A few of my college friends were in town for a wedding this weekend, so we ended hitting up more touristy destinations in town. After a night out at Pat O’s, we had brunch plans at Mr. B’s Bistro (201 Royal Street, 504-523-2078). Not a place that is really high on my list, but my friends had already made the reservations. After a highly unprofessional meal, I’ll be sure to be a bit more proactive in avoiding Mr. B’s.
Here is the link for Mr. B’s, but beware it has a horrific auto-play song.
Cupcake and I got a caught up in a little traffic, so everyone else was already there. When I sat down, I was immediately asked what I would like to drink. Having looked forward to the Milk Punch all morning, I was incredibly disappointed when I was told that they were all out. Foolishly, I asked for a minute to think about what my replacement drink was going to be.
About fifteen minutes later, our waitress showed up and asked to take our food order. With half the table not having a drink and the other half having finished their drinks, we asked if we could place a drink order first. Unbelievably, we were told that it wasn’t her job before she recovered and said she thought she’d be able to handle it for us. One member of our party, took the opportunity to request a cup of coffee to go with her Bloody Mary. It was not to be the last time she had to ask for that cup of coffee.
After what felt like an eternity, but was likely about 20-25 minutes, our drinks finally showed. But not the coffee, which was requested a second time. Drink service only worsened throughout the meal, at which point our friends wrote the horrifically slow service as things just moving slower in the South. With our next round of drinks, the coffee was ordered a third time. We were told this was something he could get us right away. Unfortunately, our second round’s twenty plus minutes journey to our table was shorter than the thrice requested coffee. The coffee waited until our entrees arrived to finally make its appearance.
I had the eggs and pork debris and Cupcake went with the eggs Benedict. We both enjoyed the entrees, but found my portion to be particularly small with little pork. With the entrees served, one final beer was ordered. It was served as an after dessert drink.
Interestingly enough, the round of coffees we ordered with dessert showed right on time. Unfortunately, the sweetener never showed and we had to hunt it down from the service station.
The embarrassingly bad service really overshadowed what was pretty good food, and that is always a shame. Fortunately for us, an afternoon in the French Quarter enjoying history, food and some beer redeemed the day and showed some of New Orleans’ true charm.
