#emiril

Emeril Legasse is someone who I really admire. Once the executive chef of the legendary New Orleans restaurant Commander's Palace, Emeril has built his name to be one of the most celebrated personalities in the industry. He worked as a successful television personalty hosting two cooking shows, published his own books, and even created his own spice; Essence. He now owns 13 successful restaurants throughout the United States, many of which reside in casinos. His restaurants and products generate an estimated revenue of $150 million dollars a year.

Lagasse's Stadium was my first time visiting one of Emeril's establishments, so I was quite excited to have lunch there. The restaurant incorporates "Stadium" in its name for a reason; the place is enormous. It offers stadium style seating, with nice comfortable sofas. Upon walking in I was immediately overwhelmed by the abundance of television screens. I stopped counting after 50. There are several different sports channels being played simultaneously, and you start to get a headache if you look around too much. The place does has a very fun and lively atmosphere, but I wasn't there for the sports, I was there to eat at Emeril's restaurant. I don't know much about basketball or football, but I know a lot about good food. It took about 25 minutes to get seated because there was a game going on. I don't mind waiting for a table, but if I'm waiting over 20 minutes, I expect the food to be exceptional.

My lunch started off with an order of chicken wings. I haven't been to Buffalo NY, but I have been to PJ's BBQ in Saratoga Springs and had their Buffalo style deep-fried-to-a-golden-crisp chicken wings, and I also had Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse as well. Those two places serve some of the best wings in the country. Since then, I've had somewhat of a high standard for chicken wings. The wings at Legasse's Stadium were alright. They were small to begin with, and they didn't offer anything out of the ordinary. They were just average Buffalo wings, with ranch dressing on the side. I am sure frozen wings at your local grocery store are just as good. The dressing was weak in taste because it was very watery, so I stayed away from dipping most of the time. If the wings held their own, they wouldn't have even needed the dressing. In the end, they failed to deliver.

I asked my server what the best seller was on the menu, and he recommended the Bam'Wich; Emeril's signature sandwich. It consists of 8 oz of Prime Sirloin, Blue Cheese, Balsamic Braised Red Onions, and Emeril's steak sauce served in homemade Foccacia. I feel that they really "kicked-it-down-a-notch" with this one. The Sirloin must have been from a large thick cut because there was a lot of connective tissue that made it too chewy, and hard to swallow. It actually bothered me to eat it. Then there's the blue cheese, which was overpowering because they put too much. While I did like the idea of the sandwich, as it was innovative, it failed to live up to its tasty description. The homemade Foccacia bread however, was excellent. As for the fries, I love steak fries, but I don't like truffle oil so when I say I really didn't like the fries it's probably because of that. You might love them. I will say that if they didn't have the truffle oil, I would have probably enjoyed them.