Mother's Resaurant, New Orleans, LA

It was the last night at a conference in New Orleans and I made my way around the corner to a local cafeteria a guy had told me about.  Mother's Restaurant in New Orleans was to be a great spot for soul crushing meal and a couple of last minute drinks before sauntering down Bourbon street to see the sights.  The Restaurant is a cafeteria style joint that's been open for damn near 100 years.  There was a fairly long line which only meant that I was in the right place. The Bloody Mary was featured on the menu but disconcertingly came served from a bubbler (pictured at bottom)  that is usually reserved for your standard weird juice stuff at your local Mexican restaurant. I ordered the largest platter I could find, a bloody, and made my way to an open table.  

Appearance: 4/10  A couple of points for the plastic cup, which seems counter-intuitive, but in this case it matches the no nonsense approach of the cafeteria style restaurant.  One additional point for the celery but really nothing else to command many points here.  The drink just didn't look that great. The deep red color was 

Garnishes: 2/10 One limp shaft of celery and an olive floating freely somewhere is worth a couple points but nothing more.  No salt on the rim. 

Spice/Bang: 6/10 Good spice and quite a few floaties made for a nice drank.  I did add some Louisiana hot sauce, because, why not.  

Desire:  8/10 A decent bloody in a classic joint. While there's no crazy garnishes or views,  the food that accompanies the bloody is also important.   If the Bloody was served in a vaccum, which would be a crazy mess, i wouldn't get it again.  Here, the classic Louisiana cajun fare was as good as any i've had and I'd go back in a heartbeat for this reason alone. 

Price: 5/10  Price was $7 which wasn't too bad but maybe just a little expensive for the plastic glass and cafeteria style delivery.   Additionally, since it was premixed, i can only assume the vodka was from a large plastic bottle.  I could tell you if it was good or bad vodka, if I could have actually noticed there was sauce in it.  But the plate of food drown out a lot of my vodka tasting abilities.  

Overall: 25/50  This place has the potential to have a killer drink if they'd just put a tiny bit of work into it.  Put it in a glass, salt the rim, and add a shrimp on a spear or something and this would score points with the heat of a 1000 suns. Instead, it's a pretty okay drink served with America's best food.  Consequently, it scores better than below average.  Enjoy the picture of the food, it's the Seafood Platter Extra Extra.  Turnip greens changed my life.


-Jeff
 Guest Writer for the Bloodiest of Marys