Chateau Orleans

I was very disappointed when the manager refused to honor a $ 10 coupon one of the members of our party had won in a volunteer club raffle.
Subsequently the waiters withdrew the menus from our table did not offer us further service.
Not very congenial!

True New Orleans Guy here.
Ok. So i understand that the west coast pallets are very different from bayou and southern pallets. Hence In-​n-​Out being the bees knees. When on the contrary its flavor-​less beef drenched in thousand island dressing. Your eating a salad mashed in mediorce bread.
So, to move onto Château Orleans. Very pleased i was. It reminded me of the real new orleans. Not the bourbon street, Canal street, or French quarter you only see on television. Im referring to the hole in the walls located on the west bank and lower 9^th ward. The atmosphere was to say the least perfect. The waiters are very warming, the music wont have you yelling to hold a conversation, and the food will have you speaking in a cajun accent unintentionally. Ive tried every single cajun place here in San Diego and to just straight put it forward without sound like movie critic. THIS WAS THE BEST.
will take my fiancée there tonight

Château Orleans serves the best cajun food that I have tried. We ordered the jambalaya… you have to try the jambalaya if you want to try cajun food. Oh and you have to order it mardi gras or new orleans style. I forgot what it was called… but it is when you order it with a ton of seafood and its spicy. Oh it was so good.
They also had a watermelon wine that was so light and refreshing. I loved it.
The person singing the blues live was a treat too. Dinner and a show!
Service here is very friendly and if you are unsure what to order just ask. They are very helpful.
This place is very small. So get their early for dinner or you will have to wait.

This place was AMAZING. The food — we had the BBQ shrimp, beans and rice, gator, fried pickles, raspberry truffle and the benigts — and WOW. Everything was delicious.
Our waitress, Christina, was as sweet a knowledgeable as they come and we left her at 25% tip.
I have lived in PB for a few years and very few places are as clean, refreshing, or hip as The Château and I have NO idea why everyone on here is bitching.
I highly recommend this place to anyone.

I took my family to redeem my voucher I’ve purchased from Sign On San Diego. My son was very happy, he really wanted to try the frog leg and alligator meat. When we arrived at the restaurant, they had a piece of paper on their door about not accepting the voucher. They gave us a number for former owner Michael 619−540−0901 and said he would reimburse our money.
As everybody can guess, his phone will go straight to voice mail all the time. After leaving two messages, I have a feeling that he even does not care to reimburse customers’ money nor return our calls.
Enough said about their business etiquette and management. My family was disappointed (especially my son) and never think would even try to go back to this restaurant.
This kind of establishment with poor attitude and management will not last long, bad review will travel faster than advertisement.

I’ll second what Roger H. says…
My husband and I were the other couple that left on Saturday night because they would not honor our Daily Deal voucher. I had called 90 minutes before we arrived and specifically asked about the voucher and been told it would be accepted.
They offered to comp us a round of drinks — but were unwilling to even give us something that was of equal value for what we’d already paid out.
Since there were only about 10 other folks in the place when we arrived, you’d think the new owner would want to make a good impression and have people like the place. Now I’ll just tell my friends that the owner is a cheapskate and doesn’t give a damn about the customer.
We left and had a great dinner at «The Fishery» a few blocks down the street. (It was full of happy diners.)
Seems like a nice place, might have good food… but don’t think I’ll ever be inclined to find out.

I came here with some friends during a large neuroscience conference and had a great time. The hostess was very friendly and got us a great table by the band. She also gave us a great wine selection, that 4 of us thoroughly enjoyed! Most of us ordered the salmon salad which was quite tasty and a decent amount of food for the price. My friend ordered the fried pickles, and all of us found ourselves nibbling on them throughout dinner.
The band was funky and fun and I even got to do a little dancing after dinner! If you want a cozy place with good live music and unique food, this is it. A best kept secret!

I grew up in Texas, constantly crave Southern or Cajun food and since there aren’t many places around San Diego, I really really REALLY wanted this place to be good… BUT disappointingly it wasn’t even close.
I’ve seen this in my neighborhood for a while now and was waiting for the perfect opportunity to try it out. Finally, I had a friend from New Orleans stop in SD for a visit, and a group of us decided to have a Cajun night in honor of her visit.
The hostess (who by the way was extremely nice and friendly… probably the best part of the whole dining experience), seated us in a smaller room next to the main room, away from the live jazz music so we could mingle and catch up. We noticed that we weren’t given menus upon seating, but figured oh well maybe she just forgot. We were later informed after being given recommendations of wine that didn’t exist by our waiter, and ordering other bottles of wine for the group, that they weren’t supposed to give us menus until we ordered our drinks. This was the owner’s idea of slowing the dining experience down. We couldn’t even look at them until the wine hit the table… very strange. I can handle slowing things down but I feel it should always be up to the diner not the owner… anyway…
The menu consisted of Southern, West Coast, and East Coast items. It was a little bizarre to see such a diverse selection from a restaurant that I thought was based off of New Orleans cuisine. The waiter then informed us that the restaurant just recently reopened as“The Château” instead of Château Orleans offering more variety to the menu. To me, this screams inconsistency!
We ordered an array of different items to try: BBQ Shrimp, Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, Fried Pickles, Salmon Salad, Sea Bass, Grits, Mashed Potatoes, Cornbread, and Collard Greens. (As you can see, we tried to order as much southern selection as possible).
BBQ Shrimp: Shrimp was way overcooked, sauce tasted like 20 different spices drowning in loads of white wine (the wine was not cooked off enough and you could taste the alcohol content in it). Served with dry plain white rice.
Crab Stuffed Mushrooms: An order of 5. They were very average.
Fried Pickles: I’ve had my fair share of fried pickles and was pretty excited to try them. They were cut in hamburger slice form and were swimming in a pool of oil. Not very appetizing…
Salmon Salad: grilled Salmon, a little burnt, and barely any seasonings.
Sea Bass: WAY OVERLY COOKED. It turned out very steak-​like. Sea Bass is normally very tender, flaky, and soooo good. Not so much here… very BLAND and DRY.
Grits: Only thing that was good… creamy, good consistency!
Mashed Potatoes: I don’t know how you can mess these up, but yeah… again, not good. No flavor at all. It tasted like boiled potatoes.
Cornbread: nothing to write home about…
Collard Greens: good but served luke-​warm.
I wish I could say that the bad food was balanced out by great service. Um… nope. The waiter took about 45 minutes to split our check. He said he never had to split up a check in the 3 years that he’s worked there. When we got home, all 5 of us ended up being authorized for the full amount of the bill (close to $ 200), which remained pending until 5 days later. It ended up posting correctly but still held up the funds in all of our accounts.
All in all… a not so great dining experience paired up with a WAY too overpriced dinner. I wouldn’t have minded spending $ 45 if we had good food and great service. I was pretty bummed to have taken an out of towner here but at least I learned to never come back.

Noticed they offered watermelon wine. Thought it would be interesting to try so checked out the menu and saw they also served alligator tail meat. Two interesting items so I decided to stop by.
Watermelon wine was a disappointment. After sipping a bit, I asked what was in it and server stated it was red table wine, watermelon punch flavoring concentrate/​syrup (which he said was like «something you can get at Smart and Final»), and a slice of watermelon in the glass.
Essentially the watermelon wine was little more than a lame attempt at sangria without hard liquor.
Felt somewhat deceived by what they sold as «watermelon wine.»
Gator Bites were delicious and the ginger BBQ sauce was outstanding and made the meal all the better.
However, $ 12.95 seemed a bit excessive for the fried pieces of alligator tail meat.
Although my dining experience here was just average, there were a few menu items that did seem quite appetizing (if I ever come back).

The place is small but hip. They have live Jazz music on Saturday nights, the band is great. Service is a little slow but very nice. Make sure you aren’t starving when you come here, they do take their time in cooking but it’s often worth the wait.
I ordered the Creole Salmon, it was delicious. Its a stuffed salmon with blue crab dressing, baked, then covered in a shrimp and crab sauce! Yum! The salmon was cooked to perfection. Moist and flavorful. Each entrée comes with a salad and jalapeño corn bread. I’ll have to keep this place in mind for Fat Tuesday.

Five stars for the atmosphere and 3 stars for the entrée/​service. The environment was comfortable and I was lucky enough to go on a night that had live music. I felt as if I was in New Orleans!
I ordered the holy trinity and was fairly disappointed. The crawfish étouffée was an almost gravy like type sauce and after being spoiled by Bud’s Lousianna café crawfish, it paled in comparison. The server was… slow unfortunately in regards to questions on the menu, food knowledge, and drink refills. I would have LOVED to have gotten the one server with the accent :) He could have been slower than molasses and I wouldn’t have cared as long as that handsome face kept coming over and talking to my girlfriend and I :)
I would be happy to come back if I am in the area to drink some watermelon wine, listen to music and request a certain server.

The food was decent, though WAY overpriced. Based on the prices on the website’s menu and the website itself, I assumed this was a «fancier» restaurant than proved to be true. The décor was very gaudy, though still kind of interesting. It just seemed to scream «Look! I’m a Mardi Gras themed restaurant!» more than necessary. The fact that there was live entertainment might make me consider giving this place 3.5 stars, even though it is in a kind of odd location.
What we ordered:
Drinks: They have Dixie and Jazz beers from Louisiana… so that was nice. They are working on acquiring a liquor license… so no booze. The wine list was fine.
Appetizers: «Grannies Goodies» came with small portions of fried crayfish, gator, and catfish. It was good, though too expensive for the portion sizes. The Fried Green Tomatoes were good.
Entrees: The crayfish bisque was really good. Three of us ordered red beans and rice. We were all disappointed and didn’t really eat much of it. The entrees came with either cornbread or pop-​overs. No one was impressed with the pop-​overs, though the cornbread was amazing. The soft-​shelled crab was good.
Dessert: The beignets weren’t authentic and were more like chinese donuts… but not as good.

This place was alright. They had AWESOME music the night we went, and totally seems like a cool little scene/​area but I was kinda bummed about the service.
We were given a dining table without napkins and utensils. We received our food, and the waiter said he’d be back with the utensils. Me and my bf stared at our food for 10 minutes before stealing utensils from another table :/​. Not a big deal but seriously .
I had the bisque which was dull tasting and the texas corn bread was cold.
My boyfriend had the louisiana crab cake which was a little bit more tastier. Crispy outside and good mix of seafood.
We also tried the fried pickles which came out. It was interesting but really pricey for pickles …
If I were to come back I would stick to the crab cakes.

The bf and I hit up this because a friend of ours gave us a $ 60 gift certificate. We were basically the only ones there at 7:30 on Thursday but people started trickling in later in the evening. The music was good until they put on a CD.
Service: It was good at the beginning but went down hill when more people started showing up. There was only one waiter while we were there and he was all over place trying to manage all the tables. They were out of half of the beers on their list. Come on, really? This is the second night that you’re open during the week and you’re not stocked up? Lame.
Food: No bueno. We had Granny’s Goodies as our appetizer which came with tiny breaded shrimp, cat fish and gator. It dwas decent but way over priced ($ 17) for the portion. The dipping sauce took up more space then the food itself on the plate. I ordered the jambalaya with chicken and sausage. It was decent but something I could have made from a box of Zatarans. Right before our dishes came out, there was a loud crash in the kitchen. After the bf got his dish, he bet that they dropped his plate and threw the food back on the grill to cook it off. I don’t remember the name of his dish, but it came with a piece of dry pork, scallops and cat fish. All of which was smothered in BBQ sauce. The pork was basically inedible b/​c it was overcooked and dry). Both dishes were sub par.
One other thing I forgot to mention, my salad had a brown slimy piece of lettuce in it. I knew that was a bad omen for our meal.
Overall, lack luster service, horrible food and over priced. We were hoping for creole but got crap. Never going back again.

I am glad to have happened upon this gem, because it was incredible! Most definitely authentic Cajun food and most definitely delicious!
The live entertainment was a delight. I’m not sure if it would be considered Creole, Zydeco or Blues, but it definitely added to the ambiance.
The fried green tomatoes were the first I’ve had and they surpassed my expectations. They were not too «fried» tasting, had just the right amount of breading and the dipping sauce was the perfect compliment.
We ordered the dinner for two, which caused our night to inadvertently turn into a true «date» which was nice for my bf considering I am not the least bit of a romantic.
Our meal came with watermelon wine which was good considering we both hate wine. The Bayou cakes were incredibly tasty and had huge chunks of delicious shellfish. I got the Orleans Chicken which is seriously some of the best chicken I’ve ever had. The Jumbalaya was also very good, and from what I’ve had comes second only to my mother’s.
We’ve never had Beignets before, and these were pretty good. I’m not too big a fan of doughnuts, (which I guess in layman’s terms would be how the Beignets would compare to everyday food), but these were delightful.
All in all, this was a great experience and I’d recommend this place to all…

Very good Cajun food, under different ownership since I last ate here about 10 years ago.
We shared a Crawfish boil to start out. Spicy and delicious.
Watermelon wine: some of us liked it, some didn’t. Hey, it ain’t Château Neuf du Pape. It’s a sangria like sweet wine with watermelon overtones. Won’t be found in Wine Spectator, but it was cold and refreshing and we were told they make it themselves.
Jambalaya: Ample chicken and a remarkably delightful grilled sausage over this creamy rice dish, but served cold. Had to send it back. A couple others at the table had the same problem with their meals as well.
The popovers were served inedibly burnt and charred. What’s with that? Anyone with eyes or a nose could have and should have not served them. When sent back they were replaced with one burnt and one undercooked popover. OK, not a popover night. (–1 star for cold/​burnt offerings)
Beignets were good. Not Café du Monde great, but decent. The owner also offered us some King Cake and we all sampled and enjoyed that as well. A heavy moist cake with Almond overtones, he has it baked specially for his restaurant.
The place is very small, but very noisy. There’s a blues guitarist who plays a little loud for the room, even when there is not a drunken party of 16 at the other table.
Also, a big, big negative. If you are not a fan of Cajun food, there is NOTHING for you to eat. Now, why would you go to a cajun restaurant if you don’t like cajun food? How about to go along with the crowd or because you’re a kid and that’s where the grown ups brought you?
There was a little refuge for adults in a grilled chicken salad but for the kids? Screw ‘em, I guess. Hey guys! Ya got pasta? yep. Make some spaghetti with a cream sauce or open a can of Ragu. Ya got a deep fryer? yep. How about a grilled cheese and some fries? How about a goddamned hamburger? Just not right. (–1 big star for cruelty to children)

I recently moved to North PB, and am starting to explore everything it has to offer. So, when hungry one Wednesday evening, my dinner guest and I ventured out to see what we could find. Driving down Turquoise at about 10 mph, I virtually slammed my breaks on when I realized Château Orleans — a place I had heard all about — was on the horizon. We parked (right in front, but pull into the parking lot, you might just find something), and run in.
As we walk (run) in, a soft, melodic live jazz band fills the air, while heads are bobbing to the music, and others are slowly dancing. We start to take in the New Orleans vibe, and are happily seated.
We slowly take a look at the menu and decide upon the «Date Night Special.» $ 48 for a 2-​person, 3-​course menu? Yes, please! Ordered were the bayou cakes, shrimp creole, jambalaya, bread pudding and watermelon wine (seriously, all for $ 48!)
Our friendly server immediately brings us the watermelon wine; sweet and insecure, yet fun and flirty, this wine was all a part of the mood. Followed by drinks were our bayou cakes (or one bayou cake to be exact). It was light, and a perfect balance of crunch, soft, sweet, salty. Delicious.
Much to our delight, both the jambalaya and shrimp creyole were served with red beans and rice, cornbread, and coleslaw. The jambalaya was full of sausage and flavor. We kicked it up a notch with hot sauce, which then required the need for a bit of cool, tangy coleslaw. The coleslaw served its ultimate purpose by being cool and refreshing, yet with a very slight bit of tang.
The shrimp creole, despite having a great conversation with my dinner guest, kept my attention. Each bite was hot and exciting, and I couldn’t wait to wash it down with wine and cornbread. What a lush I am.
Following entrees, was bread pudding (one serving for 2 people). Bread pudding is my favorite dessert, so I was expecting big things, and big things it delivered. Although I cannot speak for the beignets as an alternative in this combo meal, I’m quite sure that bread pudding wins for the best way to end a meal.
Between the sweet ambiance and the delicious food, I cannot think of what more to ask of a little restaurant in PB. Thank god this part of town is not littered with a million Moondoggies. I’d die.
Cheateau Orleans left me content, happy, uplifted and a little bit tipsy on watermelon wine. Cheers to a wonderful evening.

I’ve tried their Sunday brunch a couple of times with their watermelon wine. The service is usually quite attentive and friendly – no wait for dishes and glasses to either disappear or be refilled. The food is good, not too greasy despite all the sausage. The cheesy grits are really nice and always the right amount of creaminess… and I usually hate anything Cream of Wheat-​ish. The fried stuff (fish, chicken and pork chops) are OK but lose their crispiness sitting in a buffet tray.
What stands out is the watermelon wine – not too sweet and not like cheap sangria (although when we went on Mother’s Day, it was definitely diluted… lame! did not break into Asian flush at all). It alone is worth checking out, but apparently not on busy holidays.

Be prepared to EAT at Château Orleans. The portions are tremendous and the popovers come with everything. I usually stick to gumbo, but the Holy Trinity is something else — etouffe, gumbo and jambalaya on one brimming plate.
They also have some blue plate specials for the deal-​seekers. They come with cornbread. Who doesn’t like some fresh cornbread?
One day, I’ll go off the beaten path for some blackened catfish. Maybe.
The live blues element is what sets Château Orleans apart. I took my parents and my boyfriend’s parents here for their first meeting and it really filled in those awkward silences and put everyone in a great mood.

NOTE: This is a review of their Sunday Champagne Brunch.
OK, with that disclaimer out of the way, this place is fantastic! $ 15 gets you a buffet brunch which includes a glass of champagne or a mimosa. We all opted for the mimosa and added on a coffee before we headed over to the food.
The food was a mix of so many southern/​cajun treats that we packed our plates to the gills. The food was fantastic… from the seasoned potatoes to some spicy sausage thing that I’m still not quite sure what it was (other than great) to the cornbread. All fantastic.
The best part of the breakfast was the last… when the server came to tell us that some type of doughnut treat had just come out of the oven. Oh my, my, my… I can still taste it. Amazing. I’m not normally a sweets person at breakfast, but this thing was awesome.
Overall, the food alone makes this place worth visiting on Sunday for brunch, but add in the great service and some fantastic jazz music and this place vaults into one of my top three breakfast places in San Diego. I think my favorite part about this place is its relative anonymity; if you walk into a place like The Mission or The Broken Yolk at 11 on a Sunday, you’d better be prepared to wait about 45 minutes. Here, walk in, take your seat, and have at it! What more could a hungover person on a Sunday want?