Smilie’s Restaurant

Ugh. This is NOT the original Smilie’s and it’s terrible.

The two stars are for the food… which was halfway decent
The rest? It was just weird…
My mother in law and I got there around 6 and there was no one in the parking lot. The open sign was on but a sign on the door stared dinner served only Thursday –Saturday. So we almost went to another place. We should have. However we opened the door and a man, apparently the owner or general manger himself was acting as host.
He escorted is to our seats and I immediately noticed a disgusting smell… the smell of urine or something. Permeated the whole place. The server (who was also our host and our owner) took our orders in a regular spiral notebook and then just yelled them back to the cook in the kitchen. Our salad came out very quickly… bagged lettuce and one slice of tomato.
Our food was pretty decent… crab cakes and grilled redfish.
However halfway through the meal, our server/​host/​owner came and said he forgot to tell us that the credit card system wasn’t working. Okay thankfully we had cash. But what if we hadn’t???
So it came time to pay… the server came over with his notebook and just glanced at his notes and said «uh…$ 45.» We never saw a check or an itemized receipt. Good thing my mother in law is good with mental math and said that was about right. So we paid and tipped and left.
Total time in and out was under half an hour. We saw a total of four employees. One couple and two families came in to dine as well. No one was told ahead of time about the credit card issue.
My mother in law told me that she has been here for lunch before and has seen it full. Another review from yesterday states that it was going to be torn down within three months to become a gas station. You can see that at one point this was a decent place for dinner or a special occasion. However it was really sad to see half he lights not on or not working. And the peeling yellow paint. It seems like this restaurant was just never able to evolve with the times. The owner was nice but just seemed tired of everything (doing three jobs, etc).
RIP smileys. We hardly knew ya

I had a $ 50 groupon I purchased for my dad’s birthday. With all the reviews I had read, I had my doubts about this place. My expectations were more than satisfied.
Im not Italian but this place was mostly what I wouldve expected in an Italian joint… minus the music, no Dean Martin. There was a television with Fox News on by the bar. It is a Tuesday night so I didnt expect the place to be packed.
We didnt do appetizers and just ordered entrée’s. I had the eggplant parmesean. Also ordered were the spaghetti and meatballs, gumbo, and veal parmesean. Water and house chardonnay to drink.
They were understaffed but you could see the general manager working double time to get us served. He was attentive and friendly. Even gave my brother an extra chardonnay on the house.
Our entrée came with choice of spinach salad or gumbo. I chose the salad with ranch and the other did gumbo. I really enjoyed the dressing and how fresh the spinach was. The rest of my party loved the gumbo.
Soon after, our food came. Everything was delicious and filling. The marinara sauce was light and tasty. The eggplant was perfectly covered with just the right amount of cheese and still had that outter crunch and melt in your mouth inside that I love so much about eggplant parmesean. Everyone else seemed to really enjoy there food. They couldnt stop talking about it.
The general manager was great! Super freindly and attentive. He told us the property is being turned into a racetrack gas station.
He invited us to the opening of their new place in March. AUGIE’S, which is gonna be opening a couple blocks down (near Dickies bbq).
This place has been around forever and Im really sorry that Im just now trying this place (thanks to groupon). I look forward to trying Augie’s soon. This place has better red sauce than Nonna Mia’s on esplanade ave.
I only wish I had taken pictures… but my camera is broken so a review will have to do and my 2 thumbs up. I also need to write a review on Nonna Mia before I bring them up on here but I wanted to give them a second chance to earn more stars from me.
I will say this, the menu prices listed online are not quite the same at the establishment. They need to be updated online but I guess it doesnt really matter so much now that theyre moving and changing names.

Tried to go here again for lunch– website says lunch until 3. Got there at 2, only to be met at the door by some guy telling us the kitchen closed at 2. When I pointed to the door sign saying they did lunch until 2:30, he just shrugged his shoulders– no sorry, come another time– nothing. Which is it? 2, 2:30 or 3?
I guess the other lousy reviews were right.

We had not been to Smilies in quite awhile so we decided to stop for lunch. I love soft shell crab so I got the soft shell crab pecan. It was covered in a lemon pecan sauce and the sauce was so tasty and the crab was awesome. However the potatoes that it came with were bland and cold. No taste whatsoever as well as the vegetables. Tasteless. Had they served the crab over angel hair pasta with that lemon pecan sauce, it would have been awesome. When I told our server about the potatoes and veggies, she made no attempt to try and please us or offer anything else as a substitute. She just matter of fact acted as if she knew the potatoes were bland. I guess they don’t care if we come back again. So, we won’t be going back.

This is the worst food we’ve had since we moved back to New Orleans last March. We were driving around Harahan looking for lunch and wanting to avoid chains, and we recognized Smilie’s name from the old days back in the late 90’s. Bad choice. We should have stayed in the parking lot and checked reviews first. A po-​boy from a convenience store would have been better. A bag of spicy cracklins would have been much better!
I had the «fresh» soft shell crab and my husband had «blackened» catfish, both lunch specials. Both were insipid, topped with brown shiny sauce-​from-​a-​mix, accompanied by bland potatoes or rice and mushy vegetables.
Why is this place still in business, serving such sub-​par food? The few other diners were groups of seniors (still no excuse to eat tasteless food!) and there was a big group of men in a back room. This is Louisiana, where people should know better than to pay money for bad food.

I’ve tried Smilie’s a few times and it has always been disappointing. While the service tries its best the food and décor are enough to have me heading out the door. The restaurant is dated and the food is very poor quality and execution. Head down the street to Oak Oven

I went to smilies for a birthday party. The food was delicious. I would give a event here anytime.

The exterior and interior are somewhat shabby and forlorn, and it seems that no updating has occurred since the repair work following the huge fire, there, in 1991. We waited and waited and finally the owner, Augie, took us through a hall into an empty and dim banquet room. Service (by Augie) was slow and somewhat incorrect (not writing down our order, he brought plain fettuccine to one of our party, not remembering that she’d ordered shrimp fettuccine). Lunch plates came with a salad, which were only lettuce, but not bad. My Spaghetti & Meatballs (with angel hair pasta) had two good meatballs, but thin, watery sauce, and not much of it. My male friend said his Veal Parmesan was very good. My female friend very much disliked her Shrimp Fettuccine, because she said the sauce tasted «artificial». No bread was brought with this meal, and I wasn’t about to ask for it, either. The two children said they enjoyed the Shrimp and Fries plate, for what it’s worth. This is probably a meaningless review, because the owner said he was closing in a month, to reopen a new restaurant down the highway, to be called «Augie’s». RJT

I could go on but here’s the bottom line: This place was fabulous in 1975. Now, it’s old and tired and needs a major over haul. Has it changed: Probably not so
Much. We just expect more than we did 30 years ago.

Smilies? More like Frownies.
This place is bad. I went here for a graduation party and every course was terrible. The corn and crab bisque was watery, salad was just lettuce and two tomatoes with little to no dressing. The catfish wasn’t fresh and drenched in a lemon tasting soy sauce. The mashed potatoes were not edible whatsoever. The dessert was bread budding and the rum sauce looked like oatmeal. This food is on par with the dishes they serve at missions.
My girlfriends champagne glass? Was personalized with a message of ‘Taylor January 2007′. Shout out to Taylor whoever and wherever you are. My champagne glass? It had lipstick on it that was possibly 8 yrs old.
Oh and the service was just as bad. Don’t spend your money here.

Apparently Smilie’s was once pretty great. That must have been before my time. I’ve been here a handful of times, both in the private rooms and in the main dining room and never really understood the appeal. It seems the service is hit or miss, as is the food. I’ve never really had anything bad, but found many of their dishes to be overly salty. I was however pleasantly surprised by the dessert on my recent visit. It was the first time I had spumoni and I found it quite refreshing and delicious.
Smilie’s has lots of room to improve and I hope they do because its been in business a long time and I think it would be great if it could get an overhaul and make a comeback.

I wonder what is worst: the food, décor, or service. First time we walked in the host asked «uhh. how can I help you»? I knew we should walk away because that is not how a host should greet their customers. Gave a place a chance though. Four of us ordered their special of the day– Soft shell crab. The waitress didn’t even know they were out until she put In the order in the kitchen.
My wife ordered the crab cakes which tasted worst than frozen fish sticks. There were two small patties under some pinkish sauce-​not sure what it was.
The seafood pasta had no taste and the seafood were falling apart. Definitely not fresh.
Fried Catfish and grilled red fish were ok.
When they brought the food out they stand in one spot and handed us the plates to put down on the table ourselves. Refills were requested and not offered.
I think they never had soft shell because the restaurant was empty. No way they ran out. I felt bad for waitress and bust boy. Gave them really really good tip for the less than mediocre service.

In town for business looking for a good lunch and saw some cars outside so decided to stop. The service was horrible. Food was overpriced and the side to my sandwich was a bag of Lays potato chips. For a Shrimp Poboy that’s priced at $ 10.95, one would expect at least a bag of flavored chips not the $ 0.50 cent bag I got. Would not recommend this place to anyone

Smilie’s doesn’t have the staff to cover the amount of guests at their multiple private rooms. Food is meh for the price. Drinks are weak, the bar wait is long and the Coronas are only 10 oz. No thanks.

Smilies is experiencing a mid-​life crisis. This place is unsure who to cater to: the group hosting a function or the family having dinner. What’s certain is neither are done well. At all. This customer’s advice: immediately seek a physician’s opinion. If symptoms are addressed now, perminate damage may be avoided. If Smilies does get it together, please invest in advertisement of changes because, until then, return we will not.
1. Why must I be exposed to the musical stylings from private functions taking place on the premises? I couldn’t just hear it, I felt like I was part of their Wabble dancing, bad jazz prancing, Miller High Life chugging company Christmas shenanigans.
2. Why must I wait for an extended amount of time to be acknowledged by the staff, presented a menu, informed of the soup de jour, asked, «so are you ready?» Er-a…call me old fashioned, but I do like a drink order taken pre-​entrée order.
3. Why would I again spend over $ 20 on a less than kinda sorta tasty angel hair & meatballs bowl, soup plus salad, and bread?
Here is what I’ll do next time in an attempt to not experience bad service, music, and food: select a station on Pandora, purchase a salad in a bag, Lean Cuisine’s spaghetti & meat sauce, frozen garlic bread loaf, and stay home. Truthfully, THAT would have been a better meal & experience than my Saturday night visit.

My husband and I dined at Smilies on a recent Friday afternoon. There was only one other couple there. I do not have issue with restaurant noise, but we actually could not have a conversation because of one waiter. He spoke so loudly to the other wait staff in THE NEXT ROOM that we could not believe it. This went on during our entire meal. I was not interested in hearing his stories, and was very annoyed. The owner was nearby and seemed not to notice how loud this waiter was. We enjoyed the food (crabmeat Courteney… delicious!) but the rudeness was unacceptable.

Previously I’d visited Smilie’s for a farewell lunch for a coworker, so we had a small separate room all to ourselves. This time I visited the small lunch counter area which serves essentially hot plates and poboys.
I went with the half a sandwich and soup combo. I got a bowl of shrimp and corn bisque, which was very tasty. For my sandwich I had a half a muffaletta. Where the soup was a delight the muffaletta left a bit to be desired. Somehow it was warmed but the bread didn’t toast at all. It was warm but not crisp. Combine that with oil from the olive salad and I wound up with slightly soggy bread that I expected to have a nice toasted crust.
I’ll go back and try the hot lunches, but I’ll skip the sandwiches if the muffaletta was any indication.

It’s been a while since we had last eaten at Smilie’s. There was a stretch of time where it seemed like every couple of months we were invited to a party or reception in the Plantation Room. That has slowed down considerably. But this review is for the restaurant itself.
We stopped in on a Thursday night for dinner. Entering through the Edwards Ave door, the bar side of the building (to the left) was quite busy and loud. We turned right and sat in the restaurant proper which was about a ¹⁄₃ full. The waitress brought out a basket of warm French bread slices (baguette width) toasted with melted garlic butter and took our drink order. The dinner entrees come with a choice of house salad or a cup of soup. We both opted for the house salad. The salad was mostly iceberg lettuce, with 2 cherry tomatoes and some shredded cheese; adequate, but nothing exceptional.
My wife was surprised I ordered the trout almondine for dinner. (I mean, it is fried seafood, it’s just not shrimp.) It wasn’t bad, fried decently, but the sauce was browner than expected. The fish came with whipped mash (red) potatoes, and an overcooked vegetable medley. My wife ordered the meat balls and spaghetti (angel hair pasta). She liked the meatballs, claimed it had a good flavor and texture to them. She also liked the homemade marinara sauce; said it wasn’t tomato paste bitter, but not really sweet. There was a fair amount of food on both plates, enough that we were too full to order dessert.

On the Jefferson Highway side of Smilie’s there is a alcove next to the plantation room entrance with a door leading into the cafeteria.
And apparently none of my friends know about this since every time I mention eating at Smilie’s they go to the Edwards entrance. And I’ll be honest I’ve never actually eaten in the front, just passed by the cafeteria for a quick lunch of seafood gumbo or maybe add a half po-​boy.
What I’ve always liked about Smilie’s, especially when getting there around 11ish, I can leave the office and be back in 30ish minutes. If I do po-​boy and gumbo closer to 40 but that’s still making good time.
Being a cafeteria and by looking at the size of the hot food line you’d think there wouldn’t be too many choices but but they offer a pretty good selection with everything spelled out on a big whiteboard against the wall. Of course on Mondays they also have the necessary red beans and rice with cornbread.
The seafood gumbo is usually filled with a pretty good variety of critters (oysters, crab, shrimp, sausage, crawfish) and I’ve never been served a bowl or cup that didn’t have a lot of meat. Occasionally a shell fragment or two to watch out for, but it’s always got a nice dark thick roux and rice to go along with the meat.
The last visit was shrimp po-​boy + gumbo and I wasn’t disappointed with big fried shrimp matched with lettuce & tomato on french.
One small disappointment I do have is since they do put a lot of garlic in their food I have a few co-​workers who won’t go there. It sometimes limits lunch options depending on who’s around. But it’s their loss, since I’m good with the garlic.
This is a good plate of lunch if you want to sit down in Jefferson but don’t have a full hour.