The Bayou Kitchen & Lounge — Restaurant in Altamonte Springs

My parents and I visited tonight (Sat. 8/26) and we had a great meal! We came in around 8:30ish and we were asked to wait about 20 minutes. The waiting area is really nice. They have two comfortable couches with coffee tables. We didn't really even wait that long considering they were short-staffed according to our waitress. I'm really bad at names so I unfortunately don't remember who our servers were but they were warm and friendly to us and the other tables. I liked the little details that added an extra level to the experience like the table cloths, the center pieces with mardi gras beads, and just the general decor of the restaurant. It wasn't too loud and the music they played fit the theme. They played the Princess and the Frog soundtrack which I thought was cool. We didn't go to the bar but the area looked pretty nice. The drinks looked really good. Most people around us seemed to be having a good night. Despite a slower service (we didn't mind, they only had a couple of servers so we understood), our waitress took our drink orders along with our dinner order pretty fast. My dad ordered a cup of gumbo to come out first before the meal. It came out pretty fast and was delicious. We all tried it of course. The gumbo is actually what brought us there as my dad had seen a story about this place in the Orlando Sentinel. It's pretty spicy but has a great flavor. I'm weak so I couldn't handle it but my dad really liked it. For our dinner, I ordered the shrimp and grits, my dad ordered the bayou beef brisket, and my mom got the red beans and rice. The bayou beef was okay. The fried okra on top was perfect, but the brisket was eh. The red beans and rice was pretty good. Kind of sweet without too much heat. I liked that they had crystals hot sauce because what else would you put on it? So about my shrimp and grits. I have a thing where I have to try the shrimp and grits whenever I see it on the menu and I've tasted a lot of different styles. My favorite so far has been Doc Ford's. And I think Bayou Kitchen's is honestly a pretty close second. The blackened shrimp were cooked perfectly and had a great flavor. It had a lot of bacon and tasso which I really enjoyed. The only thing I think fell short was the grits. They were creamy and not too bland, but could have been a little better with more cheese. I liked the sauce that went on top but I think it needed a bit more to it. I added some crystals to it which kind of brought it around. Overall, the dish was really good and I finished most of it. We also ordered a shrimp po boy to go and some beignets for dessert. The beignets were SO good! Super fresh and hot and they melt in your mouth. I just wish they came with more. I could eat a dozen of those sugar pillows, I swear. For the price we paid (a little over $100 for four meals, including tip), I honestly think this place was fantastic. Flavor wise, I would say this place is better than Tibbys and I liked their menu and classier atmosphere. Although, the only thing that Bayou kitchen is missing is MUFFALETTA! It might be hard to beat Tibby's but if anyone can, it's definitely this place. I think we will definitely be stopping by again sometime soon. Thank you guys for a...

I will not be going back !! I will be eating at Tibby’s New Orleans Kitchen instead! I really enjoyed this restaurant in the past. However, I ordered food at this restaurant for delivery, and my food arrived tampered with. The one flimsy sticker that they use was insufficient in properly securing my food. It was ripped directly in half, not pulled apart like it had separated or naturally come apart. It was ripped. The food appear to be tampered with, so I did not eat it for safety reasons. I understand that this is mostly an issue with the delivery driver, but Ubereats was completely unresponsive. I contacted the restaurant and offered to bring them the photos of how it appeared when it was delivered. (Uber Eats provides a photo and you can see that it arrived wide open with the sticker torn). I also offered to bring the food exactly how I received it, but the restaurant refused to remake my order. The manager at the restaurant could have absolutely cared less, and said “ not our problem!” This left a really bad taste in my mouth Now, I am out all of this money for two entrées plus fees. All I wanted was for them to remake it so that I could SAFELY eat it” There was no way that I could feel comfortable eating it when I could tell it was deliberately tampered with. One thing that the restaurant could’ve done was packaged it more securely with more than one sticker like most restaurants do. You can see in the photo there’s just one very insufficient sticker that was easy for the driver to tamper with. Nevertheless, the restaurant did not care at all. They could’ve at least showed empathy, knowing that a returning customer is now out the money and the food. The tone of the manager made it clear to me that they do not care about their patrons. Tibby’s New Orleans kitchen does a great job of packaging their food, the food is always great, and management cares about their customers! My friends, family and I will always be sticking with Tibbys in the future! The picture posted below shows how it...

We went for dinner last night. Wow! Quite impressive. The tables are covered in cloth tablecloths and they are changed after each party leaves. The music was great, playing unobtrusively in the background. I don't know why people are complaining about parking; right in front of the restaurant is a huge lot and to the left behind the buildings is another one. Laziness, I say. I had the Shrimp and Grits, and it was splendid. The cheese was perfectly incorporated into the grits, not just a lump of grits with some cheese melted on top. The shrimp were also perfect, not over-cooked or mushy, and there were a lot, with one very large, well-seasoned one on top. The accompanying sauce was dark and flavorful. My husband had the Chicken and Waffles. I was allotted one bite, and I savored it. The waffles have a sweetness to them, and that with the maple made for a sweet dish, but that can be balanced out with a few shakes of Crystal hot sauce. Our 19 yr old son had the Lobster Mac and it looked good, with a decent amount of lobster. I was NOT allotted a bite. I couldn't have even licked the plate; it was all gone. Our 20 yr old son had the Jambalaya. Again, it looked good, but no bite for me. I saw all the usual ingredients and smelt the lovely aroma, but, alas, he devoured it. I must also add that each dish had a beautiful presentation and represented the cuisine of Louisiana well. I am aghast at all the people comparing The Bayou Kitchen to Tibby's. How could they compare the adept artistry of The Bayou's chef to the corporate chain, big batches of salt-ladened, tasteless food of Tibby's? And as for the price difference between catfish and redfish, redfish are caught in the wild, commercial catfish are farmed. Despite being adrift in the sea of ignorance that is, unfortunately, the general public, I eagerly look forward to eating my way through the menu. Each...