Gumbo Shop

07/03/2008 Posted by mpt00

Avoid if you want to save your money and your appetite!!! I taught we ordered gumbo soup. Well the soup was absolutely awful. If you add the terrible service the place become one of a kind NOT to go there again restaurant. Non of us found any sea food in the soup more then 1.2%. Service was really BAD. And the tip was already included. Plus if you like to be seeing from outside while you are in the restroom this would be your place. Well I would not recommend it at all. There are much nicer restaurants out there.

Pros: location

Cons: th restaurant itself

02/29/2008 Posted by nolaniceguy

Okay, so I am born and raised in New Orleans. Needless to say, I KNOW good New Orleans food, especially gumbo. This place is absolutely AWFUL and the service is PATHETIC. I ate there yesterday evening with some co-workers. I really was expecting so much better for such a popular restaurant in the French Quarter. Unfortunately, we made a big mistake when choosing to eat at the Gumbo Shop. There's a board near the front entrance with the daily specials. After we took a look at the daily specials, one of my co-workers had her mouth set on the blue margarita. So, we were seated quickly and our server came for our drink order. Of course, my co-worker quickly ordered one of those blue mararita specials that was prominently displayed on the "specials of the day" board. The server gave her the funniest "are you nuts?" look. He knew nothing about the special cocktail of the day. So, we laughed it off and she ordered something else. Only to notice ten minutes later, another customer with a big blue margarita drink on their table. The silverware was wrapped in a cloth napkins at the end of the table in a pile. When unwrappped, one person had food crumbs fall out. The hot sauce bottles on the table had noticeably not been cleaned in a while with crusty dried-up hot sauce around the cap. When our food came, a few of the plates had dried-up food stuck on the bottoms of the plates (note: more than one). Food quality was definitely less than average. Presentation was AWFUL. All of the plates and bowls were too small and the food was overflowing. They serve the bread (which was good) wrapped in a napkin and plopped on the middle of the table. The gumbo was definitely not the best that I've had, although it was "decent". The red beans were not good. They were soupy and should have been served in a bowl. The mashed potatoes were too salty. The brownie "pie" was actually just a brownie on a plate with chocolate syrup. Appetizer dishes were never removed from table.

Pros: Bread, Location

Cons: Food Quality, Parking, Service, Cleanliness, Ambience

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

07/25/2007 Posted by eridgway

My fiance and I just ate here less than an hour ago. We were promptly seated in a very crowded and cramped dining room, the bread thrown on table right in front of her in a cloth napkin. Our dinner was brought out to us very quickly. I had the seafood gumbo, which was not terrible after adding some of the pepper blend that was on the table. She ordered the combination plate and substituted the crawfish etoufee for the red beans and rice. The shrimp creole was not too bad after adding hot sauce, other than the shrimp being terribly overcooked. and then the crawfish etoufee. it was nothing but mush. the crawfish was EXTREMELY overcooked. I cannot say this enough, MUSHY. like gerbber 1st foods mushy. the jambalaya was dry and bland. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone, you would have better luck at the McDonalds on canal street, it was that bad.

Pros: fast service, they open the cans fast

Cons: food, food, and the food

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

07/06/2007 Posted by innovator82

I just got back from visiting New Orleans--a city known for its food--and I can honestly say that the entire experience I had at the Gumbo Shope was horrible, from the service to the food itself. The Gumbo Shop definitely caters to tourists, but as a tourist myself I thought I would try it. The prices may be reasonable compared to other restaurants, but the food you receive for it is horrible. I got the Combination platter, which included portions of the jambalaya, the crawfish etoffee, and the gumbo with shrimp. The entire plate looked liked it came out of a can. The jambalaya was nothing more than a pile of rice, and it was terribly dry. The etoffee and the gumbo both looked like some kind of mush that came out of a can that you would expect to find in some school or military cafeteria. No culinary effort at all went into the preparation of our food. As for the service--I can say that it was barely on par with the low quality of service you would expect to find at a local Waffle House at 1am in the morning. The waitress never smiled once, did not inform us of the special that had been written on the board in the waiting area, failed to give us plates even after bringing to our table an appetizer and bread, and was just all-around an unpleasant person. In a city known for its Creole and Cajun style cuisines, it would pay to stay away from the Gumbo Shop and maybe spend a few bucks more to actually get a decent dinner that does not look and taste like it was microwaved out of a can.

Pros: Food is inexpensive

Cons: Food tastes disgusting, service is horrible, not worth the cheap prices

03/10/2007 Posted by peachacid

Boyfriend and I went here early in the week for lunch. There was a brief wait as the hostess sat another couple, but that was it. We were seated outside, which was perfect as the weather was not too hot, not too cold. The table was rather close to our neighbors (the two tables could also be used for a group of four) but it turned out fine as they were nice people! The food was excellent. Boyfriend ordered chicken andouille gumbo, which he really liked. I ordered red beans and rice with sausage, which was awesome. We were served a nice crusty loaf of bread before the meal, and had we asked could have gotten another for the meal. The waitstaff was friendly and efficient, and the prices were great. At other times I have heard this place gets really crowded, but this is the case with really good places!

Pros: Nice outdoor seating, friendly staff, good food

Cons: Little cramped, sometimes there is a wait

06/09/2006 Posted by arkywabbit

I have to rave about the crawfish etouffe my wife and I enjoyed this past Tuesday. It was very rich in seasoning and had to have more than a pound of crawfish in it. It was the best I have ever tasted. The night we ate there was a wait problem. One of the waiters went home sick and they were very crowded. Our waiter was taking care of 8 tables and doing a bang up job. Got our order out in great shape and still stopped by peiodically to check on us. I was so impressed that we went back and had lunch the next day. The food was excellent then as well. I had the blackened catfish po boy and it was sweet and very flavorful. I would reccommend the Gumbo Shop any time and am looking foreward to going back in October.

08/08/2005 Posted by ciacontra

Everyone deserves a chance, right? No. Not this place. Service was prompt, in that we were quickly ushered into the large, cramped, main dining room. Our waitress was apathetic at best, and while we were given an entire loaf of French bread we were not given plates, so the bread was eaten on the napkin it came in. Perhaps the normal chef was on vacation? And Chef Boyardee was temping? The Shrimp Creole certainly was his tomato sauce with a smattering of shrimp. Where to begin on to the Crawfish Etoufee... How does grey mass of fishy goo sound? A generous helping of freezer burned crawfish tails did not save this dish. Fortunately they provide a shaker of Gumbo Shop Seasoning (TM), several teaspoons of which made these dishes almost edible. To all who raved about this place: have you the brain worms!?!

Pros: cheap

Cons: horrible

05/26/2005 Posted by snoopy1977

The food is traditional New Orleans. I really enjoyed the gumbo with hot french bread. The service was terrible. The waiter rarely came to our table to see if we wanted a refill on our soda nor did he offer dessert (which we would have ordered if he asked). He put the bill on our table and left. We paid and left as well.

Pros: food, ambience

Cons: service

09/13/2004 Posted by taylor30350

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at this restaurant. The line was almost out the door when we arrived, but moved quickly. The food was out of this world and we wish we would have went here a second time instead of some of the other restaurants we visited. The $$ was definitely well worth it. A thorougly enjoyed experience. We got to sit by the window which was nice, as it was pretty cramped in there, but it added to the ambiance. Definitely try this place out.

Pros: Great food, Good location, Service was good

07/18/2004 Posted by wundrwomynn

My husband and I went to the Gumbo Shop for dinner after seeing it mentioned on Food Network. There was a long line out the door, which I guess is a good sign, but we got in within 10-15 minutes. The menu was large and varied but we stuck with the gumbo and were not disappointed. Our waitress was attentive and friendly. For dessert, we had the pecan pie a la mode and this ice cream sundae with praline pecans which were absolutely phenomenal! Prices were also good. We would definitely go back.

Pros: Location, Inexpensive, Dessert