VooDoo Hut — Restaurant in Kemah

My husband and I used to love this restaurant for its seafood, but our recent experiences have been deeply disappointing and concerning. A few weeks ago, we were told we had to surrender our driver’s license and credit card to be served, a policy we’d never encountered before despite being regulars.

The waitress and manager insisted this was standard to prevent fraudulent charges, but it made us feel uncomfortable and unsafe. We reluctantly complied to avoid leaving without our ordered food.

Last night, the situation escalated. After dining, paying, and returning to the bar for two beers, my husband entrusted his ID and credit card to the staff as requested. Shockingly, they lost both, and we discovered a $240 unauthorized charge on our card, far exceeding our $14 bill for two beers. When we raised the issue, the bartender dismissed our concerns and accused me of yelling (she’s said, well I didn’t lose your card getting upset with me will not be tolerated), despite my calm explanation during an extremely stressful situation where we had to immediately cancel our card due to the fraudulent charges - at THEIR establishment

The staff seemed more concern with making us feel like we were in their way and it wasn’t their problem. They showed no concern in the fact that we were now stranded without ID or access to funds (as we had to cancel our card) after Ubering to the restaurant.

We were forced to involve the police to track down the individual who was given our cards, which the staff admitted was due to their error. We told them over and over to call the individual who only paid $14 verses their $240 bill. Instead they kept walking in the back looking for the cards and making me explain that this needs to be treated urgently which is why I called the cops so they could do what they refused to do.

To pour salt on the wound, while we were waiting, the security guard, who jokingly called himself “Jalapeño,” attempted to remove us from the premises, despite our predicament, he told us it wasn’t that big of a deal and I needed to stand outside till they cops resolved. The manager eventually provided $100 for us to get home, which we appreciated, but the overall lack of accountability was appalling. A bartender later apologized after I recorded staff minimizing our situation along with the security guard as they were talking about us - right in front of us! I do appreciate the manager but the fact that it took KEMAH PD to get his staff to involve him is beyond upsetting.

This establishment’s careless handling of our sensitive personal information, dismissive attitude by the their hired security officer, waitstaff that never came over to apologize for her actions but instead gossiped about it. Their failure to prioritize our safely, poor reaction by attempting to kick us out for waiting for the culprit to bring back our useless credit card and ID, has completely eroded our trust. We will not be returning and caution others about their policies and lack of...

I really wish that there was a rating of less than a star to give on reviews because my experience here certainly warrants it. I came here last night with a group of family members visiting from out of town. The location and theme of the place plenty interesting, but that's where the positive part of the experience ends. Our waitress apparently had just started working here again after some time off started by being rude when we asked for menus to order something to eat. Then she proceeded to tell us when asked what was good here or popular being our first visit replied with "I am not going to tell you if anything isn't good here." After that, she would disappear for long periods and return with an attitude each time. While here several fights broke out, and while I understand the establishment doesn't control the people that come in it certainly doesn't make for a great first experience.

Then we come to the worst part of the experience and why I felt compelled to write this review in the first place... The waitress insisted that the establishment needed to hold my ID and card to keep an open tab. I've let an establishment hold my card plenty of times, but never my ID and card together. Having read plenty of positive reviews before our visit and in the name of fun, I relented. When the check came I decided to use a different card (credit card for safety reasons) we paid and left to check out some other places. I woke up today to find that my original card information had been compromised and charges were attempted in another state.

I'm certain that the compromise happened in this establishment because other than letting our waitress hold it for purposes of our tab I haven't used or linked it to anywhere else for quite some time, and it seems little coincidence to wake up this morning after such a seemingly odd policy.. and now they potentially have the information from my ID as...

My husband and I came down for the weekend to take the Fantsea dinner cruise and decided to do a lunch time crawfish and bar crawl! We had crawfish from 4 different spots on the boardwalk and here were our results.

Over All

Shelby from Bakkhus was amazing. Obvious people person, great personality with the customer service to match. She made us an AMAZING drink, electric blueberry lemonade. More laid back atmosphere.

Brice from voodoo hut gave us excellent customer service! We had their drinks during the day and it was not that great, but we did go back later that night and had an awesome drink that was recommended by Jevin. Both of these guys are new and gave awesome customer service. Very fun atmosphere. Rowdy crowd at night.

Twisted Parrot has been open for 1 month. Great people, reminds of a bar that every one knows your name. Home feeling with great customer service. Cayla made us a drink called masterbating mosquito; it was tasty. Very nice accommodating staff. Laid back atmosphere.

Alan's swamp shack had the largest crowd. Seems family friendly. Drucila was our waitress and she was very nice and gave us good customer service. They were busy, so the service was slow. The starburst shot was amazing! Busy atmosphere.

Crawfish results:

The crawfish at Bakkhus with the Aris sauce - 8/10

The crawfish at voodoo hut with the spicy hot butter-7.5/10 (my husband did like them better than Bakkhus though)

The crawfish at Twisted Parrot- 6 need more juice and seasoning, thou they did have a nice flavor and had the best romoulade sauce I've ever tasted!!

The crawfish at Alan's swamp shack definitely scored the lowest -4 they need to rethink their crawfish recipe before calling themselves the best. And their crawfish was the most expensive of everyone's. They did have good oysters though

The 🏆 goes to Bakkhus!!!!! My Husband gives the crown...