Selena's

We went there for lunch immediately after Marty's review. The interior is old wood and comfortable; the patio is attractive. The staff and owners were very friendly. We had the chicken noodle soup that was equal to the best in town. Our Cajun medley was very good, but a little spicy and reminded us of our visit the rest of the day. The draft beer selection is outstanding with no mass market beers and many locals and Schlafly No. 15. We would return; Martly's rating was too low.

My son and i just got home from Selena's. The Turtle/chicken gumbo was superb. My red Beans took me back to the bayou, taste with a spicy finish . My son's etoufee was great .Any one who will carry Dixie Blackend Voodo and Turbodog is my new best pal.( I know it is bottled. but damn). Louisville now has the best dessert in this bread pudding - taste balance flavor satisfaction home comfort food at the top end. i know Furlongs is now open but if these two can make it a long term go we are blessed. You all at the other end of the world need to make a trip

First contact. The interior has been refurbed nicely. I was only in the Willow Lake Tavern once, but it definitely has a nice dining ambiance now, big windows, scenic fountain views... Two people in the restaurant and the hostess tried to seat us in a dark corner. I lobbied for a table by the window and was shown yet another dark corner. No, I want to go to the big *window*, finally she relented and let us sit. A sign on the table announced Sunday Brunch. Just not this Sunday. Apparently that will begin next Sunday. I asked what that would be and after an admitted "I have no clue" the waitress went back and checked, starting next Sunday they will offer omelets, beignets and such off the menu. I ended up deciding on a burger, my fallback for "let's see if you people can cook". I am tricky. I like a very very rare cheeseburger. It seems to be an impossible dining request when eating out. In this case I was not suprised. I got a well done cheesburger. At home I just throw cheese on the nearly raw burger and let it melt as the burger barely cooks. If you cook the burger to rare and then add cheese the burger overcooks by the time the cheese melts. Why don't restaurants seem able to grasp that? Anyhow, well done burger on a croissant. Nothing to cheer about. Fries were similar to Rally's, dipped I think in some kind of batter. My friend chose the Spinach Lasagna. She described it as bland. Burger and fries and a coke was $13. I have just gone back and read previous postings and am wondering if I have been to a different restaurant! Can they be so hit or miss? Robin, I don't remember seeing your review of this place...did you like it?

...Burger and fries and a coke was $13. I have just gone back and read previous postings and am wondering if I have been to a different restaurant! Can they be so hit or miss?

Not defending the restaurant but why in the world would you go to a restaurant that advertises itself is a Sicilian-Creole restaurant and order a cheeseburger? It's obviously not especially and if only on the menu for people who are adventurous in their eating. I'd also like to know where in town you're able to get a very very rare cheesburger? Most restaurants will not cook a burger less than medium in many that less than medium-well due to fear of illness.

Seems like every other review has enjoyed the restaurant so either you had a bad experience for some reason or you're looking for something that the restaurant wasn't

Just out of curiosity, did you ask for your cheeseburger to be very rare? Did you explain how you liked your cheeseburger? (Raw and just cooked long enough to melt the cheese.) If not, how can you hold them responsible for not cooking your burger to your liking?

Well, I ordered a cheeseburger because I wanted a cheeseburger. When she did ask how I wanted the burger cooked I did my usual pleaseI'dlikeitasrarerawasyoudaretoserveit spiel. I asked if that were possible, she said oh yes. It is billed as a 1/2 pound burger! I've actually had a wonderfully bloody nearly raw cheeseburger at Lynns so they are out there. The Selena's waitress did write it down as extra rare. She never came to inquire was it cooked as I liked it or if we needed anything once it was delivered, actually, come to think of it she never came back until we were done. <shrug> Maybe it was an off day.

Well, it sure sounds like a "bad server" problem to me. She certainly should have returned to your table and asked how everything was cooked. If she's that lax with her tables I doubt she'll last too long. I do think the restaurant deserves another chance though. Perhaps she didn't communicate well with the kitchen.

I think ordering a cheeseburger is a great idea. You are correct in that it gives you a "standard" by which to judge. If it's on the menu it's fair game.

I think it is harder to get a very rare burger. I have a hard time getting a rare steak most places. It sounds like Mary Anne had an atypical experience as compared to others. I hope it's just a blip. We are heading that way soon to make our own determination.

Well we went to Selena's this weekend and the food was sooo goood! We didn't try the hamburger but the New Orleans Medely was great!!!! My favorite was the shrimp etouffee and the jambalaya......I think that I might love cajun food more than bbq....I don't know I may have to think about that a while. The husband got the fried seafood platter and said it was very good also. Great atmosphere and service. I can't wait for warm weather to try out the outside seating. The sweet tea wasn't as sweet as I like it but that's nothing new most places don't make my grade for that.

Glad I read this thread. I had decided not to try Selena's after Marty Rosen's review. I should know better.

Let me start this with I am a HUGE New Orleans fan and everthing that goes along with it. Irene's Cuisine in the Quarter is my absolute favorite restaurant in all of NO so I was beyond estatic to find out a Sicilian Creole restaurant opened here. I tried it tonight with the fam and I have to say I agree with Marty Rosen on this one.

The interior is gorgeous and I was at first hopeful of what is to come. I asked my husband if he wanted to order chargrilled oysters, which is one of our favorite dishes when we visit NO and he said this was a bit too far away from water for his comfort so we settled on the crab rolls. After the meal I'm glad I took his advise on the chargrilled oysters, but I wish I had bypassed the crab rolls also. I also ordered clam chowder and soft shell crab po-boy. My husband order a salad and chicken parmesan. My daughter had a grilled cheese.

We arrived at 5:30 and since we have a 3 year old we tend to order quickly to get things moving. Within a few minutes the crab rolls, soup, and salad all came out of the kitchen. The crab rolls came out too fast to have been cooked when we ordered them so I knew right away they had been sitting for a little bit. They had the consistency of tuna salad and were mildly warm at best.

My soup was downright cold and the potatos were cruncy. I don't know if I ever saw a clam in it. The soup also had no flavor so I had to add salt. I rarely use salt so the fact I put it on says quite a bit. Still, I really wanted to like the restaurant so I let it go.

Now the wait begins....


Keep in mind we have a 3 year old so waiting is painful for us. when the appetizer and soup came out so fast I just figured that was the pace and we were going to get a quick meal. Nope. We finished the first course by about 5:40. At 6:00 the server (who was very friendly but hardly ever showed up during the meal) came by and said our food would be right out. Apparently "right out" is 15 minutes because we didn't get it until 6:15. So now, we've been here 45 minutes waiting for our meals.

Our meals are placed in front off us and my husband starts to laugh at my plate. My soft shelled po boy was drenched in tarter sauce. He knows my utter disdain for tarter sauce so he finds this humorous. Perhaps I'm a bit old school when it comes to my po boys, but I've had plenty of them over my lifetime and they've been served with tomato, lettuce, pickle, but never tarter sauce. In fact, whenever I have gotten them with anything on them besides the meat they have been referred to as "rich boys." Maybe I should have looked at the menu closer but I just couldn't believe anyone would get it in their heads that tarter sauce belongs on a po boy. I didn't want to send it back if it was due to my lack of reading the menu so I scraped the tarter sauce off and was prepared to proceed ahead. However, when I removed the crab to scrape it off I noticed it was soggy, limp and cold. Downright gross. I think it was either not cooked long enought, the oil was not hot enought, it sat too long, or a combination of all 3. I decided to proceed anyway and maybe it would taste better than it looked and after about 2 bites realized that was not the case. I just couldn't eat it. I also couldn't say anything about it because we hadn't seen the server since 6:00 when she ran by saying out food was going to be right out.

I think the was the point that I made a comment about expecting Gordon Ramsey to come charging out of the kitchen.

At this time, I also noticed other tables walking out prior to ordering so I guess I wasn't the only one with server issues.

My daughter's sandwich was also cold. My husband said his meal was nothing special and something he could get anywhere.

So, there I sat with an uneated sandwich. Other people came by and cleared the dishes but left my sandwich since it was uneaten. I would thing that if some people at the table were finished while another person's meal was untouched that would indicate a problem, but I guess not.

A few minutes later the server comes up and asks if we want dessert. Why would I want dessert when I haven't even had dinner? I guess she didn't even notice my uneaten po boy because there was no inquiry as to if anything was wrong or if I even wanted a box to take it home. She completely ignored it sitting there. My husband was treating so I left how to handle it up to him and he decided just to suck it up and pay for an unedible po boy and let it go.

I really want to like this place. I may give them a few months and try again, but they better get their act together because that's the last chance they are getting from me.

They won't be able to improve if people don't let the manager or owner know when things are going wrong.

Why do people insist on refusing to complain to the person who is causing the problem, but then as soon as they get home they want to complain to the whole world about them behind their backs?

Call the restaurant. Let them know about your experience. Give them a chance to fix it.

Don't bad mouth them to everyone else if you won't bad mouth them to their face. That's called being passive aggressive. It isn't a good thing.

I wasn't given the chance to complain when I was there. The server wasn't around and when she did finally show up her attitude was ok, you ate, get out. No one ever inquired about our meal. I'm sitting there with my entire meal in front of me. That should indicate something is wrong. It shouldn't be on the customer to seek someone out. It's the restaurant's responsibility to make sure I'm satisfied. If there is a clear indication that I am not then why was there not a single question as to if anything is wrong? I love how its the customer's responsibility to make sure the restaurant is doing it's job.

I love this board. Someon gives an honest opinion about an experience and then gets insulted. Unbelievable.

I did not find any fault with your review, Jennifer. The way one person chooses to handle a situation is not always the way another does, and you shouldn't be bullied into it. This is not the "Top Rules of Etiquette in a restaurant and Everyone's an Expert" forum.

They won't be able to improve if people don't let the manager or owner know when things are going wrong.

Why do people insist on refusing to complain to the person who is causing the problem, but then as soon as they get home they want to complain to the whole world about them behind their backs?

Call the restaurant. Let them know about your experience. Give them a chance to fix it.

Don't bad mouth them to everyone else if you won't bad mouth them to their face. That's called being passive aggressive. It isn't a good thing.

Fact is that some people are uncomfortable complaining and just don't want the hassle. If the experience was bad many people just wan't "out" of the situation. In a couple of extreme cases I've left the restaurant and written the manager a letter later.

BTW Jennifer didn't start this thread and we aren't "the whole world". If we flame people who give a negative review then what's the point of this place? That isn't a good thing!

I appreciate Jennifer sharing her experience.