Delta Grill

We had eaten in the Delta Grill a while ago and walked by last night after theater for dinner and decided to try it. I should have read the reviewer who said Greg Tantis the chef left for Brooklyn because the kitchen now has guys in it who have no understanding of Southern food. They take beautiful Gulf shrimp and proceed to put them in salty spice mix sauces of no description. The catfish was fresh and similarly sauced, but with cream. The collards were so tough we sent them back. Not knowing that the chef had left I told the owner on the way out that he needs to hire someone who understands what this cuisine is all about to oversee the kitchen. He was very nice and said he'd look into it. Let's hope a future reviewer will kind out he if does find a real Southern chef.

I had the best sunday brunch a few weeks ago! Service was so great!! Food was okay....The staff was so fun!! The only thing that was so so was the live music. But other than that it was a great time! I can't wait to go back!!

This morning I gave my comments about another NYC Cajun place: NoNo Kitchen in Park Slope where we ate a few weeks ago. Delta Grill's original chef Greg Tantis ventured off to the Forest City (Brooklyn) a couple years ago to open his own place there (cheaper rent and sophisticated young palates I presume). We weren't planning to eat Cajun today as we were heading to the lower east side to pick up some stuff and figured we'd eat down there. Alas all attempts to park were squashed by no street parking and a desire to avoid pricey pay-lots. We ventured on towards South Street Seaport and found the parking issue even worse, all the street parking taken and even more expensive pay lots. So we swung around The Battery, came up the West Side Groundway and headed towards Delta, where cheap parking CAN definitely be had on a Sunday, a couple blocks to the West. I was interested in seeing how Delta's kitchen was running with Greg no longer present. I'm sorry to report that it was mostly what I had expected. While the food was not bad, it had certainly slipped. Most restaurants train their staff to operate or prep. when the "main" guy is not around. Sometimes the "main" guy leaves, and the owner or other owners think it can just keep going on without the chef, just utilizing line cooks or prep. guys. Kind of like a headless horsemen. I must say that I really like the atmosphere at Delta (better than NoNo). We had brunch and there was live music that really made it a pleasure to eat there. The service was friendly, but aloof in terms of its attentiveness. We had pretty much the same menu items +/- that we had at NoNo Kitchen a few weeks ago (see that review). All the better for making a direct Delta to NoNo comparison. So while there's a lot of things I love about Delta (atmosphere, location, music), y'all have to head out to Park Slope if you want some real good N'awlins food.

Me and a friend went there recently for lunch on a Saturday, and had a very good meal. It is a small place, but has a fun atmosphere. The food was very good. I had the "Blackened Catfish", which was excellent, and perfectly cooked. My friend had the "Cajun Omelette", which was also excellent. We also had the "Seafood Gumbo" which was great, spicy and thick with seafood. It tasted exactly like the kind you'd find down in New Orleans. I like the fact that the cooks there aren't afraid of bold, spicy flavors. They have a good beer selection, and I was very surprised to see they had Dixie Beer! The service was adequate and rudimentary. The waitstaff were all young and energetic, but lacked any finesse. All in all, I would go back again. This is a fun place!

To start off, the jalapeno bread that they give you with your meal was fantastic. I really could have just filled up on that. Then we split a delicious crab bisque. I don't really groove on fried food (why, you may ask, did I go to a Southern restaurant?), but my b/f loved the hush puppies and po' boy. I orderd jambalaya, and didn't really like it that much... Overall, if I were to do it again, I would come for drinks and appetizers while listening to their live music on Fri/Sat nights.

My husband and I eat here fairly regularly, at least once every 2 weeks. They have icy cold Blue Moon on tap and the service is always friendly and efficient. Often on the weekends the soup of the day is Crawfish Bisque, and if it's on the menu, I have it every time. It is seriously delicious. They also have a kickass Mac and cheese for those who like their food a little less spice and a little more comfort.

I'm from New Orleans and recently moved to New York. One thing that I miss terribly is this great Louisiana beer called Abita Amber. It is absolutely amazing and wayyyyyyyy better than that Brooklyn Lager stuff you all drink up here. Anyway The Delta Grill had Abita Amber...ON TAP! I did not expect anywhere in New York City to have a small Louisiana microbrew on tap, but they have it everyday! Speaking about the food, nothing compared to the real stuff down in New Orleans. If you have ever been down there, you know Mother's has the best jambalaya, Domilise's has the best Po'boys, and Jacque-Imo's has the best alligator cheesecake. But for New York, the food was pretty good. I had the crawfish etouffee which had a good amoung of crawfish tails that were medium sized instead of the tiny frozen ones you usually see up here. My friend had the jambalaya which wasn't as c eamy as i like it, but was good. My girlfriend had an oyster po'boy which was tasty, but of course it wasn't on true po'boy bread. All in all, a good place for some decent New Orleans cooking in New York, but you should really go down there for the true culinary experience. If nothing else, go to Delta Grill for the Abita Beer!