Glen N.
Yelp
One of two NOLA spots featured on "Somebody Feed Phil" (S1E5) we visited, we loved the food.
I wisely chose the gutbusting "Mama Tried" burger, which has (say along with me, Gen x:) two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions. It's not on a sesame bun, but it comes with tomatoes! ($8.99). My wife loved her vegan chik'en sandwich (fake chick'n, honey mustard, shrettuce, red onion, dill, hot sauce and pickles on a roll). ($11)
We shared a decent portion of crinkle cut fries ($4). Additionally, she got the half wedge salad with bacon on the side (everything bagel crunchy stuff, tomatoes, blue cheese dressing, fresh dill). It was yummy and her favorite thing she ate all trip ($7.50). I got the $4 hog's headcheese taco (jalapenos, shrettuce, sour cream, valentina, and American cheese on handmade corn tortillas), which stood out for its Jack in the Box hot sauce flavor. (The chef claims it is Taco Bellesque, but he don't know Jack). Free refills helped wash it down. We also got the killer $6 soft-serve sundae with magic shell and potato chips.
We skipped dinner that night.
Best of all, the ambiance is a unpretentious dive that feels like a garage hangout, a little Grateful Dead, merch, and pop culture antique mall-heavy with quirky touches, like salt and pepper shakers glued to Hot Wheels, and McDonald's knockoff plates. Some of the art will make you grimace.
(Expect lines, though we strangely had none on a mid-Sunday afternoon)
If you don't believe me, ask Food & Wine who named it one of the country's "Most Important Restaurants of the Decade" (12/19) for "stoner cuisine" ;
or Bon Appetit, who named it Best Restaurant of 2017;
or Brett Anderson of Nola.com who ranks it Top 5 of 2016,
or Bill Addison of Eater who named it one of the Best 12 New Restaurants in America (7/2017) for the radical sandwich king's "Ph.D.-level stoner food";
or the semi-finalist ranks from James Beard Foundation for best new restaurant and best chef in the South (2017);
or Mens Journal (7/2023), who claim the sandwich sorcerer is a "coast-to-coast culinary sensation";
or Los Angeles Times, Saveur, NPR, Vice, Delish, Garden & Gun, and Publishers Weekly who named the cookbook one of the year's best;
or Guy Fieri, who claimed they make "off-the-wall cuisine feel familiar" outside a Hot Topic outlet.
They lost a star for prompting for a tip AFTER already adding a 15% surcharge. They also added tax AFTER the 15% surcharge. Both acts are shameful. I felt like they were the wolf and I was the turkey.