Bacchanal Fine Wine & Spirits — Restaurant in New Orleans

Customer service certainly has degraded over the past couple of years. I have been here dozens of times over the years. It used to be a friendly neighborhood place, but it has turned into a tourist spot, and I believe the staff treat everyone like a tourist. I was there yesterday and asked about a cabernet I had from there last time and the woman at the register inside said, “well did you see it over there?” I said no but I wasn’t sure if it was in a different place. She said if its not there we don’t have it. My friend and I were the only ones in there so it’s not like she was busy or distracted. In the past they would talk to you like a human and ask how you were and then help to explain the new wines they got in. We bought two bottles of wine and picked up a couple of cheeses and some prosciutto. When it was delivered the prosciutto was simply taken out of the plastic package and slapped on the plate still stuck together in a layer, which was just pitiful. The black olives were teeny tiny things with pits that had a unpleasant flavor. They used to put almonds or nuts and other olives but not this time. Another annoyance was the duo playing music took 3 breaks and went table to table with the bucket in your face. He was very aggressive coming to each table with the bucket extended asking if we liked the music. I had a ton of dollar bills so for the first break I gave him $8 since I figured we would be there for a while. Well I didn’t realize he was coming back twice more. I declined the 2nd time but gave another few dollars the third since they were finished. It put a damper on the mood. BUT It still has a great atmosphere and is a great place to go and sit with your friends for...

If you take a peek at the bad reviews here, there’s a reoccurring theme.

We were really hoping for a lovely experience as I enjoy the concept, however, this isn’t a place we would visit again.

They have a real problem when it comes to the male bartender that was working upstairs on Thursday night. I understand everyone has a bad night here and there, however, he gave off a very ‘I’m trying too hard’ attitude. He was dry, bored, rude and I’ve been around the block to know a ‘faux arrogance to cover up extreme insecurities’ when I see it.

My issue here is: we’ve been to some of the best cocktail bars in the world and I obviously understand that this place is far from that, so I didn’t have unrealistic expectations BUT if you’re going to have this attitude, well at least back it up. Sadly, he did not. The drinks were horrible.

We actually ordered another round but from the female bartender upstairs. These were much better and she was so lovely.

The music was great and loved the patio. The gentleman and lady that greeted us in the store front were so informative and kind. The lady who took our food order was also incredible.

The reason why I’m leaving this review is because I spoke to another friend tonight and told of our experiences over the past week (all others being exceptional, including NIGHTBLOOM) and my friend had the same experience here with the same male bartender upstairs. Then, when I saw 90% of your negative reviews were staff based, I needed to echo, just in case the owners ever want to understand what they can improve.

Too many talented folks to have someone so dreadful...

This is a great place to get your wine or beer fun on when it is nice outside as there is only outside seating. They have some great cheese plates and the outdoor chef's are usually making some good food with some good music playing.

The good news & the bad news is the outdoor seating as it gets really hot and rains a lot in NOLA so there are definitely better times of the year to experience this place than others. Another growing problem is the popularity of this place is making it harder and harder to actually find a seat so you need to get there mighty early to secure a spot and finding parking is never an easy task. The only other thing to watch out for is there are sometimes some people with really stinky BO in there that need a good hosing off (I'm not sure when it became fashionable to avoid bathing) so that could be the benefit of going after it rains as maybe those folks will smell better.

Another benefit or problem depending on your point of view is that folks will often bring their children with them to hang out on the patio. I don't have any problem with kids and find them nicer than most snotty adults that don't like them so I think it just adds to the entertainment and flavor of the place to have entire families enjoying themselves and to have a place I can go with my friends that have kids that want to go somewhere like this. I wish we had a place like this closer to Uptown so I didn't have to go so far...