The Quarter in Addison

The chicken breast that accompanies the red beans and rice is gargantuan. It was fried to a golden brown and was very juicy. It may not be the ideal companion for beans and rice, but it definitely aced the duo in flavor. It's sad that a deep fry can best an icon, but again, it mirrors The Quarter's atmospheric issues.

The handmade pizza fared moderately well. The Original Quarter shrimp scampi pizza is a white pizza with generous cheese and small bits of diced shrimp. The flavor was rich, the pie was—in contrast to the beans—exceptionally fresh, and the traditional pizza herbage wasn't overwrought. The dough, however, while thin, was remarkably limp, and slices were best eaten with a fork, not a hand.

Table displays detail daily drink specials and Quarter whatnots. Monday's $3 shot is the Royal Fuck. At The Quarter, as explained by a server, the Royal Fuck is composed of well bourbon ("you know, a cheaper bourbon," she said), peach schnapps and cranberry. A round of those and the burn of shitty whiskey only made me wish I was struggling to hear what my dining cohorts were saying in the seedier, spicier, more culturally valid surroundings of New Orleans.

The Quarter isn't flat-out awful, nor is it wonderfully sinful. It just suffers from a misguided attempt at recreating the ultimate French Quarter Mardi Gras atmosphere. After all, the original area balances debauchery and culinary delights with practiced skill. It's a difficult ambience to replicate.

No, this problem is seen in many restaurants—proprietors use décor to attempt a genuine atmosphere instead of focusing on recipes. They end up dumbing down food to make it not so risky and bar-friendly, because that's where the real money is and probably how the rent gets paid. The result is a themed restaurant with beer signs that outshine the furnishings and football snacks that move faster than the classic dishes.

I don't recommend the muffuletta or the po' boy, but by all means, go to The Quarter for game night (football, definitely the Saints) and ribs, absurdly loud karaoke or to get Royal-ly Fuck-ed up. Just don't expect to go home with any sense of what the real French Quarter tastes like.

15201 Addison Road, Addison, 972-788-1919. Open 4 p.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday, 6 p.m.–2 a.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.–closing hours vary Sunday. $-$$