DON’S Seafood

All you can eat catfish, shrimp. Wasn’t bad. It was fresh, hot. The teriyaki salmon wasn’t special at all. Two for one draft was a complete ripoff, I rarely ask drink prices, when I did it was too late. 12oz mug for $ 6. I drank 4 beers for $ 12. Hadn’t been there in years, no need to go back.

Got 5 pounds of boiled crawfish, the don seafood platter and onion rings. Crawfish was small, salty and mushy (not alive when it was cooked) very disappointed on boiled crawfish. Fried food will be fried food like everywhere else. Onions rings was really good. Four glass of water and still counting. Waitress was not attentive.

Great food & pretty good service. My family & I have dined at this establishment several times and have never been disappointed. The crab au gratin, zydeco shrimp, and catfish Acadian are amazing! The charbroiled oysters are really good as well. I don’t think anything I’ve ever eaten at Don’s was bad, but the 2 for 1 margaritas are a joke. They’re pretty much super sweet Kool aid. Don’t waste your money. Stick to the food and you can’t go wrong.

Don’s Seafood is Lucky to have Brian (manager)! Brian and Jamie came to our table to check on us! I was there for my Birthday with 10 ladies all of us Loved the Food!!! I am sorry to say I don’t remember waitress name but I told Brian that night and I told waitress!
Our waitress was Perfect!!! Waiting on 10!
We have been there before and will be back!
Thank U! Fran

Don, Don, Don. This restaurant owes me NOTHING. I had the grilled stuffed shrimp and when I tell you the dressing was full of shrimp and savory and peppery. .omg. the green beans were sweet and savory and the shoestring fries were amazing. I am beyond satisfied right now. I mean really. My mom and sister had fried seafood and to say it was good is an understatement. The fried catfish was sweet and bright and crispy and flaky. I loved it. The shrimp etoufee was full of onions and truly cajun. Look, just go to Don’s. They will please you.

Food, service, environment, price. all terrible. Too much to complain about, and so disappointed with service, they don’t even deserve my time and energy explaining!

Don’s Seafood not only has the absolute best seafood in the N.O. area, they have the best staff and service as well. Bar none. I have proof.
When my wife and I first moved to the desert southwest, and we flew back to see my father on the Florida/​Alabama border, we asked the rental car guy where I could get the seafood gumbo I was homesick for. He gave me direction to Don’s. It became a regular part of our Florida visit to get lunch at Don’s before the drive. Six months after Katrina, we were relieved to find Don’s still there and open, when we landed at the still wrecked Louis Armstrong airport. By then, our son had his favorite meal to order when we arrived.
When my father recently passed away, my 16 year old son and I went to drive a truck across the country, bringing back some things that we could neither leave there, nor fit into luggage. We planned to stop at Don’s for lunch on the drive back as well. With the new construction, I missed the New Orleans turn, and did not realize it until we were well past. Disappointed, we turned off for whatever lunch we could find in Denham Springs, and to our pleasant surprise, we found Don’s right by the interstate.
The food tasted exactly like the food we had always enjoyed in New Orleans, and we were delighted we did not have to miss out. We had been driving through spotty rain, and when we arrived in Houston that night, I discovered I had left my father’s umbrella, from London, at the restaurant. I called and not only had they kept this beautiful umbrella for me all day, but they volunteered to mail it to me in Phoenix. They absolutely would not let me pay them to do so.
Don’s has the best food, the best service, and the best staff anywhere. Bar none. They have become an important part of our family traditions, and we could not recommend them more highly.

I am a huge fan of Don’s seafood… they’ve been around forever and have always delivered a great seafood option for central Metairie.
The jacked up oysters are the best things there, and what I get every time I go. The dish consists of charbroiled oysters with bacon, jalepenos and pepper jack cheese. Simple, but fantastic in flavor. I could eat 100 of them.
I also love the «dinners.» They have crab, shrimp, oysters, catfish, etc. I always get the crab, which comes with crab gumbo, au gratin, jacked up lump crabmeat, spinach dip, stuffed crab, fried crab fingers and mashed potatoes. Of course, there’s crab in all aspects of the dinner and for only $ 24.99, it’s a great value.
My only complaint would be with the gumbo… I think that Don’s uses way too strong of a rue… and I love gumbo and typically cook a rue base, they just overdo it in my opinion.
Lastly, I’ll give props to the service… it’s always good and it seems as though a lot of the same people have worked there for years. I love seeing this in restaurants because if it’s a good place to work with experienced employees, then everything else seems to always fall in line.
BOTTOM LINE: Best seafood in Metairie… right up there with the lakefront restaurants over towards the city line. Get everything that you can «jacked up» and enjoy the good service and pleasant atmosphere.

Had been told that the ‘Jacked Oysters’ were outstanding. So ordered six.
They were nice.
However. Do your drinking elsewhere. $ 10 for a cocktail, with one shot of vodka and a dash of grenadine. $ 4.50 for what appears to be 8oz of beer. Apparently it was two-​for-​one night, so they brought me another beer.
Service was slow. And the place was nearly empty.
My advice. Checkout the food, but stay away from the drink.
PS: There were no prices for the drinks, listed on the menu. Should have taken the hint.

Really good service from Elizabeth and Jacked Up Oysters are to die for. I enjoy coming to Don’s for many reasons the staff is always friendly and the food is great. I can’t say I’ve had anything I didn’t like and the bread pudding would have to be my dessert of choice.

Had a late lunch today at Don’s. The food and service was exceptional. Chargrilled oysters were very tasty and cooked perfectly. Being from Deep South Louisiana, I consider myself to be a connoisseur of gumbo. The seafood gumbo at Don’s is one of the best I have ever eaten; perfect consistency, just the right amount of spice and loaded with seafood. For anyone visiting the city from the north (above Alexandria), this is what real gumbo tastes like (not the thick, okra laden stuff served at some places in the Quarter). The only fault I could find is that the drinks (Bloody Mary in my case) are served in small glasses resembling champagne flutes. The drink was excellent, but needs to be served I a double cocktail glass like the Don’s in Lafayette.

2 stars are for the bartender! For making our Old Fashions perfect!
We had the oysters on the half shell, puny! Every oyster was small, at $ 13.99 a dozen you would think that’d you’d get a decent dozen.
We both had the «all you can eat» boiled shrimp at $ 17.99 each, Again you’d think you’d get fresh boiled shrimp NAH!
I’ve been a regular customer at Don’s for years, and every time I go they keep getting more & more skimpy!
I guess I’ll keep going just for those wonderful Old Fashions!!!

I was looking forward to my broiled shrimp and mashed potatoes. First I wondered if the shrimp was fresh, because they lacked that shrimp flavor. Then I realized, they’re WAY too salty. All I taste is salt. The mashed potatoes could be excellent, but they’re also WAY too salty. It’s a shame. Won’t be back.

Last night, I ordered the jacked up oysters. I should’ve known something was off, by the burnt plastic aftertaste, but I went ahead and ate them, because it wasn’t all of them that had the aftertaste.
Shortly after arriving at my hotel, my body decided the oysters were coming out, and I began to vomit all of the oysters up.
Needless to say, I won’t be returning to Don’s Seafood Hut.
The one star rating is for the server, he deserves more stars, but the food deserves none.

First visit. The exterior isn’t very inviting. It would almost turn you off with the assumption, that its a glorified hole in the wall dive. Surprisingly, the interior was very nice and the layout made for a comfortable experience. The hostess sat us promptly and then… nothing. We sat for almost 10 minutes with no acknowledgements from a server or manager. Ironically, our server ended up being the waitress who walked by us numerous times helping other tables.
We both got the Onion rings and fried pickles, which I will say were quite good. My GF got the Seafood salad and I, the blackened shrimp pasta. The Seafood salad was a disappointment. The menu gives you the impression that the seafood would be hot. But in fact its cold cold cold. It is tossed with cold crawfish, cold crabmeat and cold shrimp. Not to mention it looked nothing like the menu photo.
My Shrimp pasta was good, a bit small on the portion and the lack of bread or rolls for the extra Alfredo sauce would of been nice.
Overall, the service started of slow, but the server was attentive to our needs and followed up consistently with us. The meal costs is comparable and priced accordingly. We will return to try other dishes.

Wow. I’ve been hearing about this place my entire life. I remember high school friends raving about it, and having friends recommend it within the past few years. My experience, unfortunately, was much different from what I anticipated.
My wife and I ordered the Seafood platter. It’s $ 25. I wish I had read the reviews on Unilocal prior to going. Here’s our experience:
1) Seafood platter
a) Oysters: I had a grand total of four oysters on my plate. They were about the size of small pecans and overcooked. One of them was literally the smallest cooked oyster I’ve ever seen. This is not an exaggeration.

b) Thin fried catfish: Seemed fresh, decent batter, good flavor. But, like the oysters, the portions were tiny. There were four, very thin, very small pieces. The fish was the only thing fried properly.
c) Stuffed crab: I thought the flavor was fine, but it seemed like something frozen they don’t actually prepare themselves. And, the stuffing was identical to the stuffed shrimp.
d) Stuffed shrimp: Similar to the crab, but again I thought the flavor was fine.
e) Fried shrimp: Absolutely awful. They were tiny. Like the size of «small» shrimp you can buy at a seafood market. And, the cook did made this bizarre choice to attempt to butterfly them before frying. They were also horribly overcooked and rubbery.
f) Hushpuppies: Two of them. Again, overcooked. But, they also didn’t taste all that great. The batter was bland. Between taking a bite out of a hushpuppy and eating the tiny, cooked to crumbles oyster, I actually started laughing out loud while eating. I simply couldn’t believe this was real.
g) French fries: shoe string fried which weren’t bad, but were pretty much run of the mill fries you can buy at walmart or sam’s and cook yourself. Also, there was no french bread or toast on the plate, which is kind of a staple for fried food platters.
2) Two for one draft beer
a) They have this advertised on the back of the menu, but there are no prices. (Usually a red flag for me.) Wife and I split an order of beer and they come out, but they’re in ½ pint mugs. This wouldn’t be a huge deal until you realize the «2 for 1» amounts to $ 6.50 for a pint of beer. This isn’t a special. It’s a slightly overpriced pint of beer.
3) Atmosphere
a) Not bad. It wasn’t dirty and everything seems pretty up to date. We commented it was nice when we first walked in.
4) Wait staff
a) Not bad either. Our waitress took a little while to show up, but she was friendly enough.
5) Pricing
a) Are you guys serious? $ 25 for an overcooked, tiny portioned platter of food? I’ve had seafood platters with a larger portion, cooked properly, with fresh seafood for $ 15.
b) What’s with the two for one pricing on beer? It’s just silly, guys. You’re telling me there’s restaurants somewhere in town serving basic beer selections at $ 6.50 for a ½ pint? It’s not a special. It’s just insulting to your customer base. And, put the prices on the menu for God’s sake.
So overall, what a letdown. Judging by the reviews on Unilocal,Don’s seems to be going down hill fast. It’s sad, because this seems like it was one of those local places that used to be a must see if you’re in town. I would never recommend this to anyone now though. There are so many options in town for affordable seafood in sizable portions. Why on Earth would I recommend this, or return here?
Really disappointed.

Fried oysters are good. Jacked up oysters are okay. Jacked up shrimp wasn’t that good. They use the same «stuffing» in the shrimp and crab and crawfish which is okay. Fried catfish was good. The crawfish étouffée was okay. The gumbo was definitely good.

First time here in quite a while.
Food:
Hushpuppies — Tasty, but soaked with grease around the edges. Wouldn’t order again for that reason.
Spinach dip — Average. Tortilla chips are extra thin and good. Very small quantity.
Chicken & Andouille gumbo — Not bad. A little too salty. Rice that they serve on the side was inedible because of the dried up hard pieces. Had to ask for bread on the side.
Fried shrimp plate — The shrimp batter was a little dark and borderline over cooked.
French fries — Not good. They are shoestrings (comparable to Burger King in taste).
Fried Catfish — Average, but menu says «extra thin». It’s thin, but not EXTRA thin. Nothing like New Orleans Hamburger’s thin fried catfish, which is much better
Service:
Good
Atmosphere:
Great
Probably won’t return or recommend. Food is not worth the price paid.

I was really impressed with this place. I had the Catfish & Shrimp plate and it was the best seafood that I’ve had in a very long time. You must try the Jacked Up Oysters as well… they are DELICIOUS! The waitress staff was also very attentive. Overall, it’s a great place if you love seafood.

This place is great for a few things:
— Everyday there’s a 2−4−1 drink special.
— Their beers come in frosted mugs (I mean who doesn’t love those icy mugs?!).
— Mondays are ½ off chargrilled oysters and jacked up oysters on the half shell from 5−9pm.
— Tuesdays there’s a seafood platter special for $ 16.99 5−9pm.
— Their boiled shrimp is exceptionally phenomenal! Hot, with a good hard kick of spicy and if you come on Wednesdays there’s an all you can eat boiled shrimp special! Again, $ 16.99 from 5−9pm.
They used to include raw oysters for the Monday special but have recently omitted them. I don’t know if they will return when they are more in season or not but I was sort of disappointed because I personally love raw oysters. However, their chargrilled are great and come with a buttery garlic sauce and a loaf of French bread to dip with. I do find the menu in general to be a little on the pricey side so that’s why I go for happy hours a lot so I can feel a little less guilty for having a seafood binger.
They do have a lovely outdoor patio WITH TVs and will allow you to bring your dog.
The service here tends to be a bit on the slow side, but the staff is always super nice and down to earth.