It appears to be slick and commercial, but the food fulfills all the menu’s promises. The specialties are pizza (indeed baked in a wood-fired brick oven) and pasta, with all the expected accompaniments. The menu is more like one you'd find in the Northeast than in New Orleans. Lots of vegetables, white sauces, olive-oil-and-herb sauces, and seafood. The cooking and service are inconsistent, but unless it's overwhelmed with customers it’s a fun place. The Brick Oven is one of the five or six or so best places to eat near the airport, where the pickings are slim.
When the Brick Oven opened in 1991, it was as a prototype for a planned chain of Italian eateries. That explains the unusual iconography (the Statue of Liberty is the logo) and design. In fact, the founders were a family with a long history of New Orleans Italian restaurants, Irene's and Fausto's among them. A few years ago they sold it to the family that owns Deanie's in Bucktown. They have kept the menu and style intact.
The place is smaller than it looks, thanks to the mirrors and big windows. It is getting a bit worn out here and there. The brick oven is the centerpiece of a semi-open kitchen. The Statue of Liberty stands outside the front door.
Order a pizza or two immediately upon being seated, and have that as an appetizer. Most of the entrees can easily be split, with the ratio of two entrees per three people about right. Avoid seafood entrees; it's not a specialty.
| Attitude | 0 |
|---|---|
| Environment | 0 |
| Hipness | 0 |
| Local Color | 1 |
| Service | 0 |
| Value | 1 |
| Wine | 0 |
