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| - I was looking for a suitable venue to watch the IU-Georgia basketball game with my family. Lagasse's Stadium seemed to fit the bill. A big name chef lending his name to a sports bar/sports book in the Palazzo...what could be better? Lagasse's Stadium is a huge, multi-level sports bar cum sports book with HD large screen flat-panels dispersed liberally around the establishment. It offers a full service bar and menu with the usual bar food suspects, presumably with the Emeril "bam!" Lagasse's Stadium has plenty of table seating as well as lounge seating with a personal HD flat-panel for your area. We elected to sit in a lounge for our semi-private viewing of the game.
As a venue to watch your game goes, Lagasse's Stadium is first-rate. Sadly, where it falls way short is the one place you'd think it would be nailed down tight, the food. We started off on a good foot with the Tuna Poke Chips appetizer ($15). The diced Ahi tuna and avocado were fresh tossed in a ponzu vinaigrette and served atop crispy wonton chips which were drizzled with a spicy Chinese mustard. It came with a small wakame salad on the side. The app was flavorful without being overdressed with the vinaigrette. The only negative was the $15 price for the amount received. However, after our app, the wheels fell off of the chuck wagon. My dad and I ordered Oyster Po Boy ($16) sandwiches. Both of our po boys came with what should've been four large-sized, fried oysters on New Orleans-style French Bread with lettuce, tomato and Creole mayonnaise. Sadly, our oysters were deep-fried into submission leaving only a slightly burnt flavored batter and sad, desiccated oysters within. I've been to New Orleans. I know Emeril has been there, too. No way would he ever mistake these poorly executed excuses for authentic Po Boys. Lagasse's Stadium delivered something that was practically worthless at twice the price of what a po boy could be found in New Orleans. My mom ordered the Fish and Chips ($15). Yet again, the kitchen failed to properly execute the dish. The beer-battered cod was nicely fried and not too greasy, but the fried fish was way over salted to the point of being inedible. Not even alcohol could overcome the food fail since Lagasse's Stadium's beer and spirits selection was entirely lackluster. If I'm going to pay a premium price for a drink to wash down the overpriced, poorly executed food, then you should have something premium on your drink menu. At least our server was personable, attentive, but not intrusive. The service and the fact that IU beat Georgia were about the only positives of our visit.
Emeril, if you're going to lend your well-respected name in the culinary world to any establishment, even if it's only a sports bar on steroids, then you should make sure the bar food that they serve meets your same minimum standards that you'd require at Delmonico, Table 10, or your eponymous Emeril's Fish House. If I were a judge on Top Chef like you, and you served this food to me, I would tell you to pack your knives and go.
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