Okay everybody, it is time for something I have not done in quite some time: a restaurant review.
Cannon’s on St. Charles Avenue is not normally the type of place I would chose to go, but Sunday was a bear of a day (no offense Bigezbear) and cooking was not on the agenda. Looking at what was open on Sunday a Cannon’s burger seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately it was not.
Disclosure: right after the storm I worked at Cannon’s for a few months. It was close to the house and constantly full because it was just about the only restaurant in the city open. Since everyone who was back before that first Post-K Halloween was dealing with some variety of undead refrigerator most people were eating out.
I knew that it was not an exceptional place, but I figured that almost non-one could mess up a burger. As my experience over the weekend proved Cannon’s can. The only valid reason for eating there is if you have no other options.
I called in an order for take out: eggplant sticks, coconut shrimp, a “Blue Roof” Burger and a regular burger with lettuce, bacon and swiss only. I was told over the phone that it would be ready in fifteen minutes. Not so. Not even close.
After an hour wait (keep in mind that this is an hour after I rode my bike the 5 blocks over) I still had not received my order. The bartender, Chris, was very professional and apologetic (the only hint of that found in this interaction), checking to see if the food was ready several times. Finally the order came up and I did the quick ride home.
Upon opening the to-go containers we discovered that I had wasted an hour for no good reason.
While I was waiting for my writing career to become self supporting I was a waiter for many years here in the city. I have worked through Jazz Fest, Mardi Gras, Bayou Classic and more both on St Charles Ave and in the Vieux Carre. I do not get my panties in a bunch over small (or even medium) problems. This experience made me angry.
All of the food was ice cold. The fries were limp and obviously old, the burgers had no trace of heat to them and were undersized. The eggplant sticks had all of the warmth of a service station chip. Only the coconut shrimp were hot. In addition the burger order was wrong. Wrong on a order I had repeated no less than three times to the person taking it. Wrong when I stressed certain things be left off due to allergies.
Mistakes happen. Orders get made incorrectly, food sometimes sits too long and loses its warmth, wait times can telescope. All three of these things occurring at the same time, and during a period of the afternoon when there were only about three or four tables in the place is preposterous. If the food were generally of a quality higher than that of the average American chain restaurant I might consider giving them another chance, but its not.
Final Score: 5 Rotten Crawfish (Avoid at all costs)
-Loki, Founder HumidCity
