Calypso Restaurant New Orleans

Delicious, flavorful, and incredibly fresh! The owners couldn’t be nicer. Very friendly and truly passionate about serving their customers the very best. Best plantains around! I’d also recommend the shrimp arepaz with the guacamole salsa. Yum!

I went to the restaurant Last Tuesday after 11:00 am only to find it was not open, even though posted per the website it was open. HMMMMMM!

This is a small storefront restaurant in River Ridge near Manguno. It was difficult to find in the dark. I wasn’t sure what to do when we walked in. There were about a dozen tables and a bar, two couples at tables and a single waiting at the bar. Cheerful upbeat Latin music was playing. There were half a dozen TV screens or monitors on the walls cycling through pictures of New Orleans, beach, mountain and city scenes from, I assume, Trinidad and Venezuela. Along the left wall was a buffet. It looks like they have a liquor license since they sell rum drinks.
We sat down and waited for several minutes before the woman behind the buffet came over and explained the menu, which was pretty limited. Apparently they always have the buffet, at lunch and dinner.
The buffet contents were some small cornbread griddle cakes, that they melt cheese on top of if you ask, chicken soup, marinated beef brisket and paella. They were out of the beans at 6 on a Saturday night, but fried up some plantains in place of the beans. The beef was very tasty, one of the owners said they marinate it and slow cook it until it’s very tender. The paella had mussels, sausage and chicken, that I could see, but not much else in the way of seafood or meat, and a bit too salty as well as the rice being dried out.
I really liked the idea of a Venezuelan restaurant and wanted to like it, but for me to enjoy it I want to know more about the food of the country, what the typical dishes are and how they are cooked. The menu needs a much wider selection of dishes, explanation of what they are, and a Saturday night buffet should be a showcase for the cuisine, rather than a way to cut down on staff and make customers serve themselves. $ 17 for a very limited menu of soup, beef, rice and plantains isn’t interesting enough to hold my interest.

My first visit to Calypso a few weeks ago after hearing about it from a friend. A co-​worker and I decided to try the Friday buffet which is seafood centric. We had the arroz con pollo and shredded brisket; they were both full of flavor. The brisket is best when dipped in the Guasacaca (avocado based salsa) which lends a brightness to the rich brisket. After, we tried the seafood paella which was full of seafood and sausage. Everything was tasty, though the buffet suffers some due to the lack of traffic as the temperature on some dishes wasn’t ideal. This is anecdotal, but deserves mentioning.
We did speak with the owner after eating and he shared his background. He couldn’t have been nicer, and did allow us to try a few items off the day’s menu (the empandas are not to be missed). Calypso is a great addition to River Ridge, but helps fill the hole of Latin cuisine in the entire metro area. I can’t wait to get back and try more of the menu!
ETA: I went back for lunch today and everything was hot and fresh. I’m guessing my previous concern has been addressed. Food was excellent again.

This place is so good! Great vegetarian choices and low prices. The owners are awesome and the food is so unique! Check it out!

Very bright, flavorful food. Especially good deal for what you are paying. Friendly service. Will definitely return.

Great food and a great location! Friendly staff and fair pricing for the food quality!

So excited to have Calyoso so close to my mother’s home. Can’t wait to try it. Have heard so many great things about the food

Finally, an authentic Resturant in river ridge. Great food. Well priced! You must check this one out before the word gets out because once it does, it will be hard to get a table.

They are currently a catering company and soon to be a restaurant mid July 2015. They have catered the office several times now and every single time it just gets better and better. The food is always fresh and blended well. The owners are amazing too. You can just tell that they are passionate about their food. i have the brisket empanadas, black bean and cheese empanadas, and the fried plantains and all of it was just amazing! I absolutely love the food and customer service and can’t wait for the restaurant to open!