Le Citron Bistro — Restaurant in New Orleans

This place embodies what New Orleans is all about. We came in for a late dinner last night (9pm)and hung out finishing our bottle of wine until well after closing time. Instead of being rude or aggravated with our lingering, the owner brought over shots of this rare liquor and sat with us while we finished our meal. He and his two other staff members (all close friends) treated us like we were having dinner in their home...brining out extra food and drink, telling us about the history of the building (same building since 1750!), giving us a tour of the grounds, sharing stories and laughter with us. You can get good food in a lot of places in this city, these kind of experiences are rare.

So many places now are all about sterile, modern design and cutting edge cuisine...while they hope to get you out within an hour with a $150 bill. To me, this trend is at odds with our city's character and culture. This is the Big Easy! Enjoying a good meal over a bottle of wine in a dimly lit, 265 year old building right next to the river, while the owner and staff drink with you, just FEELS like New Orleans.

And, oh yea, the food was delicious. We started with soup - shrimp, crawfish and oyster gumbo and French onion soup. Both were full of flavor. We then split a bacon wrapped tenderloin with mashed potatoes. Crisp, thick bacon and a well cooked steak. Soft mash potatoes and rich...

Can't believe it took me so long to write about how great this place is. My husband and I took our first trip to New Orleans in May 2014 for a wedding. The wedding was at Race and Religious, just around the corner from this place. We were unsure where we were going for wedding, or how long it would take and ended up showing up to venue so early that it hadn't even opened yet. We just needed to go somewhere to get out of the heat, and there was no place around there to walk to except this little gem. The bartender happened to see us looking into the window, and ran over to open the place and let us in, before opening time. He made us a couple delicious drinks, and talked with us as he prepped for opening. We were so thankful, and had a truly great time. We tried to get some of the wedding guests to walk over there afterward, but of course everyone wanted to go to French Quarter, and we left the next day. Cannot wait to take our next trip to New Orleans, and make a regular stop at Le Citron Bistro. The owner and staff was so nice, and helped make New Orleans one of our favorite...

What a find! A beautiful, peaceful spot with real character and charm. We were so well looked after by the owner, who clearly genuinely cares about flavour and quality- the food was delicious. In a league...