Nola Cafe
2 Stars
301 W. Platt St., Tampa, 813-258-8778 or nolacafe.com
(See all recent restaurant reviews.)
You can see Nola Cafe from the Crosstown Expressway, if you’re looking at the right spot, but finding it while cruising down Platt is tough unless you happen to see the rustic, handpainted signs promising “Po’ Boys!” and “Jambalaya!” The little cafe is hidden in an awkward strip mall facing the pharmacy drive-through of a Walgreens, tucked into the back, the kind of spot you hear about and track down. In the Bay area, New Orleans cuisine is like that — rare, almost secret, with little of the fanfare that sprang up a few years ago after Katrina.
In unfortunate good timing, Nola opened a year before the hurricane devastated owner Louis Robert Jr.’s Louisiana home town. After the storm, the restaurant easily turned into a hub for New Orleans expats and well-wishers who wanted to eat and talk their way through the tragedy. It has the right vibe for that, with a newsstand tucked into a former closet, well-worn furniture and jazz standards playing through the speakers. Robert works his way through the closely arranged tables, talking up his restaurant’s inspiration and letting “le bon temps rouler.” With his help, Nola feels like the Morning Call Coffee Stand that was the restaurant’s New Orleans inspiration.
The food, however, is a much paler homage to New Orleans.
This article appears in Sep 2-8, 2009.
