Cajun Boil Bar-161 Location — Restaurant in Columbus

1-3 pm, Tuesday, February 21, 2023

This restaurant must be about to fold. When a place has such abject lack of service, and a rude manager, they usually fold shortly after.

I went with a group for Mardi Gras lunch. There were 13 in our group, and a total of 13 other people in the restaurant. As we waited and waited and waited and waited, I actually counted the other people.

A reservation for 15 had been made several weeks in advance, so they knew we were coming.

We had to wait an hour and a half to get lunch.

They would not let us talk during the long wait because they had "music" blaring so loudly that talking was impossible. It was really bad "music" -- not cajun - so there was no reason for it to be playing at all. The manager absolutely refused to turn it down adequately or turn the noise off. She was asked several times, and she completely refused. It was so loud that I still heard it blaring when i was in my car to leave. We could only talk to one person near us, not across the table, not to the group because of that rude manager.

I ordered a beer three times over a period of over a half-hour hour. The third time that I ordered it, I actually got it.

Some people got water within 15 minutes. Then the waitress vanished for about 45 minutes. People, who did not get water the first time, had to wait for 1 hr and 7 minutes for a glass of water. (I looked at my phone in disgust to get the actual time.) Why did she vanish. Was she taking a lunch break while we waited? Did she have to go in the kitchen to cook?

Since we were a group of friends, not family, we needed separate checks. They wrote down all 13 orders on one check, instead of separate pieces of paper. Then she had to translate them to separate papers. It's not too hard to write orders on separate pieces of paper initially. But having to transpose them is ridiculous.

Food was not too bad. They were too cheap with crackers for the gumbo. And I knew not to ask for more, or my gumbo would be cold by the time they arrived, if they did. Several people did not get everything they had ordered by the time we left after 2 hours.

The manager, who refused to allow us a chance to talk while we waited and waited, seemed to do basically nothing. She did start to take our orders during the 45 minutes that the restaurant was without a waitress. Otherwise she just sat or stood around. Too lazy to step in and help when the waitress needed help

They served desserts before lunch. They served soup after lunch.

THAT MANAGER DEFINITELY NEEDS TO BE FIRED. Imagine: refusing to shut off bad noise in order to let guests talk together -- while they waited 1.5 hours to get food - in a nearly empty restaurant!

I was really looking forward to lunch. The terrible service and the rude manager made the lunch unpleasant for everyone. I would never go back there if it was the only restaurant in the world.

The wait might not have been nearly as bad if the rude manager had allowed us to talk...

After driving for hours I decided to stop and support a local restaurant in OH instead of going to a chain. I looked at restaurants that were recently rated well and came across this one. I was touched by the review that said Steven welcomed them and made them feel right at home even though they were going to pack up and leave due to their child being irritable and loud. The last thing I needed in the middle of a 10 hour drive was poor service. To be honest, I'm glad I didn't base my experience off of how the hostess "greeted" me because...well...I just say it...she just came off as fairly miserable and seemed annoyed at my arrival at the restaurant. I try to give others the benefit of the doubt. She said that they currently only had one server so perhaps other patrons before me hadn't been kind and it had worn her down by the time I arrived? Even when she sat another party that entered about an hour after my arrival her disposition was still sour. I said an internal prayer for her 🙏🏾, sat where she placed me, and started studying the menu because I was HUNGRY! 😆 A gentleman who was like The Flash™ in human form (servicing multiple tables, cleaning, AND bartending ALL AT ONCE and ALL with a SMILE ON HIS FACE and a joke on his lips) said he'd be with me in one moment. I said no problem and decided on my drink and entree of choice. He apologized for the wait, took my drink order, made my drink and a drink for the another patron at the bar and then came to take the remainder of my order. I asked him his name, he said Steven, and I said I'm here because of the review I read about the excellent service he provides. He thanked me and said he truly appreciated it. I was in awe of his professionalism. Even though HE was doing the JOBS OF MANY ALL BY HIMSELF he was KIND, ATTENTIVE, PROACTIVE and FUNNY! I hope Steve often receives raises or bonus based on the quality of service he consistently provides. I also hope Steven considers teaching courses/a seminar online to teach others about the fine & subtle art of providing exceptional customer service! He could RECORD videos once but be paid over and over again as another source of income. I'm putting that into the atmosphere in case it's something he wants to consider one day. 😁 Before I forget my drink (Rajun Cajun with mango flavors) HIT THE SPOT and my Lobster Cove (Signature Combo) with Garlic Butter sauce + Lemon Pepper sauce was DE-LI-CIOUS and I ate EVERY SINGLE BITE!!! The background music was nice and chill. Overall, I greatly enjoyed my experience!! Also, 2 additional front-of-house Staff did come in about an hour after I arrived and they took seemed lovely and attentive so hopefully everyone that dines here has a lovely experience! 😃 Also, don't be like me and...

Very disappointed I paid 101 for a boil my king crab was over cooked so I took it back the second one was the same and my lobster tail was the same I don’t know if I will come back !!!!' UPDATE.... 10/04/24 tried to give this place another try but once again same crap I got the king crab and I got a lobster tail shrimp potatoes corn first of all the king crab was once again overcooked I couldn't even get it out of the shell. It was stuck in the shell and the lobster tell this time when I pulled it apart it was black on the inside. I've never seen that before in my life. I don't think I'm done with this place indefinitely. They don't care about the quality of food anymore because for once again $109 this time you would think you would give somebody some quality food but clearly you don't care at $65 a pound for a king crab and it's overcooked and you can't even get it out of the shell and that's unacceptable and to get a lobster tail and I've eaten mini lobster tails cooked them myself . I've never seen a lobster tail when you pull it apart. Be black on the inside. Just give up at this point. 1/3/2025

UPDATE!!!!!! Yes, I don’t know if you guys are under new management or what’s going on, but I just came there. I got the tilapia. I wanted my oysters well done and they weren’t in the grilled chicken salad. It was trash like I don’t know what’s going on but for the money that you guys are charging you need to have quality food I’m a foodie I eat And you guys disappoint me every time and I’m not trying to bash you but get it together if I’m coming to spend my quality money, give me quality food. One more thing, please take the macaroni bites off the menu. They tasted like cardboard cardboard nothing like I don’t know why y’all even put that on...