Salú Bistro and Bar

Although the service was awesome, I was very disappointed in my food. The Cesar salad I ordered w/​steak that I expected to be like a normal salad was just not working for me. I expected a salad, tossed with the dressing and steak. I did not expect rolled up romaine lettuce with a sloshing of caesar dressing across the top and the steak strips on the side. Was a bit disappointing, Again, the service (Shannon) was fantastic and she always went above and beyond. I would definitely go here again just make another choice on my dinner.

Other than a really good drink I can’t say much I liked about this place. I was told there menu used to be better but the food I tried was either overcooked or not that tasty. There have to be better tapas places around.

Always a great experience! My only request is pleeease bring back the salmon strudel, PLEASE! Ha I seriously used to come here strictly for that.

Went here in anticipation of great small plates. Started with the Salu salad which was cool — served in a cucumber ring. Went on to order the octopus (very tough although the cilantro cream sauce was great) and the bacon wrapped prawns. Very tasty but a bit overcooked… (in NOLA??). Had two types of mussels as main. Both of which were superb. But here’s the rub… Mussels were served in great sauces — with no bread. We asked our server for bread — after 10 minutes, nothing. So we asked another server — who was too busy with her tables to bother. Finally I went inside (we were al fresco) to ask the hostess. After 30 minutes the bread came. Sorry but we were finished and the sauces were cold. They need to step up their act here. If I could give them 2 ½ stars, I would. Side note: they were out of prosecco after one glass each.

Came here for some happy hour sangria and pizza with friends when visiting New Orleans and had a great experience.
We came at a time when it was pretty crowded and all of the outdoor seating was taken which was kind of a bummer. The inside isn’t exactly what I was expecting from a Nola happy hour. Seemed a little more formal. Which wasn’t bad but I would have preferred the outdoor seating and would wait for it in the future.
We each ordered a pizza and split an order of mussels. Since we all got a different kind of pizza we were able to try one of almost every pizza they have on the menu. They were all great!
Great happy hour prices!

Incredible breakfast and equally incredible service. We loved this place and even tried to come back, but they were packed with reservations. They serve unlimited bloody Mary’s, screwdrivers, mimosas, and pimms cups for $ 20 and you can switch between the different choices. The Bloody Mary’s has a DIY Bloody Mary bar that is pretty impressive. My husband ordered the huevos ranchero and he enjoyed it. I got the avocado and roasted tomato eggs Benedict and it was delightful. Only complaint was that my food was on the cold end and the roasted tomatoes weren’t that good. The onion potatoes with bacon on them were flavorful though. They offer speciality hollandaise’s and mine came with the lemon hollandaise. It was yummy, but our friends with us raved about the cilantro jalapeño hollandaise that came on the crab cake Benedict. If you’re in the area, this place is worth a try! Plus the service was great!

Had brunch with a local friend here while I was visiting from out of town (for a wedding, yay second lines!) and was delightfully surprised at the many delicious-​looking options and affordable bottomless offering.
My friend got the Crab Cake Benedict, I opted for the Avocado and Roasted Tomato Benedict, and my boyfriend chose the Parma Ham & Egg sandwich. Everything was very tasty and obviously made with beautifully fresh ingredients. My boyfriend and I also embarked on the bottomless adventure to accompany brunch and each started out asking for Bloody Marys… I was delightfully impressed with the selection at the make-​your-​own Bloody bar (mix, worcestershire sauce, many hot sauces, pickles, pickled veggies (okra, carrots, cauliflower), celery, bacon!!!, peppers, and so many more choices!). After that I moved on to a few mimosas and was impressed with the speed that our server had with refills.
With our bill we were also presented with mimosas in to go cups (another thing that I LOVE about New Orleans), so all in all a great visit.

I’ll start off by saying that I was a HUGE fan of Salu and their happy hour in particular (see my previous review). But the past couple of times I’ve gone, the service and overall quality has been slipping. Last night while dining at Salu for happy hour, I reached my breaking point. There were three of us. We sat down at 6:35pm. After 10 minutes of waiting, I asked the hostess for a waiter — I wanted to order before happy hour ended. Apologies were said, and a few minutes later, a waiter showed up at our table. We ordered our drinks. Then we had to stop the waiter to ask to order (this was another 10 minutes later, so 5 minutes before happy hour ended). Finally, the drinks came around 6:10. That was almost 30 minutes for drinks. And, I might mention the restaurant was not that busy at all (maybe 10 tables were occupied).
Salu’s website is definitely misleading (I checked again right before dining yesterday) and it says «flatbreads, mussels and all drinks half off.» Well that used to be the case. Now, there are five different flatbreads and five types of mussels on the menu.” It’s true the bar is still half off. But I was a little pissed about this since I’d just checked their website that day.
Our food finally arrives. The mussels were delicious (this one item 3 – 4 stars) — I had sriracha and garlic. The french fries (frites) were over done, but I actually like them this way. My husband liked his sausage and fennel pizza (even though the waiter forgot to put his order in and, once again, we were asking him for things), while my margherita was gross. It was almost as if they were cranking out the pizzas so fast, mine didn’t have enough time to cook. And it was flavorless. I get that it’s the plainest pizza of the bunch, but it should at least have some flavor.
I’d rate the service 1 star and the food 2 stars, at best. It was such a bad experience that I won’t be returning any time soon. I’m sad to say this, too, because I really liked Salu. But in a city where food and service are top notch, this just didn’t make the cut.

Walking down Magazine St. on a beautiful day. My friends and I decided to stop by Salu for their much raved mussels. We were greeted right away by the hostess. She told us it would be a few minutes, so we decided to head towards the bar while we wait. I saw a bottle of GRIND and asked the bartender about it. He was new and did not know much about it. I appreciated the honesty. Adjacent to us as a woman complaining under her breath about how she was waiting for her check (add to the story later). We decided to try GRIND on the rocks. It is a coffee liquor, not bad, but not my favorite. The hostess brought us to our table outside. The lady at the bar was seated at the table next to us. I can hear her complain to the friend about the staff being very slow. I felt a little bad for the staff. However, I came to realized after 20 minutes of sitting, we were not being helped that the lady was right. The two tables next to us had their attending waiter. No one came to us to let us know they will be with us soon. The hostess came and asked if we have been helped yet. She asked if we would like for her to get someone. No apologies for the wait. The experience was disappointing. We finished our drink and left.

If you’re ever in the area, make sure you visit Salu. The outside seating is pleasant, but the inside is another kind of special.
The wait staff is amazing hands down. They’re very professional. The bartender isn’t a sommelier, but he was very knowledgable about the wine selection.
Great atmosphere to meet friends and coworkers– the DJ was spinning some sick tracks #NoMusic #IdComeAgain

We love to come here for happy hour. It lasts until 6:30, and includes half off drinks, flatbreads, and mussels. All of these things are great. I love their cocktail menu! All their options and portion sizes food wise are great! The only complaint I have is the scarcity of your server during happy hour. It does get busy, but we have to order a drink/​pitcher when she/​he drops off a previous drink order.

Lots of fun at their happy hour. We just got here after our happy hour next door and this place topped it off for the night. I forgot the special but do call ahead. Their hostesses are so nice by taking the extra step and sit us down after seeing us having a tough time getting space at the bar.
I was too drunk to remember much about this place until I read some of others reviews. They have mussel special and we ended up ordering every type because it’s happy hour. They are delicious not because I might be drunk and senseless instead they truly are.

Decided to try this place for Sunday brunch. We had a large group but was still seated quickly. They had the option of doing unlimited mimosas or bloody marys. They had a Bloody Mary bar with all the choices. All of the food choices were great. I had the crab cake Benedict which was delicious. Our waitress was very informative and welcomed any questions we had.

I was about to leave an outstanding review and realized my bestie beat me to it! (Check out Keandra R review right before me, I ditto all of that!)
But just in case you don’t…
The mussels and the sangria!!! That is all you need to know walking in the door! The establishment is awesome, the staff always makes awesome recommendations, and the food is always great!
Throw together a cheese board and sip some sangria, and you have an awesome time!

This is a great restaurant that we found as we were walking along Magazine Street. We saw the sidewalk sign that it was happy hour and one of the waiters saw us outside and told us that all the food items were half off during happy hour. We looked over their menu and when I asked about the paella, if that was half off, too, he said yes, which is what got us going inside. Unfortunately, one star is knocked off for the inaccurate information, as when we went inside we found out that not all the food items are half off — only the appetizers and mussels. Still a good deal, we ordered some mussels and drinks. which was really good. The Old World Sazerac drink here is the best I’ve ever had, and the bartender is really knowledgeable about cocktails. The later the happy hour became the more the people came and the place suddenly got crowded and seats in the bar were all filled. And since we ended up staying here for awhile, we ended up ordering the paella for dinner, which was awesome! It had gulf shrimp, alligator and mussels — all of it which were delicious. This was such a great find.

We initially came here because we had wanted to go to another restaurant in the area. We didn’t realize it was a Saints game night and our original choice was completely packed with a large crowed outside. Salu was our second, possibly third choice.
I have no idea why this restaurant doesn’t have five stars. Everything was amazing. The atmosphere was great. There were a lot of people in the restaurant and yet all of us at the table could hear each other to carry on a conversation.
And then there was the food. So, so good. We had the chef’s special appetizers and they blew us out of the water. All types of entrees for dinner and nothing was bad. I can’t wait to go back.

Perfect happy hour! Drinks, mussels and flatbreads, at a great price. Lemon-​caper mussel are amazing. One of our go too spots!!!

This place has some of Kee’s (that’s me! LOL) favorite’s things!
Mussels and Sangria! OK I’m in love.
First off the atmosphere is down right chill. I don’t think I’ve ever been when there’s not a ton of folks here chatting it up and enjoying themselves. I love the outside seating on Magazine Street so I can people watch and enjoy the weather if its not humid as all get out. The servers and staff are always so pleasant and attentive and that’s a win for everyone.
The food. This place is like a rerun of the Food Network show «Best Thing I Ever Ate». Except it’s the whole damn menu. All the mussels are pretty bomb. Like I really can’t choose because every time I try a different flavor with either the pomme frites or the linguine I have a new fave. The seafood paella is one of the best I’ve ever had in the city. The addition of the duck was an awesome added touch. And the lemon butter caper sauce on the fried artichokes… listen…it will change your life.
Drinks…half off on pitchers of mojitos during happy hour. The sangria is in my top five around town… and if you’re not into either of those… they have a selection of crafty martinis and cocktails. They’ll be something on the menu for everyone.
I’ve also heard great things about their brunch service so I have to add that to my to do list!
Happy eating Unilocalers… you won’t be disappointed!

I have held back from posting a review of the New Year’s Eve prix fixe dinner I had here because I don’t know if it overall, or any of its individual dishes, will be available in the future. But three days later I’m still thinking about it and how it’s one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my entire life, the type in which each individual dish stays in your taste memory.
To recap–
Amuse: Lamb Arancini, carmelized onion & Tarragon yogurt – excellent with a nice chunk of lamb in the center of the golf ball-​sized morsel. I could’ve had about 3 or 4 more of these.
4 onion French onion soup with melted gruyère on ciabatta – Several steps above even the best onion soup, the 4 different types of onion in it gave it a more complex – and delicious – taste than you normally find in such soup.
Salad: Raw Kale with satsuma Vinaigrette, pickled grapes, gorgonzola dolce, and candied pecans – A lite refreshing course, yet still a nice-​sized portion. Possibly my only quibble of the evening was that by the time I got my salad there weren’t as many pecans as I saw on a tablemate’s plate (he had ordered a la carte and had gotten his a little earlier when I was having the soup); he had left them over and I nearly reached across the table to get them so they wouldn’t go to waste ;-)
Appetizer: Cured Foie Gras, brown butter toast, burnt orange marmalade, pear demi, crispy sage – Now I’m a good, adventurous eater but usually I don’t get what the fuss is over foie gras, reacting to it with a «Meh» response. Not this time. Never mind that there were two very well-​portioned hunks of it (more than made up for the pecans, well, almost. Lol) the combination of the ingredients and the quality of the foie gras made me rethink my prior opinion of this delicacy. As with the soup, it was revelatory.
Entrée: Pan seared Jumbo Scallops Hoppin’ John with pork belly, jasmine rice, bourbon soaked beans, & blackened aioli – 4 giant scallops cooked to a perfect tenderness over an earthy yet complex rice dish – YUM! Individually, the scallops and the Hoppin’ John were wonderful but, when combined, you wanted to have it once a week for the rest of your life. Granted some of the pork belly pieces were pure fat, but many were all or mostly scrumptious meat.
Dessert: Chocolate stuffed Beignets, powdered sugar, and espresso – The perfect way to end the meal with three lite beignets, each about the size of a flattened Twinkie, and each oozing the espresso, which was quickly sopped up by the beignet.
I have a sweet tooth and one of the things I enjoyed most about the meal was the natural sweetness of many of the dishes from a subtle one in the soup to a more pronounced one in the foie gras (the pear demi I suspect); in the salad not only were the grapes such bursts of sweetness but, whereas I’m not crazy about gorgonzola generally, the «dolce» allowed this to blend in nicely with the other ingredients. Ironically, however, the beignets were not overly sweet which, by then, was just fine.
(Just for the record, a gentleman at the table next to me, who had the other entrée choice, a garlic rubbed Prime Rib, was underwhelmed by it, tho he did enjoy the soup)
Service would’ve been outstanding on any night, doubly so given that it was a busybusy New Year’s Eve. The red sangria, a pitcher of which was more than enough for 3 people, was fabulous with its cinnamon flavoring.
And given that the cost of the 6 courses was a mere $ 60, I can almost forgive them for not bringing me (and my tablemate who also did the full dinner; altogether there were 11 of us) the promised complimentary glass of champagne. Almost. Lol
Otherwise I’m still savoring the meal. If the rest of 2016 is as superb as it was, I’m in for a very good year!

Everything from the service, ambiance, food and even the French 75 were amazing. The steak is a definite one to try

We love this place for lunch. They had great food and yummy desserts. The service was amazing and if you like a drink they have bottomless mimosas for $ 20.00. All in all a great clean delicious place.

Such a nice atmosphere. Quiet and just nic. I Cane HERE After Being On Facebook LOOK ING FOR ONE Of My Cousins AND Then Boon! A Sign!!! Happy Hour. I KNEW THEN that I had to come check it out. Half off of all alcohol at the bar from 3 pm to 7 pm. Sucks that it’s til 7pm, but hey I’m still in love with the fact that I caught it. The bartenders here is very friendly. Everyone seemed to have known one another. I enjoyed seeing these bartenders get their customers drink orders down to a T. It’s like as if it was embedded in their brains. They worked so gracefully and the bartenders were very knowledgeable about the menu and drinks. The thing that gave them the 4 stars from me was that I asked them drink prices and they cared enough to answer me back with a price. They were so personal with me. They looked me in my face and ask me my name, my drink order and what do I do for a living. I loved it. Honestly that’s like two star worthy right there. So I am pleased and I will be back. Maybe I should try some food. But this bar deal is so entertaining and I’m contempt with just being here at the bar. I am going to go ahead and try some food and I will edit it

A few friends and I made a reservation here and arrived to discover their great happy hour offers. Fig and prosciutto flatbread was great! The waiter was very kind.

My dining buddy L and I had the perfect spot for people watching on the night of Art for Arts’ Sake, at a table outside at Salu.
I had just picked her up from the airport and we were hungry, and we wanted small plates and we ended up here.
We ordered the Crispy Artichoke Hearts, Grilled Brie, Mussels in the Fra Diavolo sauce, and I think we also had the crab cakes? I loved the artichoke hearts. I never would’ve thought to order them, but L doesn’t eat pork so we often end up being creative with our choices, and I did not regret this one. The onions atop the grilled brie were very good with the cheese. The mussels were good, but I wasn’t in love with the sauce. I wonder if we would’ve been better off with the classic wine sauce. And I can’t believe I don’t remember if we ate crab cakes or not. Lol.
We also tried the wild mushroom risotto, after it was highly recommended by our awesome server, but it was way too salty and honestly I think we were too full and did not need to order any more food.
Our first trip to Salu was a pleasant experience.

Came in last night and had fig and brizzuto flatbread, pork belly, calamari, and bacon fries.
The first two were a homerun. The setback with the calamari and fries was that they weren’t fresh out the frier. The calamari was luke warm which to ok. The bacon fries were a true disappointment; aside from being cold, they were stale. In addition, those fries had some sauce that completely killed the entire dish.(too salty and sogged the texture of the stale french fry).
The service was friendly and the ambiance was ok. I came in around 8:45pm-9pm on a Saturday night, no background music only the sound of some game on TV. Once we sat down we noticed they turned up the nice background music. Almost walked out because of that but the thought of the pork belly lured me in. My guest was pleased but not impressed. I’ll probably be back, overall I like the food there.

One of the best happy hours around. Half off mussels and flatbreads. Not to mention the entire bar. I had the pico de Gallo mussels with linguine. They give you plenty of mussels and the pico complemented the linguine quite well. Had the fig and prosciutto flatbread. Sweet and salty if you like that combo as much as myself you won’t be disappointed. I will definitely add this place to my rotation!

We stumbled upon this little gem when looking for a Sunday Brunch and we were not disappointed. I have to admit, we were drawn in by the sign that said «bottomless mimosas, bloody mary’s, Pimms Cups, or Screwdrivers.» For $ 15, they truly are bottomless and you can mix and match. As a bonus, the Bloody Mary is a bar with all kinds of yummy toppings!
The food was equally as good! I had the crabcake benedicts and did not have a problem with cleaning my plate!
We were extra appreciative of the nice outdoor seating! Perfect for a fall morning in New Orleans!

salu mussels are the stuff dreams are made of. During happy hour they are half off and half off all drinks.
We ordered the saffron mussels first. They were really tasty but the Parmesan mussels are my absolute favorite. Order bread to sop up all the creamy juicy goodness left over after the shells have been picked clean!
Blackberry sangria pitcher? Just do it. Sure refreshing and perfect for sitting outside people watching which– is my #1 thing to do.
Our server was super cool guy! Attentive, made sure our glasses never were empty and the bussers made sure we weren’t cluttered with empty plates.
Pitcher sangria, two orders of mussels, bread and French fries our total came to $ 36… Yes you read that correctly! Definitely my first stop at happy hour because the food is crazy tasty and you never crawl on an empty belly!

My friends and I have a love affair with this place. Try as we may, we can’t get enough of their flatbreads!
Margherita, mushroom and spinach and artichoke, there’s plenty of awesome toppings for the vegetarians in the group. For the omnivores, there’s pork belly, fig and prosciutto and the BLT to satisfy your hunger. We always swear we’re going to try new toppings every time we come, but the old ones are so yummy, we always go back to them.
During happy hour, the flatbreads are ½ off so you can’t go wrong! I always order a couple of savory ones and their nutella and fruit one so I’ve got leftovers the next day!
From 3−7pm M-​F, they also have mussels and drinks for ½ off. So we all head there after work and enjoy their fresh fruit mojitos and delicious food.
My friends love their mussels. I tried their parmesan and chili and garlic butter. Parmesan was much better but overall, I wasn’t impressed. Mussels were small and some still had a fishy flavor to them. So, they weren’t clean all the way, and that’s not something I play with. However, my friends have ordered them a number of times, and they promised and I’ve seen that was a one-​time thing. I also didn’t get any bread with my mussels, so first and last time I’ll order them.
Something I would love to order are their ribs they had on their July BBQ menu. Those ribs are easily the best in the city. Fantastic baked beans and wonderful homemade potato salad. Love how no two potato salads are the same! And Salu’s is definitely a keeper. The brisket was too dry and needed more of the amazing BBQ sauce.
Service is also usually amazing. When we first went, all their servers were either big black men and tiny blondes. Now, it’s not-​so-​big black men and slender brunettes. They’re not fat but not the waifs of the blondes of the past. The brunettes are also better servers than the blondes and much nicer!
Last time we were there, we were a party of 8 which ended up being 9 that arrived in fits and spurts over a couple of hours. Other places would have been pissed and demanded our entire party be there before sitting us. Instead we were able to order drinks and food to our content as our friends shuffled in. The server was attentive and friendly the entire time.
They’ve also got a parking lot with a security guard who actually watches you go into Salu and leave. On busy Magazine, it’s great to not have to hunt for parking.
No wonder Salu unanimously is in our Top 5 Restaurants and voted the best place for Happy Hour.
They’ve also got a wonderful brunch too, but with $ 15 bottomless mimosas and bloody Marys, get here early to avoid the hour long wait.

Salú has a delicious array of mussels, their drinks are fabulous and their happy hour is generous. I’m talking half off the *entire* bar, mussels and the flat bread! If you’re looking to dine al fresco, they have a good number of outside tables. Their oysters were good, too!
Why 3 stars, then? The food is great but the service is «mixed» as Rene D. says it.
Greg (maybe the owner or GM?) is such a pleasant presence. We’d see him while dining at nearby restaurants during happy hour. He’s tirelessly taken 3000 photos of groups of us, always smiling and is great conversation. He’s the reason we finally tried Salú. So glad we did.

My all time go to place for happy hour and tapas and oh yes, wine! This is a great place to chill back with wine and have small plates of food. I like to get different things on the menu such as the margherita flatbread which has tomato, garlic, and mozzeral on it. Other flatbreads I also like to get are the carne (meat all over!), duck confit (who doesn’t love duck), and B.L.T.
You can never go wrong with calamari, the cochon fries, ceviche, and oh my gosh the pork belly! I basically love the whole menu. It all goes great with any wine or drink of course.

Great ambiance. Nice menu selection. Week night reservations are probably not necessary, but I suggest making them for weekends unless you don’t mind eating outside in the humidity.
Our server made wonderful suggestions. All of the food was great. The red sangria, however, was awful. As was their version of a French 75. But they have a good wine selection, so we ended up with something that paired well with the vast variety of tapas we ordered.
All-​in-​all, I’d recommend this place to anyone looking for a small plate, tapas, sharing style dinner.

Salu is not the type of place I typically enjoy eating & it’s not due to the style cuisine. Alas, we went today and it really was not bad.
Pros:
Location, price point, outdoor seating, flatbreads are pretty good, & friendly service. The manager there is always around. Their brunch special is a great value — bottomless drinks.
What I don’t like:
I think the food is just ok & it’s almost like ½ the menu is just pizza now. I would like to see more Mediterranean or Spanish dishes. The smell… I find every time I have been to Salu and spent even a few minutes inside, all of my clothes smell awful (like fried food). Even sitting near the door will result in smelly clothes. When the restaurant is full, it’s extremely Loud inside.

There was a time I used to frequent Salu pretty regularly a few years back then it sort of fell off for me and we took a little hiatus. I found myself back in Salu’s arms recently and can glad’y say they have won me over yet again. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw quite a lot of new items on the menu. Namely the mussels. They had a variety of choices and one looked more appetizing than the next. We opted for the classic mussels and it was a winner. Bursting with flavor that I excitedly sopped up with my side of fries. I love share plates because you can try a bunch of stuff. The calamari was another highlight for me, which came with a really good dipping sauce.
Salu is a great place for a group or for a date. The share plates definitely promote a social atmosphere. The service was on point as our server was friendly and recommended some great options for drinks and food.