St. Lawrence has come in to 219 N. Peters to replace the Harbor, a bar/burger joint that suffered from a bit of an identity crisis and prices levels that were too high for the food. Despite my close proximity to St. Lawrence, my first exposure to it was through The Pop Shop (by the Alchemy Lounge), a pop up cocktail bar specializing in carbonated cocktails. In spite of the overwhelming number of hipsters, the cocktails were awesome and I found the decor of St. Lawrence to be very well done. While not much of a change from the Harbor’s decor, enough was done to make the space feel more upscale and inviting. Unfortunately that was about the extent of the positives for St. Lawrence to date.
On our lunch run, we went with the cheese burger and a turducken burger. Much to our dismay, there was about an hour lag time between ordering our food and having it reach the table. While the wait would have been more tolerable if you’re having a few drinks on a Saturday or with dinner, it was painful for a workday lunch. Unfortunately, when our food arrived it became quickly apparent that our burgers had all been cooking the entire time we waited. The burger was completely charred on the outside, the meat flavorless and so dry bits crumbled off when you bit into it. Aside from the turducken’s green apple remoulade, it was entirely indistinguishable from the regular burger. Unfortunately, the remoulade was a soupy mess. The house cut fries that came with the burgers were a high point, the dirty rice (also soupy) which accompanied the turducken burger was not.
Surprisingly, St. Lawrence seems intent on repeating the Harbor’s pricing errors. The cheese burger and the turducken burger each came in at $13. The addition of bacon to the burger would have been another $2. While a bit of a bump is sure to exist for the French Quarter location, you still need to be competitive with those around you. Yo Mama’s fanciest burgers come in at $10.50, Dickie Brennan’s steakhouse lunch bacon burger comes in at $9.50 and Cafe Adelaide’s bacon cheese burger is $14. Not only are each of these burgers cheaper than their St. Lawrence counterpart, each is also significantly better.
St. Lawrence does get credit for the great music and what appears to be a nice bar set up, but for now I can’t say much for the food.
Today’s activity is pretty simple (although sorry for the late notice). Go out to eat dinner at one of twenty restaurants and help fight crime. Not a bad deal. And, unlike many charitable eating events, this one has participating restaurants for all budgets. You a high rolling fancy pants? Do your crime fighting at Restaurant August or Commander’s Palace. Not quite to that level? Zea’s and Acme Oyster House are there for you. Just a struggling college student, been decimated by the recent stock market shenanigans or watching the return of football to National TV (Seattle at San Diego at 7:00 pm on ESPN)? Bruno’s can meet your needs, just be sure to be nice to the bartenders.
