Maïs Arepas — Restaurant in New Orleans

Good food however zero flexibility when it comes to reservations. We had a party of 10, and we understood the policy that all people must show up in order to be seated. HOWEVER, my brother who was driving in from Baton Rouge to have lunch with us for our father's birthday got caught in traffic and was 10 minutes behind. The hostess came to us and said "I just spoke with my boss and they told me that if the rest of your party isn't here in 10 minutes we can't reserve your table." So here we are with two small children (my 1 year old and 5 year old), my mother and father and we are waiting for my brother and his wife and two kids to arrive from Baton Rouge. We also spent money at the bar while we were waiting, so we are now supporting this establishment. When we showed how unhappy we were with their zero flexibility the manager came to us to resolve the situation and her response was to tell us that she could seat us however if the remaining people in our party didn't get there in ten minutes then they couldn't guarantee that the seats at the table would be available for them. Luckily as she was saying this my brother and his family were waking in. So I warn you, if you have family that is coming in from out of town do NOT make reservations here because they have no flexibility when it comes to their patrons. Also of note, when I spoke to the hostess (a girl with glasses) and tried to explain to her that we understand it's not her policy but the owners she looked at me like I was stupid and walked off, so yeah very poor customer service. Imagine having your family with children drive in to eat somewhere only to have to tell them nope we have to leave because you were TEN minutes late. Literally y'all 10 minutes. By the time I got settled into my seat and ordered my first drink it was 12:15 on the dot. I cannot in good faith recommend this place. Ask, I cannot tell you enough how rude the hostess is. Like really rude. So rude that I wasn’t going to post my review but after giving how she treated me more thought I more...

Great food & drink, great atmosphere, great people!

We were staying in the Warehouse District and Maïs Arepas was one of the restaurants I wanted to try within walking distance. One day we hoofed over there for lunch and opted to sit at the bar. Everyone working here was super friendly and answered (most) of our questions (we failed to get the recipe for the salsa rosada on the corn, alas).

Our food was awesome! We started out with an order of maiz de rueda. Hooooooboy that might be some of the best corn I’ve had. My partner and I practically had to fight over the last drops of the sauce. The corn is served on a skewer and covered in salsa rosada (the special sauce), cotija, butter, lime, and crema. This was SO good we kept talking about it for the rest of our trip.

Next we each ordered an arepa. I ordered the cerda and my partner got the veggie. Both were excellent. The arepas are STUFFED. You will not go hungry. The cerda arepa was overflowing with juicy, tender pork, pickled onions, soft plantains, and cotija. The veggie arepa was full of grilled veggies and gooey mozzarella. The arepa bread was soft and lightly grilled to perfection. Both were served with crispy plantain chips and a choice of salsa. We elected (with good advice) to try each available salsa. They were all great, but if I had to choose I would say the cilantro chimichurri was my fave!

We also both had the limeade which was super on point, highly recommended if you’re looking for a non-alcohol option, and since we sat at the bar we got to watch the parade of great-looking cocktails go out. Next time we’re in NOLA we will definitely be back at night!

The restaurant itself has a super chill vibe. The place looks like a good spot day or night.

The staff was awesome. Very friendly and knowledgeable, even while withholding the secret sauce! If you’re in NOLA and looking for a solid Colombian meal, go to...

We reserved a table for ten at noon on 7:10/21. My husband and I arrived early so we were asked to wait for the entire party before being seated at the table. My daughter and husband along with their two small children arrived before noon and we waited until noon. My son with his family was traveling from out of town and were delayed ten minutes. We were advised that they could only reserve the table for 10 minutes and the Hostess was In the process of cancelling our reservation because my son had not arrived. Despite our efforts to let her know we were all there she was like a broken record . Absolutely no Customer Service. I felt like I was begging them to stay . Had it not been for the children, I would have taken off. INFLEXIBLE Even the owner, manager had this attitude. The best she could offer was to seat us and when my son arrived seat them at another table , if they had one. What a FIASCO. The term.CUSTOMER SERVICE was non existent. They could not have made us more unwelcome. They claim it is because they are a small locale but the truth is that this restaurant has the attitude that we the customers benefit from them and not viceversa. Go figure! While the food was decent my experience was deplorable . Two stars is a lot. I will never return. In addition they assumed we would not tip them well and they assigned themselves 20 % tip. We laughed because we split the bill in three and each of us were ready to give them more than that. Be sure to be a perfect person and have the perfect party to go there. I felt unwelcomed and it won’t...