GW Fins

This restaurant deserves all 5 stars.
Everything on the menu is delicious. Started with the soft shell crab, and the house biscuits then the scalibut and gulf pompano all absolutely made to make you eat smiling. Great location, beautiful décor, excellent menu and true southern food and hospitality.

We decided to dine here the first night that we came to New Orleans. To start, this is a very nice restaurant with a very friendly staff. The service is impeccable and very attentive.
To start, you are served biscuits with fresh butter and the biscuits just keep coming! They are delicious.
Our appetizers included a seafood gumbo and a barbecued shrimp. Both were outstanding!
For my entrée, I had the grouper and my friend had their signature dish, the scalibut, composed of halibut with scallops on top of it. Both entrées were delicious and perfectly cooked.
For dessert, we tried the chocolate mousse bombe with raspberry coulis and the salty malty ice cream pie. Both were so incredibly delicious, and the salty malty ice cream pie is an experience you likely will not find elsewhere as it is very unique and incredibly good.
For the cocktails, we both ordered the three fins specialty cocktail. If you like margaritas and you like Mojitos, it was somewhere between the two and absolutely delicious.
Everything we had was delicious and I would highly recommend this restaurant. The prices are moderate, especially for the excellent quality of food and service that one experiences here.

My favorite restaurant in NOLA! I craved for that soft buttery biscuits every time im in new orleans.
I ordered Lobster dumplings for appetizer, melts in your mouth! Soooo good!!! For entrée i ordered the Scalibut, it was pricey but worth it. Service was great!

Everything we had here was delicious. Our server was very knowledgeable about the menu, which was impressive — he knew how various things were cooked, where the fish and shellfish came from, etc. At the bar before our meal, the bartender was able to educate me about some of the wine with which I was unfamiliar, and he was spot-​on in his description.
We had the smoked oysters as an appetizer, which were wonderful, but also filling — I had intended to try the scalibut, which sounded amazing, but after the oysters, I went with another appetizer for my entrée, the lobster dumplings … and they were delicious!
My husband has a rule never to order meat in a fish house, but we’d been eating seafood for several days, and he inquired from the waiter about the filet mignon … The waiter said Fins is a sister restaurant to Ruths Chris, so the steaks are good — and he was right. The steak was perfectly cooked, tender, and had a wonderful smoky flavor. It was excellent.
For dessert we had the bread pudding and the salty-​malty ice cream pie. Both were rich, delicious … The bread pudding has chunks of chocolate in it, which I found delightful, but my husband found too chocolaty for his taste. We both thought the pie was amazing and wished we could have finished dessert, but it was too much food!
We are scuba diving instructors and had read online that the chef here is a diver and spearfisher who sometimes harvests his own seafood personally. The night we were here, we discovered (from our server who had an answer for every question!) that the chef had been in Florida for a lion fish round-​up the weekend before, and the lion fish special on the menu came from that harvest. We were happy to see the destructive and alien lion fish population being reduced and not wasted, either!
All in all we found everything positive and nothing negative about GW Fins and highly recommend. It is pricey, but for a splurge in the French Quarter, go for it!

Started with a couple of good cocktails at the bar as we arrived 15 min early. Sat and our waiter greeted us by name which was a really classy move and a precursor of the great service that was to come for the remainder of our evening.
We shared and enjoyed small bites first the lobster dumplings were amazing along with the big bite-​size pork belly…
But the star of the meal was the scalabut with scallops and halibut and frankly was the best fish dish we had ever had!
Desert was an ok (for New Orleans standard) bread pudding.
Gosh, wish we had another night to come back!

My girlfriend and I dined at GW Fins two weeks ago for my birthday. I hadn’t heard of it as an out-​of-​towner, but some research revealed that the eponymous Gary Wollerman’s institution had made quite a name for itself serving seasonal catches from the Gulf and beyond. My expectations were sky-​high when I walked through the doors. My first impression, unfortunately, wasn’t ideal. We arrived 18 minutes after our reservation (I fully accept the blame for that), but we had called ahead of time to report that we were running 10 – 15 minutes behind. The hostess was borderline rude as she told us that they would have to find us another table because we were so late. But I’m sure it was just a busy night and we had thrown the schedule off… it is one of the most popular places in town.
The space was dark with concentrated pockets of light illuminating linen-​topped tables. We were shown to one of the booths in the back. Our server was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the restaurant’s history and offerings. If you have any interest in wine, I would suggest taking a gander at their extensive list of whites and reds. We went with a Malbec, which was a bit too full-​bodied for our dishes but still quite good.
Our server mentioned that the Lobster Dumplings were the most famous of the appetizers, so we ordered those and Smoked Sizzling Oysters. The Dumplings were underwhelming… while the filling was flavorful, the little bites lacked texture and the sauce was too thin and mild for my tastes. The oysters arrived literally sizzling on the plate and were well-​seasoned and juicy. The winner of the night was the Scalibut, a thick chunk of halibut with scallops grilled on top forming a sort of soft crust; both were absolutely delicious, as was the lobster risotto underneath. The swordfish was meaty, cooked Cajun-​style with a buttery mashed potatoes and fried prawns. Two appetizers and two medium-​sized entrees ended up being just about right for the two of us. My score for GW Fins is more of a 3.5÷5. My rating would’ve been higher if it were a lesser restaurant but, like I said, the bar was set high to begin with and I only found one of the dishes to be truly superb. Looking forward to returning to see if my first visit was a fluke.

The hype on this place is amazing, but unfortunately, the food and atmosphere don’t quite live up to it.
First off, I’ll discuss atmosphere. The restaurant posts on the door what the dress code is, but they don’t enforce it. Plenty of people were walking around inside with jeans. The menu also requests that no phones are used at the table, which given the number number of Unilocal review with pictures (including mine) is also a load of crap. If you are going to try to set standards such as those, then you may want to change the following; update the seat covers so they don’t look like they came out of a 90’s episode of Saved By The Bell, don’t let your wait staff be cheeky with the customers, close off seating so people have privacy like most upscale restaurants do instead a floor plan that’s so open you feel like you are eating at a warehouse, change the wall décor to something more end than fake slimy fish bones. Ok? Ok.
Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s move on to what saved this place– the food. For an appetizer, I ordered the lobster dumplings. These were tender and cooked to perfection and were served in a delicious creamy sauce. My boyfriend ordered the wedge salad, which came as three smaller wedges, all with different dressing options, which he said were fantastic.
For an entrée, I ordered the Scalibut, which was a tasty but albeit weird hybrid of halibut with scallops melded to the top. This dish was cooked well, but was very bland and since the two different fish were stuck together I really couldn’t taste either. One side of mine also had a spot hat was full of grit and something hard that tasted like small bones. These things were hard enough I couldn’t chew through them so I spit this out. At nearly $ 40 for a piece of fish, that’s not something that should ever be acceptable. My boyfriend who is a non-​seafood eater ordered the pork chop which was topped with balsamic strawberries and he said it was delicious.
I’m glad we checked this place out, but with so many excellent options, I don’t think I would pick GW Fins again on a future trip. If I’m staring longing out the window at Arnaud’s and wishing I was back at the brunch I had that morning while I’m eating this quality of dinner, well, you’re doing something wrong.

GW Fins has earned a reputation for being a great restaurant — specifically it’s seafood. I used to dine here in high school and college until I moved to Miami. Since coming back to New Orleans, I’m clearly not as big of a fan here. My Jan visit her was below expectations. My visit here this Friday was consistent with previous experience. We sat at the bar to view the game & grab a quite bite. Our cocktails were fine and the service was good. The glass of wine I had was not good as it has turned.
Per the staffs recommendation, we had the lobster dumpling– i was not a fan. It was lacking flavor. We also had the tuna tacos. I liked this & really enjoyed the combination of flavor. My red fish entrée just was not to my liking. I felt it was over cooked /​dry and a bit fishy. The slaw accompaniment was great though. I’m
Disappointed that I do not enjoy this place as I used to.

This place is amazing. You should make reservations at least a day in advance it gets booked up pretty quick. We just stopped by and found that we should have called sooner.
The hostess was very nice and told us we could wait till 9pm or eat at the bar. Tommy was really nice and let us eat our meal at the bar. The service was excellent. My ice tea and my husbands drinks were filled often.
The explained the menu and gave you time to decided and relax.
The lobster dumplings were sooooooo good it was like melting in your mouth. I could have locked the bowl clean.
The soft shell crab in brown butter was crispy outside and moist inside.
The BBQ shrimp was just ok compared to the other appetizers.
The scalubit with halibut topped with scallop and with lobster rosoitto was worth every penny and then some. I was in amazement of how the scallop was nicely chard golden brown and the Halliburton moist inside and the rice so cream like an angel made it.
Let’s just say between the excellent service and dinner I am a fan for life!

De-​licious! You must make a reservation. It reminds me of a place in Manhattan. Attire is business casual.
We began with the cobb salad and a pear salad. The Cobb salad dressing was sweet-​ish and creamy. The wedgies were broke into three separate pieces. One had bacon, the other tomatoes and the third I think blue cheese or croutons-​I forget exactly! Regardless I split it and liked it a lot! My hunny had a pear salad that he enjoyed but said he wasn’t crazy about the pear.
Then for an entrée I had the scalibut! Hello! Combining chunks of lobster, lobster risotto and scallops on top of halibut-​yum! It was unbelievably good. The flavors combined so well and were all high quality ingredients.
To end I had the pretzel ice cream cake. It was unique and flavorful.
The wine by the glass list is extensive or their hand crafted drinks are fun too.
Now I would take a half star and I debate a full star for their celebration (or lack there of) birthdays. The hostess seemed turned off that I asked. Then we did order 2 desserts so it’s not like we cheaped out on the bill. The «happy birthday» in syrup on a plate with nothing else was beyond lame. A dab of ice cream would kill their budget? Actually, I am taking that star off. It was for a young lady and was awkward and embarrassing. Get real, GW.

Wow… amazing food. Take a look at the pictures online that I posted.
Recommended the fins wings which is a fish that u eat like a chicken wings. They unique for sure.
Halibut was very taste and so is the pork chops. The chops have strawberries on them with sweet potatoes purée.
Halibut again was really good.
The best dish hands down was the bluefin tuna. The guy with me does not like tuna… now he will eat this. Chalk that up for a great dish.
Presentation on the dishes where spot on.
Service was great too.

Grilled oysters! Lol
Good food. Great service at the bar. Came back a couple times and still loved it.

Delicious. This restaurant was great down to the smallest details — great food, nice ambience, and attentive but not over the top service.
We had the smoked oysters first, which were smoky and wonderful. My snapper with étouffée was also so tasty — the sauce was rich but not overly heavy, and everything was perfectly cooked.
I could also eat about 47 of those little biscuits.

I’m not a diva but I expect a good meal to come with good, or even great, service. We dined on a busy weekend night and were disappointed with the service at GW Fins. We arrived early and were seated promptly but things went downhill from there.
We had picked up a glass of sparkling wine so we didn’t immediately order additional beverages so there was not an opportunity for our waiter to perform a traditional beverage service at the beginning. Our waiter did a good job of describing the menu items and was even kind enough to give us his recommendations when we asked.
I ordered the beet salad followed by the blackened swordfish which was a recommendation. Both were excellent. My husband chose to go for a selection of appetizers. He ordered the lettuce wedge with some modifications, the Firecracker Tuna Tacos and the Tempura Fin Wings. When asked about the timing of the various appetizers, he suggested that the waiter decide — an error on his part. Additionally, we both ordered an additional glass of wine.
My expectation was that we would receive our wine, followed by the first course and finally the «entrée». Not so much. My beets arrived with my husband’s tacos and the dumplings. The wine showed up well after we were eating that course. My husband’s salad arrived at the same time as my main course.
Oh and the Salty Malty Ice Cream pie is to die for. It has replaced Canoe’s caramel ice cream popcorn sundae (Atlanta) as the best dessert EVER!
In addition, service overall was slow with delays in clearing and setting, as well as bill presentment.
So overall, I would rate the food as excellent but service as sub-par.upon consideration, we did not feel that the issue was in the waiter but in the support that he required to get his job done. He was attentive but seemed to be too busy, whether due to to many additional tables or not enough restaurant support I’m not sure.

There is a reason this is the number one rated restaurant in New Orleans. My husband and I were on holiday in New Orleans and made reservations our last night for dinner here. We arrived early and were going to sit at the bar and wait but were able to be seated right away. The hostess was very nice and welcoming. The food was amazing. You must get the lobster dumplings. The sauce alone is so good you could drink it! If this restaurant wasn’t so high end I may have picked up the bowl and licked it!
I got the pork chop, my husband had the filet and we ordered lobster risotto as a side. All of it was really delicious. I had to stop myself from eating more than one biscuit as they passed them around all evening. The crème brule for dessert was the largest that I have ever been served and the drinks went down all too easily.
Thanks for making our last meal in NOLA so amazing!

The best meal during this NOLA trip. Our table of eight enjoyed everything and service was great.
Two notables
Lobster dumplings — delicate and flavorful
Scalibut — beautifully prepared and one of the best fish dish I had in awhile
Our friends also enjoyed their dishes.
Far Niente Chardonnay and Louis Latour Montrachet were a good match.
Will definitely return for dinner here the next time we are in town.

Our best meal in New Orleans! The highlight at this establishment is definitely the food. If they had michelins in NOLA they would certainly have at least 1 – 2 stars.
Gumbo ⁴⁄₅ — you can tell the ingredients are higher quality than other restaurants. The flavors in this gumbo are more complex and satisfying. There are also bits of real seafood in the gumbo including shrimp.
Sizzling oysters ⁵⁄₅ — I would give this a 10 if I could. I’ve had oysters all over Chicago… All over the US even and never had my tastes buds been so delighted with the flavor of these char grilled oysters. They are smoky and well seasoned and the oysters have a good substantial texture. Nothing is hidden in batter like other preparations. This is so good we are coming back again tomorrow night for more! Must try! You will regret it if you don’t!
Scalibut ⁵⁄₅ — second all star of the night. The scallops were sweet and fresh atop perfectly cooked halibut and lobster risotto. This dish is perfection –and they even split the dish into 2 portions so the presentation stayed in tact.
We had a bit of a slow start but throughout the meal our waiter showed up at the right times. He was going through the menu items really fast so it was hard to understand him at times but regardless we had an excellent dinner and our meal was delicious.
Water was always refilled promptly and dishes cleared within minutes of finishing by the wait staff.

Rated as one of the top restaurants in NOLA, deservedly so. We had dinner here one night during our October trip.
Popular spot. Reservations are highly recommended!
Ambiance is lovely, upscale/​dressy. Nice décor.
Service was efficient & staff was very polite & friendly. We didn’t feel rushed at all, in fact noticed that they were clearing out & setting up for the next day but never pushed us out the door. Yeah, we closed the place down!
Food is simply amazing! We had Crispy Pork Belly, Lobster Dumplings, Spinach & Goat Cheese Golden Beet salads, Scalibut — A GW Fins Original (MUST TRY), Chilean Seabass, Salty Malty Ice Cream Pie (OMG to die for!). Everything was very tasty and cooked to perfection. Absolutely fantastic meal & overall great experience.
A definite MUST TRY for NOLA.

My best girl friends took me here for our fancy dinner night out during my bachelorette last summer, and it was a classy affair of delicious food and drinks, accompanied with fantastic service.
Must order/​try:
* LOBSTER DUMPLINGS
* SCALIBUT
After so many months, I am still gushing about this memorable meal. The lobster dumplings were meaty with the most delicate wonton skin where each bite just melted in my mouth. The scalibut blew our minds away with its perfectly seared scallop crust over a normally mild white fish. It was served with creamy LOBSTER risotto that paired so very well with the fish. The girls and I are from Boston –home of some pretty damn good lobster dishes– but now I’m starting to think otherwise…
My husband also had his bachelor party in NOLA in the fall, and being good boys, they took our recommendation and had an equally excellent dinner at GW Fins.
+1 star for a personalized keepsake menu and glitter confetti on our table to make us feel extra special :)

Made reservations at GW Fins to celebrate our anniversary while vacationing in New Orleans. I found out about this place through a friend who had been here and had nothing but great things to say.
Upon promptly being seated at our booth, the restaurant absolutely outdid themselves and decorated our table with a personalized, take home menu. The setting and ambience of this restaurant is beautiful, modern and very very romantic! The service was absolutely impeccable from beginning to end.
For our entrees, I decided to go for the «scalibut» which is a very popular dish on their menu. The dish consists of a very tender, scallop meat and lobster risotto. So amazingly fresh and delicious! My bf went for the snapper, with shrimp and rice. Also, a very delectable entrée!
To end our night, they brought out for us a salted caramel and peanut butter cheesecake with vanilla ice cream as our anniversary dessert. It was absolutely mouth watering. The different flavors just blended so well, I can see why it’s their top dessert. We were blown away by the sweet gesture of the restaurant and how they made it their goal to make us feel extra special on an extra special day. Thank you and because of that, I will make sure to dine here again next time im in NOLA!