Boudreaux's Louisiana Kitchen — Restaurant in Charlotte

The place had about 6 tables seated total... meaning they weren't very busy. My friend and I sat down after an amazing concert with empty stomachs. This was part of her birthday celebration. She ordered gator bites as an appetizer because I had never had gator before. I asked our waitress about the shrimp and grits... she told me that there was crayfish in it. When I pointed out that the menu didn't mention crayfish, she said "oh... I guess there isn't any in it then." She took our orders and we waited for our gator bites. I was actually excited to try them. When we noticed that a table who sat down 15 min after us got their appetizers... and we had not received ours, we asked if a waiter could check on the appetizer. The waiter said "oh it's probably just because the orders are backed up back there" and I replied... "Well no... because they got theirs and they sat down 15 min after us". He went to go check on it and I went to the restroom. When I came back, my friend told me that the order was never placed and that she cancelled it because the other table who got their appetizer also got gator bites... and she saw that they only got 6 on a plate and they were the size of popcorn shrimp. Gator bites were $10.

We get our food... and honestly, I wasn't impressed. But it wasn't a big deal. Our waitress checked on us once and we found ourselves conserving our beverages since service was so scarce.

I asked for the check when we had had enough and it took her 15 min to bring back checks. My friend gave her a card and I paid with cash.

After waiting for 15 min, I go to see if I can find her. We had another 2 hour drive before we get home and I couldn't understand why everything was taking forever. Especially when you have someone's debit card in your possession. I go around the corner and don't see her in sight, go to the front and then turn back around to head back... and all of a sudden, she's at the register finally processing our payment. What had she been doing the entire time with my friend's card... I have no idea.

I head back to the table and mention to my friend that a tip will not be needed for such slow and horrible service.

The waitress finally arrives and only hands back my friend a check book. Didn't give me mine back.

So she just ASSUMED she could keep my change?! What is wrong with this lady?! So I asked for my check and change back... and she goes to retrieve it.

You don't do that. You don't just take it upon yourself that you deserve a tip and keep someone's change.

We will never return. And it's a shame because my friend is from the area and she used to live in Louisiana... she would have been a regular along with her family. She said when we first sat down that if the food was good, she would bring her mother back.

But I suspect that won't be happening.

Its a shame to end my friend's birthday celebration like that. I put thought into where we should go for dinner and thought it would be cool to take her to a Louisiana restaurant but honestly... I regret even...

We’ve been to Noda a couple times. We’ve never eaten here, but had seen it last time and it looked like a neat place.

We stopped for lunch today. My boyfriend asked for a Woodford Reserve and the waitress handed us a menu with nothing but cocktails, beer, and wine listed. She told us to look for it. Apparently she couldn’t be bothered to look or even ask the bartender standing two feet away. The place was dead and we were the only customers which made it much worse. My boyfriend had to walk to the bar and point out the liquor to the waitress. He also said no ice and plain. The bartender even heard him say this but came close to putting ice in the whiskey when he wanted it neat.

Next issue was we ordered two items on the appetizer menu: she-crab soup and shrimp cocktail. We wondered if the waitress was going to return for the rest of our order. When we flagged her down she said our food will be out soon. My boyfriend asked her if she wanted to take our entree order. She seemed confused. We explained the two items were appetizers. At this point, we weren’t feeling too confident of this restaurant or even tavern so all we ordered were two salads. I asked for honey mustard which was on the menu as a dressing and got about a teaspoon (she said that’s all the dressing they had) for a gigantic salad. My boyfriend got the blackened chicken salad. He said the chicken was tasteless but otherwise the rest was good.

I feel like that this restaurant should have been better for what we paid. The waitress should know what drinks are on the drink menu. If you don’t know then ask the bartender that’s their job to know. The customer shouldn’t have to get up from their seat and walk back to the bar to point it out. Also, know the food menu. Know when something is an appetizer or entree. Check on your customer.

As for the kitchen staff, make up salad dressing if you are out and it’s on the menu. Honey mustard literally is just mayo, mustard, honey, and sometimes lemon. It literally takes a few minutes to make and if you have guests ordering food around 1-2 pm then there is no reason you shouldn’t have this ready to go.

This was a terrible experience which we will...

I first visited Charlotte in 2015 & this was one of my favorite spots. Any time I came back, I visited Boudreaux. Since my relocation to the Charlotte area in 2019 I have remained a customer, recommending it to family & friends. The pandemic hit in 2020 & when outdoor dining reopened in May, Boudreaux was one of the first places I came back out to support. The food tastes devoid of any seasoning now, the service is so slow. I am a local restaurant chef myself, and I know how hard the bumps have been... from vendor shortages, to staff shortages it has not been easy. But a year later the service & food are unacceptable. On my most recent visit it took 17 minutes from the time my party was sat for a server to see us. It took 20 more minutes for us to receive our drinks. At this point we opted to share a side & have a meal elsewhere as it was evident everyone around us was frustrated and had been waiting a long time. Through the duration of our visit we never received water, or napkins/silverware outside of the spoon that was in my rice. The quality of the food has decreased alarmingly, everything tastes old, everything lacks seasoning. It seems only two people were working in the entire front of house (including the bar) Memorial Day weekend. They were clearly overwhelmed, constantly apologizing to people, lots of food being sent back because it was hitting the table cold. I’m not sure what’s happened to this place recently but I’m going to give it a long break & hope things have improved in...