Clancy's Restaurant — Restaurant in New Orleans

Oh Clancy’s! One of NOLA’s famed, establishment Uptown and upscale spots, highly favored and recommended, our experience was one deflation and disappointment after another. It’s said that every war is won or lost on the fulcrum of one crucial battle. The same is true of the uptown dining experience. A tony restaurant that likely turns tables 3-4x nightly, they ought to have things down to a science. For the many locals there, maybe that’s true. They know which dishes are the best or favorites, and order accordingly. Every waiter restaurant can have an off night, due to things beyond their control. Our experience was beyond that. Our waiter, as he told 2 other tables, very experienced and worked at other famed restaurants. He was very competent, but once there was a problem, it seemed like he just didn’t want to deal with us anymore. Cocktails started off fine. Did I want the blue cheese olives with my martini? Yes! That sounds great! And the anchovy stuffed olives? D’acord! Could I have one of each! Absolutement! So my martini arrives with four olives, 2 w/blue cheese, 2 w/anchovies, both wonderful. As they should be, with a surcharge of $4. But hey, we’re out on the town at a highly recommended restaurant, and it’s a splurge. A splurge indeed as the other diner had a $40 tequila martini. The waiter discretely informed us of the tariff before placing our order, which was the correct thing to do. Our drink orders placed, we turned to the menus. So many choices, it was hard to pick. We started with the veal sweetbreads and the pan-seared scallops (4) as appetizers and both were excellent. Our cocktails took quite a bit to arrive, but came a minute before our appetizers. Not surprising when there is only one bartender for a packed bar and jammed restaurant, and he moved like he only had 2 bar patrons and 3 dining tables, but he did finally get the cocktails pushed out. On to our mains. We got the filet with blue cheese and a Demi glacé cooked rare, and the sautéed veal with lump crabmeat, asparagus and bernaise sauce. The steak and accompanying Brussels sprouts were fine, tho’ my steak was med. rare, not rare. The duchesse of potatoes, however, were stone cold, like, straight out of the fridge. No problem, they can heat them up…. But the veal dish was an absolute flop/failure. The veal was tough, zero flavor. No asparagus, a spoonful of bernaise sauce, which was also blah and flavorless, served with the aforementioned icy potatoes. Our waiter breezed past us, with the pushed away veal dish, that btw, looked like it fell on the floor and got replated, took 2 adjoining tables’ orders, delivered cocktails to another table, before thinking to check in on us. He asked if we wanted to have a to-go box for the discarded veal plate, while I wasn’t even 2 bites into the filet. We explained the veal dish was inedible, our potatoes were cold. Waiter’s response? “I’ll go discuss this with the manager.” Nooooo! In a restaurant of this caliber, the staff should have the authority to correct problems seamlessly, not make the diners wait while hoops are procured, then jumped through, and hopefully resolved. The manager came over, agreed the dish was a disaster, offered another, wrung his hands a bit, and then said he’d take it off the bill. He offered dessert, which was very nice, but it should have just appeared, along with after dinner drinks and coffee. Once our one entree was bad, and we had a problem with cold potatoes, it was like everything became disjointed and tripping left and right. Not what one expects from a top-notch restaurant. The whole debacle of missed starts and faux pas, which could have been easily and smoothly remedied by a truly caring and professional staff was one we won’t make the mistake of repeating. There are other restaurants of every price point that do a flawless job. Take your patronage to...

I have to say that I had very high expectations for this establishment based upon the reviews and a recommendation of a local culinary genius. The evening started out well while we waited for our reservation at the bar. The bartender, although not overly personable, was efficient and polite. The host staff was welcoming and took us to our table at our reserved time. The menu looked delicious and my husband and I were very excited to try it. However, once the 1st course was cleared the rest of the meal quickly spiraled downward. Our server seemed more interested in taking care of her larger table than our lowly two person table. She was rarely seen and never once stopped back to show any interest in our experience or like/dislike of the food. The server assistant was very detail oriented, but again showed no personality or even a semblance of a smile when at our table or any other. The table next to us was receiving terrific service, and it quickly became apparent that they were locals and frequented this restaurant. I understand having a rapport with regulars is important, but I have never felt like such a second class citizen. It was as though we were completely invisible. Then when it came to the entrees, my smoked duck was dry and dripping with an overbearingly sweet sauce. My husband's lobster risotto was a large pile of orange mush with no definable difference between the lobster and the risotto. It was riddled with shell pieces which he was constantly have to spit out. Exoskeleton pieces are not appetizing! And quite frankly one of the most cardinal culinary sins. We decided to order dessert to try and end on any note better than what we were on and sadly we were met with even more disappointment. 5 minutes passed. . .10 minutes passed. . .15 minutes passed and still no dessert all the while our server was still not visible to anyone but the larger table. I was so frustrated at this point I cancelled the dessert promptly paid the bill and left. I have always viewed New Orleans as my home and when asked why I come back every year and love it so much, I always respond with "well it just always feels like home". I can honestly say now thanks to Clancy's I no longer feel this way. It made us feel like second class citizens, where the food is just okay and the service for the price will treat you like nothing more than...

What a difference a year makes… I visited in June 2023 for a birthday celebration & thoroughly enjoyed the food. Our waiter was subpar for a fine dining experience & neglected to really serve us consistently. We requested a new waiter then things were great! I frequently visit many restaurants in the city and I wanted to celebrate my brother’s birthday with excellent food so we selected Clancy’s, however this visit was not up to any of our expectations.

Our waiter was very welcoming the atmosphere was not quite as inviting as last time but that is the least of our concern. It was 6 guest we ordered Oyster Brie it is not a dish I would ever order again. It was just that bad!

The food lacked seasoning and it was just a very bland experience. I ordered waygu steak medium temperature and it came out seared hard on the edges and rare & my accompanying fries were not edible. They had been fried long before steak preparation and were extremely hard. I sent them back of course. Same for another guest. The food just lacked flavor from the gumbo to the soft shell crab and the lamb was extremely dry. The best thing we had was drinks honestly.

When visiting a fine dining establishment certain expectations must be met minimally from the customer as well as the establishment. There was a couple seated directly next to us and he conveniently took his shoes off and crossed his legs as though he were inside of his home. It was very obvious and could be seen from many angles. I thought for certain that management would address it immediately, but it was never acknowledged. Quite uncomfortable as we observed other tables in disbelief as well!

Simply we won’t be returning but we were not pleased with dinner & now I must make up a monumental celebration because they just did not meet any of our...