It was a year ago that unfortunately Loretta’s closed their doors after many years of success. Right on the parade route, and chock full of atmosphere at the time, I had high hopes someone would move into the space swiftly. Noell Broughton, a veteran restaurant and bar owner, decided to open up a casual place and name it after himself, Noell B’s. Since he has opened his doors I have had several lunches and dinners at Noell B’s, and at first I was frankly not entirely blown away. I am not a big fan of steamed sandwiches unless they came from the Solomon’s of my youth. He needed to find his stride. I also thought he needed a little more help with wait staff. Like so many times in Mobile, people tried it once, were not blown away and never came back. I can only preach so many times that as a community we should move away from packing a place out only to leave them for the next new thing a month later. I waited a few more months and have now had a nice string of very good meals. A great place for a casual lunch, Noell B’s serves appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches and wraps. At dinner there are about five entrees and a special or two, and you can also order from the lunch menu. I also like that Noell called upon Devlin Wilson (along with Angela Hartley), to create a painted mural history of Noell’s various ventures. Along with studies of his physical locations, Devlin included regulars, the famous and the infamous patrons of Noell’s. In fact, my friend’s father is depicted in the mural and I recently took her and her children, in from Birmingham, for a look. It was two o’clock on a Saturday and there were several tables enjoying the afternoon. The place has a nice bar with flat screens playing sports, and a dining room filled with wooden chairs and tables. In the last month I have had three dinners and three lunches – a high number mostly due to Mardi Gras. My friends who moved here from New Orleans, along with many others in town, bemoan the fact that no one but chains serve food late, especially during the week. Noell B’s serves until 11 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and is virtually alone, with the exception of a few others. Key among the appetizers, and also a side are the homemade potato chips. Crispy, golden brown and only slightly greasy they are best ordered "loaded" ($7) for an appetizer. Melted cheese, bacon bits, green onion and sour cream are piled high on a plate for plenty to share. They are good on their own as well. Another appetizer is chicken tortilla soup (cup $5, bowl $6), which is better than I have had at home. A thick, rich smoky tomato broth contains chunks of chicken and can be an entire meal if you order a bowl. The salads are fairly typical, with a Greek, wedge or the house which contains gorgonzola, pecans, onion and pears tossed with balsamic. I will say that the spicy blue cheese is quite different and worth the taste. In the sandwich and wrap category, I would always order the wrap, this is my personal preference. There are seven choices that can be ordered as steamed sandwich or wrap, and the ones I have eaten are the Frederick ($9) with thinly sliced turkey (all the deli meats are nice cuts and quality), American cheese, cole slaw and BBQ sauce; An excellent Chicken Bacon Club($10) with apple-wood smoked bacon, Swiss and a tangy honey mustard and the Philly Cheese ($10) that contains fire roasted red peppers, onions, roast beef and white American cheese that one friend wolfed down on a recent trip. All of these come with the choice of one side. The cole slaw, which I like, homemade chips, pasta salad which has Greek influences and is good or potato salad (which at times has been slightly dry and contains purple onion, and I do not eat raw onion). I do like the sandwiches that are cold, especially their chicken salad. Everything here is large and I have often taken food home (well, not that often). There are several items that just come as wraps, and I have seen someone with the Greek wrap ($7) with artichoke hearts, red onions, pepperoncini and lettuce with Greek dressing a vegetarian would love. At dinner, the lights are down and there always seems to be a nice group at the bar. One night in January I took a large group and we received great attention from the wait staff. Actually, all of the servers are nice, attentive and informative. I especially like that at night I have seen the chef come out from the kitchen to ask all of the tables about their meals. That is a nice touch. On this first night, several of us ordered the Rib-Eye Wrap ($13) that had tender thick slices of steak with fire-roasted onions and peppers with either blue or American cheese. The blue is the best to get (not a big American cheese fan here). The best of this night however was the special, a pork plate with a tangy BBQ sauce that was heaping over the plate with two sides. At dinner they also have a grilled Pork Chop with roasted potatoes and vegetables ($20), a Pasta Alfredo ($21); Chicken Marsala ($21) and a 14 oz. Rib-Eye ($25) that my friend who ALWAYS eats steak enjoyed. But my lunch this past week, which was a pig out, was the best. On this day the special was a half-pound burger, which while not thick, was hefty. It was cooked medium to my liking with a nice slab of melted Cheddar. The nice surprise in our pig out was the desserts. They do make their own, and beyond a bourbon pecan pie ($6) also includes Key Lime Pie ($6) and Fried Bananas Foster ($6). Wow! The key lime was as good as my ex-wife’s with the freshest richest whipped cream and a large slice. The bananas foster came in a martini glass. Large fried chunks of tender ripe bananas floated in a rich crème anglaise. We swore that we would never eat this way again. I am not hopeful. What is hopeful is that we continue to have many good local restaurants in the Midtown and Downtown area that seem to be open for the long run. "Join The Discussion":http://blog.lagniappemobile.com/2008/02/27/noell-bs/