Headquarters by Nice Guys Nola — Restaurant in New Orleans

"BRANDING VS AUTHENTICITY"

Morrows Hospitality group has a lot of restaurant venues in the city as well as entertainment. I have had the privilege of visiting a couple of the establishments on several different occasions. This is my 1st time visiting this location.

We were staying at the Le Pavillon hotel which is two blocks away and the Front Desk Attendant recommended for us to have lunch at this establishment. As we arrived, the door was open and there was no wait with two patrons sitting at a table. We were greeted by JANAE, who immediately greeted us with a smile and inquiring if this was our first time. I explained it was my grandmother's 93rd birthday and we were celebrating. She was a little saddened with the fact that there were no other waitress to sing with her. Immediately I was impressed with her empathic approach to greeting 1st time guest.

As we begin to walk to our assigned seats, I asked for a picture by the backdrop. She offered to take our picture and lead us to our seat. We choose the high area and sat down reviewing the menu. We asked about the gumbo and other recommendations. The order was placed and we gracefully waited to receive our order.

1st Dish - Seafood gumbo - Bowl $15.00 - Sausage, Hot sausage, chicken, shrimp and crab. We requested rice on the side because my grandmother prefers to add rice as she eats the food. My grandmother kept asking if it taste really good and JANAE was adamant and confident in the flavoring of the gumbo. My grandmother said well I don't know because restaurant gumbo is normally not seasoned well. We received the gumbo and it was everything.

2nd Dish - Oxtails, mac and cheese and Dirty rice ($3.00 upcharge) normally come with green beans. The oxtails were tasty and tender, however it was only one large and 3 very small pieces for $40.00. The price was not the issue it was the amount of food for the price. Secondly the mac n cheese was PERFECTION in a cast iron skillet. It is creamy with cheese charred on top from being placed in oven. Thirdly the dirty rice (3.00) upcharge is pieces of hot sausage and rice but freshly made on the fly which leaves it very moist like a rice and gravy. It had flavor but not your traditional dirt rice. I personally spoke with the CHEF and he explained it can be less moisture if requested. MY SUGGESTION IS LET ALL PATRONS KNOW IT IS MADE ON FLY WHICH MEANS YOU ARE JUST MIXING INGREDIENTS AND NOT BAKING IT LIKE THE TRADITIONAL WAY. I believe in creativity but the hot sausage without the ground meat takes away from the flavoring.

Last but not least I need to speak on the drinking glasses which are very nice, sturdy and fancy for this type of establishment, The ambiance and esthetics are very well kept and neat. The place was clean and well air conditioned. There are tv's located all over with a 4 tv display in the center for those HUGE SPORTS FANS.

There is also entertainment which is offered on weekends. The charge is $5.00 pp for entertainment during brunch. There is also a 20% service fee that is split between all servers, but the tip solely goes toward the server. I don't understand a service fee especially on a day when there is no entertainment, but that is MORROW rules so I will abide when I choose to partake in meals within this group.

The waitress JANAE was exemplary. The way she waited on us and was very attentive made us feel like we were at HOUSTON's, Steak 48 or Ruth Chris. She offered suggestions, took advice, listen to feedback and made us feel welcomed at all times.

There is a really nice patio area to sit outside and dine

Upstairs is a special room dedicated to special guest and parties

I also believe there should be a uniform for all employees to offer some sort of unity and...

We got to HQ around 1:30 and I asked if there was a time limit and the server told us that it was a 2 hour limit. So, I asked about options for watching the Super Bowl. She said that we could 1) reserve a table for 4:30 and pay $75 per person to sit in the lower level at a table for the duration of the Super Bowl or 2) pay $50 per person and go upstairs were seating was first come first serve to watch the game. There would also be standing room if no seats were available. These prices were not including food or drinks. It was 3 of us.

We decided to reserve the table so that we were guaranteed a seat. I am a super fan so I didn't want to miss one minute of the game, not a snap, not anything. We sat and had drinks for the 2 hours bc we had just eaten brunch somewhere else before we got there. We made the reservation, left at about 3:30, walked around the block and got back in line. While in line, the lady came out and called our name and seated us around 4:40. Keep in mind this is central time so the super bowl started at 5:30 central.

We sat down, had the same server from before so she came over and greeted us like we were long time friends. We ordered drinks, my cousin and his gf ordered some appetizers. I explained to the server that I would order food a bit later bc my anxiety gets crazy during the game, I gotta get these nerves and stuff relaxed a bit. She seemed way more attentive than earlier but we weren't tripping as we thought she was being thorough even though it was more crowded. So kick off is at about 5:45 so we are settled in ready to cheer on our Eagles. At about 6:15 she comes over and asks if we want to put in more drinks and I say "sure, give me another one". Then she says "ok, I will bring your check when your time is up". I think I have whiplash from the way my head snapped. "What do you mean when our time is up?" She goes on to explain that they have since changed the rules to accommodate everyone. WAIT, WHAT!

It had started to rain and now they wanted to accommodate the folks who were out in the rain is what we were being told. So, I am like wait a minute, please explain why you all didn't tell us this when you came back and seated us at 4:40? There is a lot of back and forth about what was going on. So we ask, what about upstairs because we don't want to have to leave during the game or half time and miss anything and risk not finding somewhere else. She goes to see if its still available and comes back with more options. We can go upstairs for now $100 per person or spend at least $600 to stay at the table. Keep in mind we have already agreed to $225 ($75 x 3 people) not including food and drinks or the 20% fee added to every check. She leaves while we talk it over, comes back and tells us that we could also purchase a bottle to stay. But there is no bottle list, we have to go off of what she is telling us from her handheld.

I am so pissed bc WTF? It is the middle of the 2nd quarter and you pull this shhhh now. We decided, F-THAT, we're not giving them any more money.

The drinks were watered down and expensive. I didn't eat any food so I can't speak on that. The DJ was cool but the experience put a bad taste in my mouth. I travel all the time both domestic and internationally and most places that have a time limit have it displayed whether on the menu or posted. The owners were there and never came and spoke with us after we asked for a manager. We weren't the only people that this happened to. If I could give it a...

HEAD QUARTERS BY THE NICE GUYS was one of the worse experiences for my first time in New Orleans. It almost ruined my trip but by the grace of God and my Christianity I recentered my energy. I am writing this review to warn others DO NOT GO TO HEAD QUARTERS BY THE NICE GUYS. Our waitress was very nice and management sent her to do their dirty work!!! Super Bowl weekend (Go Eagles) is an experience of it’s on let alone being in New Orleans. We wanted to enjoy the game. We were told that after dining we had two options to pay $75 per person with a reserved table or pay $50 per person and go upstairs with first come first serve seating and both options let you enjoy the game on the television while you still order from their menus. We (3 adults) decided on the $75 per person . We were told that our regular time limit was up on our table and we would have to come back at 4:30pm for our reserved table. We had already spent $150+ for our first visit for drinks. We arrived back at 4:30pm we stood in very long line about 30/40 minutes later our name was called. We were seated and very excited! We started our order for drinks, enjoyed the first quarter of the game and ordered food. Around the second quarter the waitress asked if we were okay and needed anything else we stated no. She then said that you guys time is almost up and we would have to leave. We all looked puzzled and confused. We then stated no we’re doing the $75 fee a person to watch the game. She then Stated “oh management isn’t doing that anymore they are allowing people to watch half of the game other people are waiting and management is trying to accommodate everyone”. We were not told of any changes prior to being seated for our second visit or prior to ordering from the menus. WAIT WHAT IS GOING ON!! The game is on now, where are we suppose to go? More than upsetting news! We then asked if seating was still available upstairs; she then proceeded to go check. The waitress came and proceeded to say the price for upstairs seating that was $50 is now $100 and there were no seats. So we asked what else could we do to keep our table we already had. The waitress then went to speak with management again, she came back and said our bill would have to be $600-$1000 dollars in order to keep our same table! WHAT!!! We could purchase a $400 bottle of alcohol of our choice. We decided not to support Head Quarters by Nice Guys any further because they obviously do NOT care about their customers. If I were you I would not support anything to do with the Head Quarters by Nice Guys everything was over priced, food was not good, they charge a 20% gratuity (which is NOT the waitresses tip) a surcharge of $5 a person, plus a tip. With so many other options to eat/ drink and have fun choose standing on street corner rather than giving your hard earned time and money to Head QUARTERS BY THE NICE GUYS. -0 stars. Why support a business that does not care about...