Walking past the storefront I heard the voice of an Angel as Lillie Lewis was playing the piano with a guitar and bass. Absolutely magical so I sat down at the bar, had a cocktail and some Shortcake to absorb the sound. The menu looked fantastic - the wait staff were there to please. Small intimate space full of charm and made my night
harrison shaul
Unbelievable food. Truly something everyone should taste, IT IS WORTH THE WAIT! but definitely be prepared because 1 lady is cooking for the whole restaurant. Be patient and enjoy.
Lydia M.
Every single meal I've had here has been one of the best I've ever tasted. The best brunch spot in New Orleans, or at least uptown. Wait is completely worth it, especially with the limited (and very kind) staff they have!
Annyh E
People are lovely, considerate, enjoyed the musician and the food.
Mike Wise
Kinda pricey, not awesome food. Great little place though! I didn't care for my greens, but the braised chix and sweet mash was good. My wife didn't care for the beef and grits though. Just not for us.**Edit**In response to the owner, the prices are definitely fair; I really shouldn't have put that. As for the rest, dunno... Just not for us. Great music though and definitely a gem.**/Edit**
Alfie Baens
For context we choose Live Oak Cafe as a final brunch for our party, before half of them left for Florida, so this meal had extra weight to it. Upon arrival, the manager (?) quickly hurried out to meet us outside the door to check our vaccination cards. While part of our party was trying to find their cards, the manager was staunch in his support of the vax card mandate when denying service to a terribly rude man and his two young kids. As a nurse I was very happy to see this, and had high hopes coming dining here.We were seated at our table and placed our orders (total of 4 entrees ordered for our table). We ended up waiting at least 30+ minutes for our order at this point. However we have mimosas, there's great, live music, and there's clearly only one person back there cooking; so I am okay with a longer wait time.However when a table of 3 and table of 5 (who came in WAY after us) are served before us, we had to object. We quickly called the waitress over (who had just served the table of 5) to question why this was the case.Here is the biggest problem with Live Oak Cafe to me: no one seemed to want to take responsibility for anything here:1) the manager stated to the rude father that it was the cook who was strict about the kids not being vaccinated2) the waitress said it's not up to her which orders are cooked and basically lay blame on the cook (I find it hard to believe our orders matched up EXACTLY with the table of 5 served before us, this should've been a hard stop for the waitress to serve them)3) the manager threw the waitress under the bus and basically said she wasn't competent, with it being one of her first days (which is also an indication of poor training and poor hiring practices).At this point, we just left. The manager made no attempt whatsoever to compensate us or offer any remediation. Based on previous reviews it seems as though service and timeliness has been an issue here for years. I'm also confused since they only offer FOUR entrees/day. Shouldn't this make production more efficient?They also really need a sign outside the door that says, "please wait to be seated" or something similar. Every time patrons arrived, the manager would sprint to try and meet them, only most would be inside by the time he got there, which to me defeats the whole purpose.I don't understand how Live Oak has been in business for this long with these kinds of problems and highly recommend not coming here.
Silver Linings Librarian
I’m so excited that my favorite brunch spot is now serving dinner! Decadent down home perfectly sums up the food in this great cafe on Oak St. There is always wonderful music by a wide range of different New Orleans musicians. Last time we were there, Margie Perez was singing! I had my brunch favorite because I cannot resist the shrimp and grits, but my friends had the ricotta biscuit bites does as an entree (the chef/owner Clare Leavy is always happy to work with you). Both dishes were out of this world! I love the fact that this is women-owned, indepdently-owned restaurant and the Oak Street location is too much fun. After dinner and live music at the Cafe, we went up the street to the Maple Leaf for more live music! What a perfect night in New Orleans. I was having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures. Take my word for it, you will love the Live Oak Cafe.
etruettinc
I went to Live Oak Cafe recently and had an amazing dinner there - They had been known for their breakfast for many years which was terrific and famous for their Shrimp and Grits - best in town - and now the owner has decided to do dinners and Sunday brunch - I had the Mama T chicken and I have to say it was one of the best chicken dinners in town - A full bar and really good music makes this a go to place for me - Being a local in New Orleans means we have many choices for good food and Live Oak's dinner was over the top good and worthy of having over and over -
Chase Ludeau
One of my absolute favorite brunch spots. Everything, and I mean everything is made to order! Each dish is PACKED with flavor, and love from the owner/chef.
Deborah Guillot
We have eaten here twice and both times the food and service were great. On Sunday there was a jazz trio who livened up the spirit for all of us.
Delicious brunch with jazz music. Great wait staff.
Chris Gillespie
I sincerely hope this place gets back up and running before my next trip to the Big Easy! Easily the best food I've ever eaten! If you saw me, you'd notice right away that I'm not scared to eat food! Not only would I slap my Mama for the shrimp and grits, I'd slap everyone's mom.
Susan Marquez
Super friendly staff and delicious food. Honestly, the best grits ever! I love the live music, too.
Ellie Zabala
Ditto what everyone says— the food here is out of this world! I come here for breakfast as much as I can when in the area. The pancakes are unlike anything I’ve ever had before. Amazing, amazing place ?
April Lawton
Listen the picture doesn't do it justice but trust me when I saw these pancakes were INSANE! That magical syrup and cream they give you❤️????
Walking past the storefront I heard the voice of an Angel as Lillie Lewis was playing the piano with a guitar and bass. Absolutely magical so I sat down at the bar, had a cocktail and some Shortcake to absorb the sound. The menu looked fantastic - the wait staff were there to please. Small intimate space full of charm and made my night
Unbelievable food. Truly something everyone should taste, IT IS WORTH THE WAIT! but definitely be prepared because 1 lady is cooking for the whole restaurant. Be patient and enjoy.
Every single meal I've had here has been one of the best I've ever tasted. The best brunch spot in New Orleans, or at least uptown. Wait is completely worth it, especially with the limited (and very kind) staff they have!
People are lovely, considerate, enjoyed the musician and the food.
Kinda pricey, not awesome food. Great little place though! I didn't care for my greens, but the braised chix and sweet mash was good. My wife didn't care for the beef and grits though. Just not for us.**Edit**In response to the owner, the prices are definitely fair; I really shouldn't have put that. As for the rest, dunno... Just not for us. Great music though and definitely a gem.**/Edit**
For context we choose Live Oak Cafe as a final brunch for our party, before half of them left for Florida, so this meal had extra weight to it. Upon arrival, the manager (?) quickly hurried out to meet us outside the door to check our vaccination cards. While part of our party was trying to find their cards, the manager was staunch in his support of the vax card mandate when denying service to a terribly rude man and his two young kids. As a nurse I was very happy to see this, and had high hopes coming dining here.We were seated at our table and placed our orders (total of 4 entrees ordered for our table). We ended up waiting at least 30+ minutes for our order at this point. However we have mimosas, there's great, live music, and there's clearly only one person back there cooking; so I am okay with a longer wait time.However when a table of 3 and table of 5 (who came in WAY after us) are served before us, we had to object. We quickly called the waitress over (who had just served the table of 5) to question why this was the case.Here is the biggest problem with Live Oak Cafe to me: no one seemed to want to take responsibility for anything here:1) the manager stated to the rude father that it was the cook who was strict about the kids not being vaccinated2) the waitress said it's not up to her which orders are cooked and basically lay blame on the cook (I find it hard to believe our orders matched up EXACTLY with the table of 5 served before us, this should've been a hard stop for the waitress to serve them)3) the manager threw the waitress under the bus and basically said she wasn't competent, with it being one of her first days (which is also an indication of poor training and poor hiring practices).At this point, we just left. The manager made no attempt whatsoever to compensate us or offer any remediation. Based on previous reviews it seems as though service and timeliness has been an issue here for years. I'm also confused since they only offer FOUR entrees/day. Shouldn't this make production more efficient?They also really need a sign outside the door that says, "please wait to be seated" or something similar. Every time patrons arrived, the manager would sprint to try and meet them, only most would be inside by the time he got there, which to me defeats the whole purpose.I don't understand how Live Oak has been in business for this long with these kinds of problems and highly recommend not coming here.
I’m so excited that my favorite brunch spot is now serving dinner! Decadent down home perfectly sums up the food in this great cafe on Oak St. There is always wonderful music by a wide range of different New Orleans musicians. Last time we were there, Margie Perez was singing! I had my brunch favorite because I cannot resist the shrimp and grits, but my friends had the ricotta biscuit bites does as an entree (the chef/owner Clare Leavy is always happy to work with you). Both dishes were out of this world! I love the fact that this is women-owned, indepdently-owned restaurant and the Oak Street location is too much fun. After dinner and live music at the Cafe, we went up the street to the Maple Leaf for more live music! What a perfect night in New Orleans. I was having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures. Take my word for it, you will love the Live Oak Cafe.
I went to Live Oak Cafe recently and had an amazing dinner there - They had been known for their breakfast for many years which was terrific and famous for their Shrimp and Grits - best in town - and now the owner has decided to do dinners and Sunday brunch - I had the Mama T chicken and I have to say it was one of the best chicken dinners in town - A full bar and really good music makes this a go to place for me - Being a local in New Orleans means we have many choices for good food and Live Oak's dinner was over the top good and worthy of having over and over -
One of my absolute favorite brunch spots. Everything, and I mean everything is made to order! Each dish is PACKED with flavor, and love from the owner/chef.
We have eaten here twice and both times the food and service were great. On Sunday there was a jazz trio who livened up the spirit for all of us.
Restaurantji Recommends
Delicious brunch with jazz music. Great wait staff.
I sincerely hope this place gets back up and running before my next trip to the Big Easy! Easily the best food I've ever eaten! If you saw me, you'd notice right away that I'm not scared to eat food! Not only would I slap my Mama for the shrimp and grits, I'd slap everyone's mom.
Super friendly staff and delicious food. Honestly, the best grits ever! I love the live music, too.
Ditto what everyone says— the food here is out of this world! I come here for breakfast as much as I can when in the area. The pancakes are unlike anything I’ve ever had before. Amazing, amazing place ?
Listen the picture doesn't do it justice but trust me when I saw these pancakes were INSANE! That magical syrup and cream they give you❤️????
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