again the burger was just average, not very impressive although it was very large and definitely had to take half of it to go. I’m just at loss what to order here as nothing really impresses me here and it’s kinda pricey.

 
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aquagrl800 ate...

teriyaki marinated skirt steak

“teriyaki glazed skirt steak grilled to medium rare + mashed potatoes + onion rings + blue lake green beans = everything i like, nothing i don't! yummy food, great desserts and atmosphere. their bar's not a bad place to hang out either.”

9/25/2007 11:20:54 AM