B Spot — Restaurant in New Orleans

BSpot Nola is a nice semi small bistro style restaurant. However, the service in the restaurant definitely needs a little work. This restaurant can be very busy, so patience will need to be your best friend here. Service to my party of 4 was a little slow and initially I felt slightly ignored by the staff. At first glance, they don’t seem to work as a team as they should because my party sat for like 15 minutes before we were greeted and had our orders taken. We also noticed staff members standing talking and joking with each other instead of working. Finally, after asking a very nice and personable lady about our waiter service had started. We ordered a “Mimosa Flight” which took about 10-15 min to come to the table. Drink service shouldn’t take bartenders any longer than 6 minutes to work bar tickets even on busy days. Our appetizer, came out before the bar drink and it wasn’t presented with any small plates to share. The crab hash and the mimosa flight were both delightful. The hash was perfectly cooked, creamy, savory, and tasted really good. The mimosa flight came with 4 options of juice. Next came out our entree orders but they did not come out together. The number 1 rule is to ensure all guests in a party are served at the same time. I received my Shrimp and Grits 10 -15 mins before my other parties received their food. I asked the woman who was helping us and she went to check. What I liked about her is she was very proactive and attentive to the point that she knew I didn’t want to eat until my parties food arrived. She brought me another small bowl of the sauce that came with the Shrimp and grits to reheat my grits once everyone’s food came out. Other entrees we ordered were the oxtails and grits, oxtails sub grits for potatoes, and chicken and waffle. I tasted a little of everything and I must say the food is really good and have no complaints on taste. I could not taste the Gouda cheese in the grits so maybe add more. The oxtails were on point, cooked to perfection!! Tender and falling off the bone… and they weren’t stingy with the portions either which I like because oxtails not cheap! Lastly,where I do think they can improve is on the chicken and waffle. For the price point, it’s not enough food and the presentation can be elevated. The waffle was nice but can’t expect too much from a waffle. Maybe could be a little sweeter (more sugar or vanilla), but it was slightly overcooked so some of the edges were burned just a little but not too much where it was not edible. This dish (in my opinion) should have 3 pieces of chicken. A drum, a wing, and a thigh stacked on top of the waffle and dusted with powdered sugar as a finish. It would also be a nice touch to add a cinnamon butter and warm syrup. I would recommend this business and I am proud to say it’s black owned and we should all support. Now, customers should also note that you aren’t allowed to send food and drinks back even if you don’t like it which I absolutely do not agree with this rule. This is BAD BUSINESS and BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE. Forcing customers to pay for items that aren’t pleasing is just not good business practice and hopefully the owner changes that. I understand the business loses money but that’s the cost of doing business. This is just a horrible horrible business practice and even if a customer refuses to pay it’s not even criminal. It would be a civil matter and you’d waste more money going to court. Cut your losses and pay it forward. Customers should also note that each table automatically gets a 20% service charge added to their bill which I also do not agree with. Mandating a tip on a customer is also BAD BUSINESS and It also breeds an attitude to your waitstaff that they don’t have to provide excellent service because they will be tipped regardless of their service. I understand why restaurants do this to ensure their staff is paid for their service but it’s not the customers job to pay your...

We waited literally 2+ hours to even be seated when we were told an hour and food came out sparcely. It was a split review of the restaurant at the table as some food was good and others were just drowned in sugar or cheese. Thankfully OUR waitress was fairly decent as we saw some shocking behavior out of others with a plate literally being dropped and broken on someone else's body just a few feet away.

There's what feels like a bit of inflation going on with prices on the food menu. The truffle fries didn't taste of any truffle, the candied bacon was not cooked well and drowned in sauce, got food with no syrup until it was pretty much gone, gumbo seemed confused with all kinds of ingredients and everything in it was not listed on menu and the grilled cheese that comes with the gumbo was laughable. Looked like a Kraft single on the thick bread but the waitress insisted it's from a block... regardless, it was not a grilled cheese sandwich but more of a melted slice on bread plate filler. (Picture I uploaded shows what half the sandwich really looked like 😑) We asked for utensils 3 times before we actually got them so food started getting cold sitting right in front of us. The cocktail glasses were cute with the little bee on it and stayed on brand for them with the decor of the place. However, the layout itself seemed challenged.

I think the restaurant grew a bit more than the location can handle as there were tables setup in places not quite right for them. The A/C also seemed nonexistant at the table but could be felt in other places like the bar and near the restroom. They put up fans around the restaurant but it barely helps especially if you add drinking to the mix.

Overall, I'd say if you choose this place, then you need to go right at opening or odd times during the week. Service will clearly be slow as they get more and more business. There's a buried message on their website that they don't split checks more than 2 times so I'd recommend cash if you're going with a large group and can't do one or two bills only. Gratuity will be included if you go with a larger group as well so look out for that. I'm personally not a fan of required gratuity on larger groups because it short changes the wait staff on those tables if there's great service and it compensates for piss poor service when they're not up to par. Most of us in the group won't return and we most definitely won't be celebrating another birthday at their...

I wish I could say better about this place because I love supporting black spaces…however I also feel like constructive criticism helps grow a business. My friends and I came from Houston, Tx to New Orleans and heard about this place. First of all finding parking was a task. We went to let the hostess to put our names on the list. She said it is a 45 min wait but to give her five minutes in order to see if a party may come if not she will seat us. 15 mins pass and we are waiting. We noticed that our phone numbers weren’t taken to let us know when our seating was ready. Red flag one. After letting the hostess know she finally put our number down. We then got seated after about an hour 1 and 10 mins. After being seated we waited another 43 mins for us to get our drink orders to be taken. Within the 43 minutes we were told three times that someone would be over but we had to hound them down. We order 2 mimosa flights and and our food. 7 mins after our order was taken, I was told they were out of oxtails and I have to order something else. They finally bring our food out, which was actually the most timely thing they did this whole experience. My homegirl’s food comes out and notices that there shrimp on her fish and grits plate, which on the menu it doesn’t specify that there is shrimp on the plate. Since her and I order the same thing, she gives it to me. In which they actually offer to accommodate her allergy to the plate (a plus). But, unfortunately she never got her plate and through this whole thing we never got our flights. After eating my meal, it was bland seasoned catfish. The cream sauce was also bland and I put salt in it. I still ate it because I was so hungry from waiting for so long. They took off the flights and the extra food. The waitress apologized for the experience and advised us to come earlier in the day. Since I can’t give this place a zero, I’m giving this place a 1 star out of 5. It was unorganized from the beginning till end. The time management and prioritization was terrible. Overall the professionalism and how our situation was handled was inconsiderate and never how a business should be handled. We didn’t get an apology till the end. They never communicated anything that was going on, if anything it felt like they avoided us because we were obviously upset. I hope that the experience of the place will become more structured but I will never return to the...