Gordon Biersch Restaurant
(Photo by: Old Shoe Woman)Our recent visit to New Orleans included a visit to Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, a national chain with only a small number of locations.
We started our meal with the shrimp and chicken potstickers. They came with a gingery, tangy Asian barbecue sauce that is featured in other parts of the menu as well.
I ordered the beer sampler and was quite happy with most of the beers. While fairly conventional, the Golden Export Lager had an outstanding balance of sweetness and hoppiness and was very drinkable. The Hefeweizen ranked among the best I’ve had (Franziskaner and Paulaner), while the Schwarzbier (Black Lager) was a style that should be brewed more often. The Marzen and Seasonal Red Ale were a bit sweet for my taste, without much counterbalancing hop flavor.
For entrees, Sarah ordered the Chicken Caesar Salad while I ordered the Spinach Salad with goat cheese and Grilled Salmon. My salmon was perfectly cooked with a sharp salty seared crust, while Sarah’s salad was so good that she considered asking me to pick up another for her the next night. The dressings definitely tasted fresh and homemade as well.
They also have a kid’s menu, and Jonathan seemed to like the pasta and sauce.
While Gordon Biersch obviously doesn’t serve authentic New Orleans cuisine (except for putting Gumbo and Red Beans and Rice on the menu), we were very happy with our experience. We actually were glad to take a break from rich food. Plus there’s a location in Columbus, so we might go there sometime when we’re downstate.
Was your service exceedingly slow? I worked in NO a couple of years ago for a couple of weeks and Gordon Biersch was one of the closest lunch spots. After two visits and lunch hours that bled to nearly two… we tried to find other options. There’s a nice bar a block or two north that serves poor boy’s, and if I have to wait at least I’m in a building with some N’Orluns character.
I wouldn’t say the service was slow exactly… but it wasn’t fast either. They brought our 4 1/2 year old’s food out before our app (without asking) — and predictably he was getting bored by the time our food came out. We understood that it was a nice thought — but it would have been nice if the waitress asked first when we wanted his meal to arrive.