Dodie's Cajun Restaurant at The Harbor — Restaurant in Rockwall

Dodie's Cajun Restaurant, located in the Harbor at Rockwall, is a nice taste of great Cajun seafood. I had not been there in over 5 years but I had talked about going all the time. Last night, we decided to have a late dinner there. My husband had never been there before. We were seated very quickly, no wait, but like I mentioned, it was a late night dinner avoiding crowds. We were seated in a large padded booth that had small TVs with sports playing. We asked to change the channel to which the hostess, with some help, did very quickly putting on an old college football championship. We started our evening dining experience with a dozen chargrilled oysters smothered deliciously in garlic, seasoned too perfection paired with the most delicious garlic bread I've ever had. These were a great start to our meal. We placed our entree order with our delightful waiter. I wanted crabcakes but also wanted the shrimp and grits, so I ordered them both. My husband had wanted the fried oyster dinner, but unfortunately, they were out of oysters. However, our brilliant waiter, James, suggested that he try the Seafood combo that had a nice mixture of fried catfish and shrimp that included Cajun seasoned French fries. He also wanted the crabcakes as well so ordered as well. I'll start with my meal. The crabcakes were meaty and lightly baked with not much filler. They paired well with the shrimp and gouda grits. The grits were delicious with the added gouda, and the shrimp were plump and meaty. However, shrimp included the tail, which I would have preferred served off the tail. My husbands meal was also very delicious. The fried catfish was seasoned perfectly and lightly fried as well as the shrimp. The Cajun fries were cooked crispy the way they should be. By the end of the meal, we were stuffed and happy passing on dessert. The dessert menu looked very tempting. They do have a full bar that offers awesome Happy Hour prices, but I don't think that applies on weekends. Check on daily hours of operation. Dodies also has a wonderful patio that looks out on Lake Ray Hubbard. The patio is very festive, with party lights hanging above. Our waiter, James and the other staff were very nice and efficient. The manager came around several times to make sure everything was going well. It's the little things that make a great meal enjoyable. Parking is in the big lot, which can be problematic at times. Another reason we go late. There is not enough handicapped parking, but they do have it. The location is easy to get too off of I30 East Side service road and also Summer Lee Drive at the Harbor closer to the Hilton. I did not use the ladies' room, but my husband used the Men's room and said it was clean. Our dinner at Dodie's was a wonderful, fun dining experience, and it will not be another 5 years before we return. Update- Returned tonight had fish tacos, gouda grits and a side salad. Tacos were marginal would skip next time. It's always nice to try something different everytime I visit. Service was still excellent. I added...

Did take out and regret it. Living in the Rockwall-Royse City area leaves you with few options for anything close to Cajun food. I grew up in Louisiana and have had ample great cajun food. Dodie’s is not one of them.

We had fried pickles for appetizers. These were good. That is where the good stopped. We both ordered crawfish étouffée and there was nothing good about it. The sauce was watery and did not have an appropriate taste for true étouffée. We have had different variations of étouffée recipes and have enjoyed all. Dodie’s version of étouffée is one that should be struck from the books.

The crawfish in the étouffée were so small, that at first we did not think any were present. When trying to eat them, we found the crawfish bits very chewy to the point we had to spit them out. Overall, the étouffée was a big zero. Neither of us ate more than a few bites before trashing.

When on the phone ordering, I specifically asked if the étouffée came with a side piece of bread or crackers. I was told bread. When we got home, we found no bread ( or anything ) at all in our order.

We spent too much money and time to only have edible fried pickles. Driving down to the Harbor just for fried pickles is not something anyone would do. There are a handful of restaurants that now serve fried pickles that taste good.

I suggest that Dodie’s look into a new supplier for their seafood. After our experience, I reached out to a few other friends who had eaten at Dodie’s recently. Tho none had étouffée, they all had either crawfish, shrimp or catfish dishes. And all experienced the same as us… poor quality food in entirety. The crawfish and shrimp, in particular, are not of good quality. The catfish is not far behind tho. Of course, I now wished I had asked one of them about Dodie’s before we wasted our time and money.

Recommendation.. skip this place until they do a major overall on their menu recipes and acquire better quality crawfish, shrimp and catfish. This restaurant may appear ok to those who have never had any good Louisiana food. If you are originally from Louisiana, do not bother. It will only make you homesick for the good food...

We arrived after getting off a boat ride!! Nice atmosphere, no wait for a table after we got passed up a few times! I had to ask the host if they still sitting people and if the kitchen was closed because she literally just looked at yes with no hello or how many! Weird! But we got seated in a booth! Ordered Messy fries, 2 coronas and two waters, whiling reviewing the menu! About 5/6 mins later we were ready this was about 9:25/9:30pm! I ordered the blacken chicken breast sub my steamed veggies with fried okra & my man ordered fried catfish! Sitting talking laughing next thing it’s 10:10 waiter comes say shouldn’t be much longer! 10:30 came, I stopped a lady that looked like a manager & I asked where was our food??? She goes to the kitchen never returns but 10 mins later another lady that was a manager brings our food! My man food was super hot fresh but my chicken breast was literally cold, steamed veggies cold like a refrigerator literally & rice cold! I had the waiter to hold the broccoli that I sub for okra in her hand ! She said sorry let me get them to remake this! Returning was the manager with my okra! I ate that & the waiter stated she would talk to manager to get it removed because of the long wait and cold food! Ticket comes out before my food and the manager takes 9.00 off my meal! I told the waiter if my food was not ready to cancel it as it was now almost 11! The food comes back with a hot ass plate but how about it’s the same plate I sent back how I know is because of the sauce stained the bottom and I cut a piece of the chicken before I sent it back! Instead of them recooking it the put the plate in heat to warm it! I was pissed! Asked for a box told the manager that I had the waiter to hand touch my food & instead of remaking it they go warm it and bring it back! And you take off 9.00 for this mess that I ordered around 9:30-9:40! She said well I didn’t know let me talk to the kitchen! She came back when I was bout to leave & said she removed it ! We still left the waiter a $10 tip paid the ticket & left!

Definitely...