All posts by Johnny Prime

Seafire Grill

I hit Seafire Grill with some buddies from high school. While this can technically fit into the steakhouse review format, I decided to keep it quick and easy, since the thrust of the menu here is seafood.

Speaking of seafood, we had a nice selection of raw east and west coast oysters to start, along with grilled calamari and Spanish octopus.

Of course I had steak for my main course. This was a nice 8/10. Rib eye, dry-aged on sight.

Nice seared tuna entree.

The sides were all good. We did creamed spinach, truffle mashed potatoes, and caulilini. For dessert, pecan pie and apple strudel.

They also mix a good martini at the bar.

SEAFIRE GRILL
158 E 48th St.
New York, NY 10017

Roku Nana

Roku Nana is a newly opened sushi and Japanese food joint on Clinton Street. My wife and I came in here to try their sushi, and it was a pretty great deal for the price point.

We started with two rolls; the pink lady and the flamingo.

These were great. I liked the pink lady the best (pink colored roll), and my wife liked the flamingo.

Then, we did their 10-piece premium nigiri dinner, which was $53pp.

It comes with a hand roll as well. The uni was the best, followed by the fatty tuna.

There’s also a speakeasy upstairs serving awesome cocktails.

I would definitely go back again!

ROKU NANA
67 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002

Chophouse New Orleans

Chophouse New Orleans overall score: 85

My buddies from law school and I were on a “mancation” and needed to hit a steakhouse during our visit. I had been eyeballing this place for a while, so it was time to go big.

Flavor: 8

We had the porterhouse, the tomahawk, and the chopped steak. All were great, but I think we were all surprised by how good the chopped steak was. A pleasant surprise for sure.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8

There’s a good selection of cuts here, as well as some nice alternatives like the chopped steak for those on a budget. All steaks were listed as prime, and some were dry-aged. They offered an abundance of solo cuts as well as large format cuts for two or more people.

Portion Size & Plating: 8

Portions are big, and plating is simple here, which is what one would expect from a steakhouse. Nothing too fancy.

Price: 9

Coming from the insane menu prices in NYC, this bill felt refreshing. A huge blowout steak meal for five came to just $728. Great deal.

Bar: 10

The bar here is awesome. There’s a piano right there with stools around it, so you can sit and watch the piano player, make requests, etc. They also mix a great martini.

Specials and Other Meats: 7

I don’t think there were any specials read to us, but I didn’t expect much from a focused-menu steakhouse. As far as other meats go, there was nothing; only beef. I respect the shit out of that. But that means a few points will come off the score in this category.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8

We started with a chopped wedge salad, which was great.

Then, some bacon. This was nice but I wish I had gotten a photo before they cut it up and served it.

The carpaccio was beautiful and delicious. I could have had this as a main course.

The garlic spinach was nice, and gave us some much needed greenery.

We also had some steak fries as well. I was hesitant when the guys wanted these, because I usually dislike them. But they were excellent!

Dessert was excellent as well. we went with the gigantic chocolate cake and the key lime pie. I liked the pie better.

Seafood Selection: 8

There’s standard steakhouse seafood fare here, plus a few local favorites with NOLA-inspired preparation styles. We had the baked shrimp entree and it was great. Unfortunately the only photo I got was the single shrimp that was served to me on my plate (we shared this dish along with the appetizers). Based on this, I think the other seafood items would be pretty good as well. Next time.

Service: 10

Service was great here, and the phrase “southern hospitality” comes to mind. Our waitress was excellent and knew everything when asked about the various cuts and menu items.

Ambiance: 9

The real win here for ambiance relates to the bar. Being able to sit face to face with the piano player and request songs was so cool. The dining place was beautiful as well. I would definitely go back.

CHOPHOUSE NEW ORLEANS
322 Magazine St.
New Orleans, LA 70130

Mother’s Restaurant

This southern food restaurant is a staple in NOLA. On my last trip to the “Big Easy” I was finally able to try it.

They’re known for their po’ bouys, so I had to try the Famous Ferdi special: a po’ boy packed with baked ham, roast beef, debris and gravy, served dressed.

Absolutely incredible, and I think this was the best bite of the 2025 trip.

The waitress came over and gave us this plate of collared greens, shrimp etouffee and green beans. Someone had ordered it and left, or they made an extra by mistake.

This didn’t look like much, but it was absolutely amazing! Definitely need to come back here next visit.

MOTHER’S RESTAURANT
401 Poydras St
New Orleans, LA 70130

Hot Benny’s

Not much to say about this little coffee spot near the casino in NOLA, but the coffee was great, the beignets were supposedly better than Cafe Du Monde, and they served an amazing bloody!

HOT BENNY’S
364 Canal St
New Orleans, LA 70130

Gumbo Shop

We stopped into this joint for a quick bite. I tried the special gumbo of the day, which was called the Cajun gumbo. It consisted of chicken, andouille sausage, crawfish and shrimp. It was really tasty!

GUMBO SHOP
630 St Peter
New Orleans, LA 70116

Pizza Delicious

This slice joint in NOLA is serving up some great NYC style pies. I only took a photo of this spicy slice, but the other varieties were good as well. Apologies this was cut into four so that we could share.

PIZZA DELICIOUS
617 Piety
New Orleans, LA 70117

Bratz Y’all

We stumbled upon this little German biergarten while waiting for a pizza joint to open.

We wandered back and found a rooster roaming among the tables.

We stayed for a drink, but wished that we had tried more than just one of the brats.

BRATZ Y’ALL
617-B Piety
New Orleans, LA 70117

Willie’s Chicken Shack

If you spend any amount of time in NOLA, you will come across a Willie’s Chicken Shack. They’re everywhere! And they’re delicious.

We scored some fried chicken late night before passing out for the night. It was worth every greasy, salty, delicious bite.

WILLIE’S CHICKEN SHACK
428 Canal St.
New Orleans, LA 70130

Big Wong

First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:

I’ve been meaning to try this spot for a while, and then recently a friend told me that their rice rolls with homemade crullers inside are great. I had to give them a try.

They were awesome! These had dry shrimp on them, which packed a lot of flavor. We also had the regular roast pork rice rolls. Tough to choose a favorite.

We figured, while we were here, we may as well try some other stuff. The roast pig was a huge portion for $11, and it was incredible.

The roast duck over rice for $8.50 was a pretty good deal, despite the duck being mostly skin and fat (I don’t mind too much).

We also had this heaping bowl of tripe and wonton noodle soup.

The broth lacked flavor, but the insane portion size of noodles, tons of tasty tripe, and I think six wontons made up for that.

Two people over-stuffed for around $55 all-in, with enough leftovers for another full meal for two. Great deal. I will definitely be back here.

BIG WONG
67 Mott St.
New York, NY 10013