The Blackened Kraken Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Greenville

I went for lunch recently. I ordered shrimp and grits and my sister ordered the special which was a red snapper in lemon sauce, i believe. We ordered the poutine fries as an appetizer. They were busy. They only had 2 waitresses covering the lunch shift so everything took a while. The waitress was nice. She did the best she could. We are lovers of cajun food. Our grandfather is from New Orleans. I make it often, at home. I wasn't expecting 5-star quality food at all. I would have given 5 stars if it tasted like chain reataurant quality that was executed well because I'd just be so glad to have the option of eating cajun in Greenville. (Sighhh) Okay. Shrimp n Grits, though, it seems intimidating is one of the easiest and efforlessly delicious recipes a restaurant can make. To be fair, I will say that I had them remove the shrimp because I've developed late-in-life seafood allergies. Their andouille sausage is great. It's flavorful and seasoned well. If they make it themselves, good on them. The grits were a disaster. The texture was a little stiff, but acceptable. However, they tasted like a cardboard box. Literally. Cardboard. They didn't salt them. They melted the cheese on top of the grits rather than cooking it in which is a no-no. The andouille gravy was good. The same gravy as what they put on the poutine fries, but it wasn't enough to save those awful grits. I ordered brussel sprouts. The menu does not say what kind of brussel sprouts they are. I assumed they'd be pan roasted with tasso or bacon and shallot or onion. (TAKE THE HINT, free of charge) but to my palate's dismay, they were pickled. Warm, PICKLED brussel sprouts! How yummy does that sound? 🤦🏽‍♀️ It doesn't complement anything on the menu. It's just rude to put a well-liked vegetable on the menu and not warn us that it's pickled. Nobody does that. Re-think it. The poutine fries were good. VERY rich. Not much cheese curd, (I'm from Wisconsin, so I'm here for the curd) but I do like the andouille gravy, as I said. They served it with the skinniest of seasoned shoestring fries, which were good, but they don't hold up to the sauce at all. It drenches and soggies them very quickly. I left a ton of sunken fries on the plate. Since I had to return the grits, I asked for a small plate of fries so I could finish the appetizer. They happily helped me with that, and removed the shrimp n grits from my order. I hope they'll consider serving the poutine fries with a potato that isn't as easily defeated by the sauce. My sister ordered the snapper with a side of brussel sprouts. Needless to say, she hated the brussel sprouts. But, She was excited about the fish. It was edible, but overcooked. It was dry and crisp in some spots. She says she wasn't getting much of a lemon flavor. We were really disappointed in this We wanted this to be a new spot for us, but their cook needs some help. Cajun food is soul food, but it can be elevated to restaurant quality. Their menu needs a few more non-seafood options. Think Copeland's of New Orleans. I would go back for the fries, gravy...

9/19/2021 Update: This restaurant has become hit or miss, so don't go to celebrate anything special!

Came to the restaurant with 3 of my cousin's to celebrate one of my cousin's birthday. The restaurant was not even halfway full and we had to wait for 45 min for the food, the waitress also kept forgetting to refill the drinks even when we reminded her. The 3 of them ordered the Cajun pasta, which was not made how it was made on my last visit. They described it as "flavorless". I ordered the shrimp boil, which came with pork sausage & because I don't eat pork I gave it to my cousin's. When they went to eat it, we found that the sausage was taken out of the refrigerator and cut up, without being heated up. I promptly pointed this out to the waitress, who only offered to heat it up 🤯. I also mentioned to her that the recipe for the pasta had "once again" changed, she responded that "the kitchen staff is new", I'm not sure why this impacts the taste, as I cool Hello fresh all the time with new recipes & as long as you can read and follow directions it does not hinder the taste! Needless to say, I informed her that with all the constant negative changes, they are going to run themselves out of business! I can't keep wasting my money,I'm not sure about the other patrons.

8/2021 Update: They bought back the Cajun pasta and the original pita bread‼️ Delicious 😋

Bring back the ORIGNIAL Cajun pasta and SOFT pita bread PLEASE!!!!!

8/4/2020 Update:I came back here on my birthday 8/4/20 to give the restaurant another try after the restaurant responded to my initial post. The original Cajun pasta still had not been added back to the menu, so I did not reorder the one I had tried on my previous visit. I asked for the new pita chips to be cooked softer with the crab dip appetizer, & I did enjoy those & the shrimp & grits that I ordered. However I did feel disappointed because the only reason I chose "Blacken Kracken" for my 30th birthday celebration was because of the response from the restaurant saying that they had the pasta. I felt bad because the family members that came to celebrate my bday with me, I had raved about the pasta to. I will give this restaurant another try, perhaps for Sunday brunch. However when it comes to dinner I will wait until next year in hopes that by then they will add back to their menu some of the tasty options they removed such as the Original...

I've just left here and this will make my 4th time dining here. The first time I went in I took several clients out to eat here and loved the service, the food, the drink selection and atmosphere. The manager and chef even came out to ask us how the food was. This attentiveness brought me back for a second time, again for lunch with a college friend. Again, great food, great staff. Same as above for my third time with my business partner. However, when I finally got around to taking my girlfriend here for dinner, things changed. No one greeted us at the door despite the obvious hostess station. There was one large table and 4 other tables being occupied and by no means a packed house. The hostess then sat us next to three full table in the only occupied corner of the building in a clear attempt to keep the rest of the building clean for a quick trip home at closing time. The waitress was nice, and on time with drinks and orders. The poutine had a great twist on it using sausage and red eye gravy. It is a far cry from it's Canadian heritage, with more resemblance to everyday cheese fries but good nonetheless. They were out of the ettouffe, a great dish that you won't find anywhere in Greenville. I usually have the vegetables diced smaller to resemble the size found in the ettouffe I've had in New Orleans and Louisiana. As they didn't have that, I went with the shrimp and grits, too many onions! The shrimp was a poor quality and not cooked well enough, still with that grayish clear look of uncooked shrimp. The grits were perfect, creamy and smooth. The worst part of the night was the change in atmosphere to accommodate the younger college crowd. A poorly mixed selection of hit songs played far too loud causing people to almost yell at each other. Multiple TV's played a variety of ESPN sports or sports center programs. So, if you want a beer with your buddies and to watch the LSU game while dining on some good food, hit this place up as it is becoming another face in the crowd in the multitude of sports bars here in Greenville. I will no longer be taking clients or friends here for a nice meal as it would rather cater to the up beat bar hoping college crowd than to those looking for a quiet atmosphere...