Review: Stanley's - New Orleans

You may have heard of Stanley.  He is most famous for his line, "Stellaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"  Stanley is the unrefined, foul-mouthed yet attractive character from the Street Car Named Desire (which takes place right here in New Orleans).  Stanley (the restaurant) in the casual counterpart to its fancier sister (or should I say wife) restaurant Stella!.  The restaurant opened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in fall 2005, helping to serve emergency workers and media in New Orleans before the city was even open for public re-entry.  Now Stanley serves hundreds of locals and tourists each day, serving what the owner calls "American comfort food with a twist." You can enjoy many items from the classic Stanley Burger to a Korean BBQ PoBoy.  And of course, homemade ice cream (why would I know about this place otherwise?).

Since I had never eaten food nor ice cream at Stanley, my husband and I decided to patronize the restaurant for lunch on a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Well lazy to us, but apparently not for the rest of New Orleans, who packed themselves into the restaurant at 2:00 in the afternoon (the restaurant sits at the corner of Jackson Square so it is also frequented by tourists). Luckily we did not have to wait too long.

I ordered an omelet sandwich and the hubs ordered a Stanley burger and a strawberry milkshake.  I would say that both sandwiches were okay.  Not bad but not outstanding.  The prices for our sandwiches were not too bad, but overall the menu reeked of French Quarter "overpriced-ness" (yes that is a word:).  The strawberry milkshake was disappointing.  Something was weird about it...couldn't quite put my finger (or tongue) on it...maybe powdered milk?  It had a weird aftertaste.

I chose to doggie bag the second half of my sandwich so I could enjoy a sundae.  Two scoops of Chunky Chartres (Stanley's version of Rocky Road), dry walnuts, whipped cream, and a cherry.  I opted to skip the chocolate syrup because I wanted to make sure I could taste the ice cream.  Sadly, after my first bite, I wished I had chosen to keep the chocolate syrup.  The chocolate ice cream was definitely not chocolatey enough...actually it didn't have very much flavor at all.  It was really icey.  The sundae had a minimal amount of mix-ins because I didn't find any peanuts until I reached the bottom of the cup.  I expect much more from homemade ice cream.  This ice cream tasted like a bad version of store bought. 

Sorry, NOLA...strike number 2.

Don't worry, you have a few homeruns under your belt too (Creole Creamery, Sucre, and Angelo Brocato). 

Check out a recent review of breakfast at Stanley from Leslie at Nola-eats.com...its a little more positive.

Stanley Restaurant
547 Saint Ann Street
New Orleans, LA 70116
www.stanleyrestaurant.com

Comments

[Cade Roux]

Never had ice cream at Stanley, but the Reuben is really excellent.