Smitty's Seafood — Restaurant in Kenner

We have eaten at this restaurant many, many times, but we will not return after our experience today. The restaurant was full, and we were fine with waiting for our table. We had been waiting a little over an hour when my husband went inside to check on our table. We were told that the party at the large table had paid over 30 minutes prior but they were sitting at the table talking and weren’t leaving. Our 6 month old was sweating (it’s June yall) so we decided to step inside with our children to cool off for a second. We noticed that not only was there one of the large tables that had already paid, but two. We still didn’t mind waiting a little longer, until a server approached us and told us that we could not stand inside. I explained to her that our baby was sweating and we knew two of the tables had paid and were getting ready to leave so we stepped inside to cool down. Another server told us to “get out” and “move” saying that she didn’t have room to walk through, however, my children and I were against the wall and there was plenty of room. I told them that we would “get out” then. I will not continue to spend $150 - $200 frequently with a place that speaks to their customers this way. Where I come from, people who have paid their bills and continue to occupy a table for 30+ minutes are costing the restaurant money. A simple “hey guys, we appreciate you coming in and eating with us, but we have several parties waiting on this table. If you guys don’t mind, we would be more than happy to have you sit outside and talk..” or something to that effect is a good way to prevent this from happening. Being rude to customers who have been patiently waiting for over an hour is just not good for business. Not only did it cost them our business, but another family was standing there waiting also, and they overheard the way the servers spoke to us and they followed us out and left. They could not believe the way we were spoken to. Y’all go on down to ACME. Their food is so so good and they have plenty of waiting areas and our servers were so nice...

I went here based on positive reviews. Particularly of their etoufee, my favorite dish. It was the worst ive had by a long shot. Its clear they have no clue what a roux is, what arrived was more akin to soup. Id have eaten it anyway if it was tasty, but it sadly was bland. Same as their overcooked boiled shrimp. Flavorless. The garlic bread was untoasted french bread smothered in COLD somehow still melted? Butter. It was fridge cold for real. We asked for garlic butter, and they brought us a little cup of the same stuff. Ive had a lot of great food experiences in NOLA. This was not one. Our server was nice, but it doesnt really help. Even their iced tea tasted old. I dont know how on earth this place has so many good reviews. Even their french fries were undercooked. There isnt a redeeming feature to the cuisine, despite the fact it was reasonably priced. As im writing this im suffering a mild case of food poisoning. If i had finished my meal, i would have been worse off. Ive got another day here, and i doubt ill be able to eat anything substantial before i leave. Which really sucks because i love the food in New Orleans. I hate giving bad reviews of small restaurants, but right now id rather warn people than be nice. I was tempted to refuse to pay, but i didn't want our waitress to have to cover it. I paid over $100 for that meal for 3. We didnt even eat half of it, and we all brought our appetites. She didnt seem concerned or surprised that we didnt eat much. We told her how we felt and she didnt offer us any recourse. Ill take the L. Im not wealthy, and meals over $100 are a luxury. But, its only...

I've been eating at Smitty's for fifteen years, I guess, and the restaurant was a personal favorite for so many years. I grew up in the area and ate at the restaurant countless times. I don't want to be completely unfair and give the restaurant a 1 star review, but I do want to leave a negative review here because of the experiences I've had. Having many years of experience in the food service industry myself (FOH and BOH), I'm also not a tough restaurant critic--it's hard as hell to do things perfectly all the time. The bottom line is that the food has gotten worse and worse over the years in terms of taste, prep, overall quality of the meals really. My last four or five straight trips to Smitty's were not good in terms of the taste of the meal. That's obviously a fatal flaw for any restaurant, but I haven't felt the need to leave a negative review until now. The food is streaky, but the service is almost always below average. I don't know what their deal is, but you never get a decent server for your dinner at this restaurant. Ever. Even when the food was better in the past the service was never great, but the service is straight up bad/mediocre now. Pretty consistently late in greeting us, taking the order, checking for refills, that's pretty much the only thing you have to do to get 25% from me. They don't do it. No eye contact, no care. I think they pool tips, so that may be related idk. Anyways, I won't be going back anymore...