liliana's restaurant

upscale new orleans. i really enjoyed the atmosphere and relaxed, but sophisticated vibe here--live jazz emanating from the bar, a fountain in the dining room, and a healthy crowd no doubt helped by the start of restaurant week.
we started with some deep fried alligator, with a crisp flavorful breading, which tasted sort of like chicken, but not quite. this was my first gator, but it was good enough that i'll try it again if i come across it. the beef bourguignon actually tasted pretty good, but was sadly lacking in beef. the jambalaya had plenty of heat, but thankfully didn't overwhelm the taste buds. desserts were mixed. the beignets were warm, light, and tasty, but the cherries jubilee seemed to be just cherries and ice cream.
i don't eat this cuisine a lot, so i can't speak to the authenticity of this louisiana fare, but for the most part this was a nice meal and a good change of pace for my midwestern palate.
grade: b-

good news bad news the food is great. 350 great wines. but service was awful. maybe they do take out? tomato bisque was very good. jambalaya was excellent. had very nice cabernet. now service hadreservation for seven. arrived at arranged time but table had not been set up. took half hour before we were led to table. server appeared mentioned specials brought water and disappeared for 20 minutes. came back. took drink orders. another 10 minutes to bring bottle of wine. took food orders. was another 30 minutes before food arrived. waiter did not come back. had to flag him down to bring bread. we were getting tipsy from the booze with no food. food came. still waiter did not check back. had to flag down for 2nd bottle of wine. the restaurant was full but appeared to have lots of servers available. i could understand a busy kitchen. if server had been attentive and explained the problem and kept use happy with bread and drinks, i'd felt differently. so, if you visit, bring a book and snacks, while you wait for dinner.

steer clear of shellfish. we had 2 good dinners here which led us to come in for our anniversary and it was a disaster. my wife was half way through her dinner and found an unopened mussel. after telling the waitress she came back from the chef and told us that the chef said it happens all the time and its fine and safe to eat. no thank you. we sent it away.
i have 2 problems with this: first there were 3-4 mussels in the dish. it should be easy to make sure they were all cooked. second, i'm really not convinced that it is safe to eat unopened mussels. the fda says no and as a person with a phd in chemistry i agree.
just to top off our bad experience they charged us for a bottle of wine we didn't order.
bottom line: certain things are good here, service has been either really good or really bad, and i would never eat any shellfish from a place that thinks serving closed mussels is ok.

can't decide. had a couple of lunches that were nothing special.
my bad, i expected cajun or basic n'awlins.

because i respect their philosophy re local ingredients, went back for a dinner that was very good. but, remember bouillabaise in madison won't trigger memories of france.

crab cakes. so tender and flavorful! highly recommended.


-----04 jun, 2011-----

we went to lilliana's for lunch and sat on the patio. friendly service and great atmosphere. the crab cakes were fantastic and the sandwiches were great too. reasonable prices as well. very tasty!

great food, wonderful atmosphere, excellent wait staff, best crab cakes! an upscale cajun place that is not too expensive. a nice addition to madison's already good restaurant scene.

love lilliana'a. great food and service. decent but not great beer selection. excellent wine list. the bar is fun and has live, sophisticated music. also has outdoor seating. the owner is also the chef and cares about his customers.

odd. i was expecting more "down and dirty" cajun food. like with hush puppies and fried green tomatoes. maybe some fried gator. it was upscale, and while the food was good, it wasn't what i expected. and the waitstaff left something to be desired.

somewhat enjoyable, somewhat expensive, somewhat cajun.

i had the pasta liliana, which was an interesting blend of chicken, shrimp, and sausage on a bed of noodle pasta. it was good, but it could have use a veggie side or something additional as the portion size was small. the temperature in the restaurant was freezing--everyone had their coats on. i'll try liliana's again, but i was not overwhelmed. still, the food is different and the service was fine.

good experience. unlike the other two reviewers i had a good experience. the restaurant seemed fairly new (i went there the first week of august) so it is quite possible they have been working out the kinks. i ordered the creole trio, my father a noodle dish with chicken, andouille, shrimp and vegetables, and my mother a noodle dish with a smoked pork shoulder. all the food was great and had generous portions of meat/ingredients (even the noodle dishes). i've been to new orleans quite a bit (used to live in texas so it was only a 5 hour drive) and this place brought back lots of good memories.

their cornbread/biscuits are also quite good and there doesn't seem to be much of a need to order an appetizer making it a fairly reasonably priced place.

they’ve taken a unique approach to what has become a relatively common trend in madison restaurants. each week they offer a unique menu, which is put together by a holding a competition with the chefs.

maybe try again. this was our first visit to liliana's with a group of 7 on a saturday evening. first off, our request for outdoor dining actually ended up seating us inside. our request for preferred "quiet" seating was overlooked. next, after we ordered dinner we waited for approximately 55 minutes for our food. my wife's second glass of wine was not the same as the first glass, however our waiter did replace it but not until he smelled it at the table, second guessing her. when our food finally arrived it was obvious it sat under heating lamps, my order of creole trio showed obvious signs being congealed and my daughter's creole bouillabaisse, my wife's pasta liliana showed over dryness especially to all items on top. what a disappointment. they have contacted me by email in an effort to address damage control. but that's about it.

as a self-confessed foodie, i must admit i usually plan my restaurant attack meticulously. that being said there are times when i allow myself to fly by the seat of my pants (or be pushed by my partner). sunday night was probably the best result of such a