Cafe Reconcile

Café Reconcile is a weekday lunch-​only place so it’s taken me a few years to eat here on New Orleans trips. I had read about their mission to train at-​risk youth for jobs in the food industry so I made it a point to have lunch on this visit. I had a small table with many community activists dining at tables around me, and everything on the menu sounded so good it was hard to decide. I liked the Café’s vibe from the art on the walls, the banner strung near the entrance, to the karma of the friendly staff. I ordered gumbo with a side of jambalaya for lunch and they just hit the spot while reading John Kennedy Toole’s «A Confederacy of Dunces.»
I had a nice chat with my server about the training program after lunch and wished him luck with his impending completion of training.

So cool! Great experience. I would love to visit again soon.

Rice and beans were amazing. Very friendly staff and cool atmosphere. Definitely recommend!

Fried catfish + crawfish sauce; jumbayala + mac n cheese; gumbo; banana foster bread pudding…
I was here for a few days in NOLA, and this place was recommended by a good friend of mine. Fabulous food that is away from the hustle and bustle the touristy areas, ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would recommend.
I’m going to dream about that fried catfish tomorrow…

This place is worth the visit. Everything tastes exactly how you would expect a southern meal in the Big Easy to taste. Expect a standard fare, the meals are simple and reasonably priced. The wait staff is huge, and they look disorganized, but all of them are attentive and will take care of you.
As others have posted, the restaurant provides a service to help the community. It’s one of the opportunities you have as a visitor or local to support New Orleans and their youth.

Great food. Reasonably priced and the peach cobbler was as good as everyone said it was. Service was attentive. Atmosphere was fresh and busy on a Monday afternoon. From the outside I wouldn’t have expected the life that was bustling inside.

Really good food with an even better backstory!
There is a very local/​community-​driven vibe at the restaurant. Very authentic to New Orleans.
I would recommend the catfish with mac and cheese and jambalaya on the side. Especially the jambalaya.
If you have time after your meal, check out the Ashé Cultural Center across the street.

Great cause! Food was pretty good, and the watermelon lemonade was delicious. Definitely a place to support of you are in the area!

Having visited New Orleans several times, I’ve had the pleasure of many superb meals. Café Reconcile is no exception to excellence in dining. In fact, I had the best shrimp étouffée, while in NOLA and THE best peach cobbler anywhere. Ever.
The atmosphere is warm, friendly and very welcoming. The staff were so friendly, folks you could talk to.
I strongly support the concept of this café and wish it every success. I know I’ll do my part to spread word about an absolutely outstanding café and will make a point of coming back for seconds. I may just have to swing by for more cobbler on the way home.

This place is amazing!!! The concept, atmosphere, staff, and students all make this place a must!!!

Great place to encourage & support the local kids; it’s a great cause! Food was pretty good, but we didn’t go just for that.

SO DELICIOUS! We started of with the spinach and artichoke dip. Then my sister and I both ordered crawfish poboys, definitely one of the best we have had. The service was quick and our server was great! Very kind and prompt. We will definitely be returning!

I was steered to Café Reconcile by an out of town friend who had read about it and wanted to eat there while visiting.
The establishment was clean as a whistle… Bright, spacious and inviting.
We split the Shrimp Remoulade; which was tasty and a perfect appetizer. Next was the seafood gumbo… as good as they get.
My companion had the fried catfish smothered… She raved about her dish. I had boneless fried chicken, which appeared to be breast strips fried to perfection with a great batter that was not too thick, and not too thin. The sides of collards with pork and string beans were good. If there was any criticism, it would be that the string beans were a little over done and limp. The Bread Pudding got top marks.
The server, Jeff, was great. Wore a smile from ear to ear and you could tell that he was digging his job. He was very attentive and did a good job answering questions.
Place was busy when we arrived and we stayed almost to closing.
I cannot wait for the opportunity to visit again.

Enjoyed the food fest desert tasting. Beautiful restaurant and great service. Love the mission of nurturing youth through hospitality.
Great evening with unlimited champaign and delicious dessert from all over town.
Thanks for hosting!

BLUF: Great place in all aspects, especially in its heart. Good atmosphere, good clientele, great service, fast, good New Orleans style food.
This place gives people a second who have made some mistakes. You should go there just based on that fact but the whole experience is worth it.
The people working there are incredibly nice. The food is typical New Orleans food with a couple other specials.
I got the eggplant/​shrimp casserole with mac&cheese and collard greens. Eggplant dish was small but very good. Mac&cheese was awesome and collard greens were vinegary which is just how i like it.
My date got catfish with an almond sauce which wasnt very exciting. Her jambalaya was pretty good and her mashed sweet potatoes were pretty good (a little too sweet for my liking. you could really taste the brown sugar; tasted like thanksgiving).
Standard desserts so we didnt get any.
Overall the place is great. If anyone was in town looking for New Orleans style food and was here during the week I would take them here over anywhere else severing this style food. Worth it.

Cool atmosphere, it feels like a restaurant that would fit somewhere in downtown Chicago. Very hip and clean, edgy vibe. I dig the big windows as I am an advocate of natural lighting. I get the whole mission of employing the youth in gearing them towards service industry jobs, which is great, but don’t expect stellar service. It (the service) was ‘OK’ but that’s to be expected when you employ mostly teenagers.
I really wanted to try the smothered chicken but it’s only served on Thursdays I believe, so i went with one of the daily specials and ordered the chicken and sausage jambalaya. I’ll admit, I’m not a huge jambalaya person. It’s one of those things I’ll order at a Saints game because, real talk, the jambalaya they serve in the dome is a BEAST!
Having said that, jambalaya is not something I’ll want as an entrée, usually. The dish was good, but I’m far from aching to get back in there for it again. Not saying it’s bad, again, the food is tasty, it’s just going to a sit-​down restaurant for a bowl of jambalaya is not ideal. The side salad was meh, it definitely came out of a bag and was just thrown on a little saucer.
I’m happy I got to check it off my list, buuut I probably won’t be back on my own accord.

I’m so sad that we didn’t get to eat here. We were quoted 15 minutes when we arrived around 12:30. Fifteen minutes came and went and only one of the six parties in front of us had been seated. We had a hungry, antsy toddler and couldn’t wait any longer.
There were at least three tables that were empty the whole time we waited. Shame, I was really excited to eat here.

This is the bf’s favorite place to eat lunch in the city. Many other Unilocalers have discussed Café Reconcile’s mission at length, so I won’t go into too much detail here — but I always appreciate the opportunity to support at-​risk youth. The food is very cheap ($ 8.99 for a large entrée and two sides) and delicious, especially considering that much of the cooking/​preparation is done by in-​training chefs.
On this most recent trip, we got the meatloaf (first time ordering — really great, would recommend), with jambalaya (my favorite side) and mashed sweet potato (a drop too sweet but still pretty great). Our server was super nice and really quick. Bf has had her a couple of times before: she’s one of their graduate trainers, someone who completed the program and comes back to mentor/​teach other young people who are currently enrolled in the program.
Last thing: something that I love about Café Reconcile is how diverse the clientele is. You walk into the restaurant and see members of the community, politicians, businesspeople working downtown, come together for good food in support of a great cause.
Bonus: Trombone Shorty was eating there! We didn’t want to bug him, because he was clearly eating with his family.

My family and I love this place when we visit Nawlins. What a genius cause Reconcile stands for! I love how when I eat there I know my money is going to a wonderful movement in helping at risk-​youth become closer to their culinary dreams!
The food is outstanding! The cornbread melts in your mouth and their lunch specials are reasonably priced. The place is always packed! We will return!

SOME GREAT KIDS: sounds schmaltzy but I feel good taking part by dining here;
WHY BUY FAST FOOD? Large entrée, 2 sides, $ 8.99! (easily splittable)
COME EARLY! A line usually starts to queue about 10:45AM before opening.
Started by the Jesuits at Immaculate Inception in 2000 to provide New Orleans’ disadvantaged youth with opportunities through the «power of reconciliation», or the breaking down of barriers between disparate demographic communities, to enable them to begin anew and progress successfully (yep I wrote that 40 word, run-​on sentence all by myself… reads like a bad SAT essay!). Thankfully this admirable concept is well detailed in the organization’s excellent website: