A Taste of New Orleans — Restaurant in Brooksville

I am writing this review not for the purpose of ragging on this restaurant, but just to be truthful & hopefully helpful. I order from here quite often. I work extremely long night shifts so sometimes my only sustenance for the day (or 2) is quick takeout from here. At some things, they are really great, and some other areas where corners may be cut or there are inconsistencies. I always get the Louisiana fried shrimp. The shrimp are big & butterflied nicely, the batter is good too. The fried shrimp are always really good/consistent. The tartar sauce is really good too, highly recommend. The beignets with honey butter are excellent. The fried catfish is a huge letdown, or at least was when I ordered it. The fish wasn’t even edible. I’ve never seen a fish filet like that in my life & my father was a shrimper, crabber & commercial fisherman right here in Hernando when I was a kid. The fish was gelatinous. It was like battered and fried jelly. It was sickening. I am not one to complain & when my food is messed up I just take the loss & keep it pushing. But this catfish was so bad I had to call & explain the issue & ask what cut of fish was used. They told me they use farmed Swai fish, NOT catfish, even tho they are advertising it as catfish. Plz research what swai is. It’s basically a cheap fish farmed in Vietnamese that certain shady restaurants will try to pass off as legitimate catfish. Bootleg catfish, if you will. This is not what you would expect at all from a place like this called taste of New Orleans especially being centered in Tampa bay where fresh fish is in abundance. They should really focus on securing a supply of fresh seafood to serve. We live in Hernando. It should be easy. If nothing else, they could drive to the shrimp docs in Hernando beach & strike a deal with a local shrimper or crabber. Lots of ppl did that when my dad had his boat docked there when I was a kid. I didn’t ask for my money back & the girl on the phone didn’t offer, however a few minutes later, the owner called me to ask what the issue was with my order. I explained to him & told him how disappointing it is to find out they are using swai. He apologized profusely & said he was putting my name down in the book for a free fish dinner. I still haven’t redeemed the offer but I appreciate him. The moms famous gumbo is good, sometimes. Sometimes it has waaay too much clove in it, like to where we couldn’t eat it cuz the clove was so overpowering. Sometimes it has an ungodly amount of kielbasa slices in it. Red beans & rice is usually good. The Cajun shrimp creole is good & topped with the fried shrimp. I’ve bought The Alaskan before which was wildly disappointing & flavorless despite paying extra for xtra sauce. The shrimp were not even close to fresh, the tails of the shrimps were brown/black & slimy & the crab legs were anemic. Another thing that is really disappointing is their use of frozen corn cob quarters. Fresh corn would literally change the game, & it is very easily accessible in this area.. in fact there is a farm in bville right down the road that sells freshly grown corn on the cob & I bet they’d love to do business with a local restaurant. But if not, fresh corn is still cheap & abundant & would make the quality soo much better. The times ive ordered the boiled corn, it was shriveled, freezer burnt, & hard in some places. & the fried corn is the same story except its dredged in the same batter as the shrimp & fried, and is usually soggy and the batter literally just falls off revealing a shriveled freezer burnt corn underneath.

Every time I come here I order the same things because they are safe.. I know what to expect and it seems those items are fairly consistent compared to some of the others. I hate wasting money on food that isn’t what...

Louisiana-born Chef Beverly & hubby Frankie are who to see if it's EXCELLENT Cajun seafood you want! It's all flown in from Cajun country, so you WON'T be disappointed. This place is my PERSONAL FAVORITE for Cajun! I'm Kaitlyn S. of Yelp (Tampa) & I discovered this hidden gem @ the height of Covid in 2020 when it was a bright red food truck by the side of the road & I was hungry. I never liked Cajun cooking until Chef Beverly served me up a hot bowl of Gumbo. Soooo g00d! I'm currently a Gumbo & Beignets addict. YES, I'M AN ADDICT-- both are INCREDIBLE! Should you choose to leave w/o trying the Beignets, I hope you never learn what your mouth missed out on:) Most of the recipes used here are Frankie's late mother's, & BOY that woman could cook! Chef Beverly stepped in & has filled those shoes beautifully. If it's fresh, purged crawfish (when in season); a Grouper sandwich; Gator Po Boy; Jumbayla; Shrimp Etouffee; Large Fried Shrimp; Crab; a Seafood Boil; or another DELICIOUS entree @ a fair price, your belly will be VERY HAPPY you tried Taste of New Orleanz. I regularly drive up from North Tampa alone just to eat here. But now I have yet another reason-- Frankie, a former International sax musician who did a stint w/ the New Orleans Saints, serenades his guests on sax every Saturday. If it's not his music that wins you over, his big smile & even bigger personality will! Kudos to this incredibly talented couple for serving up PHENOMENAL food & service to locals & travelers alike. Closed Sunday & Monday, do yourself a favor & stop in S00N. Tell 'em Kaitlin sent you. They are...

I wanted to give fewer stars but the food wasgood. My complaint is the staff. First of all there was only one other table and those people left about 5 min after we arrived. . The staff had nothing to do and couldnt even walk over and take our order as you must order at the counter. Secondly, the attitude of staff is not pleasant. They make you pay before you get your food and since I paid with a card I had to put the tip in advance. I didn't want to give a small one so I gave about a 30% tip- BIG MISTAKE. But since I feared what they might to my food I didnt give a generous tip- that was the vibe I got from the beginning.

The food was good but not very spicey which we didnt complain bc the most important thing is that its good and it was. But i did ask for hot sauce and the girl at the counter looked very angry and didnt say anything when she handed it to me. My husband wanted to see if he could have some cayenne pepper which he puts on everything as he is part Cayman and my husband is the kindest person so he wasn't rude when he asked and again we got attitude. The only person with some class and a smile was the Chef who actually greeted me when he came out.. thank you.

I would suggest training your front staff on customer service etiquette. It's not hard to have a smile, make some polite conversation with your guests especially when all the tables are empty and the phone hardly rings...

Needless to say we wont be back. We shouldn't feel like a burden when we are paying for our food and the experience and giving a...