Tastee Restaurant

I’ve been craving buttermilk drops since I moved here. I was told McKenzie’s (Tastee) is the only place I should try — «the best» my friend said.
Before I get to the dryness of the drop, let’s address the service.
The older woman in the front, at the counter, was extremely rude! I, as the customer, had to speak first. I ordered ice coffee, but she clearly is not aware of how to offer it or serve it.
Granulated, white sugar was my only sweetening option & NO cream. I used my usual amount of half & half and it was still black. I love strong coffee, not black mud that’s bitter. But the service! Terrible.
I rarely request refunds. I had to ask. Your coffee is higher than Starbucks, but disgusting??? She started loud-​talking me, so I had to ask her to calm down. Then, she slammed my money on the counter. Nasty Nasty NASTY.
Your buttermilk drop was hard & dry.
I’m giving you 1 star for being open. But I’d like to give you a minus 10 for your rude help.
I walked in with a smile & excited anticipation. Very disappointing guys…

We dont usually give bad reviews but sometimes you have no choice. We tried this place twice and twice disappointed. The filled donuts have about a nickle size amount of filling in a huge donut, except for this morning when they forgot to add any filling to four donuts. Cheryl was abnoxisly rude. Rude to the point, that she displayed bitterness, as if she was upset that she had to work on a Sunday morning. She was mad and condescending to me because I was talking about California Donuts with the cashier, his service was great. I told the guy that California Donuts had some unique donuts, we were not comparing their products, but Cheryl was upset she went off fuming saying, «who cares about what they have in California and we don’t need that here. What was even crazier, was that she said, Greece has nice things too, but we don’t need their things here either. Isn’t that the most bizarre thing? Do you know how it feels to gey hone and bite into you jelly filled glazed donut, inly to discover there is no jelly!!!
The other bad reviews on here are more accurate than the good reviews.

Tastee Restaurant is as close as you’re going to get to McKenzie’s unless you’ve got a time machine.
New Orleans is a unique place. If you ask someone where they went to school and they answer with anything other than their high school, they aren’t a local. It’s not that we don’t appreciate our colleges, but those dont really tell someone anything about you. Similarly we equate childhood memories with food even when the place that served it has vanished from the landscape.
Many of my favorite childhood memories involved trips to McKenzie’s to but pastries, cakes or cookies. I vividly remember my dad picking up turtles for my mom or my mom taking us to get treats during the summer or days off of school. McKenzie’s has been gone a really long time though along with all their recipies. According to the reviews on Unilocal and their own signage, Tastee bought and uses those old recipies, but I was skeptical.
Yesterday our politicians and media suggested the world was coming to an end via the weather. Since my work wouldn’t let me leave like the rest of the city I was sitting around waiting for Armageddon when I got a little sentimental and remembered something from my youth. Buttermilk drops. That’s right the little pillows of icing and cake donut that I loved as a kid. I figured if I’m going out from r good I may as well get a couple and see if they were the same as I remembered. I sent the rest of the day driving around city park taking bites of heaven that made me feel like a kid again. They were exactly as I remembered. Kudos to whoever sold those recipies.
Despite my attempt at storytelling none of this is probably useful to you. Since I want to be helpful I’ll also tell you that this is a full service bakery. Service was friendly and prompt and the ice coffee was pretty darn good. If you get some disregard the straw. It’s too big for the cup.
If you miss McKenzie’s you need to get here ASAP.

This particular Tastee reminds me more of a café than the other that I have been in. They all offer pretty much the same range of items from donuts to kastleburgers to bacon and eggs. Good prices, friendly staff and a clean restaurant. Parking can be tight occasionally, but that can be overlooked.

Good prices, solid food, so-​so dining room. Buttermilk drop and choc frosted devil’s food were tasty (no pun intended), moist and dense. Chocolate glazed was standard — nothing special. Clean place to dine-​in. District still tops our Nola donut list.

Please do not order the beignets. You will be extremely disappointed. Nothing more than a flat square of donut dough fried in dirty oil and sprinkled with powdered sugar. I was the only one in the place and was ignored by the little old lady cashier for nearly three minutes as I stood at the counter at 11:05 am. Three more customers came in as I was waiting for my order to come up and their egg sandwich and castle burgers were ready before my excuse for beignets. Ultimately, I had to ask the cashier to make mine to go because I didn’t realize it would take 15 minutes and I had an appointment down the street for 11:30.

McKenzie’s King Cake taste like my childhood. So happy it’s back. The meat sandwich is also good. I like the bacon and cheese biscuit.

just don’t waste your time ans money.

We come here at least every other Weekend for the hot breakfast plate. And although, it can be a bit of a hassle to place an order or a longer than expected wait, it has always been worth it. We usually go with the breakfast plate which includes eggs cooked your way, a meat selection if bacon or sausage, a side of hash browns or grits, and choice of bread. It is ALWAYS hot and fresh and made to order! Very Tastee! :)
As for the donuts… first thing in the morning is your best bet! They will do their best to accommodate you by taking basic glazed and Turing them into my favorite chocolate sprinkled in seconds! I love the glazed twist too!
As for king cake time, this place is my go to, other than Diane’s in Harahan. They have all if the McKenzie favorites such as the brioche kind cake without icing, and of course the new bead king cake made up of McKenzie’s famous buttermilk drops! Don’t even try to eat 2 pcs of this one!
Fresh scones, and other pastries are also available!
It is nicer inside the restaurant than in any other donut shoppe I have ever entered. Clean restrooms too!
Hot coffee is great, but if you need a fancy drink just pop over to Starbucks across the street!

Ohhh Tastee. And McKenzie. I wasn’t aware that they had merged, but it is what it is. Both were childhood names growing up. This shop had a decent line for its location. They were pumping out king cakes left and right! We had pre ordered 5 to bring to work… since they were baked that morning there was a bit of a wait. Definitely have to reserve that cakes ahead of time

Worst coffee i’ve had in Louisiana. Weak, watery, and $ 2.62. More like «rip offees.»
like this regional chain but there is no reason to.

This is not your average Tastee Donut. It is much more like a bistro inside. That being said, the service on the day I went was pretty reminiscent of the Tastee franchise. We did go the day before Mardi Gras, so I understand they were busy, but not nearly as busy as their very long line would imply. They were INCREDIBLY slow cashing people out, and, even though they had a staff member going down the line to try to preemptively fill orders, she couldn’t make any of their more sophisticated coffee drinks or do much except grab you a donut.
Being the compulsive planner I am, I ordered my king cakes several days before I picked them up. The first time I called, I was put ‘on hold’ which consisted of the phone being laid down where I could still hear everything going on. I was just enjoying my morning coffee at home, so I gave them 10 minutes of having me on hold before hanging up. Of course when I tried to call back, the phone was still off the hook, so I got the eternal busy signal. Well played Tastee. Later in the day, I decided to try again to reserve my little bit of Mardi Gras bliss. This time my order was taken right away, but not without its own issues. The person on the phone literally had to refer every one of my questions to some 3^rd party not included in our conversation. I don’t feel it’s too much to ask to have employees know the cost of their king cakes or approximately how many people it would feed.
Although the service was pretty much as slow as Christmas, the establishment itself was nice. There were plenty of tables, and it was very clean.

Absolute garbage!
From the rude service, staff’s inability to perform basic addition, liquid carton egg breakfast products, microwaved and reheated burgers to the god awful decorations in the this place they just need to be closed and evicted. Such a waste of prime sf and and the Lupo’s should run their butts out the building/​neighborhood. I am sure there are tenants ready to line up and pay more for that lease space and would provide the neighborhood with better product. When does their lease run out?

Always have issues getting served properly and timely at this location. I have been left to wait, recieved over one dozen donuts thrown in a bag, over looked in line… pitiful! I don’t know why I continued to go back but today was the last straw.
I have met several other folks from my neighborhood (Gentilly) that have had this experience with this location and are not aware of ways to air their grievances online. They merely just plan «not to come back». I plan on spreading the word!
Guess my money isn’t good enough!

It’s in a shopping center and we almost missed it. We were hungry one Sunday morning and wanted to go eat by the Lake. Once we walked in I was so confused by the surroundings! It’s like walking into a middle aged woman’s house. She has decent money but no decorating skills whatsoever. So you’ve got a marble countertop and table tops, a bathroom so large that someone could sleep in it comfortably, and weird cutesy signs & wreaths hanging everywhere. I think I saw a game room in the back? What the hell.
The service was laughable. Two slow, stringy haired, miserable looking women were running the place and it was odd. We placed our ordered and 5 minutes into waiting, realized we forgot to ask for it to go. This threw her all off and she hollered the request into the kitchen. That woman came out and looked around, blinking confusedly until our cashier repeated that it was to go, two more times. They had a help wanted sign so I imagine they’ve got a bit of a skeleton crew happening right now maybe?
But you know what? The bun on the hamburger my husband ordered, & my croissant egg sandwich, were so light, so fluffy and fresh, I didn’t care what the place looked like or who served it to me. As you can tell from my other reviews, it doesn’t take much to please me in the breakfast department. Simplicity, freshness, & fluffiness is all I ask. Tastee satisfied my hunger, & my curiosity, for sure but not sure that I’ll be a regular here.

Mama likes those bread-​ball burgers — you know, the ones you order a sack full of when you’re drunk. She saw this place, and had to have ‘em. I had an apple fritter. It wasn’t bad, but not transcendent either. Perhaps if it had been warm, my experience would have been greater. Speaking of warm, the burgers could have been warmer.
They make beignets to order.
Their service is quick.
The place is convenient if you live in Lakeview.

This has to be the fanciest Tastee Donuts ever! The inside is like a fancy café not a diner… which is pretty much every other Tastee. I guess Harrison Ave rates fanciness.
I buzzed in here on Epiphany to pick up an old school McKenzie’s King Cake. (Yes I know not NOLA natives don’t get the appeal, but if it’s what you grew up with you would love it too.) I also discovered that they carry many other McKenzie’s items including the raspberry jelly roll, so, of course, I had to buy that too.
For those who remember the jelly roll, the difference is that it comes in the roll instead of pre-​sliced so that makes it way fresher than the ones you remember. My Mom, uncle & brother2 gobbled it up.
Weirdly, the king cake from the Tastee’s on West Metairie was way tastier than the one here. I’m thinking I got one where the dough was overmixed which made it a little tough. I will have to go back and try again.

Got my Mckenzie’s king cake! This place gets 5 stars purely for that.

Reminds me of the original mckenzies. Buttermilk drops are just ok, Im more impressed with the Buttermilk drop spot but all of the other items, the turtles the donuts and the other items were very good. You must get the pettite fours. They bring back memories of of my youth.

Go here for the food, which is phenomenal. The restaurant is gaudy with way over the top furniture: marble tables, heavy wood, paintings. It’s a cross between coffee shop, home, and donut shop. It boils down to being a coffee shop restaurant that is run like a donut shop.
Tastee shop is a donut shop that sells Tastee brand donuts (made fresh at the shop) and McKinzie’s recipe cakes and treats. It’s located in a yellowish-​orange strip mall on Harrison. It’s easy to miss because it doesn’t really have a sign. There is a Tastee Donuts sign in the window but other stores in the strip mall have their signs on the exterior of the building, making the Tastee sign unnoticeable.
The service is not good. You MUST order at the counter. I think the other reviewer was confused and expected waiter service. It’s run like a donut shop.
The employees are the problem with the restaurant. They are pretty weird and unprofessional – like donut shop employees. Usually they are smoking outside or watching television in the customer area. When a customer arrives they complain and shuffle back behind the counter. It just makes the place look tacky and uncomfortable. They really need new personnel to interact with the customers because the nice atmosphere of the restaurant is ruined by the current employees. Worse, they invite the pizza delivery guys and other service personnel over from nearby restaurants and all sit in front smoking away. Customers never stay inside, as a result.
A television mounted above the door is the only noise inside. It’s distressing that the employees sit in the tables and watch as though they own the place. This is just a sign of mismanagement and could be easily fixed.
The shop is setup to promote studying and group parties. There are A LOT of tables, wifi, electrical outlets, etc. I wish they could get their act together because the facility and the food are both pretty good, even if the décor is a bit on the tacky side.
Overall, the food is amazing! It’s clean, it’s nice, and yes… it’s tastee! I recommend stopping in for donuts but not staying until they can get better personnel. If you are nostalgic for McKinzie’s then this is also your best bet. If they don’t have something that you want, you can special request it. They own ALL of McKinzie’s recipes.