Selena's

I posted this in a thread, but got told I should post it in a separate topic, so here it is:

We went to Selena's tonight.
We had soft shell crab claws for an appetizer. They were extremely small, and about 10 of them in the order. They had a good flavor. Came swimming in a garlic butter sauce. Pretty good, but probably wouldn't order again for the value.

The BF had the New Orlean's Medley that contained red beans and rice, jambalya, and crawfish etouffe. It was about $15. He enjoyed it,but said the jambalya was lacking in flavor. He was in love with the read beans and rice.

I had the spinach lasagna. It does not come with a salad, but I order the house with their special 1979 vinegrette. The salad was completely forgettable. Definitely nothing special. The lasagna was an adequate size portion, but certainly not huge. Filled with cheeses and spinach, it had a nice flavor. It was about $11.

The bread was super yummy. It was crusty on the outside, soft inside. We used it to sop up the butter sauce from the crab and was super happy with it.

They have a great selections of beer. The BF was extremely happy that they had some of his favs.

Overall, the experience was about a 4 out of 5. The service was ok. The girl seemed a bit overwhelmed, and it took forever to get our ticket. Other than that, it was a pleasant experience. We sat on the patio. Great date atmoshpere.

Where is Selena's and what type of food would you call it? Thanks.

Selena's is the new restaurant going inside the old Willow Lake Tavern on the edge of Anchorage.

[Robin Garr]

Where is Selena's and what type of food would you call it? Thanks.

They call it "Sicilian/Creole fusion," but rather than fusion, it's really a mix of Cajun-style dishes and Italian-American dishes. Nice, though, and an attractive atmosphere. The owners used to have a similar restaurant with the same name and concept in Tampa, and have re-created it here. I'll have a review of it in this week's Voice-Tribune.

Have to agree with you, Robin. There is nothing "fusion" about the menu. There is the creole side and the Italian side. I do wish that they had a larger selection of pasta dishes. I was really in the mood for Italian, the BF wanted creole.

The average price of most of the dishes seemed to be around $15-$17. Perhaps I am cheap, but six normal to small size shrimp with a bowl of linguine is overpriced (to me) at $16.

The "meat" entrees (the chicken, beef, and pork chop) come with either one side or a salad. None of the others come with even a salad.

[Robin Garr]

Perhaps I am cheap, but six normal to small size shrimp with a bowl of linguine is overpriced (to me) at $16.

Trisha, we went for lunch, when many (not all) of the dishes are available, but those that are on the lunch menu are generally under $10. On that basis, our choices (linguine with white clam sauce from the Italian side and shrimp etoufee from the Cajun side) were both quite generous, and while I wouldn't rank them at the very top of the local ladder for those styles, they were both quite acceptable. Flavors good, portion sizes big, but there were a couple of nits (floury roux in the etoufee and way too much olive oil floating on the pasta). Couldn't complain about the price at lunch, though, and they've really made it look nice. Service was good, too.

Oh, Robin, don't get me wrong....We WILL probably be back. The atmoshpere was wonderful on the patio. The BF was really happy with his New Orleans Medley minus the jambalya had little chicken and ton of rice but the flavor of all three dishes was great. I liked my lasagna. I just hope they flesh out the Italian part a bit more. He was really hoping they (or anyone in Louisville) would have a "crawfish boil" dish. It was a good dining experience, just not knock your socks off great. I WAS really impressed with everything since they've only been open less than a week.

Anyone know of a place that does crawfish boils???

Haven't had the chance to eat there yet but I dropped by yesterday to just take a look. It's lovely to look at. I think it'll be a real boon to the area. A bit reminiscent of the Train Station over on Evergreen years back. Patios are lovely and the interior is cozy and warm. Lots of beautiful cherry wood, candles, exposed brick. I think the neighborhood will have no problem supporting it and I can see it as being a destination spot as well as long as the food lives up to its good looks.

[Robin Garr]

It was a good dining experience, just not knock your socks off great. I WAS really impressed with everything since they've only been open less than a week.

That expresses my attitude too, Trisha. I'm afraid you'll be hard pressed to find a mudbug boil up here, although it could happen - there was a short-lived place over in Jeffersonville called Crawdaddy's that did them as special events for a while.

its not a traditional "Boil" but Joe's OK Bayou does serve a 3 LB. serving on their regular menu.

THANKS!!! I guess I know where we'll be dining Saturday night. Joe's.

My wife and I stopped in for lunch today and had a great meal! I had the Jambalaya which was a good sized portion for lunch, it had just the right amount of spice and lots of meat in it. My wife had the shrimp Po-Boy sandwich (she substituted remoulade for tartar sauce), it had lots of tender lightly breaded shrimp and the french fried sweet potatoes made it that much better. We had a decadent Creole bread pudding for dessert which was served with a bourbon/brandy sauce. Service was very efficient and the redo of the place makes it very warm and cozy. We'll definitely be going back quite soon!

Here's a link to their website: Selena's Restaurant the site isn't finished yet but it does include a link to download a copy of their menu.

I just wanted to add my two cents to the Selena's conversation. After reading a mixed 2 1/2 star review from Marty in the Courier on Saturday, my wife and I decided to give it a try for lunch. We were very pleased with our meal, the service and the feel of the place in general. The dining rooms are cozy without feeling cramped and all of the wood accents and exposed brick are a nice touch. The bar area was surprisingly big with several high-def televisions. Since I'm on the bar, the beer and bourbon selections are extensive featuring several craft and micro-brews.

We decided to eat inside in one of the (surprisingly bright) dining rooms that overlooks an exterior water feature and the neighbors big backyard. I ordered the Special, a rib-eye sandwich served on a french roll with a tasty horseradish sauce on the side. It included some tasty sweet potato fries that my wife declared the best she ever had. She ordered a soup and sandwich combo filled out with a Chicken Salad Sandwich and Chicken and Dumpling Soup. The Chicken Salad was a traditional style served on a tasty croissant and the soup was a nice creamy blend with ample chicken and small tasty dumplings. We capped off our lunch by splitting much talked about creole bread pudding... delicious with its bourbon and rum sauce.

We're looking forward to returning and imagine that Selena's will become one of our go to dining places. We can't wait to try many of the dishes on the menu and to work on that beer and bourbon list.

Yes, Marty's review was very negative, nothing good to say for the most part. If I had read the review and w/o looking at the star rating I would have thought it was more like a one star review. Even though I haven't eaten there I felt like the review might be inaccurate. I don't think Marty did a very good job with this one.

I have to agree fully. If you read Marty's review you might not visit. Fortunately we have eaten there prior to the review so we knew it was flawed when we read it. It sounds like Marty was in a different restaurant and those of us who have reported here.