Bayona

Disappointing. Made reservations for Thurs. lunch for a table for 7 for us and visiting relatives. Reservations were for 1pm. They were busy and only had one waitress that we could see handling our entire side of the room. Service was POOR. Did not eat actual entree until 2:40pm. Did not take our order until 45 minutes of sitting there, and that is also when they took our drink order. I waited 20-25 min. for a refill on water and then had to ask. never got any more bread. I know they were busy, but not acceptable at this kind of establishment and prices. The food was good and the waitress was great when she finally had time to attend to us. My theory as to why such slow service to our party of 7 is that they automatically charge 18% gratuity to parties of 5 or more so there was little need (on their end) to take good care of us. My family comes in 1-2 times per yr and likes to eat at the nicer restaurants, but they will not be eating here again.

We ate at Bayona this past Saturday for our sixth wedding anniversary. We spent three nights in New Orleans and enjoyed our time...for the most part.

Bayona was a beautiful restaurant with an enchanting courtyard; which we were lucky enough to sit in. Our first male waiter was very nice and informative about the menu. However, our second server (a female), was short and unattentive the entire two and half hours we were there. She seemed annoyed and rushed as we ordered; forgot our bread until we flagged her down--which she gave us a few moments before our meals arrived; had to ask for water and more wine after waiting with empty glasses for twenty minutes; did not check on us one time during our meal; and then ignored us for another twenty minutes after we had finished. My husband was so annoyed that he got up to find her to ask for the dessert menu and more wine. She, again, was flustered and short--no apologies. Actually she said nothing to us as she cleared the table until she handed me the dessert menu. I was so upset at this point that I just wanted to leave. For the first time in our lives, we did not leave a tip. Our bill was $100. We would have certainly spent another $50 in after dinner drinks and dessert along with a generous 20-25% tip. Yet, we choose to leave.

The manager approached my husband before we left and asked if there was a problem. After my husband explained to her, she said, ""sometimes the servers get busy and customers get caught in the middle."" No apology. No complimentary dessert. Nothing. I also told the nice lady at the front desk who finally apologized and wished us a happy anniversary. We left your restaurant and had dessert and drinks at another...I am not sure if this is how you normally run a 'fine dining' restaurant. We came here based on recommendations from friends. Rest assure that we will not be sharing that recommendation.

I would like to say that the food was great. I had the steak, which was a little salty, but otherwise very delicious. My husband had the red fish which he really enjoyed.

I was very disappointed in the food that they brought to the table?!? I assumed a that a good staff would not serve food that was burned. I had the crisp quail salad and the quail was not only way over cooked by taste but was black in appearance. The sweet breads were awful, completely dried out and i was told it was a signature dish. I pointed this problem out to the staff, they agreed and offered to take it off my check but i paid the bill anyway and left. I think the chef should check in with her kitchen more often..

I don't give five stars to a restaurant unless i really really love it. The chef can take something simple like grilled shrimp and black beans to an entirely different level that I didn't know existed for that dish. It comes as just a simple black bean 'cake' and a few shrimps on the side. When you take a small measure of each, every single flavor, the saltiness of the beans, the sweet sea taste of the shrimp, jumps out and is easy to identify, but also works in concert to create a palate-expanding symphony. The waiter was attentive, which was good, but food took a very very long time, which was bad. Normally, such a long wait would earn a restaurant a bad review, but Bayona had such good food that I would wait a full month to eat there (which, alas, I must do. I no longer live in NOLA, its sad I know). Take care Bayona, and keep the shrimp on the menu!

The food was good. The service was intrusive. The idea seems to be to impress with the number of people they can have come to the table. I don't need to be interrupted every five minutes. Having a real room captain might work. I also don't need to hear the wait staff repeat the same memorized lines all night long. A long wait between appetizer and main course was a meal killer too.

Bayona's is the perfect place for intimate dining, quiet conversation, and exquisite food. It is sophisticated but not pretentious, engaging but still subdued. The people were very warm--I felt as though I was among family. It was easy to become lost in the moment. I have never enjoyed a meal quite so much. Gracias.

One of the most pleasurable dining experiences I've had. Very friendly staff. I was lucky to be seated as I had not called ahead (note, call ahead!). I enjoyed the cram of garlic soup, grilled Sheepshead (fish) w/pecan rice, asparagus & citrus brown butter sauce, french bread with olive oil and cranberry beignets with white chocolate sorbet. Lovely setting in a renovated Creole home on Dauphine. Even saw the divine Ms. Spicer herself. No complaints about the meal, but I was caught off guard by my waiter nonchalantly scraping crumbs from my spot at the table. I don't get out to the fancy places often! ha ha ;-)Great unpretentious service, would love to dine again when my low carb diet can accommodate the splurge.

We had high hopes for this restaurant, and were really looking forward to our dinner. Though the atmosphere is great, the main problem was that it took a LONG time to get our starters, and even longer to get our main dish. Once our food arrived, we were hoping it would be so wonderful we'd forget all about the long wait....but the food was really just okay. I had the lamb, which was actually very good, but my husband had the hangar steak which was just okay, and the veggies etc which accompanied our dishes were also just average. Oh, and I'd requested no squash, which of course was on the plate when it arrived. All in all, a nice location, but the food and service was lacking.

I've been to this eatery twice. I'm a college kid who rarely gets a good meal, so when parents come in to town and offer to take me I'm all for it. The first time I went to Bayona I was stoked, the menu made my mouth water. I was somewhat dissapointed. Besides the excellent service chef Susan Spicer's dishes were not impressive. To put it this way I didn't even get a to go box for my half eaten tuna steak. Well, recently I decided to give Bayona another go. One cocktail into our meal my table saw two rodents scurry right in front of our table. We told the manager in a very discreet way, avoiding a scene. He brushed us off and told us that they kept a cat in there at night to scare away rodents. GROSS!!! Besides the unapologetic mamager our food was cold or covercooked and our service miserable. Don't waste your 60 bucks a head.

Very romantic dining room. We started with the garlic soup and seared scallops. The scallops were excellent, but I would have liked the soup to be a bit more garlicky. For the main course, I had a rabbit dish that was out of this world. Perfectly cooked, spiced, and sauced with a beautiful presentation. My friend had the striped sea bass that was also delicious, but said my rabbit took top honors in the taste dept. For dessert, a frangelico infused cake with chocolate mousse that was also delicious. All around excellent food, excellent service. Highly recommended for a romantic dinner or to impress a client in an intimate setting.

Okay Susan I am from Nashville and I always eat at your restarants, my boyfriend and I had dinner on a Friday night, there was no wait, we had reservations. Dinner was okay, the service was good but not fun. I ordered the pork chop, my boyfriend had the tripletail fish dish. The tripletail was very good very mild white fish and hearty portion, I had the pork chop, big portion, cooked great, and we both had a salad.... very good we both had a dessert mine was not that great something with a rootbeer shaved ice, ykes! My b-friend had homemade bananna and chocolate ice cream... very good. service was good, no crowd...

the service was mediocre and hasty at best! the thing that started the evening off bad was the fact that they don't do corkage! I mean if you're not going to allow people to bring their own selections you should have a MUCH better wine list. Which brings me to their perverse wine service...before my champagne was even half-way finished the daft girl had poured both diners a full glass. I mean LORD, we hadn't even received our appatizers yet.
Since the begining we were mostly ignored. The food was NOT much better than outback steakhouse(over-cooked, or over-spiced) or other such establishments! I DO NOT reccommend wasting your time or money at this place.

My best meal in New Orleans, the sweetbreads were wonderful.
The atmosphere was laid back and friendly.
I would not hesitate to go back.

Went on May 2005 vacation with main goal of eating fabulous food. Bayonna won as our very best experience. The food was amazing and service professional and experts. Romantic in wine room. Before-dinner drinks in lounge were nice, too. Definitely the best place in town.

We visited NO over Christmas and had the opportunity to dine at Bayona. I had their famous Cream of Garlic Soup and it was AMAZING! This is truly one of the best restaurants I've eaten at. Every course was excellent and the service was so smooth. I really enjoyed the ambience... informal elegance at its best!

I don't know what the detractors are talking about. We were served with impeccable care, and the atmosphere was just perfect - relaxed and elegant. My friend and I shared everything, because we were so blown away at how good our dishes were... from the intensely flavorful heirloom tomato salad to the delicately sauced veal and lamb entrees, we were thoroughly impressed. The wine list was expansive, and their recommendations were just right. Having eaten at some of the best places in SF, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and other places, we think we have a fairly experienced palate... This place was wonderful, and we'll definitely go back.

I had lunch with 2 friends there a couple of weeks ago. I was completely dissapointed with the food and the service. It took the waiters almost 45 minutes to take our order. They brought the wrong drinks. One waiter was so unfriendly, he would not say a word.
Food, small portions and overpriced. I sent an email to the Manager of the restaurant and I am still waiting for a response.
I can not recommend this restaurant to anybody, unless you want to be treated bad.

What a fantastic meal. To all those who have bashed this restaurant, go sober next time. The service was A1 and the food was prepared perfectly. The setting is charming and the wine list diverse and fairly priced. My Loin of Lamb could not have been better and my wife's Peacan encrusted Rabbit was perfect. Both went perfect with our 1998 Cote Rotie. Don't miss the Sweetbreads...Truely to die for.
Second visit recently and again a wonderful experience.

Made a point to hit some of the best restaurants in Nola. My favorites were Peristyle, GW Fins and Acme Oyster House. Bayona has wonderful ambiance, best wine list including rare California wines we can't find in California! The sweetbreads were sensational as was the rabbit and my husband enjoyed the duck. My choices were less memorable and didn't wow me, seemed a bit tired ... but husband and our guest were both impressed.

We read about how great this restaurant was, so we made reservations. The food was nothing special. It was quite bland. Also, my food had a hair in it. Understandable. This happens everywhere, eventually. There were no apologies. They just took it away and brought a new plate. The atmosphere was just typical. It is is a renovated house. For the price, we were extremely disappointed. We could have spent that money in a much nicer place like Commander's Palace. We would not go again. But if you like to pay high prices for bland food, this is your place.