Green Goddess Tips

[kuidaore]

We'll be visiting NOLA in Dec (for our annual food pilgrimage) and are making restaurant reservations now.

Green Goddess won't take reservations. For dinner, will we have to be there at 5pm to get in? Is it better to go there for lunch?

Thanks for your help!

[savory south]

Weather is the key to going to Green Goddess. As others have said, it is tiny. This used to be a lawoffice that turned into a deli ages ago, the "dining" area is maybe 16' X 12' but has a dz or so wrought iron tables onto Exchange Alley right in front of the Goddess.
Exchange is not a true street or an alley but a European style passageway with shops, offices and galleries - there's a couple of these left in the Quarter.

If you go and it's just too crowded inside and weather too miserable outside (like it
is this week), you can go over to The Pelican Club for a lovely meal & good bar, or
walk around the corner to the Carosel bar at the Monteleone Hotel for your adult beverage and then go back to Goddess.

Thanks for visiting the city and spending $$.

[kuidaore]

Thank you all! We had no problem getting in at 6:30 last (Sun) night. The inside (w/ 15 seats) got full by 7pm, but then they started seating people in the hallway and outside.

We enjoyed the tasting menu (except the seared beef, which I found too salty)--the chowder, foie gras, and salad (the shallots are dressing were great--the chef was out of persimmons last night and substituted figs) were excellent. He came to talk to us after every dish, discussing some of the recipes. We normally don't like fusiony dishes, but we felt the chef was experimental while remaining in contol of the elements of the dishes.

We'll keep Green Goddess on our list for next year (Galatoire's out and Brigtsen's is WAY out!)

[Hockey19]

We greatly enjoyed Green Goddess this summer. Small is a bit unfair. Incredibly tiny would be better. We ate outside- a bit hot bt it was NOLA in the summer. Inside seemed unbearable. Food was excellent and it was a great alternative to some of the larger trendy establishments. Drink special cured all.

[kibbles]

have been for brunch and dinner, two different chefs. i enjoyed dinner more as brunch/drinks were a bit expensive for the size. dinner review:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/630344

[midcity]

I had an amazing brunch there last Sunday, sitting out in the sunshine. Sweet potato biscuits in mushroom gravy and grits. My mom had the shrimp and grits and loved it [she's not from here, so I can't speak to its authenticity]. Both drank harum secrets. It's just a pleasant, sunny, delicious place on a nice day.

[Coconuts]

We were there two weeks ago- the place was empty when we wandered over, but it was 3:30 or so.

ETA- the food was outstanding. We had the BLT salad, the pulled pork panini, and the Ploughman's Lunch. We considered just staying and having dinner there when they reopened.

[CharlieH]

Strange that they don't take reservations, offhand, I would think the opposiite would be true for very small restaurants. Does anyone know why they would choose to go this route? ch

[Hungry Celeste]

Here's a link to GG chef Chris deBarr's livejournal blog--you can ask him yourself: http://chefcdb.livejournal.com/

[FoodChic]

It's an extremely casual restaurant, so the fact that they don't take reservations isn't surprising at all. It's like Acme of Felix taking reservations...doesn't make sense for a small sit eat and go place. I'm sure many people get their food "to go."

[uptownlibrarian]

It's a little more subtle than that, I think. Green Goddess is a casual place in that it's relaxed and you don't have to dress up, but I wouldn't describe it at all as "eat and go," nor is taking food from there to go a common practice.

I am guessing here, but I think one they don't take reservations because it's difficult for them to predict what the table turnover will be like any given night. I can see people getting in and out in an hour, or mingling over cocktails, having the tasting menu, chatting with the chef, and being there for 3 or 4 hours.

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Green Goddess
307 Exchange Place, New Orleans, LA 70130

[FoodChic]

We'll have to agree to disagree on this, as when I've been there for lunch I've seen several place orders to go.

[shywri1ter]

You know, I was there about a month ago for a late lunch. My guest & I had been SO looking forward to it -- and we were both disappointed. The food was pretty 'meh' and actually, mine was burned on the bottom (not intentional for that dish!)

We were served by one of the owners, and he & the waiter were lovely and gracious, but we were so disappointed. Maybe I'll try again, since I'm nearby and as so many people have said great things, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone with limited time in N.O. -- there are far too many other places which are out of this world!

[JazzyB]

Thank you shywri1ter. We seem to be the only two underwhelmed by Green Goddess..

[shywri1ter]

Well, when this happens it's just my excuse to give a place another try! Never hurts to manage another meal ... :} (although as I mentioned, both of us at the time I went left unimpressed, so who knows.)

[Hungry Celeste]

It's a tiny restaurant, maybe 12-15 seats inside, including the bar. About as many seats outside in the alley, so if the weather's nice, you should be okay. A recent Friday late lunch found the restaurant with just a few patrons, so there was no wait.