Nola Grill - Frisco, TX

Nola Grill is a Cajun restaurant in downtown Frisco square.  Against the backdrop of multiple Tex-Mex places, Asian noodle chains, and every other national chain conceivable, Nola captures the attention like a giant cake wheeled out to the middle of the floor during a bachelor party.  However, after eating there, it's like that cake bursts open and out steps Liza Minelli... circa 2016.  I mean, it's cool 'cause it's Liza but you were kind of hoping for... something else.
Good signage:  You wait to be seated.  Exposed brick with wood decoration is a cool ambiance but except for the occasional Fleur de Lis, there is nothing to let you know this place is remotely connected with New Orleans.  Points off for that.
Then, there was country music playing.  C'mon!  There are a few things that N.O. is known for: Gumbo, beignets, voodoo, remorse, and JAZZ! I'm not saying you should have a witch with a chicken's foot greet the customers but Jazz is an easy fix.  I'm sure you could find a CD in a bargain bin or even a New Orlean's jazz playlist on youtube... this hurt my heart.. my achy, breaky heart. points off.
I ordered a shrimp po-boy and a bowl of duck and andouille sausage gumbo.
Po-boys, while usually a cheap meal, should never taste that way.  A good crusty bread, heaps of meat, simple veggies, and a light mayo all combine to make this classic sandwich an un-forgettable treat.  No gourmet treatment needed.  Toast the bread, don't cover the flavor of the meat.  That's about all you need to know... oh, and don't get all fancy with the vegetables.  They are mainly there for looks and to use up whatever is going to go bad, I'm guessing.
A good gumbo should be the color of chocolate, have several layers of flavor, and be illegal in most democrat controlled states due to heat level.
My po-boy was like "grocery store bolo roll - hunt for the piece of breaded shrimp hiding among the jungle of iceberg lettuce."  The only similarities this had to a real po-boy was that it was filling... that's like saying your 8th grade math teacher looks like Scarlett Johansson because they both wore shoes.
The gumbo was even more disappointing.  The color was right but the taste was wrong.  It tasted so strongly of salty beef stock that there was no  hope for the lighter, more oily taste of duck to shine through.  There were strands of some type of meat in there but it could have been pot roast for all I knew.  Instead of chunks of smoky sausage, I was treated to the occasional zap of a few pieces of graduated hot dog.  This gumbo had all the excitement of Bill and Hillary Clinton's honeymoon.

The only reason I'm giving this place a 3 out of 10 is because they had signage and I didn't get food poisoning.  It's expensive and mis-leading in almost every way.  Somewhere, a real New Orleans' chef is having chest pains... and I bet he knows a voodoo guy with a doll... and that's not something you want to tangle with.

Happy eating, y'all.