Meril

We had reservations to celebrate my husband's 50th birthday and had reached the maximum amount of guests per table, but we had unexpected family joining in. Mackenzie, Ana, and Angie all went above and beyond to seat our group together in the middle of a busy holiday weekend. The food and ambiance were great, the turkey neck was so good (and I was NOT keen on trying it at first, haha.) The cotton candy birthday surprise was a fun change to a standard birthday cake and candle! We'll definitely be back!We were so hungry and there was so much going on with all the attendees that we forgot to take photos of our food, but here's a picture of my delicious coquito that I started off with. Cheers!

This was a causal spot that served modern American dishes with some southern inspiration along the way. There was an open kitchen that was cool to see too. The service was appreciated while the food came out in a timely manner.We ordered six different snacks and small plates as it was described on the menu. I will explain each one below.Pineapple Upside-Down Cornbread ($9) - This came with a bacon marmalade. The bread was not overly sweet but did pair nicely with the bacon marmalade. The marmalade had a nice balance of sweet and salty. Deviled Eggs ($12) - There were three halves topped with smoked trout roe. There was also a coating of Zapp's chips present. This was okay at best. The yolk filing was plain and disappointing. The crispy chip was a nice touch though.Crispy Boudin Balls ($14) - There were three balls with pepper jack cheese, creole mustard and pepper jelly. These were okay. They were fried perfectly, but they were just alright. The creole mustard was the key as it provided a slight spicy factor to them.Gulf Shrimp & Pork Dumplings ($14) - There were three to an order I believe with napa cabbage, bonito flakes, and chili-sauce. This grew on me as I kept eating them. The actual dumpling was decent, but the cabbage along with the chili sauce really was tasty. The dumpling was too thin without much filing I thought, or it was overpowered by the cabbage and chili-sauce. The chili sauce was a tad spicy but not overbearing where it was uneatable. Vietnamese Caramel Wings ($16) - There were five wings to an order, and they were topped with jalapeno and cilantro. These were very interesting and unique. They could have been fried more, but the flavor was there. There was a hint of sweet and the jalapeno provided a bit of spice to these, but they were just very fascinating due to the actual flavoring on the wings. I was very curious what other flavors and seasonings were present but could not pinpoint them.Crawfish Beignets ($18) - This was a special on the night I attended. They came with a seafood boil aioli and green onions. There were three to an order. Again, these were fried perfectly, but the filing was lackluster. The aioli was nice, but the filing was decent.For dessert, the banana cream pie ($14) was ordered. It came with a caramel sauce and chocolate shavings. This was nicely done. There were a ton of banana slices present, and the overall slice was not overly sweet even with the amount of cream present. I could not believe how light it was though too.Will I go back? I suppose so.

Food: 4/5. Good but short of amazing from Emril. Service: 5/5 Ambiance: 5/5 I'm not sure I would honestly recommend if you are in NOLA

I come to Meril A LOT because there's a lot of availability for reservations with large parties so it seems I'm here quite often for birthdays, etc.Typically I have great service, that's one thing I have never had to worry about when coming here. So, it was extremely disappointing and baffling when my party had a terrible interaction with the new manager Margot. I've ordered the rigatoni from here several times and when the plates arrived to the table there were literally about 2-3 bites per plate. My friend ordered a truffle pasta and there were exactly 2 bites in her dish. The server who placed our food down did confirm that the portion sizes weren't normal and that he would get the manager for us. Margot approached our table and spoke to us in the most condescending way I've ever heard from a restaurant manager. She was talking to us as if we were children. Saying things like "well truffle isn't cheap" "these noodles are handmade..." "even chef Emeril confirmed this is right" She even tried to say that the dishes were made to be "shareable" which is even more concerning because there wasn't even enough for 1 person let alone multiple. I showed her previous images of the portion of pasta I received and she said "well we can take it back but we can't just give you more pasta for free" She stated that everything is weighed and basically it is what it is. While it is possible that prior management did give larger portions and now they are doing something new in the kitchen, there is a way to explain that and to rectify the situation. A little managerial advice would be to say going forward this is the new portion but being that you are literally showing me proof I will make it right this one time. But no, we received a very passive aggressive answer which offered no real resolution or apology. Two of my friends even had no food because of this. Also, I found out that she was only recently hired within the last few weeks which is laughable with how she approached the situation. The previous manager Jamin would have never handled it this way. It is very unfortunate to hear he is no longer with the company. I'm not sure if this was the right direction for Meril to go with for new management because if this is way you treat long time customers you will surely lose them. Shelby and Sonia were our servers and this review has no reflection on them because they were lovely.

Solid food in a trendy setting with good service. However, the price is outrageous for what you get. However, I guess that's to be expected since this is located in an area that caters to tourists.

I am a huge fan of Emeril. Ever since he let me wear his chef's hat on my 10th birthday, the man can do no wrong. I was at the convention center for a meeting so we walked over for lunch. If you are looking for a dinner review, please look elsewhere. I will be back for dinner but for now, lunch is what you get.The restaurant, like everything Emeril opens, is beautiful with classy touches. The open kitchen concept is greatly appreciated as I like watching the well-choreographed moves in a well-managed kitchen.Since it was lunch we all got flatbreads. They were well made, and tasty, and the price was right. We were also in and out in about 30-40 minutes which makes this an even better choice at lunch. Not everyone can take two-hour martini lunches anymore!Service was friendly and attentive.If you want a great choice for lunch in the warehouse district, give Meril a try.

We expected great food from Emeril's more casual restaurant. We were disappointed. On the plus side, they were open on Sunday night. And the staff is very welcoming and generally upbeat. And the drinks were good. But the basic measure of a restaurant in the food. And Meril fell very short. We shared three dishes: fried turkey necks, Gen Tso broccoli, and cauliflower pad Thai. The turkey necks were tasty enough but are basically a novelty item. The broccoli was cloying and the cauliflower was mushy. We didn't finish the two veggie dishes.Meril seems great for extended families. There were loads of grandparents with children and grandchildren. Especially for birthdays. The star attraction is a sparkler with a huge cone of cotton candy.

This was my first time dining here and I enjoyed it. It's really nice and bougie on the inside and I love the open kitchen. It was really cool to see the chefs preparing our meals. Our waiter Keys was really nice and knowledgeable about the menu. He made some great recommendations. The shrimp and pork dumplings were the highlight for me! And I love show they put on for the cotton candy!

I had the rigatoni, it was pretty good and our service was great but it was very overpriced for what you're actually getting. I've been to many other restaurants with far more flavorful pasta for half the price and a much bigger portion. Overall not bad by any means, but would not go again.

Love this place! First time coming and it's absolutely delicious. We got basically everything on the menu and didn't want one bad thing. My favorite were the pork and shrimp dumplings and the banana cream pie! The tuna, the turkey necks, the shrimp tacos! I mean it was all delicious!