"Crawfish pasta is hard to avoid in New Orleans this time of year....  Cafe Atchafalaya's crawfish pasta is a fine example of the dish: a tangle of creamy-sauced fettuccine, punctuated with tails, perfumed with white wine and topped with plenty of parmesan."

~ Brett Anderson

Lagniappe's Spring Dining Guide (Brett Anderson's 16 Favorite Crawfish Dishes)

(April 20, 2008)

"Although followers of the longtime proprietor lament that "ller's gone", they are relieved that the "new owner" Tim Howard has renovated and reopened this Lower Garden District "shotgun house" serving "traditional" Creole and Southern dishes (including "lots of veggie" sides) with "New Orleans Flair"; most say the "updated look" makes for "better ambiance",...”

~ Zagat: New Orleans

(2008)

Cafe Atchafalaya was rated in the Top 5 of Southern ~ Soul Food Restaurants in the New Orleans 2008 publication of Zagat.   

"Subdued, romantic lighting shines on freshly resurfaced woodwork; a patchwork of old window frames divides the large dining room from the newly-built bar; and outside, a frying pan sculpture the size of a satellite dish sits against the earthy patina paintjob of the old building's weatherboards. If the place was not being used as a restaurant, it could easily take up life as an art gallery… the restaurant's strong suit has always been as a casual cafe for generous portions of food more closely associated with the rural South than the city..."

~ Ian McNutly

Best of New Orleans

(October 31st, 2006)

Considered Best Uptown Neighborhood Restaurant by Where Ya' At publications

In late 2004, local caterer Tim Howard bought this Southern-fried neighborhood staple.  Two weeks later, it was hit hard and not by weather but a stolen SUV that plowed into the building morphed the project the project into a renovate it.

Howard said he had filled 13 construction bins with debris from the well-worn café when the levees failed. The restaurant did not flood, but the catastrophe delayed the project even further.

Atchafalaya was finally reborn during the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2006 as a brighter, more erudite neighborhood restaurant.

It’s comfort food rendered with skill and brains, served in an airy dining room appropriate for a date. Of all the restaurants on this list, Atchafalaya is the most fully transformed – and noticeably improved.

~ By Brett Anderson,

The Times Picayune

(Friday June 1, 2007)