Bayona — Restaurant in New Orleans

I really do not like writing a negative review but we have been coming to New Orleans for many, many years. The experience tonight (10/7) is the WORST DINING EXPERIENCE we have EVER had in this city. Seriously. THE WORST.

From the service to the food to the pretentiousness of the place, it was just not good to say the least. On the negative side, the service was just not to standard for a restaurant that charges these kinds of prices. The entrees took more than 35 minutes to come to the table once we finished our appetizers. The dirty dishes from the appetizers sat on the table at least 15 minutes after we have finished with them. NOTE_ the restaurant was NOT BUSY on the Monday evening we were there... at least half the tables were empty.

The food was pretty much average to below standard... WAY TOO SALTY. The garlic soup was a 3 out of 10 in my opinion, the salads were average. The burrata was probable the best appetizer - which is not saying a lot. They did have a vegetarian selection but it was not very tasty. The other vegetarian diner ordered two sides - the Parmesan Mashed potatoes were overwhelming with the cheese and it also made it way too salty, and the Brussel sprouts (not very exciting - supposed to be spicey but had not heat. The cheese in the potatoes added enough salt - nothing more was needed. The salmon fish of the day was mostly raw for one diner, the scallops were average and the lamb portion was MINISCULE for the pricing... $44.

THERE IS NO VALUE (or REASON) IN DINING HERE - the portions are small, the service spotty at best, even though they "assign" TWO waiters (Jesse and Mark) to your table... such as ANTOINE'S does... which has an excellent reputation for service and superb food. Also - We dined at IRENE'S two days prior and had ONE server that did a TERRIFFIC compared to Bayona's - and that restaurant was PACKED. Every table taken. I can name 20 restaurants with similar pricing that you can go to in NOLA where you will have a more enjoyable experience than at Bayona's.

Lastly, It is just a personal pet peeve of mine when restaurants require a credit card to secure a larger party -- and yes, I understand the economics of it. PLUS - This restaurant added in almost a $20 fee for using a credit card (NOT cool at these menu prices) and also the 20% gratuity (which is pretty standard for parties of 6+).

I really would like to end this by saying I think folks tend to like pricey restaurants and embellish their experience to justify spending lots of $$. SADLY, I will never do that, hence this unfavorable review. My advice...

I visited Bayona after a friend chef’s recommendation as Bayona being “the best restaurant in town.” I can’t begin to describe how underwhelming, overpriced, and pretentious this place was in my experience.

First off, they screwed up my reservation I made two weeks in advance… twice. As a result of their poor bookkeeping, my husband and I got the worst table in the house: the Sonos speaker was directly behind his ear (lying on the booth, btw, not mounted to an inconspicuous place on the wall). While the music choice was enjoyable, he and I could not carry on a conversation without repeating ourselves multiple times. I’d give another half star for ambience if google allowed because the cottage is pretty but we didn’t get to see much of it.

Second, the timing from sitting down to being spoken to by wait staff was too long for being a $250+ dinner. We sat there for 25 minutes before someone came to our table to even give us water. Another 20 for drinks to arrive. Count another 30 for first course to be served, another 45 between finishing salads and entrees showing up… We didn’t bother with dessert. My date was also charged for a cheese up charge on his salad but they gave him the original cheese… when we brought it up to the waitress she shrugged and charged us anyway.

Our waitress was scatterbrained to the point of swapping our plates when food finally arrived because she kept switching sides of the table from where she initially talked to us, but the maître d’ was friendly and informative. However, more direction for the wait staff should be required when patrons are expected to spend this kind of money on a single meal.

My duck was plated upside down, the fat completely unrendered… I thought this was a James Beard Award-winning restaurant, but I guess the 90’s are over and Chef Spicer doesn’t care about her reputation. My husband enjoyed his fish, but I was let down by a chef who didn’t understand how to treat a locally known ingredient and favorite dish of the restaurant. While the duck tasted fine, the $50 protein was not cooked correctly.

Overall, this experience left me wanting and still kind of hungry. For the price point, I expect so much better from an establishment of...

Not pretentious, super welcoming and all around, this place delivers on every level. We enjoyed ourselves so much for dinner, we had to go back the very next day for lunch... and brought a friend. Our server Griffin and assistant Kaiser were fantastic. Griffin brings hospitality that is not overbearing, charming, not "selly" and makes you feel taken care of. He delivered everything a service should be, was super knowledgeable about the menu and even though due to a sudden storm that caused us to arrive 15 minutes before the kitchen closes, he did rush us through our service at allllllll. There were two other parties at tabes next to ours, and they were engaged in conversation with each other and he even managed to have the table next to us playfully "vouch" for the dish that I was on the fence about.. he worked with finesse, you can't teach that.

I don't usually write reviews. I was impressed. This was worth writing about.

Jackie and Andrew for lunch the following afternoon were also fantastic. The atmosphere and vibe for a lunchtime service is very different how've the service was no less phenomenonal. Jackie was super knowledgeable about the menu and coursed our order out so that the flow of our meal was really nicely timed and well paced. She was busy but never made us feel rushed or neglected.

Chef Christy's food is terrific. Her signature lamb entree is fantastic and spoils not be passed on. I'm not even a fan of lamb, but, oh boy... it wasn't my meal, kinda wish it had been. The mussels are a must every time for the table.

This place is a gem.

Connie.. also... you're awesome... thank you for accommodating us with all the phone calls trying to figure out the ability to make it and weather the ... weather!

We hope to...