Ralph and Kacoo’s

I sat at the bar alone on a business trip and the bartenders were the perfect amount of polite but left you alone if you wanted. Very good shrimp fettuccine alfredo and tropical storm drink (like a hurricane)!! It was pretty empty when I was there, but staff was friendly and food was awesome.

Ralph and Kacoo’s is a big place on Toulouse, just down from Decatur. There’s a bar next to the street and a restaurant out back which has a sort of a mezzanine/​balcony running along one wall with an interesting selection of bric a brac on display, including a large stuffed toy tiger, a model schooner, and a real stuffed fox in a glass case. There was a sign outside on the footpath advertising «Duelling Pianos», and they were already duelling when I walked in, thumping out a version of «Blueberry Hill».
I ordered the gator bites, half and half (half fried, half blackened). The waiter bought me a bowl of bread first which included a couple of things that looked like falafels and tasted like sugarless donuts. The fried gator was like the Popcorn Alligator I had at Jax Brewery last time I was in New Orleans and just as tasty as I remembered that being. The blackened variety tasted like it had been pan fried as opposed to deep fried and I actually preferred this as the subtle flavour of the meat was, I thought, somewhat overpowered by the batter. The texture was slightly chewy, but not in a bad way. It came with a couple of little bowls of sauce — one a sort of spicy tomato, and the other like a buttery, lemon mayo — but I thought both varieties actually tasted better by themselves.

Thursday is $ 2 Martini night! It’s a great deal and the drinks are strong. The food is good here.

We started with the starter plate which had crawfish, alligator, and shrimp. It was my first time trying gator, so I thought it was pretty good. Then for the entrée, I and the shrimp st. charles, and that was definitely delicious! It was a lot of food to eat, but if you’re a big fan of seafood, this place really hits the spot. It is on the pricey side, but it is seafood, so I don’t know what you would expect. The drinks from here are huge, but they taste good. Got the hurricane, and after you finish your drink, you can keep the cup as a souvenir. Service was decent, but I was with a fairly large group of people.

What a wonderful surprise! The first day in New Orleans and we stumble upon $ 2 martinis. The moonpie martini was so yummy! We called them smores (toasted marshallows on top??-too good to be true!) I did not have anything to eat and the atmosphere was kinda dirty and dingy looking but people seemed to be enjoying themselves. There was live music and the bar atmosphere was cool. Our bartender was amazing and did a great job of taking care of about 10 of us at one time. He even recommended some parties to us for the evening. If anything try out the Thursday night martini special!

Tried the taste of Louisiana starter plate. Decent bites, thought the portion wasn’t as big as I thought. Still a good starter to try because it has a little bit of everything: crawfish, alligator, and shrimp.
Also tried r&k gumbo as a starter. It was pretty good. Had shrimp, oysters, rice, and okra. Not something I would recommend though.
For entrees, we had the jambalaya and fried gulf shrimp. The jambalaya has small shrimps and shrimp pieces. I think a few were undercooked and a few were overlooked. It didn’t taste fresh at all.
The fried shrimp were very good. Reasonably prices at $ 16 and a good portion size. Service was very good and our waiter checked on us often and described dishes and recommended some too. Food was a good take on traditional Louisiana cuisine in my opinion; live music and good service make this ⁴⁄₅ instead of ³⁄₅. Would definitely recommend a tourist interested in local cuisine in a more upscale setting.

I made a reservation here for my «wedding eve dinner» and spent the $ 100 to have a private room. I wasn’t sure how busy the restaurant would be that night so I reserved it to be safe. We had 2 servers for our room. There were about 24 of us and we knew we would only be able to pay with 1 check (huh, not my usual experience in the South but OK). Everyone came with cash and then at the end, one server came asking why we don’t just split the bill divided by 24. Um, no, because each person had VERY different spending priorities. The service was less than stellar. Both of our servers had great personalities but one did not have a lot of «action.» Justin was a crowd favorite and worked very hard and was always closeby. The crowd was not impressed with the food or service, which was a bummer because I chose this place to provide options for local food. In hindsight, I would have made a reservation elsewhere considering how much money we spent (close to $ 1000). For sure, I would have skipped the extra $ 100 for a private room and gotten a table. I won’t be back.
I can’t say that it was this place per se, but I was up in the night (night before wedding!!!) sick. Then I remembered that this was the same situation the only other time I had eaten there years before.

Good service, great food, good portions, and neat environment. Ralph and Kacoo’s is both a bar and a restaurant and for a 5 pm Saturday night dinner, it was not crowded at all. I wish I had come a little later since they have dueling pianos at 7 pm.
My date and I split an appetizer of fried green tomatos with lump crab on top. They were tasty, but a little messy. The tomatos did not have the flavorful punch that I’ve come to expect from my local fried green tomato provider. I had the redfish ponchetrain with the cajun potato and although it was enough food, I wouldn’t call it a large portion. It was one piece of fish and half of a potato. Thankfully my date got the Seafood Fettuccine Alfredo and his plate was so large, I got more than enough food from my meal and some of his.
I really enjoyed the Hurricane in the souvenier glass, it was probably the best I’ve ever had, but $ 13.95 seemed a little pricey. Overall, it was a great dining experience and really made for a very pleasant dining experience.

Oh my goodness. You have to stop by here and try the alligator. My group of five split the blackened and fried gator. Hands down, the blackened is better. Tender and delicious!
Like everyone else, I will agree… The hush puppies are not to be missed. The dinner rolls were yummy, too.
My friend and I shared the Blackened Chicken Primavera Pasta which was delicious. The only complaint we had was there were only three strips of chicken… Wait, what. $ 20+ for less chicken than a kid’s meal? Boo. (Hence, the four instead of five stars)
The best part of our dining experience was the pianist. He played your typical, festive Mardi Gras/​NOLA tunes until we requested «Friends in Low Places».
He incorporated all of us into the song and we screamed it to the top of our lungs. The fact that we didn’t get escorted out earned an extra star!

The food is still pretty good but the service is really going down hill fast. In my recent experience, service was so slow and in-​attentive, we left.
We ordered 1 dozen raw oysters. 20 minutes later: nothing, and the place was not at all full or busy. We also wanted to order some appetizers and a couple of fried seafood platters to-​go but no one would even take our order.
We left. I just couldn’t believe they would let $ 200 walk out the door. I talked with the manager (Ashley) and she seemed unqualified and it was just a really unsatisfactory experience all around.
Too bad because their hush puppies are (were) really yummy. I won’t be going back to this R&K — just can’t do dat.
Eat elsewhere —

If there ever was a restaurant that deserves 10 stars, this location specifically deserves them. My cousin posted on his Facebook that he is in NOLA and so I suggested he go to R&C’s. My one and only experience with them was in 2001 but they were phenomenal! There was a problem when the server quit right after taking our order. Unreal! We sat there for 45 minutes waiting.
When I finally asked where our food was, the manager, Miss Iris went to check. In literally one minute later, 7 servers rushed out of the back and started changing plates, silverware, glasses, brought bread, took our orders and had the bunch of us with food in 10 minutes.
To my amazement, Miss Iris showed up with the bill after we ate and tore it up in front of us. Over $ 400 and she comped the entire thing.
Now that’s going above and beyond for your patrons.
I am a forever fan of Ralph and Kacoo’s!

If there were negative stars on Unilocal this place would get –5.
Bottom line– do not go here. Everything our table of 4 ordered was terrible. And cost a fortune.

Gaiters all around ha on the table with sauce wonderful it’s all good. Fried pickles and a hurricane in hand it is definitely excellent.
Oysters and shrimp and great people around and you know you are in The Big Easy.
Food and service here are both great. I will book mark this spot.

Conveniently located in the French Quarter. Directly across the street from a parking lot. The drinks were not that impressive. I felt absolutely not buzz after finishing one of those extremely large frozen concoctions. This was disappointing for NOLA especially. The lobster Mac & Cheese was pretty good. Everyone at our table appeared to have enjoyed their food. We sat in the bar & the service was not the quickest because the bartender was handling both those seated at the bar & those of us sitting in the bar area. Not sure that I would come back as there are so many other restaurants to explore.

Oh Em Gee. Do NOT eat this crap. Go to Arthur Treacher’s or Long John Silver’s instead. The bulk of the restaurant was empty, and only used by functions. Was there for a corporate event. Mediocre service. The seafood platter was TERRIBLE. Breaded. Poorly cooked. Poorly seasoned. Rubbery. Bland. Bad. Other co workers had the steak and it was like cardboard. Were this not in the French Quarter it would fail miserably. Had it any less seating capacity, forcing it to relinquish the group business, it would also fail bad.
Go find better local joints.

In a great location in the French Quarter, it was a great choice for fresh seafood. My friends had oysters, and I had the crab cakes and seafood pasta, which ended up being way too much food. The crab cakes must have been the best I’ve ever had!

We were ready to get down to eatin’ as soon as we hit the pavement in New Orleans. Checking out some of the dining options I had bookmarked, we settled on R&K’s due to its casual nature. The restaurant scores points in my book for being far enough off Bourbon to not look or feel like a tourist trap. The downside of that is the interior lacks personality and feels a lot like any nicer, traditional american casual place.
The place is divided into two sections; a font bar area that is more casual and a large dining room with white tablecloths. We opted for the bar area, quickly settling in with a couple of local brews — a NOLA and Abita. Coming at an off time, the place was empty, but filled in a bit by the time we headed out.
We received a basket of hush puppies as we perused the menu. I love a god hush puppy and these, served with honey butter, did not disappoint. We opted to start with the fried crawfish tails. Tasty, but not a standout, they were easy to pop. For our entrees we ordered the Ruby for me and Redfish Pontchartrain for him. My meal, broiled tilapia topped with a crab meat and a very rich sauce and a side. While very tasty — well-​cooked fish and generous amounts of crab, I couldn’t finish the dish due to its richness. Even using my side of mash potatoes to reset my palette. My partner’s redfish was delicious and something I had also considered. My favorite part of his dish was the shrimp, lump crab meat and sauce adorning the top of the redfish.
While it may not be oozing with personality, Ralph and Kacoo’s is a great option for a nicer, yet casual seafood experience in the Quarter.

Food is great. Drinks are delicious. Great location & atmosphere. The service was pretty good too. We started off with some raw oysters they were ok. I had the stuffed fish topped with shrimp and sauce (really good) with side of asparagus (just ok).

I am the Eggman (Woo!)
They are the Eggmen (Woo!)
I am the Ralphrus
Koo Koo Kacoo’s!
Ralph & Kacoo’s was a good place to get a good New Orleans meal in a casual atmosphere. I needed a little downtime from running a 1400-​person Conference. (ie. «Don’t bother me, I’ll be at the bar.») Bellied up to the bar at R&K’s and the waitress immediately identified an over-​worked casualty in me.
Service was excellent all night. Ordered an Amber and the keg emptied with an inch of foam at the top of my beer. That’s okay in my book, but Super Waitress wouldn’t have it; and topped me off when the new keg was tapped. (Woo!)
The menu here is standard fish, crawfish, gumbo dishes. My friend recommended this place for an amazing Blackened Amberjack, which was not on the menu the night of my visit. I ordered the Atchafalaya with crawfish etouffe. It was great. NCAA games played at the bar; dueling pianos dueled in the dining room (although the lady pianist should really practice her «Piano Man»).
The atmosphere was congenial, yet relaxed. Good for small groups wearing jeans, who still want to get some of NOLA’s standard seafood fare. Thanks to Super Waitress, and thanks to Ralph & Kacoo’s. Koo Koo Kacoo’s!

Before reading my review, please visit their website and turn up the sound.
I’m serious. Go to their website and turn up the sound.
…
Now that the mood is set…
On the first night of our most recent trip to New Orleans, I recommended we have dinner at one of my parents’ favorite restaurants — from when they lived across the river and one that we would always visit while in town — but we hadn’t been in town in far too long.
I perused the menu and quickly decided on the Crawfish Festival. (Go big or go home, right?!) This entrée consists of ample samplings of their crawfish bisque, fried or broiled crawfish tails, fried crawfish balls, AND crawfish étouffée. I opted to get the tails broiled, and on the side, I asked for steamed fresh vegetables. My favorites from the festival were definitely the bisque and the étouffée.
To start, we shared the cornbread and hushpuppies — they are great starters and set a nice tone for our meal.
My dining companions (Jac C and my parents) also seemed to enjoy their dishes.