Purloo

Quite a diverse and pleasing menu, full of tasty delicacies. I would give it four or five stars, except my seafood platter came with a crab that had an intact digestive tract… Which I only discovered after I took a deep bite which tasted like sewage. When brought to the attention of our server, I received an apology– and nothing more.
Aside from that mishap, it was a pleasant evening.

Not as good as I heard it was. Service and food were just OK… If you only have 8 or so entrees on the menu, they should all be perfectly delicious every time. Steak was over cooked, temperature game’s weak…

Great Place! Food was excellent and reasonably priced!
Wait staff and chefs all provided great service! I had their version of a seafood platter and my husband had the short ribs both cooked to perfection.
My husband and I will definitely be back as we would like to try more items on the menu.

Purloo is a cool spot. Housed inside the Food and Beverage museum, the interior is sleek but industrial. It’s cool that the kitchen is open. But looks aren’t really what’s most important. It’s what’s inside (FOOD!) that really counts. Purloo did not disappoint.
Our group of four started with the Southern board, which features some delicious pimento cheese, fried pickles, smoked lamb, and other goodies. Everything was excellent. A friend had the crab soup, which was also quite good. For entrees, we shared two specials: a seafood platter and a whole flounder. The highlight of the platter for me was the stuffed crab. The fish was flavorful too. A friend had the seafood boil, which she liked a lot too. Messy but tasty. For dessert we had a cinnamon ice cream with a ginger cookie. Awesome.
They have some good cocktails on the menu too. I tried three of them and enjoyed them all. The Big Payback was especially good. It tasted like a peanut butter bourbon. The service was very nice too and the price wasn’t too bad. We spent about $ 70 per person and left quite satisfied. I’d definitely recommend Purloo to others and hope to go back again sometime soon.

They get an «A» for effort, but they have mice. In the middle of dinner service, one ran across the floor and the waitress shrugged it off as, «…it’s an old building… hahahaha». Nope, girl. Not acceptable. And, they purposely short you on crostini and then charge you $ 1.50 for two more pieces. Two stars are generous, if you ask me.

WE SAW A MOUSE. Within minutes of being sat, a mouse scampered along the side of the restaurant. My boyfriend brought it to the waitress’s attention and she said «oh well it’s New Orleans, what can you do?!»
John Besh’s restaurant don’t have mice. Appolline doesn’t have mice. The jazz musuem next door doesn’t have mice. Not even the diciest of oyster bars in the French quarter have mice.
Never mind the fact the the entire waitstaff, manager, and open line staff were completely preoccupied by a couple sitting at the line seats to care.
Food was great, prolly had mouse feces in it though.

I have lived in New Orleans for five years, and this is one of the best restaurants I’ve been to. First, the interior is awesome, with a cavernous dining room and open kitchen. The service (by PJ) was impeccable. We had a large table and he handled it with tremendous grace. The food was my favorite. I started with a buttery roasted marrow served in the bone, followed by the curried goat. Extremely tender and flavorful. This was followed by a dessert of chess pie. It is a bit pricey but absolutely worth ever penny, I’m very much looking forward to returning.

What a phenomenal place!!! A fantastic addition to the BOOMING O.C. Haley section of town. Took my daughter here and she was blown away! From the cocktail (Big Payback) that started our evening to dessert that ended it… everything was mind-​blowing. Chef Ryan and his team made us feel like we were the two most important people in the world with their warmth and attention to detail. Do yourself a favor and get to Purloo as soon as possible for an evening that you will never forget.

My suggestion is to sit at the bar and let Carmine take care of you. He makes some dope cocktails & steers you in the right direction. This place is legit & a must for foodies. Hip Louisiana locals type of place — both food & drinks are leagues above the rest!!! Seriously, don’t miss out!!!

BLUF: Awesome cocktails. Exciting menu. Cool atmosphere.
We have been here a couple times for drinks and just once for food. The cocktails are really good and interesting. The best is a boiled peanuts and bourbon. All of them are great though.
For food we got the hanger steak with leeks, onion rings and a cheddar bread. The cheddar bread thing was amazing and so were the giant onion rings. The onion rings had a very light fry to them and they were great. I am surprised the onion rings and cheddar bread are not an appetizer option. The hanger steak was very good too. I am not a fan of leeks so I won’t really comment but my wife liked them.
We also go the goat curry which I do not recommend. The curry sauce was great but it was more thin curry than I like. The goat is on the bone still which keeps the juiciness better but it makes it awkward and difficult to eat the dish. Very small portion too. Under the goat was a small amount of sweet potatoes and other veggies. Overall it was a very small portion of food and not really worth the hassle.
We split a dessert at the end. We got a salted chocolate moose (sp?) with candied orange rinds and pecans. I don’t like nuts in my food/​desserts so that was a drawback for me personally. Other than that it wasn’t all that impressive. Good but not great.
Overall the place is great. Amazing atmosphere, great staff, great cocktails and great food. However, I do think there is the potential to order something less than spectacular..

I had a great dining experience here!
Sure, it’s new and has some kinks to work out but that should be expected. The chefs were amazing! Not sure where they came from but some time was definitely well spent on finding them.
The menu can use more food items. There were 5 or 6 specials but I would like to see more variety with fish and chicken. The drinks were good and the bar scene is killer!!! I got the oysters and rice, which were PHENOM. I would not recommend that seafood boat. Go to Deanies or something for that.
I really like this revitalized neighborhood. Looking forward to hanging out more and more.

Had a good experience here and I love the concept!
Purloo is part of the Southern Food and Beverage museum. As a result they focus on regional recipes and local ingredients. The chef runs a considerable number of specials each night — with offerings I haven’t seen on menus anywhere else. The preparations are deceptively simple. Loved tasting the clean flavors and unique foraged foods!
So we had ribs glazed in a mayhaw sauce. What’s a mayhaw? An indigenous southeastern berry. The glaze was great. Sweet and tart.
We also had seared swordfish with creole tomatoes and a purslane salsa. Delicious.
The menu excited me. I feel like a lot of NOLA fine dining (maybe fine dining everywhere but i couldn’t speak to that) you just see repetitions of similar dishes popping up everywhere as food trends come and go but they were really moving beyond that.
The bad? I’m not sure if the finished dishes fully reach the promise of the amazing ingredients they’re incorporating. If I tasted purslane in the swordfish dish, I never knew it. The swordfish was perfectly seared, but the flavor may have been a bit too subtle overall. It was also like $ 30 and I’m still trying to decide how I feel about that. I’m willing to pay for delicious food — and innovation, but the tomatoes were sliced and raw and the fish was probably a 3 – 4 ounce portion. The salsa and vinaigrette said to be accompanying it were mere drizzles.
As an entrée, it left me wanting a bit more. But I’m not sure if that’s bad or not. Are we just too used to 12 ounce fish filets and generous spoonfuls of cream sauce? I will go back and make up my mind, don’t worry y’all.

If I could give Purloo 10 stars I would. Everything was amazing! Because I can sometimes be directionally challenged, it took two phone calls to find the restaurant which is hidden behind dark windows after the museum closes. The staff were very helpful and patient with me and my crew so that was a plus. We seat at the counter so we could see all the magic happening. The Dream Team was working tonight– Ben, Allen, and Stewart! They are all individually and thoroughly freaking awesome!
The food. Man oh man, the FOOD! The southern board was my starter. Let me just say they make their own crackers people. I’ll need look at a cracker the same! The boiled peanuts got my southern approval! Entrees were the catfish, skirt steak, and beef short rib. ALL bursting with flavor and a party in your mouth! Dessert was tres leche cake! Some of the best I ever had.
I got this place off a Zagat list and I’m glad I did. The décor was stellar. Food was phenomenal. And the staff top notch!

I really hope this place is successful as I really support the development of this neighborhood. I also think it is a cool & different concept to have a nice restaurant like this inside the food and beverage museum.
I will start wit the bad… our service was so awful it was just strange. The restaurant was more than half empty on a Thursday at 8:30 pm & we opted to sit at the bar. We had to ask for cocktail menus, we had to ask for food menus (our waiter forgot them– another waiter brought them). We then had to specifically ask to place our orders. thank god we were seated at the bar, the chefs handed us our food. When we placed our order for a bottle of wine before receiving our entrée, it was approximately 15 minutes that I waited before walking to the bar myself to ask for our bottle. It was just sitting there. The bartender apologized and served us our wine. Overall, service was a 2 out of 10. Could have just done away with wait staff and let the chefs take and serve the orders. Appetizers were fine, but nothing special. We had the hush puppies and tamale.
Now for the good… As I said, the concept is really cool! We had a great time chatting with the chefs and watching them prepare our food. The entrees were excellent! I had the rabbit and I enjoyed that it was a small serving but be aware of that if you eat a lot. My boyfriend had the short rib which was also excellent! We had a great Spanish wine that I regularly buy and the price was great.

We’ve been back a number of times over the past few months and Purloo has definitely hit its stride. The menu is a bit on the small side in order to keep things fresh but should have a little bit to keep everybody happy and the food execution is consistent despite a small kitchen staff (all of whom you can see while you dine). The cocktail program remains great and wine options are now greatly expanded while service that was a bit hit or miss at the beginning is generally good. The space can seem a bit big with the high ceilings and large expanse of SoFAB separated by basically a huge sheet in the evenings but the wood bar & tables provide nice ambiance and the completely open kitchen provide a connection to the kitchen that you don’t get at most restaurants. Prices aren’t cheap and the portions are generally average so I presume there will be complaints about this place related to portion size & value for the price paid — I have seen the hangar steak and it’s generally 3 slices of steak along with spoonbread, etc. so if you’re looking for an entire steak this entrée isn’t for you and it may be overpriced at $ 26 yet it’s still darn good. Admittedly, there have also been a couple dishes where I really wanted more of the sauces on my plate to complement the food but when you have a good sauce you almost always want more.
They’re now doing both lunch and dinner from Tuesday to Saturday, I haven’t personally tried a lunch service yet but Purloo should definitely be worth a visit for most people interested in food.

They violated all principles of Southern decency by being out of iced tea at lunch so i drank water with she crab soup $ 9 and curried goat $ 13 with my bill total being $ 27.80 so it seems i still got charged for my missing iced tea anyway. The soup was good while the goat was tough with little flavor so it comes nowhere close to the great curried goat my Vietnamese friends make. This is a nice facility as part of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum but at those prices I’m going for better food, better service and 25 cent martinis at Commander’s Palace for weekday lunch.

I have been meaning to try Purloo since I read about it a while back. And this past Saturday, when I was looking for a place to grab a late dinner, Purloo popped up on my OpenTable app as having available reservations as late as 10 pm, so my friend L and I decided to give it a try. And boy, are we glad that we did.
When I walked in, I was greeted by the sweetest gentleman host (Forgive me, I forgot his name), who made the correct guess that I was the one who made a 9:45 reservation. I asked him how and he told me his process of deduction between my name and my Asian features. This could’ve gone wrong very easily, but he handled the situation with such sincerity and all the respect in the world.
We were seated at the bar looking at the kitchen. We got to see everything get plated and be sent out to tables. We started out with some wine. We ended up getting the Unique Sauv Blanc. It was recommended to us when we asked for a fruity, slightly sweet, and not dry white. I knew it was meant to be when our server came over with the bottle, because there were butterflies on the bottle. ;)
We started the meal with the board, which was fantastic. Everything was delicious but I particularly loved the tomato chutney. Well, actually I didn’t care too much for the boiled peanuts, but I think that’s just because boiled peanuts aren’t really my thing. L and I usually do a bunch of small plates, but the mains looked so good we decided to get two of them and share. I got the short ribs and L ordered the curried goat. My short ribs were good but I was really in love with the goat. I do have to mention the greens that came with the short ribs though. They were fantastic.
We also did dessert. We got the chess pie (aka ooey gooey cake). I’ve never had my ooey gooey with strawberries before, but it was a great combination.
Service was great. Food was great. I have a feeling that everything on that menu is fantastic. I will definitely be back.

Stop right there. This is the best restaurant in New Orleans, by far. The location, the décor, the interior layout, the history, the cuisine, the chef, the servers, and more.
A relatively new venue, the restaurant is part of a huge old renovated warehouse, in a most interesting way. Very high ceilings, linen curtains, muffle the sound to a comfortable level. The historic bar is about the oldest in the City, rescued from the bottom of the Lake and reassembled true to life. Seating is limited so it feels open and roomy. Every aspect of the design and décor was planned by sole owner/​manager/​executive chef/​line cook Ryan. The kitchen is a shiny stainless component right there in the restaurant, with great venting and no smoke or food orders at all. You are welcome and comfortable in a tux, costume or jeans and t-​shirt — most unusual.
The food is also extraordinary, and Chef Ryan has added a particular item or two to every dish with flavors and textures that will surprise you, after you have already swooned over the terrific entrée. Our table of 4 ordered different appetizers and entrees and shared everything. The food is fresh, light with incredible flavor. We ordered the goat curry, drum, short ribs and steak. Although we were each delighted with our choices, we regretted not ordering the other guy’s dish! Portions were perfect
Deserts are scrumptious.
Servers are attentive, casual, capable and skilled
A good variety of wines and a full bar complete the menu, with nothing left out.
Finally, for a restaurant of this caliber, the prices are really excellent. For 2 people, shared appetizer, each an entrée, a shared dessert and a couple glasses of wine was $ 50 per head.
You must go to Purloo. We will, and often.

A solid 3.5 stars, still some bumps to work out but with a little more time and finesse this could be a stand out new star in New Orleans. The newly bustling OCH corridor now officially has a fancy restaurant, complete with $ 10+ mixologist made drinks. The kitchen is glorious — imagining there will be classes/​exhibitions there by the Southern Food & Beverage museum next door? The ambiance at this time is definitely minimalist and a bit industrial, I appreciated the fresh flowers at the tables for pops of color.
While I loved my «Shhh» with Pisco Porton (fell in love w the stuff in Peru last month) and watermelon, it was expensive for a fairly small (but strong and well made) drink. The price point seems high for its location — both geographically within the city and for New Orleans as a whole. However, it was a complex and well crafted beverage.
The Southern Board small plate was good for sharing, the boiled peanuts, pimento cheese and green tomato chutney stood out. However, it was a bit confusing in how to eat the cheese and chutney given the proportion of crackers and okra it came with. The deviled eggs and charcuterie meat tasted a bit stale/​refrigerated.
I had the curry lamb, which was very tasty, great flavors! However, I would have preferred rice to banh mi bread with the dish (I’m such a South Asian), and had the cilantro chopped up instead of in whole pieces where it ended up as a garnish. However, the lamb was super tender and fall off the bone delicious. My friend had the short ribs, Tasso macaroni and cheese with greens. I think the greens were my favorite bite of the whole meal — exceptional yum. The ribs were flavor wise good but a bit dry and not as tender, fall off the bone as the lamb. Mac n cheese was solid.
Overall, I have hopes Purloo works out some of these details to become the star it wants to be. This seasonal, well crafted Southern menu featuring different regions is already fantastic addition to our city.

Yes, Purloo is new and may have a few minor kinks to work out, but for just a few weeks in, and after two visits, I’m confident that Chef Ryan and his staff are well on their way to greatness.
The food is spectacular. Everything is made from scratch and prepared before your eyes. The drinks are world-​class, thanks to master bartender, Mark. The service is very good, too.
Purloo is not only the best new restaurant to open in NOLA, so far this year, but far and away, the best thing to happen to this up & coming neighborhood in decades!