Velvet's Big Easy — Restaurant in Spanaway

My birthday was last Friday. Amazingly enough Ray actually remembered and I did not have to put out reminders. LOL!!!

After a long day of Sheena boot camp, we took another trip to Frontier Park to finalize our trail for the concessioned “trail rides”. We will be giving them during the Pierce County Fair, which is from Aug. 7th through Aug. 10th, along with pictures of the little, littles on our pony, Cheerios.

Ray and I got back to the ranch and did the evening farm chores. We even dressed up a little bit before heading out to dinner to celebrate.

I had called to make reservations and was surprised to learn reservations were not needed. We understood why, when we arrived to only a few cars in the parking lot.

We were greeted by the owner when we arrived. She had seen me take pictures and was curious as to why. I gladly explained why we were there and what I was doing.

We hadn’t been inside since it was The Cottage restaurant. Velvet’s is very tastefully decorated and the main fireplace has a beautiful tribute on it.

We were seated in an alcove, presented menus and ordered water to start. Ray and I were both surprised at the small menu and what seemed like rather high prices.

We ordered an appetizer of hush puppies. They came with honey butter and what I think was raspberry habanero jam. It was good but a little too hot for my liking. I like spicy, not just hot. This was pushing the end of the spectrum for me.

The menu was interesting. I am not a collard greens fan and a salad was not an option, so it limited my choice to chicken wing pieces and fries.

Ray ordered the red beans and rice with andouille sausage, and chicken wings. We thought about cornbread but opted out.

We did not see a drink menu, so at first we thought they did not have a liquor license. Upon inquiring our server brought us a drink menu. I went exotic and ordered a hurricane. Ray ordered a glass of Rose’. With two kinds of rum I expected to taste more rum than I did. At a cost of $17.00 I did not order another.

Ray’s red beans and rice was served first ahead of the rest of our meal. I asked for a taste and I am pretty sure I got the only piece of meat. Ray said all he tasted were the beans and rice. No meat. They had good flavor but the lack of meat was a little disappointing to him.

The chicken was wonderful!!! Nice big wing pieces with a crispy crust and well seasoned, same with the steak fries. I am a chicken wing snob! When I say they were good, they were awesome!! I took half of mine home for my next meal.

I wanted dessert so I chose the beignets with the bourbon caramel sauce. They were delicate, light, crisp and the sauce was divine.

Dinner was very good. I want to come back for the catfish.

To Ray and me this is a restaurant for special occasions. It is a little too pricey for a spur of the moment dinner grab. I will definitely work another dinner at Velvet’s...

Several nights ago, I passed a sign only a few blocks from where we live, that said Velvet's Big Easy, where the Puget Sound Pizza formerly was here on the Parkland/Spanaway border just 1/2 block off Pac Ave. Drumming up where to do for dinner that night I decided with some hesitation to try Velvet's. My wife and I no sooner got in the door and I immediately knew this place was special! It smelled fabulous, the decor was attractive without being over the top and after meeting JD at the counter (I think that was his name), Miss Brenda came out to greet and welcome us. We both felt right away what a gem of a lady she is. FULL of life and you can tell she loves what she's put together here and she has all the confidence in her team. It was a bit cool temp wise and we had left our small pup in the car so we decided take out was the best idea. We both thought that a first-time dish should be the red beans and rice. If that was good then everything after that should be good as well. Not only did Miss Brenda did NOT disappoint, she knocked this one out of the park! The flavors were spot on! It was PERFECT! My wife is a Corpus Christi/Houston native, and I've picked up a few Cajun dishes myself as a home chef, so we know the love that she incorporates into her culinary craft. Her prices are reflective of what you should expect from any QUALITY restaurant. We're just excited that she's right around the corner and I can tell you now, this is going to be the beginning of a BEE_U_TEE_FULL relationship! We intend to get the word out about this diamond in the rough restaurant in our backyard and hopefully help to create a decent draw from our neighbors near, across town, and afar! Thank you Miss Brenda! Be coming back soon for more hugs AND try another selection from your menu! Be Blessed! Hopefully it'll be a...

I am very excited to share this review. First I want to share the good which for this meal which was the red beans and rice and fried chicken. It was amazing and bursting with flavor I couldn’t put it down. Very well seasoned, I honestly can’t wait to eat it again. The fried chicken is wonderful, light and very very crispy with great flavor. The kids chicken strips were hand breaded which is refreshing, most of the time with kids meals it’s a premade straight from the freezer. So, my kiddo getting a nice from scratch meal for $8 was a highlight. Now for the bad, which really is only how some items were priced. The gumbo had wonderful taste but it was a little on the thin soupy side I prefer a thicker gumbo myself . A big downside was the side of shrimp that was $9 to add on. My biggest negative, which were the carb and shrimp egg rolls. I was not a fan of the taste but for $12.99 and you only get two is such a high price. On a good note about the egg rolls, the tartar sauce is homemade and absolutely wonderfully seasoned with fresh dill. And the biggest positive was the service, Brenda came out and we had such a wonderful interaction with her. She was so sweet to my daughter and it truly made our experience worth coming back. Well that and the red beans and rice it was true mouth watering. I do highly recommend this restaurant and will be a...