Pre-Katrina, I used to love this restaurant. Unfortunately, the food quality and service are now not up to par. I went to eat here in January or February on a weeknight with a friend. We received attitude from the hostess when we requested to not sit at the brightest place in the dining room. There were plenty of tables available. The waitress also had an attitude when we asked how the eggplant and chicken were prepared. She also proceeded to touch her hair continuously when at our table. I would only recommend this place to enemies. Perhaps, the other Semolina restaurants in the area that are open are better.

I ate at here with a group of 10 high school students and two other adults from Oregon on a recent rebuilding trip to New Orleans. The students enjoyed themselves so much - in large part because they could color on the tables at a "fancy" restaurant - that they elected to eat there again on our last night in town. The service was always friendly, generally prompt, and the food, though some dishes were a bit heavy, was delicious and varied. We also appreciated that they seated us all together at a long table in a corner of the restaurant, rather than splitting up the group. NB: it's cooooold inside!

We stumbled onto this restaurant while walking down Magazine St. Wow, very impressive. The "cup of soup" with your lunch entree is indeed a bowl and bursting with flavor. The balsamic salad combines many different flavors that will leave your palette jumping for joy. The entrees are good as well, though I was craving lasagna. It's hard to do lasagna wrong and of course Semolina's does it well. When you receive the bill, you won't believe just how inexpensive this place is. Semolina's was one of the best dining experiences we had in New Orleans and yet we did not even plan it.

I love all of the creative pasta dishes at Semolina. Sure, you can get all the classic favorites, but you can also get something a little more interesting. I highly recommend the chicken enchilada pasta or the pesto (although it is a little heavy). Friends of mine live for the Pad Thai pasta as well. Prices area heck of a lot cheaper than most of the other New Orlans restaurants. They also offer catering, which I used once for a large gathering and everyone loved it. Do yourself a favor and go for a nice meal here.

Having lived in Italy for a year, I sampled some of the best pasta in the world. And I must say Semolina's come very close in quality and makes up anything lacking with it creativity. Great food in cool part of town. Great lunch place. Service is average.