Lunch at Mr. B's Bistro
Mr. B's Bistro on Royal Street has been a local favorite and tourist delight for many years now, and the restaurant is only getting more and more well-known. But you don't have to wait until dinner time to have an amazing meal here. The lunch service is delightful, and it has perks that other times don't include.
Lunch at Mr. B's Bistro Starts off with a generous $5 parking for up to 3 hours at Solari's valet garage on Iberville Street. To avoid the sidewalk, there's a special marked back entrance to Mr. B's just beyond the valet window. You'll feel like a VIP going through this entrance, past the private dining room, getting a peek at Executive Chef Vincent Sciarrotta's exciting kitchen, and finally into the main dining room. With your entree, you are entitled to $1.50 Bloody & Mary's or martinis on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. These deals are hard to find anywhere else.
On the day that I enjoyed lunch, I sampled several appetizers: Fried Oyster, Duck Spring Roll, and Eggplant Sticks. I don't often have duck, but the spring rolls had an intense, aromatic Asian zing that I adored. The Eggplant Sticks were fried perfectly to keep the eggplant from becoming mushy.
The Gumbo Ya Ya here is a dish that I'm going to be dreaming about. A silver urn poured out the viscous, piping hot gumbo into a big bowl. The aroma wafted from it immediately. The chicken and Andouille sat in a thick, dark roux that clung to the spoon. That's the kind of gumbo I find irresistible. It's like tasting the very earth of our state. Not to be outdone, I had the exquisite Grilled Redfish for an entree. A hearty portion of grilled fish seasoned so well was served next to rice embedded with soft, hot pecans. I slathered the provided lemon butter sauce all over the fish and green beans, and still didn't even use all of it.
These desserts were way too huge not to share. I selected the Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake. Though it looked like chocolate, it tasted like straight caramel which was so interesting. It was rich and decadent that it was hard to get all the way through, but I also knew I would regret now having every single bite. Though lunching in the French Quarter has changed as office spaces are less full since the pandemic, Mr. B's Bistro was quite busy for this service. Some businessmen had their regular lunches, and visitors got their first taste of what makes this restaurant's famous lunches so unique.
