Port Orleans Brewing Co. — Restaurant in New Orleans

GREAT little place but it DEFINITELY depends on who's working. Travel to NOLA several times a year and went here back several months ago. It was crowded and was great. Have been to NOLA a few times since and, enjoying it so much, we went back again when we were in town a couple of weeks ago on the way to our cruise out of Miami. Great little place, good food, good brew, it wasn't as crowded. Great guy working, took our orders, let me sample the beer to choose one, brought our food out - super super guy, great personality, would give place 20 stars and was tipped a couple of times I think :)! Don't know his name (male black guy there 03/19 8PM). While returning home from cruise, went back again last night - NOT SO MUCH - like a totally different place. Different guy working who seemed to care less that you were there, wasn't going to do anything to help you, not even take your order. Told us they were different locations, have to use QR code at table to order. We're not "tech" enough to always get our order right to use those things. Wife went back up to counter and he finally said he would take it. I know they have no tomatoes for the burgers (which, if you have salsa and it's made there, it seems you would have to have tomatoes?) but I did get onions the last time. When I said onions, he said they didn't have them. When I told him I got them the last time, he gave me an option of two types. IF we had not already told a friend and they were meeting us there - we would have left. When 'trying' to do the QR code ordering thing and when finally paying, the 'system' kept prompting for a tip - I guess this guy wanted a tip for just showing up. Don't know his name either but a male white guy and the reason for 2 stars. I guess businesses use self-ordering apps and kiosk, but it is frustrating for the people who don't really understand how they work. AND, just me, but it's ridiculous for a place where YOU have to order your food, pick it up at the counter, pay on the app or kiosk and then...

I've been going here, and to other breweries in NOLA, for a number of years now so I think I have some sense of the options available in town.

The beer here is pretty okay. They have at least one solid beer (i.e. the Porty) and have surprised me with some of their others from time to time, but ultimately they are not a standout... Just a place to go to if you're a completionist/novelty seeker like me.

The food here is honestly not great, and a pain to order, even for someone who is proficient with tech (like me). Also, if it's not Taco Tuesday, it's a poor choice price-wise.

Finally, the service here is bad enough to be the reason I am bothering to write this review. It periodically has flashes of being straight up bad, a couple notable examples from previous experiences follow:

Sometimes the whole place will be closed for events, but without clear/consistent marks/signage across all entrances. I once walked into an event thinking the brewery was only partly reserved, after seeing the courtyard blocked and labeled, but no signs at the front door. Also, looking up parties/event scheduling online appears to be impossible, so you can't know if the place will be closed without calling ahead.

Enforcement of policies is ham-fisted and rude. Especially the no outside food policy, which is NOT obvious, since this looks like a brewery first with a kitchen space rented to a taco spot. Equal billing in the naming/signage may fix this kind of misapprehension (a la "NOLA Brewing and Pizza Co") for folks hoping to have a beer with carryout.

Ultimately, this is an okay brewery if you've had everything else in town, but it's not a standout. There are several other good breweries on Tchoup and their service is generally better, and...

Read some reviews about staff being rude to people of color but nice to white people. Quit making it racial. I’m white and they still weren’t super friendly. The girl that waited on us at the counter never smiled and didn’t care if we were there. She wasn’t overly rude either. Just didn’t care. Not to mention both her and another guy were pouring and drinking their own beer behind the counter. Maybe that’s why they aren’t friendly. We are interrupting their drinking time lol Also, we felt like we were at a playground or preschool. There were 6 toddlers like 2-3 years old running around dragging loud chairs climbing up to bang on the games and it was just super load and couldn’t have a conversation at all. We couldn’t get any flights because they couldn’t wash dishes due to a water break earlier that had been fixed but water wasn’t safe to use. If you wanted to drink water it was $6!!! for a water bottle. You think they would have discounted it since there were no other options. I actually think they went up on the prices because of that! That’s the stupidest price I’ve ever seen on water in a bar or Restaraunt. We were really excited to try this place and made it our first stop to eat and drink. We didn’t like all of their choices of beer so we had one and walked next door to the taco shop instead of eating at the brewery since they couldn’t wash dishes. Then we went on to other brewery where we were greeted with a smile and was able to order a flight and enjoyed the rest of our night and will go back to...