Nola Bistro

The food was good but I heard a waitress complain with a strong vietnamese accent. I thought it was pretty funny though xD

Good food but lack luster service.
The décor is all very nice and new.

The spicy hue noodle soup is delicious and the right amount of spice. But everyone’s tastes is different. Love spicy food definitely order!!! Tempura shrimp and veggies absolutely love them with house dressing. The beignets this time were a little too greasy.

The Beau and I stopped here on our way back from Muskegon, and boy am I glad that we did! We both got the phở, 1 banh mi, and two different goi cuons (regular and grilled pork). Everything was delicious! I was very impressed! I really like the depth of flavor of the phở. Although the banh mi was small, it had great flavors! I see on the menu that they have creole food options, and if I am ever in the area again, then I’ll definitely stop by again.

Had the grilled pork banh mi for take out here a while back. I think it was a little small, I’ve had larger banh mi with more meat in it. Tasted good though I was hoping for some lemongrass flavor in it. Is it regular for grilled pork banh mi to not have lemongrass? The most disappointing part was that there was no pâté spread on my sandwich, I was reeeeeally craving that.

I went there when they first open and order phở with beef and meat balls. My phở had three small slice of beef and three slice of meat balls. I have not been there since, so I do not know if they improve on their phở.

The food is really good — I love the phở (not the 100% best ever but pretty damned good) and the bhan mi sandwiches (YUM!). I’m hooked on the chargrilled pork sandwich.
I’ve had excellent service both in restaurant and as a loyal takeout customer. The restaurant is a nice place to sit down for lunch — a little more modern and stylish than one might expect.

This place is reallly clean and has great music for the background. Their phở is on point. I got the spicy phở (bun bo hue) and has more fish sauce on it. There are so much more selection to choose from. I recommend to any people want to try phở, this is a great place to start !

Ordered the grilled pork and egg roll noodle bowl, and waitress suggested peanut sauce instead of fish sauce, which was a great option if you don’t like fish sauce. My husband got the Vietnamese pork sandwich. The bread s phenomenonal. Also ordered bigness, which were hot, light and fluffy. Delicious! Next time I will try the gumbo!

It’s alright place. A bit pricey for a mediocre phở. I wouldn’t say its the best but if you are desperate, it’ll suffice. The phở broth is not as good as Asian Finest but if you are on this side of town, it’ll fill you up.

I knew I wanted to go to a Creole restaurant when I visited East/​Lansing last weekend, since my city (Grand Rapids) doesn’t have any specifically Creole restaurants. I browsed a few on Unilocal and found this place — Vietnamese and Cajun? I was intrigued.
We drove up to a nondescript building in a strip mall and found a cute little bistro/​café with white tablecloths. We went on an off time, at 3pm on a Sunday, so there were only a few other diners. The menu includes most Vietnamese appetizers, phở, po-​boys, gumbo, crawfish etoufee, rice plates and banh mi. I knew I wanted Creole, because in addition to having zero Creole restaurants in GR, we have a ton of Phở/​vietnamese places. I ordered the seafood gumbo, which had chicken, sausage, and shrimp. The proteins were all cooked perfectly, not overcooked at all like some gumbos. The flavors were great and very traditional. My boyfriend had the shrimp po-​boy, which was awesome. The bread was perfectly toasted but not too crunchy. We had to try the beignets, of course! They were decent.
Service was super fast, and the prices are reasonable. I don’t know that I would stop in again anytime soon, but I’m really glad to know this place exists!

Great lunch after taking a tour of the Capital buildings. Fresh food, nice portions. Highly recommended.

While everyone is waiting to get into all the mainstream places for Valentine’s Day this hidden jewel had available seating. Very nice dining area, clean and inviting. The service was great and even with a full dining room we did not need to shout to hear each other. My sister was in town from Alaska where fresh shrimp is easy to get. She decided on the shrimp po-​boy and loved it. Said the shrimp here was very good. My husband opted for a pork/​rice dish and said it was wonderful as well. I did a noodle bowl and was delighted that I did not get let down with my favorite flavors I look forward to with Vietnamese foods. For desert we did the Nola beignets and let me tell you it was AMAZING. We drove an hour and a half and we do not regret it at all. We will return again!

It’s all about the broth, and there’s something different about Nola Bistro’s phở flavor that makes it spectacular. It’s almost a cinnamon-​like undertone, which sounds weird, but I want to inject the broth into my veins.
We were thrilled to have a Vietnamese restaurant open up in the area — and so close to our home! It’s our favorite cuisine and we’ve sampled phở from all corners or the U.S., and Nola’s is right up there with the best. I also like the quality meats they use — sometimes I find phở meat to be too fatty or scrappy, but theirs tastes like you could easily eat it on a plate as a meal. My husband is a banh mi fiend as well and loves the chargrilled pork order, however did not care for the banh mi with ham.
Nola Bistro also offers Cajun cuisine, which we’ve only dabbled with since we love their Vietnamese stuff so much, but it’s also fantastic. I love their fish po boy; the sauce is amazing! The bourbon dip appetizer with crispy baguettes is also addicting and something you don’t find on a menu every day.
We’ve eaten at Nola many times now and initially the service had a ton of room for growth with unskilled waiters who seemed a little immature (I actually heard a noticeably young waitress tell a customer «I’m paid to be nice» when being complimented on her service) but I’m thrilled that as of the last handful of visits it seems all the weeds and kinks have been worked out. Service has been really great! The owner is also AMAZING. She listens to her customers and even clued us in on some special request kitchen add ons as avid phở eaters that are off the menu.
Really, I can’t say enough about Nola Bistro. This is one of the better restaurants in the area and I wish them a ton of success.

Wow, this is a fun new foodie adventure… the décor is clean and a little fancy, I had the po-​boy sandwhich, very good and very fresh… my daughter tried soup n noodles with large chunks of beef,
very good, but the meat should be cut smaller, its hard to handle. Service is good, but they are still working out the rough edges, so give them some room to learn. Give it a try, the prices are great… and try the desserts. ;-)

Short version: great Vietnamese food for a very reasonable price!
I’ve been looking for a place that does bahn mi, and was super excited to find this place. I came with a group of friends for lunch and ordered the grilled pork bahn mi, chicken bahn mi, and spring rolls. The spring rolls were EXCELLENT, and between the bahn mi, I preferred the grilled pork. My friends agreed the grilled pork bahn mi was better than the roasted pork bahn mi, and the few who got phở loved it. I tried some of the soup, and it is very savory!
Staff was great and service was timely. Our waitress seemed a little inexperienced, but she was attentive and did a great job tending to our needs and requests. The restaurant itself is beautifully decorated. Really bright and airy, minimal but appropriate accent pieces. There’s a small outdoor seating area, but the indoors can comfortably seat 70 or so. The only gripe I have is accessing the parking lot. If you’re coming north on Waverly, making the left directly in front of Nola Bistro is next to impossible, but people try it anyways and cause issues in traffic. Parking is plentiful, though.

Delicious!
Yummy phở and po’boys…and not «good for Lansing» good, but objectively, good!
The phở broth is quite tasty, as others have noted — even the vegan version. There’s a separate list of vegan-​friendly options, including spring rolls, noodles, phở, etc.
And was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere. It’s not dumpy/​run-​down like many Lansing area establishments… it’s bright, new, and tasteful. Could be a proper date spot. White table cloths add class. Yet most menu items are quite inexpensive — $ 8 – 12. There’s a little outdoor partio & it’s open late (’til 10), so can have a civilized, later dinner hour on the weekends.
Will return!

This place is trying very hard to combine class with street food, Asian and creole. It seems to actually accomplish it.
We ordered the Shrimp and pork spring rolls on the recommendation of the waitress. They were delicious, as was the sauce that came long.
For our meal we split a Shrimp Po-​Boy with fries, and a bowl of Phở Nola.
For dessert we had beignets with raspberry sauce
Short list of things I’d change if it were me:
Add phở soup spoons (all we had were regular soup spoons which is less desirable with the deep phở bowls)
Remove number plaquards from the tables
Adjust the appetizers menu: list one spring roll with meat options, and either expand the options beyond spring rolls and hush puppies, or just keep it small.

Having lived in New York City and San Francisco, I do have a higher standard for food quality. It was refreshing to see a new Asian fusion restaurant in town, Nola Bistro. It was the first time I’ve ever seen a Vietnamese/​Cajun & Creole Restaurant. I was very impressed with the exterior of the building and even more so with the indoor ambiance and decorations.
All the employees were so friendly, courteous and prompt. We also met the owner who took the time to greet us and share a few stories. I give major respect to owners who take the time to talk to customers. :)
We ordered the shrimp spring rolls as an appetizer. I loved their peanut sauce, it had just the right amount of flavor with chopped peanuts to boot. Then we had a charbroiled pork bánh mí. I loved the spicy, sweet, and savory flavors all combined in each bite. I also liked that the bread wasn’t too hard and was lightly toasted. We each got a bowl of phở and were blown away at how great the broth tasted! We continued on our eating journey with a Shrimp Po’ Boy. It was not too heavy because they make their own breaded shrimp which were big and meaty! Of course we completed the meal with their infamous beignets. It was warm, fresh, and so scrumptious!
Overall, it’s been a memorable first time experience that has exceeded my expectations. This will definitely be one of my staple spots!

Was pleasantly surprised with my first visit here. The décor was very nice and the food was pretty good. I’m definitely confused by the combination of Vietnamese and creole food but oh well.
I got the shrimp Po Boy, the sauce was delicious and the shrimp was good, I would have liked a larger baguette and a choice of a side.
Several in my group ordered the Phở and the meat looked great (not like the mystery meat normally found in Phở) and the broth tasted delicious. The portions were large.
The beignets were just ok, not very authentic and came with a red sauce.
When we visited they had menu items marked with an ‘x’ that were available, other items were not because they «just opened». I would have liked the complete menu available upon opening. I wanted the Phở and Po Boy combo, they had both items but I was told I could not order them in the combo??? I think there was a communication barrier with the waitresses, which could be a negative factor for the restaurant.
Overall we were very pleasantly surprised and will definitely be back. It’s nice to have something different in the area!