Tried this restaurant tonight. I'll start with the bottom line.
Best Cajun food in town, going away. But......
Now, the rest of the story. Seriously, the food was the best tasting Cajun food this side of the Sabine. The restaurant wasn't without its problems however. We had boiled shrimp, grilled shrimp, red beans rice and sausage, and seafood gumbo. If you have been by there in the evenings recently, you know parking is a nightmare. There are only 66 seats available inside (16 four tops, two two tops). Apparently everyone of those 66 bring their own cars.
If you order crawfish, you're going to get your food pretty quickly. The kitchen is large and well staffed, but due to the amount of time it took to get our food my guess is that most of those in the kitchen are dedicated to producing crawfish. We waited 45 minutes for our food. Yes, it was packed and crawfish season, but still.
Other than the crawfish (a pound is a pound), the portions will not cause you to need a to-go box. The number of boiled shrimp was pretty reasonable (about 15 - we ate before we counted). My tiny wife was satisfied. For the grilled shrimp, there were 8 grilled shrimp on the best tasting dirty rice I've had in a long time. Still, the shrimp were not huge. The redbeans, rice and sausage came in the same size bowl as the gumbo, about a 12 oz. bowl. Again, very tasty, but for the price I expected a larger bowl. The gumbo was delicious, those missing Heberts will find a home here (based on taste, but there were way more vegetables and meat in Heberts). That said, the gumbo was short on seafood (maybe 5-6 small shrimp and about the same number of crawfish, no crab meat) and the bowl was just over half full.
Overall, it tasted really, really good. The "rush hour" on Friday night was between 6-7 (predictable) but tapered off after 7 (though still a steady crowd). We'll go back because the food was that good. But, when Papadeaux opens, we'll skip this place (though it's 3 minutes from home) due to the portion size/cost differential. Just one family's opinion, and we unanimously felt it was the best tasting Cajun food we've tasted in a long, long time (like since we went to Grand Isle 5 years ago). I'm really pulling for this place!
Best Cajun food in town, going away. But......
Now, the rest of the story. Seriously, the food was the best tasting Cajun food this side of the Sabine. The restaurant wasn't without its problems however. We had boiled shrimp, grilled shrimp, red beans rice and sausage, and seafood gumbo. If you have been by there in the evenings recently, you know parking is a nightmare. There are only 66 seats available inside (16 four tops, two two tops). Apparently everyone of those 66 bring their own cars.
If you order crawfish, you're going to get your food pretty quickly. The kitchen is large and well staffed, but due to the amount of time it took to get our food my guess is that most of those in the kitchen are dedicated to producing crawfish. We waited 45 minutes for our food. Yes, it was packed and crawfish season, but still.
Other than the crawfish (a pound is a pound), the portions will not cause you to need a to-go box. The number of boiled shrimp was pretty reasonable (about 15 - we ate before we counted). My tiny wife was satisfied. For the grilled shrimp, there were 8 grilled shrimp on the best tasting dirty rice I've had in a long time. Still, the shrimp were not huge. The redbeans, rice and sausage came in the same size bowl as the gumbo, about a 12 oz. bowl. Again, very tasty, but for the price I expected a larger bowl. The gumbo was delicious, those missing Heberts will find a home here (based on taste, but there were way more vegetables and meat in Heberts). That said, the gumbo was short on seafood (maybe 5-6 small shrimp and about the same number of crawfish, no crab meat) and the bowl was just over half full.
Overall, it tasted really, really good. The "rush hour" on Friday night was between 6-7 (predictable) but tapered off after 7 (though still a steady crowd). We'll go back because the food was that good. But, when Papadeaux opens, we'll skip this place (though it's 3 minutes from home) due to the portion size/cost differential. Just one family's opinion, and we unanimously felt it was the best tasting Cajun food we've tasted in a long, long time (like since we went to Grand Isle 5 years ago). I'm really pulling for this place!
