Pearl's New Orleans Kitchen — Restaurant in Elk Rapids Township

We went because of the reviews on line. BUT, WE DID NOT share the same experience as others. Pearls, a New Orleans style restaurant was our destination. Well after personally going to New Orleans 7 times I was excited to give this place a try. I was NOT IMPRESSED to say the least. I've been in the business long enough (40+yrs as a chef) to know when everything comes out of a box, can or premade to heat and serve.

Gumbo- mushy held to long and heated multiple times with undercooked and dried out rice. Greens- steam table scorched and I'm sure reheated multiple times. I think the added sugar to hide the bitterness. Bread- corn and baguette style obviously frozen heat and serve. Fried okra- frozen out of a bag and they didn't even break up the clumps. Hurricane/coffee- Crystal though it tasted ok, but it WAS NOT authentic, trust me, I know! My coffee was fresh though. Blackened shrimp Alfredo- Crystals entree. Burnt, which they tried to hide, tough shrimp on what was more like a Lipton soup and noodle kinda stuff. My entree - Shrimp Po' boy w/fries. Shrimp was cooked better but the sauce was more like just mayo and ketchup than a true remoulade which is what really makes the sandwich and of course the fries were mushy. And over all the food was served room temp.

We give the food a 2 out of 10 and that's on the high end. We give the service an 8, we had to ask for refills on coffee and water. To much $$ for cafeteria style cuisine.

We do...

First, let me say the service today was excellent--Meggan was attentive and friendly. But this is my fourth time coming here, and for one who loves cajun/creole food, I've wanted desperately to like this place. I also like the other restaurants that are part of this restaurant group, so I don't understand why this place is so atypical. First, while there are the standard options that fit that cajun/creole motif (etouffee, gumbo, etc.), they don't offer a lot of the best bites of that cuisine--no macque choux, no boudin balls...not even a crawfish option for a poboy?? So I explored their vegetarian menu and decided to go in a different direction...went with the fried green tomatoes on a mushroom risotto (menu said pea risotto, but they had not actually started serving it). My stomach is still recovering. Three anemic, poorly fried slices of green tomato (oil clearly not hot enough...mushy on the fry, and sat on top of a heavily sauced risotto, soaking up fat and liquid). And the risotto? Uh, yeah. I've had it a lot of different ways in a lot of places, but what it is not is a handful of pasta in a sea of sauce. The cream sauce was so heavy, so overpowering, and so MUCH, that it just was not edible beyond a few bites. Hushpuppies overfried, but edible. The beer was quite good, as was, again, the service. Even so, this was my last visit to Pearl's...too many other places you can drop $26 on a lunch for one and...

1. The food is definitely frozen and reheated. Every dish was watery and not hot. It just had that frozen and reheated taste with lots of water at the bottom of the dish. Very disappointed with the flavor.
2. The house created Bloody Mary was the worst I've ever had. Whoever created it for the menu should be questioned for their choices. Having a giant raw jalapeno stuffed with blue cheese and pickled carrots is not a good combo. It was so awful I almost sent it back but then I would of had to just send everything back and I didn't want to create that situation.
3. The women's handicap bathroom stall was covered in dry vomit. My wife was trying to use it with our toddler and it was disgusting and had to use the smaller stall.
4. The building overall is very dingy and can really use a deep clean. Everything is sticky from grime including the bathrooms.
5. The waitress wasn't bad but could have been more professional and interactive with our toddler. Our 3 year old toddler takes a lot of joy interacting with ordering and our waitress was just so short.
6. The price of everything was actually cheaper than what I was expecting but reflects the quality of food you order.
7. I can't describe anymore how disappointed I am with my experience other than sitting there the whole time thinking how Gordon Ramsey needs to come in and correct everything and how this would make a great episode...