Serves meat, vegan options available. Tropical restaurant making traditionally-inspired dishes with international inspirations. Vegan and vegetarian selections including changing specials and the Carmo salad which is a plate composed of rice, vegan smoked ham, raisins, avocado, cashews, almonds, pineapple, cucumbers, and scallions all covered with citrus mango vinaigrette. Warm, casual atmosphere. Open Mon 11:00am-3:00pm, Tue-Sat 11:00am-10:00pm.
Categories: Vegan-friendly, Lacto, Ovo, American, International, Organic, Beer/Wine, Caribbean, Fusion, Latin, Non-veg
46 Reviews
First Review by krock
Contributions +30
lovely unusual place - Edit
Tasty food. Had vegan rice and beans, and a salad. Great service, friendly staff. Would highly recommend and would give 5*s if I could
Pros: tasty, lots of vegan options
Contributions +20
Very Tasty & Many Vegan Options - Edit
This place is great. Best food we had in New Orleans during our stay. The atmosphere is very nice in a casual but classy way. Cocktails were excellent. Heirloom tomato salad was excellent. Cambodian sour soup a little too sweet but otherwise good. My wife is not vegan and had shrimp. I had a plantain and fake beef dish which I loved. They also have tasty vegan cakes for desert.
If you are a vegan you need to go!
Contributions +32
RICO is the way to go - Edit
Our Airbnb was right down the block from this place and I wish we discovered it sooner! Most options can be made vegan. I got their entree of the day which was red beans, rice, veggies and vegan sausage - it was really good. I also ordered their vegan Brazilian Cheese bites and they were so good!
My boyfriend got the Rico made vegan, and let me say - GET IT. It was one of best meals of our whole trip. We also got the Caribbean banana cake topped with some Vanilla Rice Cream which was also incredible. You won't be disappointed!
Contributions +17
Super delicious! - Edit
I would love to give 5 stars. Unfortunately, happy cow only allows max. 4 stars for non-vegetarian restaurants.
However, the restaurant is fabulous! The food is so great! Although it serves meat, most dishes have vegetarian and vegan options, which aren't just "alternatives". They taste awesome! We also had desert and a smash. Best restaurant we've ever been in the states (until now).
Pros: a lot of vegetarian and vegan meals and options
Contributions +354
Great Flavors, Tons of Options - Edit
We had really amazing food. They have many world flavors. Our waitress kindly pointed out all of the vegan and gluten-free options, and there were a ton. I really recommend eating here!
Contributions +66
Delicious and Fresh - Edit
Creative menu with lots of vegan options. It's hard to decide because everything is yummy. Many vegan dessert options too. We tried the date toffee cake, which was amazing. I highly recommend this cake!
Contributions +80
DELICIOUS. get the Rico. - Edit
I almost got a salad in attempts as eating healthier, but read the reviews and saw so many people suggest the Rico "sandwich", so I went with that. No disappointments. Every bite was phenomenal. Very creative menu and the staff/ambiance is also lovely. Try the house made hot sauce!
Contributions +112
Incredible food and location - Edit
Carmo works on so many levels. I had one of the best salads of my life here: fresh, flavorful, unique, and satisfying. Also, you can bring your meat-eating friends who will find plenty on the menu. In fact, you can get three versions of the Rico breadless sandwich: vegan, vegetarian, and meat-eater. I didn't try the non-vegan ones, but was told they were very good. And finally, the location is bright and fun, with some outdoor seating as well. This place is amazing. I would rate it 5 stars if I could.
Pros: Unique flavors, Ambiance, Options for meat-eaters
Cons: Parking can be a little tricky
Contributions +16
Absolutely Amazing! - Edit
The staff at this restaurant were always nice and their food is incredible that I went here twice on my trip. Vegans and nonvegans should go to this restaurant!
Very cozy location as well in the CBD.
Pros: Lots of vegan options
Cons: street parking
Contributions +26
Likely the best in New Orleans. - Edit
The people at Carmo really understand culinary arts. Every dish I've had there is outstanding. They use really fresh ingredients, so the flavors really pop, and the prices are incredibly reasonable. I'm so glad we have this place in New Orleans, and I honestly can't believe we have a restaurant with vegan dishes of this caliber here-- you'd think that this place would be in Austin, LA, or NY. The "meat" substitutes in the vegan dishes are the best I've ever had anywhere.
Pros: Outstanding vegan "meat" options, gf options, Incredible flavors w/ fresh ingerdients, very reasonable prices for what you get
Cons: No parking lot (you might have to use meter)
Contributions +30
Enjoyed the plantain patty - Edit
Carmo's menu has enough unique offerings that it's worth a couple visits. Sadly, I only made it there once to enjoy the plantain patty, which was very nice. They were out of bananas, so I missed out on the cinnamon-sugar banquette. The line can back up a bit during busy hours since you order and pay at the counter before sitting down, but it allowed enough time to check out the exotic juice menu posted on the wall.
Contributions +44
Should be 5 stars - Edit
Any vegan or vegetarian in NOLA should try this place. I went twice while in the area for a conference. I highly recommend.
Contributions +192
So good we went back twice! - Edit
Usually on vacation we like to try new places and don't often repeat, but with Carmo we did. A local who is vegan recommended the place, and while it is not vegan, they have many dishes that are, or can be made so.
The first time, I had a special, some kind of Syrian dish which was excellent, and my husband had the Carmo salad. The second time we each had a banquette bread. We also tried the banana cake and chocolate chip zucchini cake (vegan desserts).
Food seemed to have a lot of Caribbean and Asian inspired choices, but there was a mix of a lot of different types of cuisine. Everything was excellent.
Contributions +274
Tropical Fruit Juice! - Edit
After spending several days in New Orleans for a conference and struggling to find vegetarian food, Carmo was a welcome change. They had several vegetarian/vegan options. Also, their menu focuses on Brazilian/South American food, which was a welcome change from all the other restaurants I had seen in New Orleans. I ate the Carmo salad. The vegan ham was not the best fake meat I've eaten, but everything was fresh, light, and just what I wanted on a hot, summer day. The real treat at Carmo was their huge menu of tropical fruit juices. Many of the juices are hard to find in the United States. I enjoyed a huge glass of Graviola (aka Guanabana or Soursop), which tastes kind of like a mild pineapple/banana. What a treat! I would return just for the juice (and want to try every flavor on the menu). The environment was chill, and a welcome change from the French Quarter.
Pros: Tropical Fruit Juice, Healthy, Relaxing Environment
Contributions +354
Accommodating to my difficult self - Edit
This place is very chill and has a lot to offer. I was not as happy with the menu as I wanted to be, though. There were three or four choices for vegans, and nothing seemed to speak to me. Though, my sister really enjoyed her salad and if she were the one writing this, she probably would rave about the place.
Pros: Great environment
Cons: Limiting menu
1 Response
cafecarmo 30 May 2015 - Hi Alyannkar, I'm sorry that you weren't shown the number of vegan items we have, which is far far more than 3-4. In fact, practically everything on our menu is vegan or has a vegan version. You can see that clearly here:
http://www.cafecarmo.com/index.php?page=menu
Additionally, we also always have a vegan soup and special. hope you'll come back and try some of the other many vegan items.
Contributions +54
Outstanding Veg Food - Edit
How good was this place? Well I'm pissed that I won't be able to give it 5 stars (they serve meat and happycow doesn't allow meat serving places to be given 5 stars).
This place deserves all five of them, however. The staff was friendly and accommodating. The food was so good that we've already made reservations to go back.
This is one of the places not to miss if you are veg and coming to NOLA.
Updated from previous review on Wednesday May 01, 2013
It is now 2014 and we've been back two more times. It seems to get better each time. The food was outstanding and the service was attentive and friendly.
We are also planning to check out their booth at Jazz Fest. It will be great to get some real veg food inside of the Fest.
Go to Carmo and you will enjoy your meal.
Updated from previous review on Wednesday April 30, 2014
And now it's 2015.
We've eaten there twice so far and it has been consistently great.
The only people who don't love the broken noodle salad are the people who haven't had the broken noodle salad.
I know we'll go several more times before we skip town this year.
Pros: Food, Staff
Cons: Can't think of any
Contributions +24
Best vegan food in New Orleans!! - Edit
Carmo's is absolutely fantastic. I would have given five stars if the entire menu was vegetarian. My husband and I had dinner there after listening to live jazz at the Ogden on a Thursday night. The service was excellent. The vegetarian/vegan options were delicious. We also enjoyed the paintings displayed by local artists! We will definitely visit this place again next time we are in NOLA!
Contributions +25
Vegetarian Gem in NOLA - Edit
This place really delivered. New Orleans can sometimes be tough for a vegetarian, but this place was such a welcome surprise. Their vegan gumbo was spicy and delicious, and the Esmeralda salad was an interesting mix of flavors. Will definitely come back during future visits to NO!
Contributions +1036
It was all right - Edit
Came here for lunch solo. The space is much bigger than I thought and has a chill vibe, which is cool. I ordered the daily plate vegan style — feijoada (Brazilian sausage-black bean stew on rice) — even though it seemed kind of spendy at $12. I was just curious to try this national dish.
It came out pretty much exactly as described on the menu: black beans with vegan sausage pieces served on rice with a little stewed greens, salsa, and two orange slices on the side. The most interesting thing for me was the sprinkle of farofa on top, which, I looked up later, was a toasted flour mixture made from yucca. The whole dish was tasty but too simple for what it was, the rice wasn't even brown rice, just plain white.
Aside from that daily special, the rest of the menu is actually also very vegan-friendly, which doesn't come by easy in New Orleans. For this I commend them.
Pros: decent food, vegan options
Contributions +28
delicious! - Edit
This place offers vegan options for almost everything on the menu. I had what they called banquette bread which was essentially a super thin crispy crust pizza. It was made with Daiya cheese, vegetable and their own made meat substitute which was wicked good. I would happily eat it many more times. They also had about 4 desserts all of which were vegan- I had a vegan creme brûlée there which was crazy good and got a piece of Apple coffee cake to go was also crazy good! Delicious food, great staff.
Pros: amazing food, friendly, helpful staff, fairly inexpensive
Contributions +102
delicious, heavy vegan options - Edit
Thank goodness for Carmo, serving a handful of vegan options on their Caribbean menu. The fermented tea leaf salad was a hit with our group! I'm a long term raw vegan visiting New Orleans regularly from Los Angeles, so the vegan options are still prepared heavyily in comparison. Though all delicious. That's the south, right?
Contributions +18
Tropical kitchen - Edit
We had the "rico" vegan sandwich -- with fried plantain instead of bread. It was yummy, well-seasoned and fresh. The sauces and dressings are very good. The vegan gumbo z'herbes was hearty and satisfying.
They offer a selection of beers, sodas, wines, etc.
Pros: Spacious, casual restaurant , Fresh ingredients, imaginatively made, Offers vegan options for most dishes
Cons: Service is a bit slow.
Contributions +231
Wonderful! - Edit
I absolutely LOVE Carmo! I highly recommend checking them out. Fun and interesting vegan options in a fun setting.
Pros: friendly staff, great food, interesting, yummy cocktails
Contributions +11
Highly Recommend - Edit
This place rocks! Atmosphere is charming and comfortably casual with the friendliest staff. Old school family owned service for sure. The food is fantastic! Salads are packed with various unique combinations including mango, avocado and much more all very satiating. The juices were a complete surprise! They offer several freshly made juices from exotic fruit this tropical "born on equator girl" had never heard of. The one I ordered tasted like ACAI berry but it had another name. I'm loving that the world is finally catching up with this vegetarian...yummy
Pros: Salads, Juice, friendly staff
Contributions +33
fresh & unique, gf options - Edit
Highly recommend trying this place, the salads are hearty & filling, the soup was excellent. They have sandwiches & lots of vegan entrees. Cute funky atmosphere & helpful staff.
Pros: healthy, gluten free options, juice and delicious cocktails
Contributions +35
Great Vegan Food! - Edit
My husband and I stopped in Carmo for lunch on a weekday. It was busy, but the staff was quick and very friendly. My husband had the soup special and it was quite good. We both had the Rico for our entree, and we both really enjoyed it. The food tasted great and we left feeling completely satisfied.
Pros: Friendly staff, Delicious food
Contributions +785
great vegan eats - Edit
Got to love vegan-friendly restos that are highly rated by omnis, too. Plenty of positive reviews on yelp and here are accurate. Tasty vegan eats. Had the Rico breadless open sandwich and it was delicious without being too spicy. The special of the day was calabacitas with mock chicken. Servings felt small because it was so good and I gobbled it down. Loved their selection of juices. Had a blend that was fantastic. Highly recommended.
Pros: flavorful
Cons: small portions
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