There are a few Zeas in the New Orleans metro area but none actually in New Orleans since the one on St. Charles Ave. closed down. They specialize in rotisserie meats. In their words they, “Use an authentic French open flame rotisserie for roasting our meats. The rotation ensures that the meat is evenly cooked. The high heat and flame give the meat a crispy, caramelized outside, leaving the inside tender and juicy and the taste, delicious”!
First, a warning. That Spicy Garlic Sauce they have on every table is HOT! It doesn’t even say “Hot sauce” on the bottle! I’m used to just dumping hot sauce on everything like some people use ketchup. But if you use this stuff use caution. It’s made with habanero peppers so it packs a punch. My daughter dined with me and we both love duck, so we started with the duck empanadas. They were delicious, and was the sweet Zydeco sauce, whatever that was, they were served with.
My daughter had the Thai ribs with the roasted corn grits and French fries. The ribs are a MUST try if you come here. Sweet, tender and delicious. You can get them as an appetizer if you want to try a different entrée. The roasted corn grits are also a must try. If you look up the recipe online they’re made with roasted corn, heavy cream, chicken broth and butter, and they’re so rich and creamy that sounds about right. Fries were good, crisp and hot. I had the lamb sirloin which was served with a Creole mustard mint sauce. Tender, juicy and delicious. I also had the corn grits plus mashed sweet potatoes. Very good.
We skipped dessert but on my last visit I had the sweet potato pecan bread pudding. Everything about that sounds good! Except it wasn’t. It looked just like the picture on the dessert menu but cut in a block. Too big a block. It was dense, dry, and unrecognizable taste wise as bread pudding. That was one reason we skipped dessert. Overall I like this place. Worth coming here just for the Thai ribs and corn grits!
1121 Manhattan Blvd., Harvey, LA 70058 Ph: 504-361-8293
Blaine 9-6-2017
SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT:
This building was a Mexican restaurant called Mizado not long ago, which I had heard good things about. I never made it there. It shut down last year, and the newest Zea location opened there Sept. 12, 2018. This is actually the only Zea in the city of New Orleans.
Nice looking place. I decided on the Asian Almond Shrimp for an appetizer, and the Half Rotisserie Chicken with the Pineapple Jalapeño Glaze. For my sides I chose roasted potatoes and sugar snap beans.
The shrimp appetizer was delicious, but if you notice they’re not pictured. Why? Because the service was terrible. I was kind of hungry when we got there, but when the food arrived over an hour after we were seated, I was starving! Those shrimp never knew what hit them! They were in my belly in no time. I got the small order which consist of three shrimp. Very crispy, served on a cabbage slaw with slivered toasted almonds and a delicious sweet sauce.
The chicken was pretty good. The breast was a little dry. Again, speaking to the service, my order came out without the green beans. I got them a little later.
As far as the service, we were celebrating a birthday so we did have a large party (14). But the rest of the place wasn’t overly crowded so I don’t see why everything took so long. I did notice while we were dining at least 5 guys from that WAITR food delivery service came in and picked up food to go. I kind of wonder how that’s going to affect the restaurant industry. Will restaurants get so concerned with preparing food for delivery they will neglect their patrons sitting in the dining room? On one dining occasion at Slice Pizzeria (Report #153), my waiter told me that was exactly why we had to wait so long for our food.
5080 Pontchartrain Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70118 Ph: 504-885-5555
Blaine 4-16-2019
SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT:
We ended up not far from here doing some Christmas shopping tonight, and as usual, we got hungry! We were both in the mood for ribs, and Zea’s Thai Ribs came to mind. We were about to head to the one on Manhattan, but googled Zea to see if there was a closer one, and this one popped up. I had no idea there was one in Harahan.
I decided on BBQ chicken with Thai ribs. My dining partner went with just the Thai ribs. We both got corn grits and red beans for sides. As expected, everything was delicious. If you ever come here the corn grits are a must!
Blaine 12-12-2020
1655 Hickory Ave., Harahan, LA 70123 Ph: 504-738-0799
BLAINE'S RESTAURANT REPORT 
One thought on “Zea Rotisserie Grill, Harvey, LA Report #29”