Bootleggers Bar and Grill

Holy hell, we stopped in for a drink and ended up staying late, late into the night. Everyone was so friendly, they played what we requested on their laptop/​music system– we danced, we chatted, we flirted and got silly. An entirely unexpected night at a relaxed and fun filled establishment. The bar cat is a sweet little beastie, the manager was cool, the bartender was cool, the owner was cool– shit. Everyone we met was cool. Next time I’m in NOLA I’m definitely heading back here.
I read someone’s earlier review where they complained about this place copying another with chalkboard paint in the bathroom? Chalkboard paint isn’t a new or unique concept, especially not in a bar bathroom. To complain that this place copied another? Uhhh seems like a pretty petty thing to mention. Lots of places have this– waaay easier than repainting due to graffiti every couple weeks! The commenter must not get out much or work in any type of service industry. Anyway. My two cents.

Went here after a few drinks… This should’ve played in their favor but it certainly did not. I got the «gay balls» as they «unofficially» called them… (The shortening for gator balls which are as they described crab cakes with gator) these were overcooked into oblivion, overly chewy and lacking flavor. Next, fried pickles. I loved them but the batter was off. Next, burger… They claimed it would be done as medium, no way in hell. The cook left these burgers on the grill for just long enough to where there was no burning but absolutely no flavor left. The person playing the part as a cook obviously lacked any care or worry whilst doing his job. Also… What kind of bar had no bets on tap? There was only one «local» beer of any sort available. Abita in a bottle. Woo.
Ultimatum:
Looking for food? Go elsewhere.
Looking for a bar? Go elsewhere.
Extremely disappointing :(
Edit: This is an older review I had queued up from mid January 2013… things could have changed. I hope they have.

Popped in because, well, I got a little lost and I was STARVING. Didn’t get my mojito (yes I wanted one) because they had just used up all the mint. Went with my standard instead, good olé gin and tonic. Opted for the bowl of gumbo and I loved finding the crab claws within it. Entertainment consisted me watching the interactions between the crew and a dance outbreak in the limited floor space. Fun stumble-​upon

I am not sure what the other reviewers are talking about! Great service. Hot bartenders (thank you Paulette and Kim). Not a huge selection of beers but some Abita seasonals on tap and a great vibe. We saw the great Little Freddie King play here and the acoustics are superb. Food was great and Mike is a great cook and thanks to Matt for showing us a great time. Better than 95% of the places in the quarter. Will return!

Pretty much all the positive reviews of this place seem to be older, before they lost their cook and shortened the menu. Expensive sandwiches that weren’t very good and took over 30 minutes to get to us. The bartender was not very bright and spent most of the time we were in there on her phone. Overall just a bad experience here.

The one star is only for the performer, Domenic (otherwise I would give this dump a zero if I could). Disclosure, he is a friend of ours. But it is because of him we find new venues.
I had come on to Unilocal before taking a friend who is visiting us there. I felt the reviews were mixed, but it was worth the chance.
If you read below, you will see a complaint about them removing their gumbo from the menu. Well, at least there was a menu. When I asked for one I was told «we only have burgers.»
Well then, I guess we are having the burgers. So not worth it. Probably because the cook threw them on the grill and then went into the back for an extensive period to chat with co-​workers/​friends (?). I’m going to say 20 – 30 minutes. Patties just sitting there unmanned.
By the time we got the burgers they were charred, over cooked, dry and bland with a piece of kraft sliced fake cheese thrown on it. Bun was dry, slightly stale and not toasted. The fries had zero flavor (hey, didn’t they offer sweet potato fries? Nope, not last night).
AND — it was a TEN DOLLAR BURGER with $ 3 PBR. WTF???
And the service was non existent until about the last 10 minutes we were there. I even had to go up a few times to ask about the burgers as we could see them on the grill with no cook watching them.
Thankfully Domenic plays other venues because we will never return. And my apologies to our guest for taking him to such an awful place.

The crabcake sandwich is good, but the shrimp po-​boy is incredible! Staff is friendly. Like $ 12 per sandwich and worth it.

Fabulous entertainers! Met the best jazz guitarist playing today — Warren Battiste! Fantastic player and all round great person. It was an honor to meet and shake his hand.

We went to Bootleggers with high hopes, basing our expectations on previous Unilocal reviews. When we got there, there were two people working during a late lunch shift (about 1:30) — one waiter, and a man at the grill. Immediately upon sitting down and being handed menus, we were told «Don’t look at this part of the menu». It turned out that even with their reduced menu (which the reviews had warned about), they were still not offering a good bit of their selection. No matter: the four of us all ordered burgers, then settled in to wait.
And wait. And wait. And wait.
Twenty minutes later, the waiter came over and promised they were putting the finishing touches on our burgers and they would be right out.
Fifteen minutes after that, we seriously considered canceling our food order, paying our drink tab, and getting back on our way.
A full hour after we’d come in and sat down, our burgers finally came. The fries were cold and practically unpalatable. The onion rings we’d asked for, while hot, were tasteless. And, worst of all, the burgers were cold (I take that back — one was lukewarm) and definitely not worth the over forty-​five minutes we’d waited.
It’s very possible that this was an off-​day, but after this experience, none of us plan to return. The food was disappointing and the single waiter was too distracted by the football game to actually provide any prompt service. Definitely not something we want to repeat.

With so many bars and places to dine in New Orleans, it can be hard to choose. For the mellow minded, I suggest bootleggers. It’s pretty quiet but offers an affordable lunch with drinks to boot. They have some nice places to enjoy the food and bevies on their porch, makes for some nice people watching. The sweet potato fries are the way to go.

Drove into New Orleans late in the evening with limited food choices… luckily for us Unilocal steered us in the direction of Bootleggers. Everything else around on the street was pretty much closed at say… 11pm? Besides a patron or two at the bar we were the only people inside bootleggers, not to mention the only ones eating.
The woman and I shared a burger and sweet potato fries. The burger was about 2 pounds and so big I could hardly squish it in my mouth. The kids, and eventually me because they didn’t really eat, had the chicken fingers with regular fries. All in all the food was good, the burger juicy, and the sweet potato fries delish. What really stood out at bootleggers was the service. The guy manning the bar (sorry I forgot his name) was one of the most hospitable bartenders/​server/​cooks I have ever met. The man does it all folks! Not only did he give us recommendations for food, but he put on the disney channel and nickelodeon for the kids to watch on all the tv’s inside the bar.

Unilocal did it again. Was visiting from Austin, Texas. I was with my boyfriends family walking aimlessly in the french quarter. So i suggested we use the Unilocal app which brought me here. When I walked up I thought to myself «oh SHIT, I fucked up» Establishment wasn’t appealing. Boy was I wrong. Best damn Po Boy I had in Nola. And that’s because I went to the place that invented the po boy. Unilocal has never steered me wrong… yet. If you’re in Nola you shouldn’t be ordering chicken. Eat a Po’ Boy!

While running errands the other day, I decided to stop in to Bootlegger’s for lunch. The only other customer was leaving as I walked in. As I approached the bar, the bartender and the cook exchanged glances. Hey, cut it out! I’ve been in the service industry for a long time. I know that «Damn, I guess we’re not taking a break yet» look. So I gave them the same look they were giving each other, which brought a wan smile to the bartender’s face. The cook was harder to crack.
After studying the menu which had shrunk considerably since I was last there, I settled on the ½ lb Angus burger with sweet potato fries. Oh yeah, it was absolutely huge, monstrous, juicy, and alas, pretty bland. However, it was haute cuisine compared to the fries. I’m not sure why they have been getting such good reviews. They were pre-​packaged and frozen and they tasted like it. Virtually no flavor to be found.
In addition, there were lots of TVs in the room, all playing various cable and syndicated drama shows, but the sound was off in favor of loud top 40 and contemporary rap music — okay for some (e.g., gun-​toting 14 year olds dreaming of getting their big break on Maury Povich), just not my thing. Strangely enough, the mute feature didn’t diminish my enjoyment of «Law & Order: OMGWTF90210» or whatever the show was because I don’t watch it anyway, but that could be a bummer for fans of those shows.
Then I asked the bartender what happened to the other menu items, such as the famous gumbo. She said that during Mardi Gras, the gumbo was very popular and sold so well, it was taking up too much of their time. So they made larger batches of it. Then, summer hit like a business-​killing supernova and they had to throw a bunch of gumbo away. They decided it was too much trouble. So it was discontinued for being too popular and making them too much money? Only in NOLA. I think it’s possible that a chef left and took his recipe with him.
The bottom line is a huge, but blandish burger and tasteless sweet potato fries with PBR, tax and tip was $ 15. It’s very filling, but so many places around here have food that actually tastes good, so farewell Bootleggers. I’ll see you next time I’m passing by on my way somewhere else.

THE BEST SERVICE AND FOOD EVER!!!
My friends and I went to New Orleans For the weekend and we are sooooo glad that we stooped at the Bootlegger’s. They have the BEST PO-​BOYS EVERRRR!!! They were so good that we had to come back the next day. We also had the great company and conversation with the owner of the please witch made our visit even more agreeable.
OH! don’t forget to try the fry pickles.

Updating my review to 5 stars because Bootleggers now accepts credit.

We had been searching for a place that served good food very late and had failed (luckily) at 3 other places listed as such, and made it in right at closing and they made us Bootlegger sandwich’s which were so good we had to go back the next day. On the return trip we had the crawfish étouffée sandwich which was excellent, the awesome duck and andouille gumbo and the philly cheese steak sandwich which was good but I would explore more of the specialties before ordering it again.
The jalapeño infused tequila made a great margarita. I wish I had time to try some of the other infused liquors but that will be another reason to go back.
The service was excellent, they served us before closing on the first visit after they had started cleaning up the kitchen, and Roscoe and Hope make you feel right at home. We can’t wait to return to NO and have more time to eat here.
5 stars is for service, hospitality and food that is excellent and way better than I expected from a sports bar and especially at the great prices.

So… Let’s just say this was an end-​of-​the-​night stop. The chef served me the sandwich he was about to take home… That is customer service and certainly left an incredible impression. The sandwich was quite tasty (yes, I *do* remember it, thank you very much).The fries were a little soggy, but… The folks there were wonderful even while shutting down. Not quite my style of place, but that didn’t matter. Also nice when I’m not identified obviously as a tourist.
I doubt if the food here is a full-​on five-​star experience, but the people *definitely* are.

I feel bad busting the bubble here, but for me this was a standard bar with standard bar food.
I thought the space itself was comfortable, with plenty of televisions for watching college football (as was our plan that day). Service was friendly but a bit slow. However, I was excited about the food based on the reviews and ended up a bit disappointed. My boyfriend and I each ordered a cup of gumbo and shared some jalapeño hummus. I found the gumbo to be bland and pretty uninspiring. I’ve had better back in Utah. Maybe it was an off day? The hummus was fine, but when they were advertising jalapenos, I was expecting more of a kick.
We tried a bit of the bacon vodka and it was pretty interesting, though it would have been better if they used a higher quality vodka to make it.
There’s nothing wrong with this place, but then again, there’s nothing to get me back here when I visit New Orleans next time.

When we go to New Orleans we EAT! I was skeptical of this place as it is brand new. It exceeded our expectations! The gumbo was the best I have ever had. The color was as dark as the bayou mud and the flavor was much deeper. Also, the BBQ shrimp poboy was to die for. In fact, it probably could kill you with the amount of butter in there but hey, it’s new orleans!
Interesting drink options too: bacon bourbon?! Try the lumberjack in place of the usual bloody mary: bacon bourbon and maple syrup make the drink. They also have a great bacon vodka. Ok, so I like bacon…
Very reasonable prices. In fact, they are cheap. I would have gladly paid more for this quality of food.
They do only accept cash but have an atm located inside. Service wasn’t great but for a bar with this kind of food, you can’t complain. Definitely check it out!

When I go out of town, I like to map out where I’m going to eat so that I can make sure I hit some good spots. Bootleggers fell into my lap out of the blue because of some schedule changes. Basically at the last minute we decided to do two local tours with only a little over an hour in between them both for lunch. The tour company was really pushing us to eat at a place a few spots down from Bootleggers. That other place was mentioned during the tour booking, it was mentioned as part of the first tour that morning and it was mentioned again right before we ended the morning tour. I was worried because they were pushing that other place a little too much. As I used the Unilocal iPhone app to find alternatives, I saw only 2 reviews for Bootleggers, both positive. I was more willing to risk going to Bootleggers with 2 reviews over the other place that the tour company kept pushing. From what I was told, the owner of that other restaurant is part owner of the tour company.
Anyway, Bootleggers it is. Let me tell you, this place had some really good food! Very pleasantly surprised. It’s basically a small sports bar. They had multiple TVs playing the various Sunday football games. The bartender was cool and friendly. She made a few suggestions to us in regards to their menu. Overall pleased with everything.
I had the Crab Cake sandwich. This was a sandwich with a freaking huge crab cake. It was so good and tasted wonderful with Havarti. My wife had the Cuban sandwich with a side of sweet potato fries. I saw hers and wanted some so we decided to split each sandwich so we could try both. Personally I liked the crab cake sandwich better, but hers was really good too. Her sweet potato fries were nice; not overcooked or greasy.
The other thing I had that was probably the biggest hit for me was the Duck & Andouille Gumbo. This was a nice bowl of «MMMMM.» I would definitely come back just for this stuff. You have to try it. So, so good.
I’d like to check out this place at night. I’m not sure what the scene would be like. One thing to mention, and I don’t know if this was due to the fact we only ate lunch, didn’t have drinks or what, but they only accepted cash. They did have an ATM on hand, but we had cash on us so no issues.