Friends of Eater Reveal The Most Disappointing Meal of 2016

Q. What was your most disappointing meal of 2016?

Kim Ranjbar, writer, Suck The Heads: It was so sad. I was all pumped to have great Mexican food and the whole meal, from the guacamole to the tacos, was oddly bland. Even the margarita had a strange non-flavor factor about it. It wasn't just me, either. My dining companion felt the same way. I felt like a kid watching their painstakingly-created, colorful sidewalk chalk drawing get washed away by a hard rain. In fact, chalk is likely more flavorful than my meal was that day.

B.E. Mintz, founder, Neat Pour (launching winter 2016): Fried Chicken Festival. This meal was disappointing largely because I did not have the opportunity to eat any chicken. The outrageous lines left many fest-goers disappointed. Fortunately, there is no shortage of fried chicken the other 365 days of the year.

Rene Louapre, cofounder, Hogs For The Cause: 1 p.m. the Friday at Hogs, I had a bowl of luke cold seafood gumbo (prefer chicken and andouille) as the waters rose and I came to the realization that Friday wasn't going to happen. That was a pretty low moment, but got over it with something called a Horchata pudding shot from Andrew Shuford, who happens to also be a connoisseur of female gymnasts from the '96 Olympics.

Nora McGunnigle, contributor, Eater Nola: I had a pretty bad breakfast at French Truck Cafe about a month after it opened— the grits in particular were horrifying. However, I believe this was several chefs ago.

Josh Brasted, photographer, Eater Nola: Wayfare via Ubereats. Gnocchi does not travel well.

Gwendoln Knapp, editor, Eater Nola: I didn’t actually eat it. I just observed it. It was in MSY, and a person tried to order every single sausage from the Lucky Dog stand and the attendant was like we outta that, no sorry, we outta that too until the customer finally asked what they weren’t out of. The attendant admitted to only having hot dogs, which the person sadly ate while standing against a wall, completely defeated. It was the most New Orleans thing I’ve ever witnessed.