Criollo Restaurant — Restaurant in New Orleans

You are advised to park at the Hotel Monteleone, 2 hours will run you $13. Came in a little late for our reservation due to parking confusion and traffic in the French Quarter, but the staff was exceptionally gracious with us. As a note, their hours of operation vary a little from what Google says online, you are advised to call in ahead to see how late they'll stay open. Traditionally though, the kitchen closes at 10:00.

That said, we have been struggling to find a vegetarian friendly fine dining experience in Nola that doesn't have a 50 minute waitlist. Criollo is VERY vegetarian friendly. Not only do they have a vegetarian option in each dining category, but they are happy to modify the menu to craft you a unique entreé as well. How is this place not on a top vegetarian list??? I would like to add a big thank you to Michael Dupree (Food & Bev. Manager) for their kindness to us with regards to the kitchen and our lateness, as well as their generosity. We were seated immediately and the fun began from there with live Jazz from the room over.

If at all possible, come in for dinner and treat yourself to some of the BEST table service in the area with Joseph, Roy, and Terrence. Our glasses were always full and bread generously supplied--which you will find yourself eating a lot of since it's just THAT good. I ordered the Eggplant appetizer, artichoke soup, seasonal salad finished with a vegetarian entreé after Joseph kindly suggested one could be made for me. The eggplant...you can't go wrong with it. It was so rich and flavorful that mouth is watering right now. Same with the soup and salad--my omnivorous date was actually jealous of how tasty my meal was 😆. Joseph, you are a delight! Thank you for taking such good care of us.

The entreé is usually where most restaurants catering to vegetarians mess up--but not Criollo. My main course was as flavorful as the rest of my meal and generously portioned with vegetables and savory risotto. If you choose a dessert, go with the creme bruleé and eat the shell. 😍

My meal was one of the best I've had in a city where good food is a part of the culture. Criollo has something for everyone, even vegans--my food was so good I forgot to take pictures most of the time. This is a must stop for fine dining and their prices were on par with the other vegetarian places that turned us away. I will be returning to Criollo every time I come to Nola and looking specifically for the staff mentioned above. Kindness is an art, and so is good food--Criollo has both. Compliments to the kitchen here for providing a...

Located inside our hotel, the Hotel Monteleone, we were spoiled by how good their restaurant’s food was. This was our go to spot for beignets and brunch. Highly recommend staying here for the best beignets in the French Quarter of New Orleans and their award winning food.

A beignet is a deep fried French pastry, with a flaky exterior (similar to an authentic French croissant) and a pillowy soft, layered interior. It’s topped with powdered sugar for an overall semisweet treat, but dipped in Praline sauce (a vanilla bean sauce with a touch of caramel) makes for a heavenly bite. Don’t bother going to Café Du Monde or Cafe Beignet, unless you prefer amusement park fried dough and sugar, this is the real deal, French technique of a beignet.

Crab Cake Benedict was made with blue crab from the Gulf, topped with poached eggs and ladled with Béarnaise sauce. Crab cakes are typically made with a ton of breadcrumbs, not enough crab meat, this was the complete opposite. Every bite was mainly fresh, well seasoned Cajun crab meat. Eggs benny and crab meat, what a perfect combo. Who would’ve thought?!

Fried chicken and gravy, topped with a jalapeño cheddar biscuit is the way to start a morning! Their fried chicken was so crispy and juicy, so well seasoned! The gravy was delicious, this stuff would be a Thanksgiving game changer, so rich and meaty. Dipping the biscuit into the gravy and topping it with some fried chicken made for a freaking epic bite!

Can’t say enough about how wonderful the food here was. It’s a must go brunch...

Hotel Monteleone is an excellent hotel. I wish I could say the same about their restaurant Criollo. My family and I went there for dinner one night, and we enjoyed the live band. The food, however, leaves a lot to be desired. I ordered the stuffed jumbo shrimp. The shrimp itself tasted fine, but the stuffing was terrible. It also came with spinach polenta which tasted no better. My mom had the pork which was dry, and the potatoes on the side were both burned and raw. The only half decent item was the gumbo. I also ordered a Shirley Temple, and it had way too much grenadine. Instead of using sprite or ginger ale they used sparkling water, so to compensate they overused the grenadine. They didn’t even put cherries in it. The most disappointing of all was the chocolate cake we ordered for dessert. It was bland. How do you make chocolate cake bland? It was so bad that not even the chocolate icing could fix it, and even that had no flavor. I usually hate icing because it’s too sweet, but they managed to make chocolate icing both flavorless and unsweet. The servers were also slow and inattentive in general. I don’t know if it was because we were black, but either way, the service was terrible. It’s clear to me the people who gave this place five stars were either rich or just enjoying the drinks and lived shows more than the food. I loved staying at Hotel Monteleone, but their restaurant and serves need to get their act together and improve their menu...