Taranto's Crawfish — Restaurant in Biloxi

We have been coming here for years. Absolutely love this business and have always raved about it to friends and family.

However, tonight was the worst service we’ve ever had at any restaurant. Completely ruined the evening for everyone we had brought.

We are so embarrassed because of how highly we have spoken about this restaurant, as tonight we had brought friends & family not from the area. Told them the long wait was absolutely worth it, the food is great, service is being treated like family, etc. as that’s what we have always experienced.

Tonight it felt like our server avoided the table like the plague. Slow to take our drink order, where we weren’t even asked if we wanted appetizers when she did come. Even slower to bring our drinks and take our food order. Lo and behold, they were out of crawfish after taking our table’s order. I went out of my way to assure our server that inventory was not her fault and we understood! It was absolutely a “busier than normal” Tuesday for them. This is after we had just waited an hour for the table, something we have gladly done before because we knew it was worth it. We even made sure to ask the hostess (who was very sweet! Poor thing was running her heart out.) if they thought there’d still be crawfish by the time our wait was over, and we were assured YES.

She gave menus to us so we could re-order, upon which we ALL noticed that a table who got on the wait list after us, was seated after us, with a different server, suddenly got a table FULL of crawfish. Meanwhile, she had not even come back to take our new order! We waited 10-15 minutes for her to come back, as she was on the phone in the kitchen area.

Three out of our six people got food (didn’t order crawfish) before she ever came back. Out of this food, all my husband and I got was a basket of toast. When she came back to take the 2nd order, I was in the restroom. Apparently, she didn’t even ask my husband if we wanted anything! Completely skipped over him. So we did not eat or order ANYTHING except bread and 2 soft drinks. I watched as other staff constantly moved around the restaurant - we actually had 2 other staff come and check on us, asking if we needed anything (refills, sauces, etc.) before our own server checked on us.

As we wrapped up, she came and told us that she had called the owners and explained to them how upset we were. (Assuming this was the phone call earlier) For the first time EVER in my entire life, I spoke negatively to a server. I told her that the only thing I could comment on is that how much crawfish they have is not her fault, but the table that came AFTER us getting crawfish because THEIR server was quick & attentive… well that’s where my frustration was! She tried to say that it was because she was very busy running food in the window. I pointed out to her that other servers were doing the same and getting back to their tables much faster. The cherry on top, our ticket was WRONG! Had I not checked, we would have been overcharged for a craft beer we never ordered???

After pointing this out, she said she would be taking care of our (just mine and my husband’s) $10 ticket for the evening. That is the ONLY good thing we experienced with this server.

This is extremely upsetting because again, we LOVE this business and have always raved about it. After tonight, it will be a while before I can step foot back in the restaurant, which especially breaks my heart during crawfish season. This review really and truly boils down to tonight’s service. The food, when you’re asked if you want any, is always wonderful. Pricing is great, atmosphere is great. But tonight’s interactions have left us completely and totally embarrassed for having made our friends & family wait almost 2 hours to get nothing but crappy service - AFTER they drove 6+ hours to get here! We are now home at almost 10, after getting there at 7 - with nothing but empty bellies and...

Are you skeptical from having a long drive to get here? Do not be! So I wanted to try Crawfish although we were not that hungry. We decided to come here. Let's start with the cute decoration, it is an authentic place that has everything local Mississippi related, and the table and bathroom were all clean. The waitresses were not only kind but also paid attention to every détails, she suggested a Soda refill as soon as my husband finished his diet coke. After a couple of chit chats, we realized it is a family owned business, she was the daughter of the owner who was in the cashier (the mother), which is impressive. One thing I appreciated more, I have seen more females hired over there than any other places, from cashier, to waitresses, to the kitchen team. The food came very shortly after we ordered;

Gumbo, Shrimp and Crawfish bisque ($9.99) was out of this world, we had the big bowl, plenty of small shrimps and crawfish that we shared, it has also green beans on it. Fried Oyster salad ($13.99): the Oyster were fresh and soft and the cook was very generous with the quantity, the ranch dressing was home made (very yummy), the croutons were home made as well, they use a soft bun for the croûton which is different from the commercial ones. Po-boy Crawfish ($8.99), the half size was enough for two peoples to share. She gave us their special sauce, it is a mix of mayo, hot sauce, and something else, yet it was very new and yummy for my palet. They had fried pickled jalapeños which gave an extra taste to the Po-boy. The only cons: the Po-boy was a bit dry but after adding their house sauce and mayo, it became less dry. They did not give us french fries with it though (not sure if it is supposed to be with French fries). We do not regret coming here, I wish I could have stayed another night in Bioloxi to try more from their menu. I am hoping we can come back one...

I called in an order and I arrived in the parking lot and parked where they told me to park. (Right in front of the front door) I pulled up and waited. I seen 3 waiters walking to cars and taking orders. Mind you 15 mins have passed by now and at least 5-6 cars came after me and left before me. I called in the store and asked them how long will it be, so a lady walks outside and gets are name (after we called and after a 15 min wait) she asked the server has anybody got to this car and the lady said no we will when we have time. So I just told them to keep the food and drove off. I then called the store and asked for the mgr. She got on the phone stating that they weren’t trying to “piss” people off they were doing the best they can. So when I asked her why were people who came after me were getting their order before me, all she said was somebody left their credit card and they were trying to stop them to return it. (Mind you that this person came after I arrived and waited 15 mins without anybody coming to my car) the mgr was so worried about that person she was not trying to hear me out or tell me why nobody came to my car to see if I’ve already ordered or needed to order. I will not be going back to a place with customer service like that. I ordered a 12” poboy and a crawfish platter. Wow! So I won’t recommend this place to anyone or have anything good to say about it from...