McAlister’s Deli

It’s 3pm on a Monday. Haven’t stopped for lunch and the king cake I had for breakfast is a distant memory. Don’t want to invest a lot of time, but I hate chains, so thought about just skipping it altogether, but my growling stomach wins. With very low expectations, I enter and take in my surroundings, chucking to myself that they’re playing up the fact that they’re in New Orleans by offering a «New Orleans inspired» menu. Yeah, right! I wanted something light, so went with small Savannah Chopped Salad and cup of Chicken Tortilla soup, at the recommendation of the counter help; and took my number to my table, of which I pretty much had my choice. After maybe a 6 – 8 minute wait, the same helper arrived at my table with a decent presentation. The soup and salad were both actually pretty good, as was the service. I wasn’t expecting a five-​star dining experience for $ 8, but I did walk out pleasantly surprised, and reasonably full.
McAllister’s will never make my list of recommended NOLA restaurants, but you can do worse for a quick lunch at a decent price.

Employees are always nice and patient; we never know what we want! I would love to see them choose meats that are less salty. Good Lord that meat is salty! Tables are usually messy, but we never eat in, so. Strawberry lemonade is the best, says my daughter. This is basically the only acceptable eatery for us that is close to the Children’s hospital. Well, for fast food anyway.

I went here in the pouring rain to get a muffalata to go and it was, without a doubt, the worst sandwich I have ever tried to eat. The bread was hard; meat was dry; and almost no olive salad. Service was disorganized too. If I weren’t so tired, I’d drive back now to get my money back!

11:10 AM, 2 REGISTERS, A QUEUE 8 DEEP
with mostly burly blue color guys in uniforms. And why not? It’s a cheap lunch, with large portions, a wide menu variety and better quality ingredients than fast food.
$ 11.97: DOUBLE CLUB WITH SIDE & REFILLABLE DRINK
as fast food goes that is substantially cheaper than Subway where a double meat footlong club totals $ 11.45 for just the sandwich, and it’s less than a $ 12.70 lunch at BK.
SLOPPY UNPROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL
The local elite comments are spot on. McAllisters could be a more viable lunch alternative if it didn’t take so long to get the food, or if you didn’t have to deal with the immature cashiers too busy hoo-​hawing among themselves to do their jobs.
…I’ll be back though, the burly blue collar guys are worth the agida
PROTIP: get the condiments on the side — they’re pretty miserly with the spread there.

Food — 5 stars
Service — 3 stars
Price — 4 stars
Cleanliness — 3 stars
Overall, pretty good chain restaurant deli! Better than fast food for lunch! I’ve come here approximately 10 times for lunch by myself. Service is fairly consistent except when there are large catering orders which may lead to a slight delay. Tea is amazing in all forms! Cleanliness issue I’ve noticed is mild trash clutter, not wiped tables, cup rings of sweet tea residue… seems to be due to rush lunch crowd. I’m a satisfied repeat customer!

Went here for lunch with a coworker today. The place was getting packed quickly. I ordered the French dip and coworker ordered blt and side salad. It took 20 minutes. Other people that sat way after us were getting their food first. They looked very understaffed as well.

This is by far the worst eating out experience I have had in the last 6 – 10 months. The place was completely empty except for one couple when I walked in and I imagined this would mean I would receive my food quickly but I was wrong. The restaurant was not very clean either, I counted 4 pieces of trash just from the vantage point of my booth.
I waited about 15 minutes and at this point I was the only one in the restaurant. I had ordered a grilled horseradish roast beef and cheddar with NO ONIONS because, as I emphatically told the cashier (and she even said she didn’t care for them either) I **hate** onions. I also ordered a side of mac and cheese.
I was facing the kitchen when I sat down and I could see at least one person working in the kitchen on their cell phone from the time I sat down to when I left which may explain the wait.
After 15 or so minutes, I received my order and immediately smelled onions. I opened the sandwich and I kid you not there was more onion than roast beef! It was an onion extravaganza.
I returned the sandwich and waited about 5 – 8 minutes for them to make me another one which they brought out with new mac and cheese. Unfortunately the mac and cheese tasted like it had been made a week before and was completely mush. Disgusting and tasteless.
The sandwich was on a nicely toasted bun but they were very stingy on the roast beef and the beef that was there was dry, boring, and tasteless. There was as much cheddar cheese as roast beef and hardly any horseradish.
After a fountain drink, I felt like I was eating a slightly less than medicare $ 11 grilled cheese with a few spoonfuls of whatever they were alleging to be roast beef.
This place was one disappointment after another and I did not even eat ½ of my food because it was terrible. I really dislike this place and will never EVER go back.

Highly processed meat, precooked canned soups, cheese sauce on everything, Yuck! The sandwich was one lump of several layers of meat one thin tomato some high fructose corn syrup based «honey» mustard and Lettuce on barely toasted cibatta bread. My HS cafeteria made better sandwiches. Nice staff, but i don’t need to come back.

Their food is pretty good and they have a big selection of items in their menu. And their sweet tea is to die for. My go to place when I’m a rush or can’t decide what to eat .
The only reason I gave it 3 stars is because the last 3 times that I’ve been here, around 4pm, the employees at the register have been super rude and seemed annoyed to be there, our waitress was super nice though!

i come here often and enjoy the food and customer service. i personally have not have a bad experience yet, but i do order the same thing every time. the food never takes longer than 10 mins and its always right =]
and i love their cookies

I’ve heard good things about McAlister’s outside of Louisiana but unfortunately my experience here in NOLA has been awful. I went with a friend for lunch today. I ordered a bowl of chili. The lady placing my order tried to give me two numbers and then got very confused when I asked why I needed two numbers for a bowl of chili. While I was sitting down waiting for my food the food runner went to three different tables looking for the owner of the salad she was trying to deliver. The tables she went to all had numbers. Their number system clearly isn’t working for them. When my chili arrived I was very disappointed. It looked like nothing but a bowl of meat and had no taste. Do not waste your money here. There are too many NOLA gems nearby to eat this awful food.

My girlfriend has a theory that if you show up to a place when it’s within 30 minutes of closing the staff will hate you and likely spit in your food. Not so at this Mcallister’s! We got there around 8:30 p.m. and the staff was extremely friendly and the service was quick. They were even out of sweet tea, which is what brings me there in the first place, so they made some more just for us!

This deli location is pretty chill for the most part. The cashiers are very welcoming and they are knowledgable of their menu items and prices. I like to visit this location when I get my bi-​weekly mani/​pedi at Star Nails (the best) nail salon. I always order the same thing from them: The Southwest Cobb salad and the Southwest turkey melt combo. It’s onluy $ 6.99 and it gets me really full! I love the fresh guacamole and that Chipotle Ranch dressing is very good also. The place has many tables and they offer free wifi access. I like to go there and browse the net after my nails are dry. Overall, a good place to grab a quick lunch!

If my opinions were based solely on first impressions, this place would be in major trouble! While walking towards the deli, we could very clearly see and hear a female employee screaming profanities into her cell phone. It was a long, drawn out scream-​fest. Classy!
The employees running the restaurant inside were just as young and probably only slightly more mature, but they were nice enough. It took a bit of time to get our order in, but one meal was free (coupon) and a manager’s approval was needed.
There are quite a few selections here, but I’d say the main sells are sandwiches and baked potatoes. There are a ton of varieties of each. And like Panera, McAlister’s has a Choose Two option where you can either (1) get a cup of soup with a half portion of any starter, spud, salad or sandwich; or (2) two half portions of any starter, spud, salad or sandwich.
My lunch partner chose a Grilled Chicken Salad and it was HUGE! She said it is one of her favorite selections from McAlister’s. I could see why — great value, huge portions, and fresh ingredients. I chose the Horseradish Roast Beef & Cheddar Grilled Sandwich. There was a large amount of roast beef topped with sharp cheddar, caramelized onions and horseradish dijon sauce on ciabatta bread. It was grilled to melty perfection and I enjoyed the sammich very much.
If you’re a fan of desserts they also have some satisfying treats to end your meal with. Cake slices, cookies, brownies and dessert bars. My friends are big fans of the chocolate chip cookies.
There are so many delicious looking selections here that I know I’ll be returning in the future. I just hope to see a sense of professionalism with the employees and less dirty tables.

On the one hand, there were plenty of outlets, free wifi, and no animosity from the staff for parking my butt here for 8 hours while writing a final. (I did buy food, of course. I’m not a total weirdo!)
On the other hand, it was December 10; but the playlist was still «overplayed oldies.» Not a Christmas tune within earshot, and I wanted to pull my hair out the third time in two hours I heard Yesterday.
Back on the first hand, the staff is really nice. They noticed I was working on my laptop, asked it if it was a final (affirmative), and left me alone. I appreciated being left to do my own thing. When someone noticed I’d been there forever, he brought me a free brownie to «cheer me on.» Awww. And no one gave me side-​eyes for drinking 8 bajillion glasses of tea.
But on that pesky other hand, the kitchen was sloppy with assembly; and my food was kinda hap-​hazard. It makes me miss my local sandwich joint in Indiana. (Shout-​out to Little Sheba’s in Richmond!)
Don’t go out of your way, but it can be useful. And the mac and cheese is pretty good most of the time.
Accessibility notes: Doors open out. No Braille signage or menus. High counters for ordering food. Can get loud at peak hours. Phone and online ordering is available.

This location is miles different than the one located within Harrah’s Casino, which is the main reason I never stopped here until the other day. I ordered their Italian Chopped Salad, consisting of Black Forest ham, salami, olive salad, roasted red peppers, provolone, red onions, cucumbers and tomatoes with a simple Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinaigrette. Nothing tasted processed and was quite hearty. My very pregnant co-​worker ordered a baked potato with chili & cheese so large, it made for two meals.
The service was efficient and fast and parking was a breeze. Yes, I’ll add you to my lunchtime rotation!

I hail from Mississippi, which is the land of McAlister’s and remember with great fondness dining at the very first location when it very first opened in Oxford, MS. It was actually called Checkers, not yet McAlister’s, way back then. That was over 20 years ago and I could not even begin to count number of meals I’ve eaten at different locations since then. None have been particularly memorable, mostly because they’ve all been very consistent. McAlister’s is McAlister’s is McAlister’s… all the world over. Or, at least it used to be. Then I made the mistake of dining at the McAlister’s on Tchoup. I don’t know why I did it, I guess nostalgia got the best of me.
It was like walking into a different world. The employees were indifferent. The tea was nothing special. And the food, well the food was a joke. I don’t know what they’re serving in there, but it is not food I remember. At all.
And now, I’m kinda bitter just thinking about it. Because I could really use baked potato the size of my head blanketed in bacon and cheese. But I know that’s not what I’d give if I tried to get one from McAlister’s on Tchoup. I have no idea how they even stay in business.

Man I was cravin’ a Reuben. I was going to make my own and get the ingredients from Winn Dixie but when I pulled into the parking lot McAlistersDeli caught my eye. I’ve never eaten at a one. Surely they do a decent Reuben. It’s worth a go. So I think. The Reuben comes with a side. I get coleslaw. The sandwich is hardly toasted and soggy. I couldn’t find any Swiss Cheese. Coleslaw so peppery I couldn’t finish it.
Damn.

The very first McAlister’s started in Oxford, MS while I was in college at Olé Miss. It was a great little place until they morphed into a corporate chain and the quality dropped off. I’ve eaten at many locations of this chain across the country due to my early association with it but I’ve got to say this one disappointed me more than any other location on multiple occasions. I used to work in the area and I gave it several chances before I finally gave up on it and decided to stick with local po boy options that were consistently great instead of consistently disappointing like this place.

My boyfriend and I got lunch here a few months ago, after a trip to the zoo, and we were both majorly underwhelmed.
First of all, I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich with a side of mac and cheese. When I got it, there was no cheese on my ham and cheese. I probably should have complained, but I was super hungry, so I just decided to eat it. It wasn’t anything special. It was pretty much a ham sandwich that I could have made at home, yet it was 8 bucks.
My mac and cheese was watery and flavorless. I can’t remember what my boyfriend got, but he wasn’t overly impressed, either. I had never been there before, but he had and said that the quality of food had gone down considerably.