Canal Street Bistro

Fantastic menu with some really great specialty drinks and exceptional service. Chef Mike's gumbo is top notch!
Papoossa shrimp brunch ????

Total unexpected hit among my friends. Our other brunch plans fell through so someone found Canal Street Bistro on Yelp and they had room for a group of 5 without a wait (huge plus!)

We ordered pancakes, a latke, two custom omelets, the mid city breakfast, and a chicken Caesar Salad (). The seasoned fries that come with the eggs are INCREDIBLE. They are well seasoned and so crispy. I wish I had a picture of them. The biscuit that came with the omelet was buttery and flaky. The fresh OJ was very nice.

Service was great - they offered to turn off the fan for us when we were feeling cold and then changed the temperature of the AC. The waiter checked on us numerous times. We left extremely happy and borderline in a food coma.

Food looked amazing. I had the crab cake Bennie, which was super tasty, but my partner had the chicken and waffles, which wasn't. The waffles are made with some type of cornbread mix? They were dense with a weird texture. Not what anyone expected.

Service was not great. Had to ask multiple times for water refills and for a coffee I had ordered. My friends said it used to be much better and it seems there may have been a staff turnover and management change. So perhaps they have not found their groove yet.

The food was great, especially their soup. I got the chicken and waffles and was satisfied but overly enthusiastic. Good bloody Mary's but its front end was ran by college kids and at times they seemed more enthusiastic about anything but service to the customer.

Let me just say the hostess was the best! She was very helpful when I called in with questions. She greeted us warmly and did a great job checking in while we waited on our server. She even followed up after the meal to see how everything went. The food was good. Pictured below is the chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits, and duck enchiladas. I had the shrimp and grits. They were tasty, but not necessarily the best I had. The biscuit that came with it was amazing! If the wait wasn't so long from being seated to actually getting our food, I would have given 5 stars.