Gumbo Shop — Restaurant in New Orleans

My friend and I were visiting for Taylor Swift concert and we stumbled onto this place because of the generous amount of reviews so we thought that it would be a safe choice.

While the food was okay, the server we had was terrible. In fact, I’d say she’s the worst server I’ve ever had in my life. And I’ve been to quite a lot of restaurants in my life; afterall, I’ve been to decent amount of states.

From the moment we were sitted at the table, she already made up her mind to torture us for no reason. The way she slammed the food on us. The way she purposely made us wait when we order. The way she actively avoided us and took care of other tables. And the way she gave us an attitude. Quite honestly, she’s terrible.

As a side note, our ethnicity is Asian and she’s the only black server at the time — roughly 12:30 PM to 1 PM. We’re not sure if she just didn’t like Asians but it was clear that she hated us even before we even spoke.

Like I said before, we’ve been to a lot of states in this country. I’m a well traveled person but this is the first time I’ve ever been treated so harshly before.

The way she placed the food on our table was just terrible. I can’t even say placed because she slammed with a degree of hatred that I felt like I did something to her pet. There is no reason anyone should treat another like that, especially in a restaurant establishment.

And the way she purposely avoided our table and gave us the look. And then immediately smiled at the other tables. We’ve never felt disrespected in our lives before. And the worst part about this? We didn’t do anything to warrant this kind of treatment. That’s why I’m leaning in towards a racist attitude from the server. I’ve been to other states that other people may consider harsher but even then, they treated us with more respect. It’s our first restaurant experience in this city as well and we were dealt with an unfair treatment from the very beginning.

I believe in equality and I’m an open minded person but I truly believe she had it out on us. She wanted to make us suffer for no reason other than the fact that we’re Asians.

If the management is reading this then please take a look at that server. Based on the receipt, I’m not sure if it’s factual but her name is Bryanna.

I will include a picture of...

I was so excited I finally got the chance to visit New Orleans this year, ready to eat my way through the city, with Gumbo Shop as my first eatery of many.

ATMOSPEHRE: You'll be lucky to grab a seat indoors as it's nice and cool but we luckily (and quickly) scored a seat in their quaint outdoor courtyard though it was extremely hot and muggy, even at night. A line was ever present until closing time.

MENU: Southern apps & entrees, salads, sandwiches, desserts.

FOOD: Chicken Andouille Gumbo Hands down my favorite dish of the night as it was very tasty with the perfect mix of savory and spice. I should've ordered a bowl of this as my entrée wasn't satisfying.

Creole Combination Platter I went with this on recommendation by our server as I didn't even bother to look at it on the menu, plus it was a great way to try all three dishes. The trio included shrimp creole, jambalaya and red beans & rice but I substituted the beans & rice with crawfish étouffée for a few bucks more. Of the three, the flaky jambalaya was my favorite as it had the most flavor but not by much. The shrimp creole's non-spicy tomato-y sauce with small shrimp was very subtle, borderline bland. My least favorite was the étouffée as the gravy was extremely lifeless regardless of the numerous ingredients listed, and the crawfish were rubbery.

Alligator Sausage It wasn't on the menu but our server mentioned it to us in somewhat detail. After contemplating we decided to try it but it never arrived. It was okay as we were pretty full.

DESSERT: Southern Pecan Pie with Ice Cream The sauce was gritty and too sweet for me but the crust was good.

SERVICE: No reservations are taken. As we stood in line, a worker came down the line asking how many were in each party. Because we were a party of 2, we bypassed large groups ahead of us.

Our server was friendly and professional but a little flustered and over-worked which stemmed from possibly being understaffed. There were no bussers helping the servers to clear tables so wait times were a bit long and ordered items were forgotten.

OVERALL: Very good gumbo. The line moves quickly so don't let...

From the moment you walk in you are greeted and made to feel welcomed. I had the pleasure of having Nathaniel as my server. He is extremely knowledgeable about the menu. I went with his suggestions on almost everything except for the drinks only because I don't like certain things that were in them but I'm sure they tasted amazing. He was very patient and the service was fast. Everything tasted amazing, and I was not disappointed. You must try the house hot sauce on your food as well. The BBQ shrimp were out of this world. The sauce was too good not to dip the bread in it. The seafood gumbo had a nice portion of meat in it even for a cup. The crawfish pasta was seasoned and there was crawfish tails throughout. I would definitely try the food first as is before putting the hot sauce on it just in case it's fine as is for you. I enjoy spicy food so that was enjoyable for me. The St. Peter's Punch was tasty and was enough to get you started to where you were going. I ordered a different drink and it definitely put me in a happy place 😌. After walking around the French Quarter for 20-30 minutes it ended so if you want to keep the party going, you may have to bar hop. After I finished my main food, I asked Nathaniel for the dessert menu and instead of him bringing me a menu, I appreciated that it was drilled in his head already. I ordered the brownie sundae and added the pecan praline sauce on the side. I had everything separated because of sharing it with picky eaters but it was amazing!!!

The only thing that I would take a half star off from is the restroom. Maybe of it was checked every 30 minutes to an hour or so to make sure it was clean that would help make a difference. I know it probably gets busy and at times it might not be feasible but it needed some tlc from guests doing whatever and not cleaning up behind themselves.

Overall it was a great experience and I loved it from start to finish. I even got tips on how to catch the trolley. I will...