Laveau

We stopped here before a show a Taft Theatre. Laveau offers a New Orleans dining experience and we decided to give it a try. I'm glad we did.We were here on a Tuesday and the restaurant was not hopping. Here's hoping it hops other days of the week.The place is cute and our booth was very cozy. Our waiter, Scott, was helpful and pleasant. I ordered a Iberville Hand Grenade to start. It was slightly sweet and strong. It was a nice start for our dining experience.We started with Fried Green Tomatoes. Scott explained there was currently a shortage of asparagus, so no asparagus on this appetizer, but I didn't miss them. We both thought flavor of this dish was completely satisfying.I ordered Pasta Laveau with Shrimp, which was delicious.Mark had the Gumbo, which he thoroughly enjoyed.I'm glad this place is close enough to stop in before a show. I think I'd bring friends back to give it a try.Overall, a good experience and a good meal.

Slap ya mama food and drinks!! I'd been wanting to try them for a while, so I was really excited when we were finally able to make resies and get downtown for date night. I started with fried green tomatoes and a Ruby Slipper. Oh, gurl. Yum x 1000. The tomatoes were garnished with pimento cheese and you know I ate every last bite. Had a lovely salad and the shrimp pasta. When I say this was the best shrimp pasta I've had in my life...trust and believe!! The spices in this dish were phenomenal and danced all over my tastebuds. I should have taken some home (way too much food ) but I couldn't put my fork down. R had the blackened catfish with fries and slaw. He has declared this his new favorite place.

We really stopped in for drinks and to check the place out. The one thing that you should know is that they basically only serve their own brand of liquor. Cincinnati Breweries.The front room and bar aren't all that impressive but the back dining room is so cool.We had appetizers of Gumbo and Maque Choux and a loaf of bread all were great!I thought the local whisky and the IPA were great.Next time we'll sit in the back room and have a little different experience.We meet the chef and he is a wonderful guy.You have to check it out.

Location near Fountain Square and connected to March 1st brewery. Cajun style fair... atmosphere is purely NOLA. Fun place. Scott was our server and Gabe great suggestions for starters and main dish. Parking at Fountain Square or on the street. We'll be back!

New Orleans food restaurant. Not crowded. Fantastic food and great service. Our waiter was very knowledgeable and obviously worked there a while. We started off with boudin balls and french fries debris pouton with braised ribs on top. Very large portions. My son and I got the fried platter with catfish, crawfish and shrimp. It came with two sides. The sides were huge! I chose Gumbo and Jumbalaya. We ended up with leftovers. My wife got the tour of new orleans, jambalaya, gumbo and shrimp etouffe. For dessert we got the excellent bread pudding and biscuit shortcake with berries. This restaurant is part of the Cincinnati distillery.

If you are looking for Cajun/ Louisiana inspired food, look no further! Laveau is the place to be. The ambiance is gorgeous and the service was amazing! Scott was our server and he took great care of our party of 10. We started with drinks and enjoyed the Ruby Slipper (not pictured) and the Hurricane. The hurricane reminds you of a rum punch but better and not citrusy. For dinner, I tried the fried green tomatoes which could've been fried a little longer as the tomatoes were fairly hard. However, the flavor was perfect. I also had the short rib which was cooked to a tender liking just falling apart. It comes with Brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes underneath which was a great combination. My friend tried the catfish and enjoyed the flavor but thought it should've been cooked longer as well. Overall, I will definitely return in the near future.

We have been looking forward to this dinner since September 2024. My DD wanted to dine here for her birthday but the day we were planning, they were closed for a private party. The menu sounded DELICIOUS and we couldn't wait! There were four people in our party. Two of us drink alcohol and two don't. We started with drinks and ordered the Iberville Hand Grenade (Voltage Vodka, Red Sky Gin, Cooper Island White Rum, Midori, Pineapple Juice) and the Ruby Slipper (Voltage Vodka, Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice, Fresh Lemon, Simple Syrup, Rhubarb Bitters). The Hand Granade was a bit sour and tasty. The Ruby Slipper was sweet and I dont think it was mixed well as you couldn't discern the flavors. Ive had a few lovely RS drinks in the past and this one was meh. We ordered the Boudin Balls. I would skip these - very little flavor and they need some seasoning. Definitely lacks Boudin flavor. We then shared the Debris Poutine($16) - Cajun fries, short rib, giardiniera, cheese curds, lemon aioli, & green onion. These were Great! We loved them! On to the Entree! I ordered the Short Ribs - see photo. This was definitely the best dish, by far! We all loved it and it was completely gobbled up! My DD got the Pasta Laveau with chicken. This was pretty good but honestly not better than the Cajun Pasta at Chili's (sorry but I don't pull punches!). My son got the Tour of New Orleans. This was the worst dish we ordered. I seriously wanted to go into the kitchen and see if they took each of the three dishes out of a frozen pack and popped it into a microwave! The gumbo tasted like plastic. Very Bad. The jambalaya and etouffe were just ok. Basically do not waste your money on this. My hubby got Shrimp and Grits. This was also Great! It was so creamy and tasty and good. We all ate this up as well. For dessert we ordered the Beignets. The from frozen raspberry reduction was bitter and these were pretty meh as well. Wish we would have tried the bread pudding but oh well. Will I go back, probably not. Considering we were all hungry going in and this fact usually makes food taste even better than normal, I'm giving 3.5 stars for food. (3 good items, 3 poor items) Lastly, the service was bordering on rude! Our server was a smoker - totally gross when dining out as you don't want to smell old nicotine on someone. Smell is a HUGE part of taste. He also made some snide comments. Now I am pretty outspoken but will NOT make a scene with my kids in tow. So all snide / sideways comments got ignored. Do not engage. He also dropped his volume when speaking as the night went on and when a new tabe was seated, we all noticed the volume change. Was he messing with us??! I dont know. Again, another reason I probably won't return. Totally bill was a little over $200 and with a 20% tip (I'm nice to servers unless straight out A**hat!), dinner for four was around $255-ish.

Wanted to check out Laveau's ever since their spring 2023 entre into downtown Cincinnati. They are tucked away on the west side of Fountain Square. When you walk inside, the vibe is very cool, with lots of New Orleans artifacts like Mardi Gras beads, masks, skulls, and copious images of Marie Laveau, the infamous voodoo queen. It's cool and dark- perfect for a steamy hot June (thanks crazy heat wave!). Grab a booth vs. a table for an even cooler dining experience! There is a small bar and a section showcasing the many spirits from their distillery.I have been to New Orleans many times, and my family has lived there for hundreds of years, so I'm well acquainted with typical French Creole and Cajun dishes. Laveau has a unique spin on these classics with a flavor all its own. I started the meal with Crawfish Boudin Balls. They were lightly fried and had a tasty crunch before biting into the center. They were very mild in taste but assisted by their aioli which seemed to be more of a mustard-based vs. a more creole-style remoulade. While I enjoyed having a taste from the bayou country (boudin is more reminiscent of rural parts of Louisiana- "Cajun Country- St. Landry Parish, et al.), I would have liked to see more crawfish and less rice in the dish. Ironically, my dinner companion got the Crispy Fish Platter, which had an enormous bowl of crawfish accompanying shrimp, catfish, and two sides. So, crawfish is not in short supply at Laveus and must be an intentional way to create the yummy balls.I had the Tour of New Orleans which consisted of étouffée, gumbo, jambalaya in small bowls. I added shrimp to my étouffée- which came with several very large succulent shrimp. An overly generous scoop of rice sat atop this beautifully spicy entree as well as on top of the gumbo. It worked for the étouffée, but the flavor of the gumbo was wholly lost by being consumed by the starchy, absorbent rice. Would have loved to taste the rich flavor of the gumbo as a soup as it is traditionally served, with just a bit of rice added. I would have loved to try the specialty salads, but they came with pecans which I'm deathly allergic to, so I passed on this starter. All the more reason for alarm when I took a spoonful of the infamous bread pudding at the close of the meal, only to feel the crunch of some type of nuts between my teeth. Knowing that pecans are such a huge ingredient in NOLA dishes (and alone like in pralines), I immediately knew that I should not swallow this first bite. The menu description did not list any nuts at all. I asked our server if there were nuts and he had to check with the chef. Found out there were pecans in the bread pudding. Death averted! Our server did apologize profusely. I just hope that they make a change to their menu tout de suite so that someone does not go into anaphylactic shock. Our server was very good throughout, answering our questions, timing the food arrival, and immediately brought out another desert to replace the bread pudding. I would highly recommend this restaurant for a unique take on food from New Orleans. Note that the portions are huge! A few things that could make the restaurant stand out:More info on the history of NOLA and why Marie Laveau was such a presence then and now in the Crescent City. Offer French bread or sliced Po- Boy bread at every table to start the meal.The cocktails are very well done and have unique NOLA location names. Add a few lines in the description about these locations. For example, the Storyville Julep. Storyville had a very unique red light district history from 1897 to 1917.

I have to say, this may have been some of the best creole food I've had anywhere. The are also a disterilly that makes there own liquor. Great atmosphere. Good service, they were busy, so little slow, but worth the wait. We had the Laveau Pasta, short rib poutine and the chicken etoufee. You can't go wrong with any of those choices. Definitely on my go to list when back in Cincinnati.

Came here for the first time for Saturday night dinner. I had a friend visiting who used to live in Cincinnati but moved so I decided to take her to a new place. Laveau showed up as I wanted to check out the new Fountain District area. It's a New Orleans inspired restaurant and I was craving a good gumbo! I got the Iberville Hand Grenade cocktail to start. It was very strong! A little too sweet for me but overall good flavors. It could use some sparkling seltzer to make it less sweet. Definitely be careful with these in terms of alcohol amount as it's smooth enough to just sip quickly :) To start, we got fried green tomatoes for the table. The pimento is so flavorful and the entire dish felt fresh and a perfect way to start a meal.For my food I got the Gumbo and Cajun grits side. They went well together as the Cajun grits were a little plain and the stew from the gumbo worked so well with it. I wish they had added more Cajun flavor to the grits. The gumbo was just right with the flavors and textures. I really enjoy heart stews and so gumbo is a fav. I do want to come back and try their jambalaya though as my one friend got it and it looked huge and is a one pot dish that looks so flavorful. So the New Orleans version of fried rice vs a curry/stew. Everyone was filled with their food and the portions are very large and good for sharing a bit of others as well. The Cajun fries were very good. The atmosphere inside is very classy and the staff was so attentive and very helpful. I will come back to try some more of the dishes!