Leah's Kitchen — Restaurant in Kenner

I’ve dined here before while traveling through my hometown but my latest experience was by far the worst and totally unacceptable! Catherine, the hostess, is always rude and in the wrong profession. Sunday, June 13, 2021 was the encounter that will officially make me spend my money elsewhere. It was 5:26 and I asked if customers were still be seated, as I knew they closed at 6. She rudely said “what?!” I repeated my question…”are you still seating customers?” She said “yeah, do you want a seat or no?” I responded that I would like to sit at the bar but Catherine stated the bar was full and I could sit at the open bar in the middle. After nearly 15 minutes, no one stopped to offer me water, ask if I had been waited on, etc. I asked Catherine if someone would wait on me and she checked with the bartender. Came back to say “she said she’ll be here when has time…” Now we are at 20 mins and I asked the young lady with braids and beads at the bottom if she could at least bring me water (since I see her brining it to everyone else) and she continues to walk by while I’m speaking to her!! I asked did she not hear me, she looks at me and keeps doing what she was doing. Catherine now jumps in and says I didn’t seat her, she sat herself, and I don’t know how long she’s been here! At this point I tell Catherine she instructed me I could sit there and she openly states “oh yeah I thought you were someone else!!” For whatever reason, Catherine made it her business to stand really close over my shoulder. I told her repeatedly to have a good day and she continued to raise her voice and engage in back and forth banter. Not once did a manager come out. Not once was I apologized to. As I grabbed my items to leave, I make it clear that I went to college with Lil Dooky (Edgar) and he would not tolerate this behavior and I’d be sure to pass the info along. I do not need to beg someone to take my money, much less do I need to be treated in such a demeaning manor. Let’s be clear…I am from NOLA so I know an attitude and rudeness when I see it. I can get down and dirty with the best of them but the staff present that day will never be worth my integrity and dignity. I gladly went to another restaurant and they provided the best service before my flight out. One thing for certain, two things for sure MY MONEY IS VALUABLE AND I WILL SPEND IT WHERE I AM TREATED...

Due to storms over Labor Day, I found myself with a four hour layover in New Orleans — the first time I’ve ever been here. I thought I might as well really make the most of my layover and try the best this airport has to offer. On the recommendation of the cashier at Cafe Du Monde just on the other side the security line, I came to Leah’s Kitchen. This was the best decision I have made all weekend because this was the best airport food I’ve had in my life, full stop.

I am going to think about the fried catfish and grits every single day for the rest of my life. The big portion of catfish fillet was fried perfectly, which a delightfully crunchy, thick crust. Maybe a little salty for my taste but still so flaky and so good. The catfish was drizzled in a tomato based, well-spiced sauce (?) of charred corn and andouille sausage, and it was all sat on the creamiest, most delightfully salted grits. The catfish was so tasty. But I absolutely savored every bite of the sauce and the grits. I cannot believe that this was an airport meal — and a relatively cheap one at that, with the fish dish being just $19! I would line up for this for an hour and pay $40 for this.

I also had a cup of gumbo, which I found tasty but not nearly as much as the main dish.

This is my first real taste of southern food so I’m probably just appreciating this very wonderful cuisine for the first time but I genuinely loved this meal. I finished every single bite despite it being a truly large food portion because I could not bear the thought of it go to waste. I spent the 24 hours before this meal in travel hell and this genuinely made up for that. I am clearly going to have to make a dedicated trip to New Orleans just for the food.

I am told that Leah’s Kitchen is an offshoot of a famed chef in Nola, who I later read was Leah Chase! What a happy find for me.

Thank you to my nice server Bria, who was attentive and kind despite literally being the only on the floor.

I probably would only go here if I had two hours’ layover or more — you don’t want to be rushed when the food is truly restaurant quality. The servers are efficient and kind but there are only so many of them. YAY THANK YOU NOLA AIRPORT AND...

I was excited to try Leah’s kitchen because was not able to visit dooky chase while in the city. Arrived approximately 330 pm. We were greeted and seated promptly. We placed an order for two waters and 1 beer. She brought the beer within less than 10 min but no waters. Finally about 20 min later, had to ask another server for water. We placed an order for the wings appetizer and at the same time for the fried chicken and the shrimp P.O. boy as well. Wings came out maybe 15 min after? No ranch or blue cheese. Had to once again hunt down someone for it. Then after finishing our wings, about 35 min of being there, she came and said the “system had some issues earlier” and it “blinked” and our wanted to ask what we ordered again. I’ve been in the service industry for years and so has my husband. That’s code for, she forgot to put our food in. Ok, gave her a chance because we were not in a rush. At this point we counted and 8 tables had come in after us and all Of them had gotten their food before us, including two different parties of 5 people and there was only two of us. The lady dining in front of us asked if we were still waiting for our food and she said I can’t believe that, you should get it comped off because of how long it’s been. At this point she had came after us, ate her lo boy and had paid out and no food for us. We got up at 425 still no food and told the other server we wanted to cancel our food. Miraculously, our server then went back into the kitchen and came out with our food. She then said it’s because the chicken takes 25 minutes to cook. However two different tables were eating fried chicken and had come well after us and were almost done. She seemed mad at us for being even upset about the wait. We didn’t ask for anything free, we paid for our wings and beer and left. It’s a damn shame because I was so excited to try the food. Server name was Beatrice. Had she owned up to her mistakes or even been remotely apologetic, it would’ve at least been better but no, somehow it’s our fault. And at no point was a manager present or tried to talk to us...