I stopped into the latest addition to the newly reopened Fayetteville Street, The Big Easy, tonight after having dinner at another location, my very own ”third place.” (EDITORIAL NOTE: If you don’t have a third place of your own, please go get one… seriously… you need it and you will reap many benefits… go on… go… just don’t take my seat at mine… dagnabbit…) My purpose was really just to check out the space, but the deep, surprisingly spacious restaurant possesses an inviting enough atmosphere that I sat my ass down at the lengthy bar and had a beer. Then (after meeting the lovely and intelligent Rob and Mollie, who were also sitting at the bar) I asked the bartender to suggest something off the menu for someone who wasn’t really hungry but wanted to have a taste of what they have to offer. He (who turned out to be one of the three owners) suggested the Louisiana Pretzel and without even glancing back down at the menu I agreed.
Wow, what a great suggestion. Because I didn’t make that fateful glance at the menu, I really couldn’t tell you all the ingredients, but my best guess is a large pretzel (similar to Auntie Annie’s) topped with a spicy crab topping for which my mouth is still watering. Yum. Good stuff. Huge taste. While I am not ready to give the place my full Raleighing seal of approval, I can certainly tell you I will be back for a full trial run.
Another highlight of the evening was the meeting of Yancy (of Yancy’s Jazz) on the way out of The Big Easy. He is definitely one of Raleigh’s most interesting and original personalities. I had an absolutely fabulous conversation with him that was not only entertaining (of course as his delivery of thought has the kind of flair I only dream of someday mustering) but very inspirational and life confirming. Certainly was a lucky ending to a peaceful, enjoyable night. Yancy’s new location on Fayetteville Street will be opening by the end of the month and I am looking forward to giving it a try. Dana and I were given a tour of the unfinished space about a month ago and my impressions were that it was going to be quite a large and impressive venue. I’m certainly interested in exactly how they will finish it off, but my guess is that it will be very impressive at first glance. Here’s to hoping the food is just as impressive as I personally wish Yancy and his Project Manager, Mark, all the best. Good people from my lowly vantage point.
As frustrating as Raleigh and Raleighans (yes, me included) can be from time-to-time, this is such a fun time to be here, don’t you think? This site nearly writes itself these days… Ok, a serious exaggeration, but hey, nice thought eh?
P.S. Everything I write above is 100% tainted by the wonderful fact that the old Comet Lounge neon sign now lives on at The Big Easy. Ah, the memories…. Le Comet!
The Comet? Really? If only they had the air hockey table! My now-husband and I played that game at The Comet on our first date. sniff.
It certainly is a great time to live in Raleigh, particularly near downtown. (Boylan Heights, yeah!) I’m glad to hear The Big Easy is open. We couldn’t figure out why the hell those places couldn’t be open in time for the big parade, when 21,000 potential customers could’ve been enticed.
Ah, well, their loss, and we’ll go check it out soon.
Chris, thanks for the post. I am going there tomorrow night with a friend. I’ll see what else is in that pretzel.
But what if I am not crazy about the restaurant? Can I give you my honest opinion? LOL
As you know, I will give my honest opinion no matter what.
I know this is not Durhaming, but I went to Rue Cler last night (new restaurant in downtown Durham by owners of Pops). It is absolutely fantastic! They are still finishing up the space, but the food was wonderful. Great atmosphere and service too.
Only if you can handle others disagreeing with you and doing so with biting wit…
Oh, let me see who you may mean? hmmmm
I’m hoping that I come back loving it! The restaurant that is, we’ll see about the wit.
Ok, here is my unofficial preview. Preview since they are still rolling out their full menu, but have some good things to try in the meantime. Our waiter told us the full menu will be coming soon, with some more next week.
I really like the space and think it would be a great place to go on a crowded Sat. since it can hold a crowd and would add to that New Orleans feel.
The staff was very friendly and our waitress was attentive and nice.
I had the seafood gumbo, and my buddy tried the chicken gumbo. Both were excellent. Since their focus is cajun, that was a great sign of things to come. Spicey (not too much) and very tasty.
I had a salad entry with fried oysters. The oysters were great. Other than that the salad was not too notable – in either direction. The tomatoes were classic greenhouse blah, but they added brie and pecans, a nice touch. The dressing was rasberry out of a bottle – and their other choices didn’t promise to be more original. This is fine, I will definitely return for their cajun dishes. I only got the salad because all the other entries are not yet available. The salad could have been better, but by no means was it bad.
Their prices are right in the medium range.
Ok Chris – how’s that? LOL. Oh, I did not try the pretzel.
Ok, I wish I’d known they weren’t serving a full menu before I went. I’ve never heard of such a thing, and cannot think of a reasonable explaination.
What, the cook staff can’t learn the dishes or something?
Without the main entres the menu was severely limited. We couldn’t make a meal from what they were offering, so we ordered two appetizers, a beer, and left.
The crab poppers were good. The crab pretzel was underdone, though still decent.
Sorry, but I can’t get over the “we’re not serving any entre’s” thing so I’m pretty disappointed. It’s unacceptable and if I hadn’t already ordered my beer I would have left. IMO you should have a sign at the front letting everyone know how disorganized you are before they waste their time sitting down.
I guess I shouldn’t have expected much more from a restaurant whose website is a myspace page… maybe they need to hire an adult or two to organize things for them.
The last time I saw something like this was when I sat down at Babymoons in Wake Forest. They informed me I couldn’t order a beer, but they could “give” me a Heineken (which i detest) for free. They’re gone now, and nobody will miss them.
Harsh review, jeff. Personally I’d prefer a restaurant take pride in their quality control of their product. I know in my hypothetical restaurant I’m not going to allow my product to go out if I’m not confident in its consistent production. I think this is a wise move as there have obviously been setbacks and struggles to get this place open. While I was there after the kitchen closed on Saturday, we had a great time at the bar with a nice crowd with nice spirits and very pleasant service staff.
So far so good Big Easy. Keep it up and I’ll be back for more!
I know two of the owners and they have been trying for a LONG time to get this place open. In fact, I was hoping and hoping they’d open before I graduated college just so I could come work for them. Not that I needed the money, but I consider myself a good employee (I hope they agreed) and just wanted to help them get off the ground and succeed.
As for the limited menu… YES it probably is taking a while for the cookstaff to learn the dishes. They began with one chef who made all of the dishes and created all of the recipes. From what I’ve heard of the menu it is a little more complicated than merely throwing a burger on a grill, yes?
While they could have given notice at the door they don’t have a full menu, give them a break. Yes they should have put up a sign and I’m sure there’s one up now. Give them a chance!
After waiting at the bar for nearly 45 minutes after being told it would be a 20 minute wait by the hostess, and being completely ignored by the hostess, waiters, and bar staff we left. If you go bring your patience (and your own alcohol). Hope they can hang on with service like that.
Went there last Saturday night. Full menu, not a problem. Food was overall pretty good.
Service is still slow, though…waitress seemed too distracted to check up on us. And the place is pretty drafty on a cold night…we were seated somewhat close to the front of the place and were chilly the entire time we were there.
Also, the music in the place…they kept playing the same 6 songs over and over again. No, I’m not making that up. :p
But food was still good…will give it another go sometime.
I went there last Friday night with a couple of friends and we had such a good time. We had a late dinner (about 9:00) and some cocktails. Our waiter was pretty cool. He was attentive, but not hovering, friendly, but not annoying. The food was pretty good too. I ended up having the chicken gumbo which was tasty. I am not a big seafood fan like the rest of my girlfriends so I was glad that they had other stuff to choose from. One of my friends had the shrimp creole and I only remember that because she kept going on and on about how good it was. The other two, I don’t remember what they had. Anyway, part of the reason I do not remember is because we ended up having so much fun after dinner with cocktails and dancing. This place really surprised me. I did not expect it to be as big as it was or as pretty. The ambiance is so sexy. I loved the way we could go upstairs and peek off the balcony at the people below. Kind of silly, but fun. The DJ was good, typical hip-hop type music you hear at all of the other clubs in town. I liked that we did not have to drive all over town to get a nice dinner at one place and then cocktails at another and then go dancing somewhere else. I just really had a good time and I would go back again in a heartbeat.
I also know one of the owners, the city really didn’t help out with the opening. It was long overdue.
The menu is like an indepth novel, not just a few items.