Red Dog Diner — Restaurant in New Orleans

The cheese platter was one of the best I’ve ever had, and the crab fritters were delicious. Overall, I was very pleased with the food here, but the service was sub-par.

We showed up an hour before closing, assuming that this would be enough time, since we’re fast eaters. However, the waitress seemed frustrated and dismissive from our first interaction. Okay, she probably had a rough day and wanted to go home. I’ve worked in food service so I understand that.

We ordered the cheese platter, vegan chili, a salad, and a pizza without pine nuts. The first three items arrived without incident and were delicious, however, we heard the kitchen staff joking around in the back, something about a pizza with extra pine nuts. I’m not sure if they actually prepared it with extra pine nuts or not, but the waitress seemed upset and the pizza was delayed. At one point, I heard her say “keep it down, they’re sitting right there.”

They gave us a free order of crab fritters (which I also heard them discussing) and the pizza came out a few minutes later. It was soggy; toppings were falling off and it tasted undercooked. We ate it anyway since we don’t have pine nut allergies and hey, food is food, but I would be very wary to come here if I was allergic.

After all of that, they charged us for two pizzas when we only ordered one. I had to ask them to remove the extra.

We spent almost $70 for a supremely uncomfortable experience. Mistakes, hostility, and they didn’t even turn on the music until we’d been eating for fifteen minutes. I would have rated lower if we hadn’t come in an hour before closing—again, I get that nobody wants to be there late and pay in the food industry can be sketchy. I left a good tip despite all this because the waitress seemed nearly as uncomfortable as we were. I don’t want anybody to get in trouble over this review, just please, clean...

Red Dog Diner back dining area has the feel of an Acadian home with large wooden pillar supports dividing the room. The bar and seating area are joined with a slightly split-level flooring and is reminiscent of a large outdoor southern porch. The environment was not too loud, even being at a table bordering the bar.

The Crab and Bacon dip was pretty good! Could have used a few more crostini, though.

For an entree, I ordered the Effen Good Shrimp pasta dish. The shrimp themselves were cooked very well; still moist and plump and well seasoned. The cream sauce and pasta did not taste quite like they were incorporated into the dish. It was pasta + sauce + shrimp instead of tasting like a cohesive dish. Not horrible by any means, I was just sad I didn't end up liking it more.

For what it's worth, my husband got the Parmesan Crusted Chicken and he said his was just delicious.

The drinks I had were unimpressive, but not bad; just nothing to really write home about. Our table ordered another drink just before our meals came out. After we were done eating and the plates had already been taken and the waitress brought the ticket, the last drink finally arrived. We had assumed the waitress had forgotten to put it in, and were surprised that it came after the tickets.

I'd definitely be willing to give this place another chance given the other good reviews. Plus, the ambiance was nice--the bar is truly unique. I'll just have to pick a better entree to...

We went there with another couple and it was fantastic! We started with drinks and between the old fashion, beer and white wine, we we're very pleased. The old fashioned wasn't too sweet and had a nice bourbon flavor. Our waitress, Lizzy was a gem and attentive without being overly present.

We ordered the tamale meatballs, crab and bacon dip, smoked Mac and cheese, and curried cauliflower. The tamale meatballs had a wonderful deep flavor with a hint of sweet and sour that just kept you going back for more. The crab and bacon dip was as you would expect decadent and rich. Between sopping up the gravy from the meatballs and the dip we made short work of the bread, but there was plenty! The Mac n' cheese was OK but not at the same level as the rest of the dishes. It was a little dry for our taste. The curried cauliflower was SUPERB! It had a wonderful curry flavor and the cauliflower was chewy enough to make a very tasty bite. I loved it but my wife (who is not a curry fan) didn't love it. There was nothing left over. We didn't eat any entrees because the apps we're filling and we wanted to save room for the desserts.

The bread pudding was excellent. It had cherries in it and almonds. One of our group is not a fan of almonds so the rest of us gladly ate his portion. He ordered the banana pudding which was just that. He thought it was too sweet but I thought it was fine. We ate it but wouldn't...