Mulate’s

The food here is really good but you will pay to play. I had the shrimp jumbo which was excellent and the Cajun fried Shrimp, another good one. The catfish was tender and somehow didn’t have a fishy smell. Go figure.

Came accross this place while leaving the convintion center looked to be like good Cajun food. For the most part it was pretty good there where some highs and some lows. We got a catfish plate which was really good but the red beans and rice was not to our liking. If we ever clinical the area again we would go back.

The best restaurant, in my humble opinion. Mulate’s is always my first stop when I arrive to New Orleans. I go there for the first meal every time I’m in the area. Food is out of this world, drinks are awesome, everyone is friendly. The absolute best!

Low quality food with a high price tag that is the enemy of vegans and vegetarians alike.
Louisiana food is pretty low brow and nasty. This is the quintessential example of such food. $ 15+ for a crappy and small plate of pasta? No thank you.
On the plus side, the service is decent.

We have been 2 times — the first time we had such a great experience — they had Lee Benoit playing Zydego music — the food was good — people were dancing.
The next time — they had music — no one was dancing — Service was spotty — and the food wasn’t good.
Maybe we were too early in the evening??? Maybe Friday night isn’t a good time to go??? Maybe things had changed from my first visit to my last…

If this place didn’t have the live music it would be 3 stars. My daughter loved the music and she had me out there dancing with her.
I ordered the red beans and rice, which was good, but not nearly as good as Grandma’s. It’s pricey at $ 17.
The service was just average.

This restaurant was recommended to us when we first came to New Orleans around 10 years ago. They were still just as good.
We tried to go Saturday night and they had an hour long wait. We went back on Sunday and were able to walk right in, with a group of 8.
It slowed down considerably from there. Our waitress was nice and funny, but not at all attentive. Not sure if because as a party of 8 her tip was automatically added or because it’s just a slower atmosphere but either way we had to wave her down a couple times and wait over 20 minutes till we could order.
The food was great though. I had the blackened red fish with crab dressing, the husband had red beans and rice, and there were also orders of jambalaya, Cajun surf and turf and seafood pasta. There were minor issues with the dishes (like steak being REALLY rare) but on whole it was great. And when they say bowl of food, they really mean serving bowl. It is huge!
The live music makes the place. Make sure you dance!

I enjoyed the vibe of the place and the host was pleasant but unfortunately our server was not checking on us often. The food was pretty good. I would definitely come again but wait until closer to 7 so that I can here whatever band they have. I will give it another chance next time I am in New Orleans.

This place is mediocre… If you’ve had too many fried seafood platters in NOLA, I will tell you, this place didn’t stand out from the rest of the other mediocre place. I’ve only tried the platter here so I can’t say about the rest of the dishes! The only convenience is that this place is right across the street from the convention center & the riverwalk outlet.
There are so many other restaurant in this area that I would not recommend this spot as a priority. Perhaps on a Saturday night if there is a band playing & the drinks are rolling, this place may seem deserving of another star. I think Unilocalers got it right.
It’s not the best & not the worst.

The best bang for your buck in the area. Great service with a group of 15. This is hard to find. Not showy or trendy. Completely casual with killer local food. We will always go back here when visiting new Orleans.
Great music and a local favorite in the area.

First let me say that over all we had a good time. I was in New Orleans and really wanted authentic Cajun food. My companion who has a much finer palate was gracious enough to go with me. We were looking forward to a good down to the bayou dinner and especially since they have live music every night! Well we were totally satisfied with the music it was wonderful! Many older couples were dancing and that is always nice to see… people enjoying themselves with great cajun zydeco music. The food on the other hand… not so much.
We ordered the crawfish étouffée and it was wonderful. The roux was very nicely done. crawfish tasted fresh, nice job. The cup we shared came with a small serving of white rice and it was delicious. She ordered nice glass of white wine and enjoyed it. I ordered a glass of a wonderful full bodied beer found in Louisiana called Abita. We ordered a Cajun seafood platter. It had a lot of stuff. Broiled catfish, which was ok not great. Fried calamari was way over fried… pretty hard actually. The stuffed crab shell was probably her favorite on the platter. the fried oysters weren’t bad. The crawfish were very tiny and good but they seem to rely on them to fill you up. I would have preferred more of the shrimp and maybe a better quality fish. All in all pretty mediocre food but a GREAT place to hear Cajun music.

This is okay. Maybe it was just our visit. There was a bit of a wait, but that is to be expected on a Saturday night in New Orleans.
Walking to our table was like walking through an obstacle course. The seating is narrow here so they walk you down the dance floor which means you are dodging people doing their cajun two-​step. There was a live band playing as well when we went which was a positive (for me at least) and it really made me miss my hometown and the atmosphere there.
I got red beans and rice with sausage. The sausage had a good flavor, but was burned on the ends. Not sure who thought it was a good idea to serve that. I was really hungry after walking all day so I just cut that end off. It was also a bit more watery than I would expect, but it at least had a good flavor which is more than I can say for what I’ve tried in Texas.
My companions got gumbo. It looked a bit watery to me. Now, for all you tourists it should be somewhat watery since it is really just soup, but there should be big chunks of veggies and meat in there as well. The veggies were cut small and the shrimp were tiny in my opinion and my friend said they were overcooked — so mush basically. He did say the roux was good though and for some that is all that matters.
Twenty years ago Mulates was the place to eat in New Orleans even for my friends raised «down the bayou», but I think they would be a bit disappointed now. Or maybe they just don’t order the gumbo. Positives were the live band and the dancing — that will give you more of an idea of what happens in «cajun-​land» on weekends or at festivals. So come for the culture if anything.

Mulate’s is great for a big group of friends! Out of all the food joints, this is one of the unique ones because it gives off this old western cowboy type feel. It’s like eating inside a huge barnyard with a dance floor and a large dance floor and a stage for bands.
We came for their fried and grille frog legs which are legit. It tastes like chicken but a bit more chewy. The grilled tastes delicious! it’s pretty meaty too but with small bones in between every bite. I guess the traditional dipping sauce is honey mustard? either way it was delicious. I also had crawfish étouffée which tasted like a seafood gumbo but with crawfish chunks. I loved this! It was a bit pricey but well worth the purchase.
Dinner was great here!

Food was just ok. Servers were friendly. Everything seemed jumbo sized, including the drinks. Seafood platter was massive and so was the steak entrée with shrimp. Both were ok. The gumbo had a more gritty texture.

This place was fantastic. The price was a little steep, but we ALL loved our dishes. I wanted to return so bad, but I just couldn’t afford it. The blackened alligator was to-​die-​for. TO DIE FOR. It was so good in the appetizer that I ordered the entrée portion of it.

First time in and we would certainly come again. The etouffée and jambalaya were perfect examples of local cuisine that were well-​executed. Caution: even half a bowl (rather than a cup) of either may well preclude one from eating anything else — possibly for the rest of the week.
The bizarre reviews here complaining about the absence of vegetarian options or «heart attack» meals defy an intuitive understanding of local culinary traditions. While this is not a daily habit to pursue, Mulate’s is certainly a very good restaurant with a fine array of local specialties worth exploring.

STOP! Was referred by a local to eat here. The price was high especially for the food that was received both in quality and quantity. Evan as ‘tourists’ i would not choose to eat here, husbands family is from Louisiana and we were looking for local Creole/​Cajun food. This wasn’t it.
Husband ordered wings as an appetizer and only 3 were edible as the others were still raw and trying to get out of his mouth when he took a bite. After that disappointment we observed the other diners food and servings, we decided on a simple cup of Gumbo. The gumbo was good (came with a ½ C. of rice)
We chose to leave there $ 40 poorer and very hungry.

The best reastaurant in its category in new Orleans.
Me encanto este lugar con música en vivo y los platillos son sabrosos todos los que probé.

You want a platter of Heart Attack, you are in the right place… FRIED CHICKEN, FRIED GATOR, FRIED FROG LEGS, FRIED SHRIMP, you get my point.
The food is typical touristy fast food in a sit down setting, perfect for families and large groups. The crawfish étouffée is edible. Not bad, but there is better out there.
It was my one and only experience.

Mulate’s, you have let me down. I ended up here quite randomly on the Thursday of French Quarter Fest. They didn’t appear to be busy, there were empty tables throughout the restaurant, but when we walked in we were ushered back to the waiting area for a 20+ minute wait.
There were two of us. We’re finally seated and we’re put at one of the little two-​tops against the wall, right in the path of traffic to the bathroom/​kitchen/​dance floor. Which kind of rubbed me the wrong way because they had about ten open four-​tops, but instead we all babied up in the corner. It was cramped. People were bumping into the table the whole time. Just all up on the wall. (A wall which will come into play later… oh yeah, foreshadowing, baby.)
Our server took forever coming to the table. He walked by four or five times and said that he’d be right back. And, he did come back. But just to say he’d be back. He finally came to take our drink orders and we just went ahead and ordered everything while we had his attention.
We got some onion rings as an appetizer. They took a while to come out, but were hot and fresh. And really greasy. The onion rings come with a little cup of remoulade for dipping. When the waiter took away the plate, that little cup dropped on the floor by my feet. The waiter told me not to move and that he would clean it all up. He even dabbed some off of my shoe saying that a «drop» has splashed on them. I didn’t really pay that much attention to him because I didn’t think anything of it. Which was a mistake. (Yes, more foreshadowing.)
Entrees came out and we started eating. The food wasn’t okay, nothing special. We’re sitting there eating at our tiny, little table right against the wall. All of a sudden, I sense that there is something is on the wall, right by my head. Did I mention that we were sitting all up on that wall? So, when I say by my head, I mean BY MY HEAD. My boyfriend, who has a clear view of the situation, jumped up, napkin in hand, and snatched a freaking COCKROACH off the wall and took it to the manager. (Kudos to my boo for the fastest response time ever because things could have gone down a much different path had he not gotten that thing away from my head before I was able to fully process what was going down.)
Okay, so let’s take pause here and have a somewhat uncomfortable conversation. New Orleans is a river city. Being close to the river means we have all kinds of critters. For example, roaches. Now, there are what is referred to around here as Palmetto Bugs. Those are the gigantic roaches that live in the trees. They’re bigger. They’re scarier. But they’re also the «bettet» kind of roaches. They don’t want be near you. They freak out just as much as you do when they get inside. Their purpose is simply to scare the shit out of you and GTFO. Then there are little, nasty, germ-​carrying, grossest-​of-​gross, cockroaches that live in filth and squalor. These roaches live to infest dirty spaces and will absolutely take over if you do not keep sanitary conditions. The roach on the wall at Mulate’s was the latter variety.
So, I’m just going to stop there with the roach. Our (largely uneaten) meal was comped. Obviously. And we left.
So, remember that little cup of remoulade that the waiter dropped and said he cleaned up? We were outside trying to catch a cab when I realized that it was ALL. OVER. ME. I was wearing white pants, so there is no way the waiter didn’t realize it was on me when he was on the ground cleaning it up off the floor with his eyes two inches from my legs. It was on my pants. It was on my shoes (a «drop» my ass.) It was on my shirt. It was everywhere. My shoes were ruined and my night was officially over. Thanks a lot, jerk.
So, that’s my updated Mulate’s story. Do with it what you will. Personally, I have chosen to file it in the category of NEVER AGAIN.

The menu is extensive. We had a group of 60+ for a conference networking lunch for our affinity group and the restaurant was able to set up large, long tables for us! We told everyone to bring cash. They only allowed 5 credit cards per «table.»
I shared the Catfish Mulate with a friend. The coleslaw was great! The catfish was smothered with crawfish étouffée. The jambalaya was perfectly spiced. It was perfect to share for a quick Lucy since we had a big breakfast.
I totally recommend splitting dishes because a lot of our colleagues didn’t finish their meal.
Service was excellent and food all came out at once.

J’ai été plutôt déçu par mon passage chez Mulates.
Si l’on va dans un endroit pareil c’est principalement pour la musique, le groupe qui jouait ce soir-​là était loin d’être communicatif. Ils donnaient l’impression d’être là uniquement pour empocher leur cachet.
Quand on voit l’enthousiasme des groupes dans d’autres endroits (même ceux qui jouent dans le même lieu toutes les semaines comme ici) la différence est flagrante.
Au niveau des plats, rien de bien transcendant non plus. Le tout était excessivement lourd et sans raffinement.
Rien à redire au niveau du service. J’aurais pu mettre 3 étoiles mais l’addition un peu trop salée pour la qualité des plats en fait un endroit à déconseiller à mon sens.

Sort of tourist trap across from the convention center. The kind of place where out-​of-​towners can go dine in a «N’awlins» restaurant decorated by Rodrigue Blue Dogs and dare each other to try Cajun Alligator.
Incidentally, I don’t recommend the alligator – it’s tough and not flavorful. But while we’re on the subject of novelty food for tourists, the frog legs are actually worth a try. They taste buttery (with fat, I assume).
Overall, it was gimmicky and overpriced, and the staff was unknowledgeable about their food and drink (a pet peeve of mine).