Apolline Restaurant

I originally met the Manager of this restaurant last year before I had the pleasure of dining at the restaurant. I returned back in January and (based on the genuine and kind nature of the representative of the establishment) I stopped by during a Sunday brunch. At that time the Restaurant had a 45min wait… and was clearly very busy! As a former Chef, I understand what it takes to provide a quality product in a hectic environment. I made a dinner reservation for that evening as a result.
When I arrived for dinner I was amazed at the very warm ambience of the space and the way in which I was received. I so enjoyed my exchange with the bartender that I decided to enjoy my meal at the bar. The food was the best I have had in my last 3 visits to New Orleans in less than a year! Even though it was disappointing not being able to reconnect with my friend… I left the restaurant with a whole new group of wonderful food industry friends.
I would and have recommend this restaurant to anyone travelling to New Orleans, who doesn’t want to wait in long lines and wants a much more intimate food experience!
Salut!
D.Keith
from New Jersey

WTF?
I tried to go to brunch here — I had a party of 3. I called in advance. They don’t take reservations for brunch but they have plenty of space so just come on over. Great. We go. We get there. They have 8 open tables we can count by standing at the hostess station. She must go survey the room to tell us how long the wait will be. She returns after going and looking at all of their empty tables to tell us it will be 25 minutes before we can be seated. When asked why there is a wait when there are so many open tables she says that for us to have the best service possible it requires this wait. Uh, no thanks. The best service would be to seat me and take my drink order even if I have to wait 5 minutes for your bar to pour me a glass of champagne. I’m a local, and t dine out a ton. This was one of the stupidest interactions I’ve had to have with a restaurant in a very long time. They obviously don’t want the business or positive customer reviews. In this instance, I am just a potential customer, but not any more. Skip this foolishness. There are many other better options.
REPLY TO KEITH:
In response to the owner’s condescending reply to my negative review, I’ll say this… what was awkward about my interaction with your staff was that you weren’t that busy, so I was indeed befuddled that we could not be seated at one of the many open tables here. Thanks for schooling me on business. I work for a big one and have many clients who operate their own very successfully — including several restaurants. I’ve only lived in New Orleans my whole life, and I know a few people. I’ll be sure to let all of them know that this is a place to scratch off their dining lists. There are so many other great options that no one will miss it.
Thanks again for your great customer service and concern for my dining experience.

I called this place today to make a reservation for three at noon. I was told they don’t take reservations for brunch, but it shouldn’t be a problem to be seated. Arrived and was told there would be a 25 minute wait. There were five open tables inside and three open tables out. For a restaurant with max 20 tables — and nearly 50% of them available, I just couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t be seated. I asked if we could sit outside. I was told no — there was still a wait for those tables as well. I asked why we couldn’t be seated with so many open tables and was told that the six people at the bar were also waiting. Ok, so you need to seat two tables. I was offered to go to the bar to wait. Sure. That’s a great option. I’ll take the 12 year old that’s with me to wait at the bar as opposed to being seating at any of the multitude of open tables. We left. The hostess followed us out to let us know about another restaurant we could go to up the street. I’m sure the owner would be thrilled that a three top would be sent off to another restaurant when there were eight open tables there. I live in nearby, but after today, I won’t be back.
In response to Keith’s comment… I am sorry your staff and kitchen cannot handle the number of tables in your restaurant. I am sure that is something you are working on. That being the case, when someone calls to inquire as to availability of seating, your staff might mention that you are not able to service more than half capacity. Had I known that, I would not have attempted to visit your restaurant on magazine street during a busy time of year. I had been there shortly after you first opened. The food was average at best. I thought enough time had passed and we would give it another try. When we arrived today, there was indeed one eight top who already their food and a few other tables in various stages of dining. I’m sorry I have an expectation of eating at a restaurant that serves food and has told me I could eat there, only to arrive to find it half empty and be told them I could not be seated or served. Again on your bar offer, I was with a child. Had your hostess offered a table for a drink while we waited, that would have been a solution to today’s. shortcomings. I don’t work in the restaurant industry, however I would imagine providing food and drinks for money is a key part to the success of such a business. I wish all the best in yours. You have no place to go from here but up.
For Keith. This has been a very interesting and informative exchange. I’m sure it could go on and on, however I have many more important things to do, as obviously do you. I’m not a mathematician or super star restauranteur, but it seems there are some glaring holes in your logic and addition here. I could point them all out but complicated word problems are such a drag. Three people order food at 12:05, four more at 12:11 and so on, three are seated at 12:20, enter time it takes to order, time it takes for prep, time elapsed… you get the point. I came to your restaurant today to see if the food had improved since I was last there. Sadly, I didn’t have the opportunity to find out. I did go to a well regarded and highly reviewed brunch spot that does take reservations and they had no problem seating our party when they were pretty packed. We got our food quickly and had a lovely meal. Up until today, I had never been to a restaurant where half the tables where open and I was told it would be a half hour till I could be seated. I suppose I need to get out more. If I do come back, I think I’ll try dinner again. That meal I was actually able to get a table and you do have a great groupon deal running. Doesn’t that just say it all. Best of luck.

Went for Sunday brunch with my brother. The hostess informed us that they were out of majority of the brunch items. However, we were super hungry so we decided to stay & make due.
Long story short I’m so glad we did!!! I ordered the crawfish omelette with hash. My brother had the French toast with a side of the cinnamon bacon. Everything was delicious and you could taste the freshness. Our waiter was attentive & my brother ‘s bottomless mimosas never saw the bottom.
I highly recommend this place. It was clean, cute & laidback finer dining.

Such a cute lil place snuggled on magazine street. Small plate happy hour menu was great. Delicious scallop dish and the pear salad with this warm sweet bread was so good. Check out Craig the bartender if you go

Went back for dinner with a Groupon for 4! We split an order of the oysters as an appetizer, I had the scallops and shrimp dish for dinner, and bread pudding for dessert.
All was delicious and service was great. I felt the dinner menu was a tad limited but it is still a very good restaurant. Between my brunch and dinner experience, I would have to say that I thought the brunch was better and will probably return for brunch only.

Best brunch around. Bottomless mimosas and bloody marys can be pricey but they keep em coming unlike most places with bottomless! I recommend the shrimp and grits or the crawfish omelette! Definite must-​try for tourists!

A little loud at brunch but the food was delicious. I would not go if you want to have a in depth conversation

My husband and I came in for Sunday brunch and cannot wait to go back.
The food was delicious and prepared perfectly.
The bottomless bloody mary was the star of our experience and the very best we have ever had. Our meal was quite pricey but we are fine with a splurge occasionally.

I ate here yesterday, on my way back to Mississippi. The service here is exceptional! I dined here during the brunch, there was a nice variety of brunch items. I had the steak and eggs with skillet potatoes and a fruit cup. The presentation was good and food was prepared perfectly. The restutant was clean for the most part, the bathroom was really dark and it wasn’t that clean. The noise level was also pretty high, there were some holiday parties and lots of large socializing groups there when I was there. Nevertheless, it was a great experience! I would definitely done there again.

Finally tried Appoline, thanks to a great Groupon deal. I went early and discovered a nice happy hour (5 – 7): half price wines, beers, and well drinks. They have some nice wines by the glass, but barring happy hour, I’d have trouble paying for a glass ($ 10 – 14).
For dinner we had two entrees, and both were solid. Perfectly cooked fish and seafood. The menu seems to change regularly, ingredients seem high quality, and execution was spot on.
Dessert was less impressive. Went with the hootie pie, since a few Unilocalers recommend it. I wasn’t too impressed. It has «caramel fluff» filling, think the stuff that’s in a pecan pie, but without the pecans, and is topped by a chocolate ganache. I’d rather have pecan pie, personally, and the vanilla ice cream on the side (+$ 2 for a la mode) was the best part of it.
Service was good from the hostess, to the bartender, through dinner. The space is nice, cozy, and moderately romantic. I also think they have an informative website, which is important to me. The menus are updated to match what they have in the restaurant. And they list the happy hour, drink list, etc., prominently. This cannot be said about most restaurants, for example, the Besh group, which seem to go to the lengths to make it difficult to figure out remotely when and what their happy hour is.
The one drawback to Appoline is the price. As I noted with the wine, and somewhat across the board, it seems a little pricey for what it is. The deal I had made it reasonable, but it would be hard to justify the cost without that deal given how many great, similarly priced restaurants there are Uptown (e.g., Coquette, Petite Grocery, etc.).

As a Lifelong, die-​hard NY’er, I am I suppose — definitionally, unavoidably — a bit of a «food snob». Tucked away in an elegantly understated former «shotgun building» on a quiet, unassuming block of lovely Magazine Street in the Garden District, hides one of the quintessentially finest (8 Stars out of 5!) restaurants I have ever (EVER!) had the pleasure of patronizing. Period. Full stop.
From the food and the wine, to the ambiance and staff — and every nook & cranny in between — Apolline is a truly World-​Class gastronomic indulgence. What’s more, it is exquisitely consistent (I’ve been exactly twice — interspersed by a year — and it was uniformly magical on both occasions!).
Utterly magnificent. Once again, 8-​Stars out of 5!!!

Our order: appetizer: duck balls– they were ok. Entrees: diver sea scallops– absolutely delicious & the cold smoked pork chop, also great. The restaurant is vey cute and the service was good. Dessert: brioche praline bread pudding — excellent

***********3.5**********
What we ordered: shrimp and grits, cinnamon and pecan bacon, biscuits and gravy, and confit chicken w/​waffle.
Serving size: It was pretty dang small. They couldn’t even give ya girl a full waffle, like WTF! Did u pour half a portion of batter into the waffle iron, or serve the other half to someone else?! Whack! The chicken was nice and juicy and was probably a quarter of a chicken. The shrimp & grits were good too, but again the portion was small. Grits are cheap and they were cheap with their distribution of them. That bacon as an appetizer was soooooo good! Don’t be fooled by the fact that it’s sweetened that’s what makes it even better. The gravy for the biscuits were good, but the biscuits were clearly Bisquick mix. SMDH! Bottomless mimosas are $ 16/​pp and the whole table didn’t have to get it if only a select few wanted to opt-​in. Flavors for the mimosas were orange, cranberry, and grapefruit. So needless to say, I got drunk. Lol! That’s what brunch is about, otherwise it’s just breakfast and then u might as well go to work, but it’s the weekend so turn up! Service was super friendly and our waiter was knowledgeable. My friend found a hair in her French toast half way through our meal and they comped it, then offered a replacement meal. Super customer service!
Note: they don’t take reservations for brunch, so we had to wait about 15 mins for our table at about 11:30 on a Sunday.

What a cute little restaurant and great dining experience. We had a groupon for this place. Although groupon is a great way to try new places I have found that most are complete misses. This place was definitely an exception and a pleasant surprise.
The space is very inviting and cozy; it’s a converted double shotgun home with simple décor. The setting is perfect for a romantic dinner or intimate group gathering.
The menu is nice and focused. I had the pan seared scallops. Came with three scallops and three shrimp over a corn macque choux and a thick piece of bacon and a tomato sauce. The corn medley and bacon were actually my favorite part of the dish. The scallops were okay and the shrimp was a bit over cooked and slightly bitter.
My dinner companion had the fish of the day (red snapper) which was served with Green beans and a crab salad. Was a good dish and the fish was cooked well.
For dessert we had the blueberry shortcake which I highly recommend. The biscuits were warm, crunchy on the outside, chewy inside. Was topped with a generous serving of blueberries and served with ice cream and blueberry goat cheese. I’m not typically a fan of goat cheese, but it was all very balanced and delicious together.
They have an amazing sounding happy hour tues-​fri 5 – 630. We missed that but we were there for wine Wednesday –four types of wine for $ 5 a glass or $ 20 for the bottle. And they definitely didn’t skimp on the pour.
Service was friendly and relatively quick. No complaints there.
Overall, really enjoyed dining here. The portions are pretty small for what you pay so would probably come back for either happy hour or a special occasion.

One star? I would rather give zero– bar tender was nice– had a reservation at 7;45 arrived at 7– told to sit by bar until ready– even though place is empty: no worries chat it up with the bar tender– order appetizer, and drinks… Ask several times when we will be seated; 8:15 rolls around and hostess thinks we «cancelled reservation»
Pathetic.

Their are a few times in life when taking a stab at a groupon for food in a city you are visiting pays off. Let’s face it, groupon is not always a hit. The staff were amazing and did not mind that we added on to our groupon with duck balls (amazing with tomato chutney, perfect pairing)
We came and had the roasted gulf fish and beelers Pork chop with brioche bread pudding paired with a Churchill cocktail.
Everything was mouth watering, fresh, tender allowing the flavors to melt in your mouth.
You must do reservations and this is not a kid place, ambience is relaxing, and intimate so please don’t be offended when I say do not bring your lil one.

Came here for dinner with some friends and we were so impressed. Two of us had the Confit Duck Leg, one of us got the Pan Seared Diver Scallops, and another had the Beeler’s Pork Chop.
The Confit Duck and Beeler’s Pork Chop servings were massive. Almost a struggle to get through (except for the fact that they were so delicious). The Scallops were a smaller serving but still very filling.
I have a huge sweet tooth and I loved both the Hootie Tootie Pie (tasted like pure chocolate– a bit rich for some) and the Brioche Bread Pudding which was perfect.

Brunchable.
Went for Brunch on a Sunday with friends. Small place, but we were seated within 5 minutes. Very good food, average portion size. It was actually a good portion size, as I was able to finish my entire entrée and that never happens. Bottomless mims (of course). REALLLY good food. We were seated in the back near the kitchen, it was pretty warm back there. Would recommend. I had the Chicken and Waffles; it was a unique spin. The chicken had a crisp skin like it was fried, but it wasn’t greasy!

ONE OF THE BEST UPTOWN HAPPY HOURS.
All beers, house wines and wells are ½ price, $ 2 off signature drinks ($ 8); from 5 – 6:30 PM. Oddly the bar is small, maybe 6 stools, which puts a damper on the whole performance aspect of craft cocktails if you’re relegated away to the main dining room. This is especially true if Amber is mixing concoctions. She’s a sassy renaissance woman that brews like a chemist and seems to have a lively story for almost any topic. So get there early, grab a stool and enjoy the show!
OKAY SELECTION OF SMALL PLATES $ 2-​$ 6.
My advice is to opt for the $ 6 offerings as those cheaper are just olives, nuts, a house salad and some way too brittle pomme frites. However, the baked brie with red onion jam was so good we should have gotten two. A dark flavorful roux was a fairly unusual addition to traditional shrimp and grits, and although billed as the seared scallop it was the smokey tight macque chou accompianment that was my favorite of the evening. It really should be a separate small plate of its own!