Wonderful Dinner at Selena's

Last night some friends called up and wanted to know if we would like to go toSelena's Willow Lake Tavern for dinner. They had never been and neither had we. I had the great pleasure of meeting chef Dan and the rest of the Selena's family ( or at leaset a few of the family! LOL) at the chicken and dumplings throwdown where Chef Dan soundly beat me in the throwdown with some mighty fine chix and dumps with a bit of spicy NOLA kick!
Upon arrival, I flashed my Hotbytes Platinum Card and mentioned that I had met Chef at the throwdown, so the hostess told him we were visiting and he immediately came to our table to welcome us. We were instructed not to order apps, as he wanted to send us something. (Way cool, in our opinion!)
Zach was our very friendly server who took our drink orders ( I decided to have the Abita Turbo Dog in keeping with the NOLA theme. Very smooth dark beer.) Very soon wonderful dishes, served by Chef Dan, began arriving at our table......Lightly fried calamari with julienned red onions and yellow peppers served with sweet/hot chili sauce, like Mae Ploy was delicious and perfectly cooked. Next we had fried green tomatoes. They had a wonderful cornbread crunchy breading and were excellently fried, not a bit greasy. Served with a light mayo based sauce that seemed maybe to have horseradish in it? (Sorry if I got that screwed up!) Yummmmmm.
My favorite app, which now officially ranks up there on my must have list is the Oysters Selena. Select oysters wrapped in bacon, baked over a bed of spinach and artichoke casserole, topped with melted Swiss
cheese. OMG!!! I could make a meal out of that dish alone!! (Side note, Oysters Selena, with Avalon's truffled lobster mac n cheese and the warm brie salad from Jack Fry's is what I would call my "comet meal" You know what you would like to have to eat if a comet was about to hit earth and blow us to bits!!! LOL)
Next came the brie with pecan praline sauce, slices of nice, chewy bread with grapes, apples - this could have been dessert. It was awesome.
So, we're all stuffed to the hilt and we haven't even ordered dinner yet! The smokers took cig breaks and I ordered another Abita, opting to try the Purple Haze this time. Much lighter, but still very smooth and tasty. Wanting to have leftovers for today, each couple ordered something to split and we still took home half! Gordy and I got one of the specials, a pepper encrusted pork tenderloin served over a goat cheese risotto with yellow squash and zuchinni. Excellent! Four nice sized slices of tenderloin coated in spicy peppercorns. UmmmUmmm!
Our friends ordered the New Orleans Medley. I got to taste the Etouffee`and it was very very good. They also had a go box for lunch today!
At one point, the owner, Chris, came by the table and chatted with us. Turns out Selena's was originally in Tampa. FL! An institution there for 20+ years. After last night's experience, I am sure Selena's will be around for a long time! We enjoyed it so much, we are hoping to convince Gordy's son and fiance` to have their rehersal dinner there in the fall.
Starting next Saturday they will be doing a Crawfish Boil and cornhole tourny each Sat. Sounds like fun! Hope everyone checks it out!

Carolyne,

You had me at Abita Turbo Dog.

*swoon*

Great review! Makes me hungry.
I am so happy to see this restaurant doing well. The setting is so charming and it's a great addition to the area.

This place is awesome! Also try their excellent brunch. Not sure which days they serve it though.

This place is awesome! Also try their excellent brunch. Not sure which days they serve it though.

There brunch is served just on Sundays, it's a menu brunch not a buffet. They only do the buffet for holidays, so far this year they did it for Easter and mother's day.

Great review.

I'm curious--is the menu available for download on their website (http://www.selenasrestaurant.com) their current menu? I seem to recall that being the menu that was posted when they first opened, but it doesn't look like their still-under-construction website has been touched in a long time. Has it changed?

Made our first visit to Selena's last night and the only thing I can't figure out is...What took us so long. Becky enjoyed the Halibut special, I had Shrimp Malane (sp?) and both dishes were awesome. The beer was cold, the service was top notch and we were out of there for lest than $80. We'll be back...often.

Not So Wonderful Dinner at Selena's

After all the raves in HB, we were expecting a pleasant experience. We were wrong. Went tonight. Food was pretty good but service ruined it for us:

Had to wait a couple of minutes before anyone acknowledged our presence when we entered. OK, no biggie.

No server for awhile. Finally manager (owner?) who seated us came and got our drink order and left menus. OK, there were a lot of diners outside, so maybe they were busy where we couldn't see it.

Server came in reasonable time to deliver drinks and take our order.

Order delivered in reasonable time, but salad never served. Asked for salad. Also asked where bread referred to in the menu was. Server said bread only served on request. I noted the dish I ordered (Shrimp Manale) had a special section on the menu advising me to "sop my french bread in this flavorful sauce." He repeated that they only serve bread if requested. So I requested. Salad later arrived. Wife said ceasar "dressing" was bad. We told server when he returned. He took it off the bill.

Ate food. Red beans and rice side dish was excellent, as was the "famous crab rolls." Shrimp Manale was pretty good. Check was presented along with inquiry of whether we wanted dessert. We didn't. After a few minutes I reviewed the bill and put credit card in the folder and put it standing up on the table, with card sticking out. Then the wait began. After about five minutes or so, I held the folder up, hoping someone would notice (my back was to the room). Manager passed a few tables away at least three times and server passed at least twice. No one ever came to take it. Finally I retreived the credit card and put cash in the folder and left. As we walked past the server on our way out he apologized again for the salad situation. He said nothing about no one wanting to take our money.

There maybe could have been explanations for everything except ignoring our attempts to pay. Maybe even for the delay after the bill was presented. But there can't be any explanation for ignoring me as I held the bill folder aloft for another few minutes, trying to attract some attention. Maybe they were trying to teach me to be even more patient. It didn't work. We see no reason to return.

My pet peeve (in any restaurant) is being asked if I want dessert while at the same time handing me my bill. It's as if they are saying, "Hey you can stay and eat dessert but we'll have to re-tally the bill and it'll be a hassle so you don't really want dessert do you?"

We're goin to have dinner there again tonight. We are taking the BF's son and his fiance' to see if they are interested in having rehersal dinner there. It's also the BF's son's girlfriend's BDay.....whew! So, instead of announcing our planned trip like we did last time, maybe we'll fly under the radar to see if it still stands up. We thought it was excellent last time. Ummmmm....I can already tast the Turbo Dog!

Jeffery, obviously you fell between the cracks, so sorry we won't see you again. But on the upside more menu for us others, your loss.

I have always experienced a warm welcoming atmosphere at Selena's in my previous visits, and tonight was no different. My main worry was the Murphy's law that states if you have great history at a place, the first time you take someone who matters the walls colapse. Previously flawless service is replaced by the server from the nether regions, food fit for the Olympian residents suddenly seem more suited for Hannibal the Cannibal., pitchers of iced tea shatter at the merest glance and previously clearly printed checks become besmirched with ink or with no toner in the printer.

Fortunately, that did not occur. Our experience was exquisite. We were welcomed promptly, without excess glee, specials described, our drink orders and menu selections taken after due time to permit proper selection, drinks replenished unobtrusively, inquiry of our satisfaction on two occasions discretely and the check offered and handled in a businesslike manner. Our server earned his tip rather than having an attitude of entitlement.

We enjoyed the Gumbo du jour, Clam Chowder and the Crab Roll apps. The special Grouper manale was wonderful as was the Stuffed Shrimp, the Shrimp manale unctuously pleasing as usual. My wife enjoyed the Spinach salad and picked off most of my Sweet potato fries before I could eat them. For so early in the year the corn on the cob was sweet and tasty . While we did not order the linguine with meat ball special the table next to us did and they reveled in the dish, the aroma was intensely satisfying.

The highlight of the evening was the Bread Pudding, which I still consider to be the best dessert being served now in Louisville, which is hard to say with all the fine selections in this city.

As we were waiting for our check to be handled, Mr Alan Salmon, the owner came over and introduced himself. We expressed our gustatorial satisfaction and left. A night to be savored and remembered.

I think we will retun soon

I am waiting for my wife to leave town on a Saturday so I may partake in the Crawfish boil. Pinch tail and suck head indeed.

I am waiting for my wife to leave town on a Saturday so I may partake in the Crawfish boil. Pinch tail and suck head indeed.

LMAO! Taken out of context the last statement could be baaad! LOL

Anyway I wanted to report that our 2nd dinner there was also excellent! Again we had Oysters Selena (Heaven just has got to have this dish, along with Avalon's Mac 'N Cheese) and the clamari. both were superb! Two people got the special which was dove with oyster stuffing and blood orange coulis and two sides. Very, very good. When the server brought their plates out (which, by the way, had a LOT of food on them) he informed us that the kitchen "forgot" that the special came with 2 quail halves, so they had another half coming! Shortly, the other halves showed up and were promptly boxed up with the rest of my Shrimp Manale (LOVE IT) destined for my lunch yesterday! One person had the Proscuitto and Mozz Stuffed Chicken Breast and said it was "awesome". Service was great, beer cold, food hot and tasty, weather was perfect. Great night!

Carolyne

What I meant to say was I cannot wait for my wife to leave town because she is slightly off put by the thought of boiled Crawfish and the rituals associated with consumption. I have been married for 20 years and she and I do not share the same joie d'vie regarding certain "vittles" eg: Crab/fish boils, whole hog roasts, Cabrito, Squirrel with Morel gravy, game birds or Rocky Mountain oysters. I am a nice boy of 57 who is a foodie of 45 years. Give me a Dixie Blackened Voodo and a wet nap , step back, keep your hands out of my reach.

GASP! Are they brewing Dixie Blackened Voodoo again? I had heard the brewery was out of operation due to Katrina. Please tell me I can buy it again.

GASP! Are they brewing Dixie Blackened Voodoo again? I had heard the brewery was out of operation due to Katrina. Please tell me I can buy it again.

Oh, it's definitely back, Carla - John and I just killed a six of it a couple weeks ago. And we do carry it from time to time at both Lou Lous.