The Pelican House Restaurant — Restaurant in Duncanville

The host/ waitress at this place did ask me to make sure i leave a review on social media. Well i don't do social media so here we are. They're not going to like this but I feel the strong need to give people a heads up since this places review score: in my opinion is a bit deceiving. I had to chop my detailed review down quite a bit as the word count was too high to save on here so this is the shortened version. First this place is very small. Not suitable for large parties. I attended brunch this day. We had a reservation for party of 3 at 130p. They lost our reservation. I had called in 3 weeks prior because it was for Mother's day. I typically do an open table rsvp online or I'll call around to places early because if you wait too long getting a reservation, you'll end up somewhere in an everyday place. I don't do that for birthdays or Mother's day! I make it a priority to find a place I've never dined. The host that welcomed us , she was very accommodating and professional and made it work. She allowed us to get a table anyway. They set the 3 of us at a 2 top and pulled a chair over. When a larger table became available they transferred us over. I appreciated that and she was great. I did not realize this would be buffet only. I thought we were coming to order food off of a menu but apparently on Sundays, it's buffet only served on plasticware only. Smh. The food was not hot! This is not a true buffet line set up like a golden corral or lubys. This is a removable buffet set up you'll see at like a wedding reception or something. It was just the large stainless steel chafers placed on tables. Those kind just don't keep food at the right temperature at all! I shouldn't leave an establishment feeling like I rolled down the window and tossed my money out and ready to go have a meal elsewhere. My brother got one plate of food and barely ate half and was irritated and done. My brother and mother didn't like the food at all! Now the food FOR ME was fairly well seasoned but was either overcooked or oddly cooked. The macaroni and cheese was the best example of that. I wish i had gotten a picture. It didn't taste too bad however it was mushy AND the cheese wasn't melted. I know bagged cheese instead of freshly shredded is often the culprit of this. It was awful. The dressing was also terribly mushy in my opinion. The buffet line menu showed they were supposed to have fried chicken wings. Well they ran out just as we got there. After not seeing anymore being brought out i inquired about 45min into our dining as to when there would be more, I was told no more, that it was just fried catfish now. Well about 10min later one of the line servers comes out with 2 fried chicken legs and an apology. Keep in mind the menu said chicken WINGS but I digress- I thanked him no matter the piece. I took one bite and knew based on the quality and taste this was not made in house. The food we tasted so far was giving pot luck at Uncle Jay's house on a Friday night and aunt Shay messed up the mac and cheese. It just didn't give restaurant quality at all. I'm sorry. So this chicken, the moment i tasted it, gave Church's. I gave the second leg to my mom and she laughed and immediately agreed. When we left the restaurant we noticed Golden Chick directly across the street so it had to have come from one of them places. Overall i actually would recommend you come try the place for yourself but don't go on Sunday. Go through the week. I think their review score & pics are probably more so based on food people are getting off of the menu and not the buffet. One last thing. Even the drinks were terrible. I ordered a sweet tea. My receipt said raspberry sweet tea but this tasted like some kind of odd concoction of tea, Kool-Aid and maybe pineapple juice. I got my brother and mother a carafe of mimosas. Mom was disappointed because she said the juice tasted really cheap like some concentrate from the grocery...

Let me start by saying this was not our first interaction with The Pelican House. Our first visit was fine and Louis was great. My husband's 50th birthday was approaching and my husband suggested The Pelican House. We felt as though Louis would take care of us. We were wrong. We had no problem paying what was proposed but please know I expect what is promised! The menu consisted of red beans and rice, catfish fillets, Cajun shrimp pasta, wings half fried half baked with two or three dipping, sauces, green beans, salad, cornbread. The afternoon of the party my husband requested tarter sauce be added and we were told by the manager it would. We were also covering tea and lemonade for our guest and they would be responsible for any alcoholic beverages. Were paid for 35 guest. We had about 21 guest in attendance. Several guest traveled from out of town. We wanted them to have an amazing experience. We could have not been more disappointed. We found out the staff was only informed of our booking two days before the event. They were informed start time was 8 and it was definitely 7. I asked that the Mardi Gras decorations be put away so they would not clash with my decorations. I was told it would be done. I had to do it myself. The food we were served was HORRIBLE. We were given catfish nuggets which I specifically said I did not want. Louis told us oh no we serve fillets straight from the Gulf. The fish was fatty and greasy. The pasta had the smallest shrimp I had ever seen and had no flavor at all. The wings were full of fat and the were all fried. The green beans tasted like the can they came from. The salad was old an wilted. There were rotten strawberries in it. Our guest were being charged for tea and lemonade before someone brought it to my attention. The only thing that was half way edible was the red beans and rice. We were suppose to receive the leftovers but we didn't care to take them. We left hungry and our guest left hungry. The next day we heard from several of them how they enjoyed the company but not the food. We were charged a large sum of money. We could have taken our guest to several local restaurants or hired a private chef for that matter and had an amazing experience and dinner!! I messaged Louis the following morning and I have yet to hear back from him. We had no problem with the cost it was one of the WORST experiences. You only turn 50 once and this is the memory we are left with. Needless to say think twice before celebrating here. I could have totally acted a fool but did not want to make a scene nor embarrass my family. That is why I chose to wait and address the matter later. I guess that was a mistake also. For Louis to not even get back to me speaks volumes. Follow up: I was contacted by Louis after submitting this review lets just say it was a very poor attempt at an apology and there were several non truths presented to me. If you like smooth talking and over priced food this is the...

We normally go to Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen for my Birthday. It's my favorite spot to celebrate special occasions. But I thought we'd try something new for my 61st Birthday. BIG MISTAKE! As much as I tried to be open minded this restaurant was a total FAIL.

We started out with boudin balls and seafood Gumbo. The 4 balls were so heavy bread filled, might as well had fried dressing shaped into a ball. The gumbo (we were warned that the rue was thin) was so water down, it had no body like traditional gumbo and it came out luke warm. The shrimp were the size of salad shrimp and the sausage was sliced as thin as a quarter. I didn't see or taste any other SEAFOOD.

I had the Jazzy Seafood Trio and hubby had the Trio with the Red Beans. My shrimp (again salad size) creole and crawfish (no whole tails) etouffee wasn't eatable. It was so water based that it tasted unfinished and as if the seasonings were added after it was cooked rather than during the cooking process. The only thing I was able to eat was the catfish strips and they would have been better with some decent cocktail sauce. My hubby did eat his entree, he said it was tolerable, not good but not awful.

I could go into great detail about the things I didn't like but I think I've covered the highlights. I will say for the money we spent, the food should have been 100% better.

We passed on dessert, as bad as I wanted beignets. But when I asked him if they were as good as Cafe Du Monde, he said they were their version. Well, after having their version, I didn't need to be any more disappointed.

When we walked into the restaurant, it was totally empty except for 1 couple sitting at the bar. That should have been a clue to turn around and leave. Another couple came in and our server took their order while we had to wait for him to come back and take ours. So they got their food first. The server then told us that we had come just in time because "before we got there the place was packed" and they normally take reservations. There was absolutely no sign of that place being packed before we got there. I told my husband I wasn't sure why he felt the need to tell us that lie, it only made him look small.

He doesn't have worry about us coming again without a reservation, we won't be back. We'll stick with tried and true Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen. They will continue to get...