The Big Easy NC — Restaurant in Raleigh

I recently visited The Big Easy Restaurant in Raleigh and overall, the food was pretty good. We had the seafood platter and the alligator bites, and both were enjoyable. Drinks were amazing as well. The music was lit, the crowd was diverse, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere.

That said, the service was very mixed. To be honest, most of the waitstaff came across as if they didn’t want to be there. They felt unapproachable, and their tone when speaking with us definitely needs improvement. At one point, we even asked to switch bartenders—and when we got the manager, TY, the experience completely turned around. TY was amazing—warm, welcoming, attentive, and everything you’d expect from great customer service. I see exactly why she’s in a leadership role, because she represented the restaurant so well. Unfortunately, the rest of the staff didn’t reflect the same standard.

One situation stood out: we tried to grab a chair from another table after the other customer said it was fine, but one waitress gave us a hard time about it. Thankfully, Courtney stepped in, approved it, and even brought the chairs over himself. He was awesome and showed great customer care.

On the flip side, I have to call out Natasha, who worked on 09/26/25 into 09/27/25. She was the absolute worst came across very unpleasant and unprofessional from start to finish. Her demeanor suggested she didn’t want to be at work, and it showed in her service. To make it worse, when it came time to take orders, she went straight to the one male in our group and ignored the women. That didn’t sit right with any of us. Everyone comes out to have a good time, not to feel like they’re being served by someone who clearly hates their job. Natasha could really benefit from coaching—and taking notes from her manager, TY, on what great customer service looks like because her tone, body language approach and everything about her say “I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and I’m going to work to show it”

Overall tho In short: the food, music, and atmosphere were great adding TY and Courtney excellent service my rating was a 4 But the rest of the staff, particularly Natasha, and the lady who was at the front greeting everyone when they entered need serious work on professionalism and customer care. P.S they were pack so we...

This a bad place they made me pay with a card 33. 50 for meal n I used my card lady said they won't charge me and now they came back with a bill I gave them 40 cash and now he I said something to the manager Gary or one of the managers about my money he said that well I don't want to give I can't give you my money back because I'm losing and that's very unprofessional and then he want to say I threaten them when I'm the one that's the victim about my money but if it was him or somebody else dealing with they called and they money and they said something about it I guess it's fine and Danny but when it comes to a person that's a black male or whatever whatever that he probably figured out he asked me for my information I didn't want to give my information cuz I feel like my information is already being used against me and not being cheated out some money now he want to talk about calling the police and with and making a report but in all reality they're dead wrong That's the bad place and I'll never spend my money there again and if they were doing that one time they probably doing a lot more people like that ain't nobody giving no $40 tip for no alligator bites two $5 shots one Corona when the Corona's probably like $3 or $4 and the alligator bite saying number like $14.99 so that's $70 I lost but I pay $33.50 at 11:15 on a date October 13th and now I'm the bad guy and y'all just lost a customer because y'all don't want to know how to solve problems and not alone I was going to work there but at the end of the day I would never work for y'all because y'all unprofessional and y'all don't know how to run things the right way so y'all want to resort to false accusations and lying saying that I was lying about everything at first you wanted to ask for my name my ID card and all this and that but you still taking my money but you don't want to replace me and I said I still give you a $10 tip just give me $30 back but he said no I'm not giving you nothing back but at the end of the day got to deal with that Y'all have a nice day and after any day you're unprofessional and I never spend a dollar and anybody talks about your spot or this place this establishment I'm going to tell him watch out and I'm going to let them know that's not a good place that's not a good thing...

I’m always on the lookout for Louisiana cooking and was glad to have found it in Raleigh. It isn’t the best representation thereof you’re likely to have come across, but it still made for a very enjoyable lunch.

Housed next to the City of Raleigh Museum, The Big Easy offers a comfortable atmosphere with low lighting and vintage photos on the walls. There is a large bar area but plenty of tables as well.

The menu here is true to the establishment’s concept, offering up everything from jambalayas and gumbos and etouffees to muffuletas and po boys and more. It all sounded good, but with some more walking around in our near future, my wife and I bypassed the heavier entrees in favor of two sandwiches (fried green tomato & pimento and a half shrimp, half oyster po boy) and an app (fried alligator bites).

The Big Easy’s food rates as good, not great. The po boy was generously stuffed with well-breaded seafood and featured a flavorful creole mayo. A side of slaw was nice and creamy, but it was outclassed by the other side, a wonderfully smoky red beans and rice. The tomato and pimento came on toast that held everything together well and offered a very satisfying crunch albeit at the expense of being a bit dry. The alligator bites, while not tough or unpleasant, were somewhat chewy (the dipping sauce was quite good though).

Given the Downtown Raleigh location, The Big Easy’s pricing wasn’t as high as expected. The alligator bites ($12.95) weren’t cheap, but they are also not something you can find easily elsewhere. The po boy was only $1 more while the tomato & pimento ran $10.95, both with sides included. We weren’t waiting long for food to come out, and Monique was a friendly and knowledgeable server.

They might not do the single best version of anything here, but if you’re looking for a large selection of mostly satisfying Cajun/Creole fare in Raleigh, look no further. The promise of bananas foster bread pudding alone...