Cafe Granada

Restaurant Review

Anecdotes & Analysis

Our taste for Spanish cooking has sharpened in recent years, mostly thanks to the growing popularity of tapas. That's true even though a lot of restaurants that adopt the all-appetizer menu concept don't always embrace the Spanish origins of the idea. Nevertheless, the number of unambiguously Spanish restaurants is growing, one by one.

Why Spanish food still remains outside the New Orleans mainstream is puzzling, though. Creole cuisine is thoroughly streaked with Spanish flavors and techniques, left over from the long Spanish rule over New Orleans. The best Spanish places--and this is one of them--buy first-class ingredients. It could be that the confusion with Mexican food--with which Spanish cooking has little in common--may be the problem.

Why It's Essential

For people who like Spanish food--not just tapas and paella, but the whole wide range of the cuisine--Cafe Granada is already on the A list. Eating there begins with a highly appetizing tapas list, ranging from the familiar empanadas, croquettes, and seafood morsels to interesting exercises with meats, birds, and many vegetarian tapas. Then it moves on to a rustic, chunky paella and a lot of hearty grilled and braised meats. This is a great place for lamb lovers.

Backstory

This place opened after the hurricane as Fiesta Bistro, serving many Spanish dishes but insuring its business with more familiar Mexican dishes. After about a year, the owners were convinced they could make it on the Spanish food alone. They changed the name and the menu, added live guitar music most nights, and found an appreciative clientele.

Dining Room

Cafe Granada is not much to look at inside or out. Many previous restaurants and stores wore the old building hard. Yet there's something that seems right--and even charming--about it. Sometimes they have live music. It's inevitable that at least a couple of the larger tables will be full with Spaniards--a good sign.

For Best Results

If you order entrees, include one of the Moroccan-flavored dishes in the mix. The owners have roots in that country, and the Spanish-Moroccan connection is centuries old. As in Spain, this restaurant is busier and better later in the evening than earlier. Start with sangria and spend a lot of time reading the menu and asking questions.