Bayou Bistro — Restaurant in New Orleans

Don't eat here. My girlfriends and I were headed to Neyow's but it was an hour and a half wait. We were starving and this place said they could seat us right away so we decided to give it a whirl. BIG MISTAKE. The hostess kept drinking out of a white styrofoam cup and stepping outside to smoke.

We had a party of six and the server seated us right up against the patrons seated at the bar. We had no room so of course we asked to be moved. When we were finally seated we began to review the menu. One member of our party was a vegetarian so we asked the sever about meatless options. He said he would check with the 'chef' and let us know. When he came back he said they could make anything with fish. We quickly explained that the member of party did not eat meat. He responded by saying "the chef can make a surprise dish, not to worry." Needless to say, we were worried.

We placed our orders ad which each entree we requested the server replied they were out. This was very frustrating. When we finally found alternative entrees and placed our orders we began the proverbial wait for our food. And wait we did. During or wait something very odd occurred. Patrons who arrived after us began receiving their orders and many of their entrees were the same as what we requested and told by the server were not available.

Seeing this occur of course was very discerning. We had been waiting almost an hour at this point and to see people who arrived after us receive entrees we were told were not available was very upsetting. We then asked to see the manager but our server seemed nervous and didn't want to get the manager. The hostess, who had come back in from a smoke break came past our table and we asked her if she could get the manager. She walked back into the kitchen and accidentally left the door open where we had the unfortunate experience of seeing a dirty kitchen in disarray and a staff arguing with one another incessantly.

The hostess returned and said the owner would be out to see us, that she was tied up but would be out shortly. After about twenty minutes the owner still had not come out so we asked our server if he would go get her. Our server then said "he is not in" - huh? We stated "your hostess said the owner is a she, will you please go get her." He went back into the kitchen and once again the door was left open and we saw and heard a women tell him that she was not going to come out and what could we possibly want. He asked her repeatedly to come out and talk to us and she repeatedly refused.

Then a man with the filthiest apron I have ever seen came out of the kitchen, introduced himself as the manager and asked what we wanted. I explained that in the near hour and a half we had been in their restaurant we had not been offered a drink menu, bread, water and our food had not arrived. Compounding matters, parties that arrived after us were receiving their orders which consisted of options we were told were not available. The manager began to justify this poor service by telling us that the food truck had just arrived and because our party was larger then the others that our order was taking longer. This is absolutely absurd and we let him know this.

After his ridiculous explanation we all left and went to Neyow's where of course a table was available because the hour and a half wait they had told us when we arrived had transpired. Go figure.

If you go to Neyow's and they tell you to wait - do it. DO NOT step foot in Bayou Bistro. It will be the worst mistake you ever make. This place really needs to be recommended for an episode of Bar Rescue. It...

I wouldn't have given this establishment any stars if that were an option. My family and I were in town visiting New Orleans, and the restaurant where we originally planned to eat dinner had a two hour long wait, so we decided to try another restaurant in the area. Upon walking up to the front door, in a literal rain storm, we were stopped at the door by an extremely rude hostess. "Everyone has to put on a mask before I can let you in". I replied and told her that we understand and that we were about to put them on. We were promptly seated at a table and offered menus. 5 minutes after sitting down, the rain started to pour from the air duct onto our table. We eventually moved ourselves to another table. Upon our move, we noticed a few employees walking around the restaurant s without masks. The hostess didn't seem to mind that they were unmasked.

My sister got up from our table and went to the restroom. Upon her return, she made note that there wasn't any soap in the restroom. I told the hostess because she was sitting near our table. Her reply was, "Well if you didn't see any soap, we must not have any." WHAT KIND OF RESTAURANT DOEN'T HAVE SOAP? AND HOW IS THAT OKAY? So, she's concerned with masks, but not soap. Makes a lot of sense. Sarcasm

We eventually ordered our food and received what may have been the most mediocre meal I've ever eaten in a restaurant. My sister was so alarmed with the lack of hygiene in the restaurant that she didn't eat her salad out of fear.

After finishing our "dinner", we had to wait for about 30 minutes for our check. We never received the soup that we'd ordered, so we requested that the server remove the charge from our check. This is when all hell broke loose lol. The server didn't know how to operate the register to issue a refund, so another server came to assist him. Eventually, my husband spoke with the manager and told her about the situation. She was apologetic and offered to take $10 off our bill, along with refunding the money for the phantom soup.

About 3 minutes after speaking with the manager, she walks into the kitchen and begins to yell at the kitchen and wait staff. We could hear the yelling and arguing at our table, which was about 3 tables away from the kitchen door. We eventually received our refund from what we assumed was someone's personal wallet.

All-in-all, I would only refer this place to my...

Worst place in the city to eat!!!! We arrived at 8:30. Party of 5 only ordered two small appetizers and three entrees. When we arrived it was empty so we were very happy to be able to go somewhere close on such short notice since our first choice was unavailable. WORST IDEA OF MY LIFE. We sat down informed the extremely talkative waitress of our checks being split into two as well as it was my Grandmas birthday so this was a special experience for her. Mind you we are from Texas so anywhere of out Texas is a fun experience. Welp, she was very upset our order was going to be split and asked “Does it have to be????” We are the only table in the restaurant, their were no signs of “no split checks” up on the door, the walls or the menu. So we insisted yes please split out checks. Anyway 20 minutes later we finally get our drinks and two or three other tables arrive. 20 minutes later put appetizer arrives. It was great! An HOUR later our food arrives in bits and pieces. My husband and Grandma get there and we still waited another 20 minutes for ours. WOW we expressed our concern especially since ALL the new tables that came in AFTER US had been served! And were served similar dishes to ours. I was beyond livid. The “manager” made excuses such as “we are new”, “we have only been open a year” “we are training people right now” excuse after excuse. Finally after 2 hours of sitting in this restaurant we have finally finished and are waiting for the bill....they never come. We end up walking up to the bar and one bill they tried to charge me 109$ for our meal which was wayyyyyyy above what we expected. Come to find out they charged us for two extra plates and “custom” charge. WTF? We waiting another 25 minutes for this to get fixed, no comp no extra effort was given to us despite what we endured at the GOD AWFUL place. Long story short, if you want to wast over two hours of your evening, this is the place. If you want to be served last and charged for entrees you never order. By allll means this is your place! I will never step foot in here again. What a disappointment this place is to...