Restaurant Review: The Camellia Grill, French Quarter, New Orleans

We asked the concierge for the best breakfast place in the French Quarter. She sent us to The Camellia Grill. The Camellia Grill was about five blocks down Chartres Street from Canal Street, and quick walk from our restaurant. There are other locations, but the French Quarter location was an interesting selection for breakfast.

Upon entering the restaurant, we discovered that it is wall-to-wall breakfast bar in a double-u shape. There is a grill and cook for each side. There are also several waiter for each side. It wasn't exactly the ambiance I was looking for I decided to play along. Still, I was a bit out of my element.

First, to my horror, I was seated at a counter that had not yet been cleaned. It was cleaned quickly by a waiter with a bleach rag that I swore touched my brand new red dress, but there is not evident damage. Menus were given to us, which I handled with two fingers on each hand. They were not clean.

Orders were taken quickly, and while I waited for our food, an omelet for my husband, and pancakes and a side of bacon for me, I watched the cook. I noticed there was an enormous mass of indistinguishable food on the grill that he was moving around. I thought he might be cleaning off the grill. He pushed the mass of stuff to the backside of the grill, and began to make my pancakes. I looked away. Then they brought over our plates. It turned out that the mass of stuff was my husbands omelet. The waiter plunked down my plate and and I began picking all kinds of crunchy bits off my pancakes. I turned them over and found a piece of of meat that I had not ordered with my meal. I took a deep breath. Flicked the foreign items from my plate and started eating.

The food was great. I began to relax and enjoy the ambiance of the restaurant for what it is, a neighborhood breakfast place that is welcoming to out-of-towners and regulars alike. Overall, it was an excellent experience, the food tasted great, and the service was quick. We left happy and full, still picking items out of our teeth that we didn't remember ordering.

By the way, the Camellia Grill serves lunch and dinner foods too.