The Original French Market Restaurant and Bar - Creole restaurant in New Orleans - 1001 Decatur St, USA

I recently dined at the Original French Market Restaurant, renowned for its historic ambiance. My experience was a blend of hits and misses. The seafood boil, featuring shrimp, snow crab, corn, potatoes, and sausage, was the main course of my meal. The corn was a letdown, overly spicy and dried out from prolonged boiling. Similarly, the shrimp was overcooked, and the snow crab lacked freshness. On the other hand, the mac and cheese was average yet comforting, and the grilled salmon was fairly good, but nothing out of the ordinary. The restaurant's age-old charm adds to the dining experience, but some dishes could definitely use improvement.

We have walked by here dozens of times over the years and commented on how great it smells. So we finally decided to give it a try. The inside is well decorated and very welcoming. The doorway is small and not conducive to two way traffic. The tables are well spaced and the tvs had games on and were easy to see. I ordered the Jambalaya and my wife ordered the shrimp and grits and the crab claw appetizer. The crab claws were small but tasty. The jambalaya was well seasoned and had plenty of meat. The rice was a little undercooked, but still good. The shrimp and grits was excellent. The only down side was the lady (not sure if she was the manager or owner or what), growling and arguing with our waiter. Staff discussions belong out of sight of customers. He left and we got a new waitress. He was good as far as I could tell. There were several male staff members leaning against a wall doing nothing. Too much staff standing around. Kind of pricey for the quality and quantity, but I’ll probably go back.

This place has some delicious food!!!!!! Blackened catfish and shrimp boil is yumm O! Swamp plate good too! Service upstairs was non existent had to head downstairs after watching staff sit around for 10+ minutes. We received our water 10 minutes in and were told the waitress would be with us shortly!!! Mind you it wasn't busy at all. By then we already had our whole meals picked out and we're ready to order at that time!!! The lady downstairs was very apologetic. Now that wait staff has it going on and very nice and quick. Eat downstairs and enjoy the delicious 😋 food!

We had a great experience at this quaint eatery in the French Quarter. We were drawn in by the swamp and bayou platters, which offer a sampling of fares. We ordered and shared both platters after settling in. The bayou platter had red beans and rice, jambalaya, and shrimp and grits. The swamp platter had shrimp creole, blackened alligator, and crawfish etouffee. Everything was seasoned well and full of flavor. The platters were a lot for two people. We also shared a bread pudding, which was hot with a balanced sweetness. Service was friendly and helpful. Prices are fair for the area. I would go back.

Prior to arriving to New Orleans, I was searching for places to have oysters. Their menu online showed the oysters as the cheapest option out of all the locations I looked at, this was the only reason why we chose to go to this establishment. Unfortunately, the price online was not updated as the oysters were actually on the top tier of pricing compared to other restaurants in the French Quarter. Well, we're not going to go and find somewhere else to eat as this was already a late lunch so we just ordered it. Unfortunately, the oysters weren't that great. Several of them had shell or sand as eating the oysters were accompanied by crunching and fishing out shell out of my mouth. The waitress didn't stop by until after we had finished our meal so I wasn't able to tell her prior about the oysters. When she did ask how the oysters were, I let her know about the sand but she didn't say anything and just smiled and walked away. Not sure if she thought I was joking but I would definitely not recommend the oysters here.

It was my 1st time dining here for dinner. I must say the service, food & atmosphere was great. The people there made me feel welcome. I want to think my waitress Addona for great hospitality. Also, I can't forget the cooks. I will definitely be back. 🥰

OMG! The aroma itself draws you in. Real and authentic spices and food. We loved EVERYTHING! Highly recommend the Blackened Red Fish, Red Beans, Fried Catfish & Grilled Oysters on the half shell.

The food and drinks were delicious! The service was on point. It was Sunday evening so they weren’t too busy and Mariah our bartender gave us great recommendations. We had Hurricanes and 1 hit just right. We had the shrimp and crawfish dip as an appetizer and then the swamp platter and crawfish bisque. It’s not a locals hangout so if you’re looking for a local dive this isn’t it. But if you’re looking for good food, great service and a bomb hurricane come on.