Dat Catfish Place — Restaurant in West Monroe

Semi busy Friday night dinner for four. We got right in and seated. Ordered drinks, a few beers, and Cajun pink lemonade (which was a wonderful cocktail) Sam was our waiter he was nice and busy but seemed a little disorganized due to uncertainty on what was still available to order on the menu. At first, we were told out of crawfish and okra, so we ordered a couple of appetizers, crawfish bread, and spinach dip. Bread for dip was good but super hot, spinach dip was OK, crawfish bread was fishy, which took away from what could've been a decent appetizer. Sam returned and said they had crawfish, but we could only order small batches, and it may be 30 to 40 minutes, so we passed on ordering crawfish. We then ordered our entree 1/2 dozen oysters raw, 1/2 dozen shrimp, 18 oz steak, bolied mushrooms, catfish basket, and seafood basket with 2 side salads. A little while later, Sam came back to inform us they were now out of steaks, so we ended up ordering the charboiled oysters. Well, raw oysters come out first missing the sauces and crackers, then boiled shrimp with mushrooms in the bag, which were cold, so they had sat for a while. Then charboiled oysters and seafood baskets come out but missing side salad. Got the side salads. The food was good, not great. Sam then informed us hey, they have 18 oz steaks now, lol. At that point, it didn't matter. Went ahead and ordered a couple of prailiene cheesecake desserts, which was just OK. It seemed pre-made and frozen.

Overall, minus our excellent company, it was just an OK night! The atmopshere is good. We love the place is local, but they must improve on food avaliability, communication between kitchen and staff, and the overall organization. It was our first time, so we will certainly be trying it again and hope this...

1st Visit: Late Lunch. Only 1 other table had patrons. Kids ordered blackened Catfish and it was very good. Thin Catfish Fillets had good seasoning, but they were paper thin so all you tasted and appeared to eat was breading. Grilled Chicken Sandwich was very good. Waitress was good.

2nd Visit: Weekend Dinner. Very Busy 1 person ordered Chicken Pasta. It was delicious and came out quick. 3 other people ordered crawfish. It took well over 45-50 minutes to be served. They were so salty they could barely be eaten. Spice level was ok. An owner (?) offered to make more. We waited another 20-30 minutes. They were ok. The waitress was nice and efficient, but really busy. So, we had to wait a while for things we asked for.

3rd Visit: Week Dinner. Not Busy 1 person ordered Chicken Pasta. It was delicious and came out quick. 3 other people ordered crawfish. We waited an HOUR and they never came out. Waitress kept telling us they were almost up. We finally told her to cancel them. We paid around $30 for 1 dinner pasta and 3 drinks. Left starving and drove to Crawfish City. We were eating crawfish in less than 10 minutes after it was ordered! And they were some of the best tasting ones we’ve had in a while.

There WILL NOT be...

I feel bad giving it a 3 due to it being local, but I honestly was a little disappointed.

The atmosphere was decent. If you like a dimly lit restaurant like Texas Roadhouse or Geno's, you will find it too bright.

The server was fantastic, along with the man that greeted and sat us down.

My partner liked the fried mushrooms. I did not. They did not have any seasoning, so it was rather bland. It came with a decent amount, but it cost 10 dollars.

For one appetizer, two entrees, and two fountain drinks, it cost us 68 dollars after tax and tip. You could eat at a lot of places 3/4 times for the price of this restaurant.

I would not find the price so bad if it the taste of the food warranted such a premium. In my opinion, it does not. For the quality of the food, I feel it should have cost...