I love cajun and creole food. LOVE IT. I know this isn't New Orleans and what can you expect from a Pittsburgh restaurant offering cajun food. Well, how about some crawfish??? Is that too much to ask? None on the menu. None available off the menu. Zero. Considerable disappointment. Oh, ok, you can get excited about the novelty of alligator bites. I've had alligator in every form (including ribs) all over the Gulf states and in a dozen restaurants in New Orleans, and these are nothing special. They're good for an experience and to tell everyone you ate alligator but how much joy do you get from that. You won't order them twice.
I'm a jambalaya afficianado. NOLA's is complelety unremarkable. Wait, I take that back. It's remarkable in it'soddity - they use 3 whole chicken wings for the chicken component. Messy and not a good call. And where's the mudbugs? Jambalaya needs crawfish!! And where's the ettoufe? Nowhere, that's where.
I love Abita beer and they have a good selection. But that's about the most positive thing I can say about the place. Sure, it's a novelty. Yeah, it's a great place to take your out of town guests for someplace new and different. But if you ask me, it's not a place I'd recommend. Go once. You'll agree with me.