Bayou on Bay

This Southern girl loved Bayou on Bay. We went in at lunch and had several small plates. The shrimp and grits were phenomenal: creamy grits, well-​seasoned shrimp and delicious cream sauce. It was my favorite dish. The okra and hush puppies were good. The corn dogs were great — the sausage inside was tasty. And they had sweet tea. Service was wonderful. We would definitely return.

I’m giving this place a 5 star review because every time I go the food keeps getting better and better. I first went to Bayou years ago and found the food less than stellar, however with a new chef in the kitchen I have found the food to be increasing in quality. I love their vegan jambalaya, and my mom speaks highly of the shrimp étouffée. Although I try to eat as vegan as possible, when I go to Bayou I cannot help myself from ordering a cup of their mac and cheese, cause seriously it is amazing. Probably the best mac and cheese I’ve had in Bellingham, or even in my life. Keep up the good work Bayou!

Went there for a late lunch. it wasn’t crowded so the service was good but the waitress was hustling. had their Wednesday special Etoufee sp? with prawns, corn bread and a drink for $ 11-​. I was worried it would be too hot but it turned out to be about a 1 star on the heat range and very good. The brisket sandwich and sweet potato fries looked great too and based on the comments I heard was every bit as good as my dish. This is a nice casual place to have a relaxing lunch. I can see that with the number of seats it could be challenging to serve everyone in a timely fashion during the busy hours so better be ready for some waiting/​relaxing when you go there during busy times. Please note that there is a bar atmosphere here with a pretty good looking beer menu and an old fashion looking wood bar. Not a dive place but a nice casual bar with rustic furnishings.

Service wasn’t what you could call great at all. Seemed like a bother to them. Food was just ok. I’ve had much better étouffée at many other places and not for $ 17. Would not return or recommend.

If it’s a beautiful spring, summer, or fall day in Bellingham, be sure to grab a table at Bayou on Bay’s outside patio to enjoy some people watching. If you aren’t fond of the cheap plastic chairs, you can also grab a seat at one of the wooden tables inside the well-​weathered bar.
This is the best place for southern Louisiana food in Whatcom County. It is also the only place offering this specialty fare (alligator, fried frog legs, beignets, etc.); so with no similar competition in the area, you can only compare it to what you know and love in NOLA… and compared to that, it falls slightly short.
I applaud Bayou On Bay (from here on out referred to my friend BOB), for offering such a diverse and challenging menu. They make a great effort at elevating the menu items. The taste is usually quite good, but sometimes their food preparation or service falls short. For instance, my Eggs Benedict with salmon cake and avocado was delightfully creamy, spicy and crunchy, but what a disappointment to find that both of the poached eggs were overcooked so that the traditional yolk river couldn’t join my side of potatoes on my plate.
Service can sometimes be off. My bill arrived at my table before my bread pudding did. Matter of fact, I had to wait a good 10 minutes for my dessert to come out. I actually wondered if they had forgotten about it or thought they had already given it to me since my bill was presented before it was. The server did apologize about the wait due to the oven being busy.
BOB is a nice change of pace, kind of like hanging out with family at Thanksgiving. You know you’re going to enjoy it, but it isn’t something you want to do every day, week or month. With that in mind, see you next year BOB!

Very festive atmosphere on a Friday night! Lots of people enjoying dinner outdoors. I went with two friends. We ate very healthy tasty salads. I had the house salad with blackened chicken and their special vinaigrette dressing. The menu was varied enough that there is something for everybody’s liking.

We just checked out Bayou on Bay and it was a fun experience and a cool place!
We wanted to get out of our comfort zone, and ordered the alligator skewers, which were really good! There were only two thin skewers in an order and wish it had been more, but it was really tasty and the dipping sauce (which kind of tasted like a homemade mix between ranch and tauter sauce), was awesome! I ordered the Friend Chicken Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries, and it was really yummy. The bread, sauces, and everything tasted great. My only complaint would be that the chicken was a really small piece and only covered half of the bun, so it was mostly bread. They offer outdoor seating and had a fun atmosphere. The service was super awesome; a bit slow, but really friendly and offered lots of suggestions. We’ll be back to try more on the menu and come for brunch!

Wow, almost a year since my first Bayou review and I’ve definitely become a big fan (and, dare I say it, a regular at their epic happy hour)! As downtown Bellingham grows and thrives, so has this popular local spot with its vodka-​laced oyster shooters and its (no, seriously) good-​as-​it-​gets burger. Did I cry a little bit when they took the loaded baked potato off the $ 5 HH menu? Okay, maybe. But only long enough to find a new favorite: their «popcorn shrimp» with a spicy sauce I would gladly purchase by the bottle if I could! The hubs still loves the okra and the hush puppies. And they always have a nice selection of local craft brews on tap.
One of my fave times to hit Bayou is on a sunny day when you can sit outside and watch the world go by. It’s a great place to people-​watch, especially during the summer when Downtown Sounds is in full swing. But get there early ‘cuz about a million other folks will have the same idea!

Hey nothing’s perfect, but this beautiful spot gets 5 stars because its siren call pulled me in when I was attending college in Bham and years later I keep crawling back for more lovin’.
There’s much I can’t comment on menu-​wise, but here’s what makes Bayou my first stop on the college town tour:
BLOODY MARYS. This is their MVP my friends. They used to come with a beer back but don’t anymore: (but I can’t complain. You can get it with vodka or tequila (Bloody Maria). I’m obsessed with Bloody Marys and these never disappoint.
SAUCES. I love a sauce variety. Their Tiger sauce (on the tables) is the bomb, put it on all the things.
BISCUITS AND GRAVY. They literally turn me on.
CHICKEN FRIED STEAK. Yessssss mama!!! I don’t like the idea of steak meat fried like a chicken but this just works.
OYSTERS SHOOTERS. With, or I guess without, vodka.
The bar’s okay, I prefer a booth in the restaurant. It’s got cool art and feels less cramped.
The style is casual baby, it’s Bellingham!
The service is consistently good. I don’t like those places that kiss your ass and they don’t do that here. Bayou knows it’s got it goin’ on, but it’s still always happy to see me.

Tasty consistent food, drinks that pair well with the fun southern options and good service. Bayou is a decent happy hour option in downtown Bellingham if you want something other than the normal!
Priced fairly for what you get. Expect $ 20 – 30 a person if you eat your fill and have a couple of drinks.

Ooh boy. I really wanted to like this place, I did. I LOVE Cajun food. I love BBQ. The hubs and I headed down for lunch on a Friday. they were pretty busy, so we snagged seats at the bar. Service was fast, despite how crowded they were — and bar service is never super attentive so I have no complaints about that. He was friendly and our beers and water came quickly. He took our orders promptly too, and the food came out fast once placed.
We ordered Oyster shooters (I saw the oysters they used. Not fresh shucked, but instead, from the plastic bottle) I was not impressed by those. Then, crab cakes to start — and they were really, really good. I should have stopped there.
My husband ordered the catfish, which was «OK», but nothing spectacular. He felt it tasted a little muddy, but the fry on it was crispy. My Brisket PoBoy, however, was seriously disappointing. First, I asked for collard greens as my side instead of fries, I’m not a fan of Sweet Potato fries to begin with, but I love collards. My plate came stacked with fries (my husband snacked on them but I was disappointed). Second, the Brisket was just… inedible. It was tough, like an overcooked steak… not tender, smoked, and flavorful that brisket should be. I couldn’t bite into the sandwich without the whole piece of brisket wanting to slide out, I couldnt bite through it. I ended up having to pull the brisket out of the bun, cut it up with a knife on my plate, and then put it back into the sandwich. The bun was dry and tasted day old. The sauce was spare and forgettable.
I’m sure the bartender noticed that I stopped after two frustrating bites but he made no effort to ask if anything was wrong with it, however. I am not a «send the food back» type person, and I don’t think it would have made a difference in this case, so I didn’t… frankly I just wanted to get the meal over with, but after an almost $ 50 meal for lunch, I was really disappointed and I probably wont go back unless its to grab some crab cakes at the bar.

PLEASE NOTE: They are closed on Mondays. It’s sad to get in the mood for some etoufee and find out when you pull up that they’re not open.
I’ve had some good cajun food, and this is definitely pretty good. The service tends to suffer a bit when they’re busy — took the waitress nearly 15 minutes to even bring us water and another 20 to get our food. But the mint julep kept me occupied and my kids loved the food, even though it was a little spicy for both of them.
Go early on a Friday or Saturday if you want to get a table, or sit at the bar and don’t worry about food, since their infused vodkas are definitely worth the trip.

Southern food has my heart. From breakfast to dinner and everything in between, I will never pass up a chance to have some homestyle cooking! That’s why I was beyond excited to try this place and spare no calorie. My friend and I came on a Thursday night and were sat immediately. I can’t tell you about the décor because it was so dark! I could barely see my friend sitting across from me. I asked the hostess about happy hour deals and she had no clue. After asking around, she shared that happy hour deals were only offered in the bar, which was completely full. disappointing. Nonetheless, I like how Bayou serves traditional southern food like okra, frog legs and even alligator. Although intriguing, I don’t think I could ever bring myself to try alligator. I decided to order the Fried Chicken Sandwich which comes with sweet potato fries and I substituted coleslaw for mac and cheese ($ 1.50 charge). The service here was just average… The server did his job with no attempts to make us feel welcome or engage us in conversation. Similar to the service, the food was just okay. The fried chicken sandwich had the tiniest fried chicken breast on it. While the breading was crispy and the sage aioli was a nice addition, there was more lettuce and tomato than there was chicken! The sweet potato fries were crispy and the mac and cheese was oogey-​gooey deliciousness. No fake cheese here! Overall, my biggest complaint is the seasoning! Southern/​Cajun food is all about spice and nothing I ordered had any kick! My hunt continues for good southern food in the western Washington area. Don’t think I’ll be back.

My favorite Cajun place in Bellingham! Seriously though, the food is delicious. Try the frog legs and the gator skewers (to be completely honest, these are not the best gator skewers I’ve ever had, but to my knowledge there’s nowhere else in the Ham that sells gator, so it’s worth it). Best corn bread ever. Gumbo and Jamalaya are a favorite option. Blackened Tuna is also a delicious dinner option. Feeling like a good Steak Salad? This is the best one in town.
While the Po Boys are a nice choice as well, they changed the menu recently and I haven’t tried any of late.
Brunch is also well worth it, especially if you’re an Eggs Benedict connoisseur like me. Eat here. You’ll be happy, not sad.

I was not a fan of this place. I love Creole and Cajun food, but I don’t think they do a good job here… at least for breakfast.
The menu looked promising. I was craving sweet, but they were sold out of the French toast and they didn’t have Beignets (what kinda Creole/​Cajun place doesn’t have beignets?) and that was it for sweet (other than a cinnamon roll I wanted no part of). The coffee was really bad too. I was hoping for chicory… nope, just watery bitter coffee.
The hush puppies were really dry. My biscuit and gravy was fine. I ordered some eggs with crab. The eggs were watery and had an unpleasant texture. The crab was ice cold and that did not pair with the warmish eggs.
Our service was very nice, but the food took forever to get to us.

This is one of my favorite places to head to for dinner! Their blackened tuna steak is probably the best I’ve ever had! The Etoufee is creamy seafood dish that is amazing and is almost the consistency of a risotto. They have Alligator, as they refer to it «Gator on a stick» and it is pretty good but I have definitely had better. Bayou on Bay has a full bar with well made drinks. Looking for good Cajun cuisine I would definitely recommend this place.

I ended up here after I read an ancient news article from 2009 about how they serve up absinthe at the bar. Although they no longer serve absinthe, I decided to stay because the drink menu still had a lot of pizazz.
They have an infused vodka menu where you can choose from different varieties of infused vodka. COOL. I had a bloody mary with jalapeño vodka and it was tasty. They didn’t skimp on the vodka either. Another superb vodka drink is the oyster shooter. At $ 1.75 a pop, it’s basically vodka with an oyster in it and some cocktail sauce. The oyster was very fresh, but the cocktail sauce was definitely canned. No biggie.
I had the popcorn shrimp, which was alright, but the cocktail sauce was still a bit lacking. The girlfriend got frog legs and I ended up stealing most of her remoulade for the shrimp. It improved the taste three-​fold.
The menu gets +10 points for creativity. Next time I’m trying the gumbo!
Probably the coolest part of this dining experience was a pop-​up band marching down the street while we were eating on the outside patio. Dinner and a show at no extra cost!

The jambalaya is a pretty large portion and has a lot in it, so you don’t feel like you’re eating just rice. Very flavorful and not too spicy — though you can order it more spicy by just asking. there are plenty of hot sauces or seasonings, like Tiger Sauce, at the table if you want to use those too. Comes with a big piece of cornbread. It’s not bad but tastes like it might come from a premade mix. Tip: ask for some butter for your cornbread, it’s warm honey butter that tastes delicious!
My boyfriend ordered the shrimp etoufee which had a really rich, unique flavor. Lots of large shrimp that were fresh with the tails still attached. He really enjoyed this too!
Based on the happy hour menu, it looks like an ok deal if you’re looking to try some appetizers and get drinks for a decent price.
Service was fine, they kind of leave you be which is nice. Nothing spectacular but we don’t need much. If you have a lot of requests I can see it being a restaurant where you need to flag the servers down which can be annoying.
Overall it was good but I’m not sure if I would come back when I visit Bellingham again. (Also if you’re expecting something super authentically cajun… here’s a friendly reminder that you’re in the Pacific NW.)

Went for Brunch and this place is A-​OK.
Delicious bloody marys & HUGE oyster shooters for $ 1.75. A large variety of benedicts.
Very vegetarian friendly.
I got the «Handheld» which is essentially a breakfast sandwich. A friend got shrimp & grits but it looked a little soupy. On the more expensive side (breakfasts ran $ 9-​$ 15). Service was fast.
Lots of seating including a bar, an outdoor & an upstairs area.

We stopped by merely because it was conveniently located next to the museum that we visited. The smell was mesmerizing. We could not resist. It was a nice day so seating was available outside, with umbrellas and it was roped off. Their prices are not inexpensive by any stretch of the imagination. They have frog legs and Gator on the menu which were good appetizers. The meal was adequate but I personally feel that everything is smothered in blackened seasoning which in my opinion masked the taste. The food was well-​cooked however again everything had blackened seasoning. The hostess as well as servers we’re very professional, nice and sweet. They also have a nice selection of alcoholic beverages too.