Junction

³⁄₅ for what it is in the area, i guess ok.
not as big of a fan of the spot. i think it’s cool, there’s just something slightly missing for me every time i’ve gone. they are cool folks and very friendly, but i think i find the food pretty lacking. the only thing i’ve really particularly enjoyed has been the fried veggie basket (tempura style). i’ll gladly order 2 of those to share and steer clear of the burgers.
the beer selection seems fine for along st. claude, but i wouldn’t make it a destination.

Steve the Bartender, Server and all around good guy takes care of all his Patrons to the fullest. Junction is a very nice place that you wouldn’t know from the outside. Next time your in the Bywater area stop in and give them a try.

Burger joint out in the Bywater. Sort of off the beaten path, but the train themed bar/​restaurant is a culinary gem. Street parking was easy enough to find on a Thursday afternoon. Good selection of brews on tap including multiple local varieties for those that are ethanol inclined. The booths are comfortable and extra points for repurposing old train seats. The burgers are incredibly scrumptious. I got the Central Vermont. The thick juicy burger was well seasoned and cooked medium well just as I asked. The applewood bacon was thick and crispy, not that burnt crusty abomination passing as bacon in other places. The sharp white cheddar complemented the green apple and maple sauce well. The fresh buns are soft but are sturdy enough to handle the considerable contents of the burger. My friends got the Boxcar, Kansas City Southern, and the veggie burger. They all loved their selections as well. The hand cut fries are gently salted and crispy. A great complement to the full flavors of the burger. Honesty, this is one of the best-​if not THE best– burger I’ve had in New Orleans!

This is clearly a beer place (tons of taps and bottles) but they do have a full bar. Bartender kindly let us know that we should come up to the bar to order. My wife and I both had the Central Vermont burger. It was really good. Huge slabs of bacon on those bad boys. Great white cheddar cheese. And some sliced apple, which gives it a little bit of crunch. Great fries, too. I regret not trying the fried pickles… next time, perhaps.

There isn’t a better burger in New Orleans! so far I’ve tried three of the signature burgers, and I cant decide if between the New Mexico, Kansas City, or Vermont to take the title of which one is the best. The bartenders on staff are very knowledgeable on what is on draft, Mick and Liz know their beers. Friendly staff is the understatement of the century. If there is a game on you want to watch, ask, and if possible, they’ll throw it on the tube. Haven’t missed an NHL Playoff I’ve wanted to catch yet! The draft beer is rotating, so there is always something new to try. If you’re visiting New Orleans and don’t stop by to grab a pint and a burger, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

This little spot doesn’t receive the recognition it should. It’s just passed St. Roch market. They have great burgers and burger combinations. I like that you can get a smaller burger patty for those days that you just can’t handle the monster ones. We also love the fried veggie basket and the fried pickles. It’s a cute little place that also has many craft, local, and micro beers. They are open on Sunday’s!

Great burgers, fries, wings, and surprisingly awesome salads. I usually get the cob salad and it’s huge. I’m a carnivore and this satisfies my stomach hole cravings (it has plenty of chicken.) Great beer selection and awesome bartenders keep me coming back.

Junction is a local hangout in the Bywater district on St. Claude which has a surprising amount of fast moving traffic. Even for a Tuesday. A super Tuesday at that. I was merely seeking a port in the storm. The time of arrival was about the time the locals started filtering in so we grabbed a booth. The bartender was very friendly and said she would bring the beers over after she poured them. After that the the action began immediately.
The night started out with a political argument at the bar between a young filly and an old geezer. The geezer was for Donald Trump and the young filly was for Bernie Sanders. At least that’s what it sounded like. The Geezer compared Donald Trump’s border fence with The Great Wall of China and the young, cute lil’ filly said that Trump is winning based upon saying «stupid shit». Then the old geezer went after Hillary saying she was «corrupt as all hell.» Then the bartender chimed in and added her opinion too. Somebody else said that communism caused the Great Wall of China to come down. Somebody else said that socialism was not communism. Blah, blah, blibbedy, blah, etc, etc.
Then the «debate» took an even more shrill tone when the geezer wanted to know «how old» the gals were. The geezer tried to score a debate win for Donald Trump by trumping his fellow debaters with the «age card» whereby he is «older and wiser» but that jumpshot by him got stuffed. That’s when the debate began to sound like the debaters were no longer using language. All I could hear after that between them was vocalized noises that sounded like shrill, shrieking monkeys were fighting with crows, a grizzly bear, a wild hog, and two walker or bluetick hound dogs baying at the show from the stands. The noise built to a fevered pitch and then if got suddenly and TOTALLY quiet.
Then the food came.
But much UNLIKE politics the authentic and delicious bar fare food at Junction is wholesome and simple. I was torn at first but instead of the burger, I opted for the fish and chips which were perfect and fried to perfection ! And they DID come served with malt vinegar and a Cajun-​Creole tartar sauce. The fresh cut fries were perfect as was the whitefish fillets. Just as it should be.
Beers consumed were local Bayou Touché LA31, Bayou Teche Biere de Mars, and finishing out with Terrapin Hoppinator (Athens, GA), and a St. Arnold Santo Black Kolshe.(Houston, TX). It is also important to note here that while Abita brews seem to get more press and national acclaim that the Bayou Touché brews don’t get as much attention that I believe they are due:

Aside from politics whether local or national, the best part of eating and drinking at Junction is that when you vote in favor of either beer or food that the decision is not that critical. You can trust when you order more beer and food at the Junction that the decision will be good and it won’t destroy the entire nation. And that is something we all could and should feel really good about on most days.
So as the presidential election draws nearer just know that I am YOUR Unilocalbuddy, Madman and you can always trust my reviews! This review was actually written by me and I approve of this message!

Wow! Let’s start with the beer selection. Pretty awesome! I was able to have a Goose Island Bourbon County Stout before they ran out. Great mix of local and national breweries. 40 on tap plus a ton more bottles and cans. Outstanding selection. Ok, now for the food. Tijuana wings are delicious! Loved the lemon pepper seasoning and the Caesar Salad dressing for dipping! I’ve been there several times. I’ve tried the Central Vermont Burger, the Kansas City Southern, and the city of New Orleans. All were great, but if I had to choose a favorite I’d go with the Central Vermont. The bartenders I’ve encountered are all super cool. I wish I lived closer!

The service is so, so very terrible. It isn’t the folks who’re working there, they work their asses off and are super friendly, so it must be management. Hire more people! Please. Everyone will thank you! The last couple of times I’ve eaten there, half of us will get their meals and then the rest will get theirs when the first group is nearly finished. It sucks.
Additionally, please, lay off the salt. The wings of a person in my party last time were inedible they were so salty. The burgers, both veg and non-​veg are Just. TOo. Salty. The beer selection is great, altho a bit pricey. But, overall, just hire more servers/​bartenders. Until then, I won’t be eating there.

Manfriend & I went half and half on two burgers. One was the Central Vermont (12 $) burger & the other was the Kansas City Southern (11 $) + bacon (1 $). We added fries to each burger (1 $/​per burger).
The CV was unique with the grilled apple & maple sauce. However, I felt that the concoction as a whole was to sweet for me. The KCS is your typical BBQ, mushrooms, onions, & cheddar burger.
Burgers appeared to be cooked medium/​well and served on a brioche roll. I don’t consider myself a burger snob but I’m giving Junction two stars because I’ve had way better burgers elsewhere.
The fries aren’t anything worth mention either. However, I did try their wings. I forgot which flavor and those were pretty delicious.

My entire experience was positively wonderful!
The place doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the inside is quite nice. It has a clean, inviting, and laid back atmosphere.
We sat ourselves and the waitress/​bartender immediately brought us menus and asked if wanted the beer list. I appreciated that she didn’t assume we wanted to drink given that it was just noon.
She took our drink order while we looked at the menu which had a descent selection without being overwhelming. This is definitely a burger and wing place but they also offer salads.
I chose the Southern Pacific burger: house made black bean patty, monterey jack cheese, avocado, sprouts, and house-​made salsa. I elected to leave the salsa off. The food came out in appropriate amount of time.
It was amazing! ¹⁰⁄₁₀ The best burger I have ever had, and for a veggie burger that’s an even bigger compliment. The freshness of the avocado and the sprouts perfectly compliment the bean patty and cheese. The house-​made fries were also delicious.
Service was great, food was great, will definitely be back!
Other pluses: street parking, clean, gender neutral restroom.

It’s tough to find a good burger in New Orleans. Company Burger is great, but they lack the tavern atmosphere and superb beer collection of the Junction.
I’ve tried over three burgers there, and the meat has been of superb quality, not overcooked, on delicious buns with a variety of flavorful toppings such as thick cut bacon or fried pickles.
The fries are some of the best I’ve had in the city as well.
As a bonus, they are open very late every night.

I hate writing one-​star reviews. But I truly felt that this place lacked in almost every area. We went there late Friday night around 10:40 p.m. to grab wings, since we were in the area.
1. there was only one server; she was the bartender, server, and buser.
2. i ordered the crescent wings, described as «sweet and savory.» there was no sweet, nor was there savory.
3. friend ordered regular wings, but she returned them because she said they were nasty; too dry.
4. we also ordered the big cobb salad. it was good. I gave to my friend since she didn’t have anything.
5. the server should have told us BEFORE WE ORDERED that their credit card machine was down. had she informed us, we would have either gone to the ATM or went elsewhere. perhaps she knew that — whatever the reason she didn’t tell us was dirty.
6. my friend had money for her salad, but i do not carry cash. So… i waited for around 30 – 35 minutes — they called the IT people, they couldn’t get it, blah blah blah. I asked the server if the restaurant could eat the cost of the wings ($ 7.00) since it was taking so long, and we weren’t notified at the beginning of our meal. she said no.
7. i should have just walked out, but i was really trying to do the right thing. looking back, i should just said «deuces,» and left.
8. Finally the machine was up and running. My bit was $ 7.00. She charged my card $ 11.00. I verified that my card should have been $ 7.00, and she threw the $ 4.00 cash on the bar.
9. I felt bad for her, because it was not the server’s fault; but i WAS frustrated that she did not inform us appropriately, until we got the bill. That was wrong, in my opinion.
So, i will not return. The ambiance is young and hipster, with head-​banging type music playing. Not so much my scene. I would have been OK with it had everything else not occurred.
That was one of the worst experiences i have ever had at a restaurant, and I felt very torn leaving; angry, frustrated, feeling bad for her, but annoyed.

I’ll be honest– after reading some of the reviews of The Junction I was pretty hesitant about going here after a friend suggested this spot for dinner. He said he had been here before and that it was good, so I took his word for it.
We stopped in here around 9 on a Saturday night for some burgers and beers, since that is what they do here. First of all, you should know going in that you have to order at the bar. Yes, you can sit in a booth, but order at the bar. We decided to sit at the bar, mainly because I can’t with the up-​down every time I want something and the bar had plenty of seating.
They have a really incredible beer selection here and they give you a nice menu of beers that you can leaf through and make your decision. Even though it was a Saturday night, the place wasn’t packed at all and we were served pretty quickly.
With drink in hand, I looked over the menu. My friend suggested the fried veggies to start so we went with that. I also decided to get the Central Vermont burger which is a burger topped with bacon, white cheddar, a grilled apple and maple sauce. Weird, right? Maple sauce on meat. There is a note on the menu that says that all of the burgers are cooked medium here, unless otherwise requested. They say it’s because it’s lean meat that comes from one single animal, so this is how it tastes best. Science! Sure, sign me up.
The food came really quickly. The fried veggies were really good and I could tell the veggies were fresh, even though they were coated in a layer of batter. Hey, fried vegetables are healthy, says I! The burger came and oooh man. This thing was packed with all kinds of goodies. The cheese did that thing that melted cheese is supposed to do when you cut through it. Like, it got all melty. I don’t know the technicalities, but it did that. The burger was big and delicious and the maple sauce and apple were oddly perfect on it. The bacon was nice and crispy– just the way I like it. I really enjoyed the combination of the apple and the sauce, and the burger was just great. I couldn’t even finish all of it, so I just took the other half to go. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that fries are a dollar extra.
All in all, my experience here was pretty tasty and I would definitely return. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that The Junction has the best burger in the city, but they do have a pretty darn good one.

Omg what a gem. That burger was so good! The bun is so delicious! And the mushrooms and onions on the Kansas City (I think that’s the name) were savory and so tender. The Memphis wings were extremely delicious as well.
I went at lunch time and it was pretty quiet at first but then there was a nice little crowd. There was only one waiter but he was pretty cool. Definitely a large beer collection but i had to go to work so I didn’t dabble.

This bar definitely sticks out on St. Claude. It reminds me more of Seattle or Minneapolis type joint, with sterile interior and the plethora of microbrews. I would hold that against it though. Stopped in for the crayfish boil and left happy. They confused our orders a couple times and forgot a few appetizers but all the employees were very friendly and helpful. Crayfish was done right and a very fair price. My buddy had a burger and swore by it.
Outdoor seating was nice but limited.
Good joint to pig out in a more yuppie atmosphere.

I’ll be honest I was a little hesitant to try this place one because of the very negative reviews and second because one of my coworkers brought me a burger from here few weeks back and it was nothing to be excited about.
Today I had a great experience and an even better burger. The place is great and while I only had a cider I look forward to trying some of the many craft beers they have on tap.
I ordered the Kansas City Southern and it was perfectly cooked and the onions and mushrooms were great. Please do yourself a favor and add the bacon. Where I was a little disappointed was the french fries but I am very particular about fries so I’ll let this one go.
I will put this place to the test again soon and maybe when it’s a bit more busy to see if any of the problems mentioned in other reviews come-​up.
For now I stand by my four star rating.
PS during crawfish season they do a boil every Thursday night so I hope to try it out soon.

Angry.
Embarrassed.
Regretful.
This is how I felt upon a recent visit to Junction.
NOTE — We had several guests visiting from out of town. Decided to walk on over to the new local spot that opened in our hood. My wife and I always gravitate to local burger joints so we wanted to give it a whirl.
Setting: Mardi Gras Evening
Location: Bywater
Timing: 8pm
Us: Hungry 6-​top
Bartender?
Waiter?
Asshole?
Guy behind bar serving tables and throwing hissy fits?
I don’t know who he was but any of those descriptors will do.
The male diva serving us was a dick.
Plain and flat out… A dick.
He was so pissy it was laughable.
Not sure if he is cut out for the Hospitality Industry.
Long story short, he hated us.
He hated the table next to us.
He hates his job.
He clearly hates himself.
And he likely hates his boss.
Hey dickhead — Quit. (likely the best tip you’ll get all month)
Unfortunately for us, the downward spiral had only just begun.
We found ourselves at the Junction of ShitTown and PissVille sharing a bus with this dick and the wheels were about to fall off.
Our food took over an hour to come out.
OVER AN HOUR.
To that point, the 6 top that sat next to us received their food well before we did.
They were pissed too.
Asking about our food to the waiter only brought out slamming of drinks, stomping of feet and real shitty language.
Knowing how complex burgers are to cook in a kitchen I was trying to remain patient.
First you have to slaughter a cow.
Then there is the grinding of the meat.
Shit, I asked for pickles.
Guess he had to pick a cucumber and throw it in a quick brine.
Those buns those.
Can’t forget about them either.
Gotta let that dough proof for like 3 hours, right?
Shit…and the mustard. Don’t let me forget that.
First soaking the seeds for hours and then grinding them up using a horse powered milling wheel (Don’t think I didn’t see that shit stored in the back)
When the burgers came to the table, I was amazed at how delicious they looked.
No lie, they looked sexy.
Starving…I grabbed it without hesitation and took the biggest bite possible.
Decent flavor but totally raw in the middle.
Like raw, raw.
Still cold raw.
I think he used a tea candle to lightly gray the exterior of the patty.
Not just mine but all 6 of the burgers were cooked using said tea candle.
It was a sad moment.
Tried to flag down the diva to share our food concerns.
Might need 3 or 4 more candles on this burger, I said.
Initially I was curious if we would upset his fragile demeanor for sending back our burgers.
Thankfully I didn’t have to wonder.
He was rather upfront with his emotions.
At this point we collectively decided to take our business elsewhere.
We threw a $ 20 on the table (for the beers) and left ASAP.
Where did we go?
For pizza.
Delicious pizza (with a smile).
I would normally be more patient with poor food and subpar service but this «server» made me Angry for wasting my time.
Embarrassed for bringing my friends there.
And Regretful for leaving $ 20 on the table.

A $ 10 BURGER WITH FRIES IN THE BOURGEY-​WATER!?!
…that’s not on a drive-​thru value menu? And it’s grain fed, hormone free and locally sourced beef. Almost as remarkably, the 3 varieties of fried wings aren’t battered and they’re priced fairly at 6 to a $ 7 basket. Further there are 40 varieties of draft beer with over a quarter from Louisiana. All pints are $ 5-​$ 6. Hopefully tastings and happy hour are on the horizon.
THE ANTI-BOOTY’S
Is it me or is the vibe in the St Claude finally starting to turn against the gentrfifying carpetbaggers? Discussion among neighborhood patrons today was refreshing — a staunch revolt against dissembling opportunists like Booty’s street food, and the ridiculous recent real estate appellations of the «New Marigny» and «New Bywater» (née the old Desire projects).
BUT THE BURGER’S A LAME 2:1 BUN TO FILLING RATIO
See pic — when the first bite of an eagerly awaited juicy burger is all bread I’m ready to bolt and opt for that drive-​thru value menu.