Cooter

I met Frank at the Raven about a month before the Red Bean opened. He was a great character with hilarious stories about Castroville, Bono, New Orleans and the drama of opening a restaurant. Nice guy and fun to talk to, but it was pretty clear that he wasn't cut out for the business side of running a restaurant.

You gotta root for a guy that installs a drill press in his kitchen.

Had lunch with the wife here yesterday as she is lucky to work a couple blocks away. I had a roast turkey sandwich with russian dressing which was fantastic. The lady got the burrito special, though, which was absolutely terrible. I know that I'm spoiled for mexican food after living in California for 10 years, but this tasted like it came out of the freezer case at Safeway. Does anyone enjoy the burrito here?

Almost forgot, the french fries were awesome. And at only $1.95, quite a bargain.

I cannot bring myself to order these at Del Merei Grille or Acadiana. Has anyone else tried these things? Are they battered in dill dough?

We ordered them the first time we went to Del Merei. My wife LOVES all things pickle. She dips her grilled cheese and potato chips in pickle juice, always requires pickles in the fridge, etc. She was not a big fan of the frickles. While the batter was light, they came to the table pretty greasy and it was tough to eat more than a few. The side of aioli was pretty flavourless. In addition, and this isn't a bad thing, one order would easily serve a table of six.

Should say that we live in Del Ray and love the Del Merei Grille. Glad they took the beer cheese of the menu. Yikes!

the burger a fireflies in del ray, alexandria rocks! i will try palena's burger soon and report back