Magnolia House by Kelly English

Excellent service! Ordered a variety of dishes. Great crab appetizer. Surf & Turf/​Stuffed steak was too burnt and over cooked for my tastes and request. The potatoes with the dish were black and burnt as well. I was surprised they served this dish to me in that state. Beignets must have been fried with the same oil as the seafood because they were spicy. A few disappointments but perhaps the main cook was not on duty. Others at the table loved their fish dishes and desserts. I’d go again and give it another shot.

Located in Harrah’s Gulf Coast, Magnolia House is a great steakhouse/​fine dining establishment. Friendly staff, from barkeepers, hosts and waitstaff. Great food in one of several comfortable dining rooms.
Magnolia House has a full bar, and a good selection of wines and champagne. My personal favorite is the Piper-​Heidsieck. If you happen to enjoy an amaretto, I will caution that they are often out or not stocked. So much so that I’ve stopped ordering it.
There are some really great appetizers, salads and soups. I highly recommend the gulf crab and brie soup. It’s luxuriously silky with a taste somewhat like a lobster bisque but with a good sized lump of fresh crab meat. The wedge salad is amazing as well. I’m not an oyster fan, but this close to the gulf coast the menu is chock full of seafood including oysters and shrimp.
Chef Kelly English’s signature dish is the surf and turf, a fried oyster and blue cheese stuffed new York strip with two sauces served over a bacon potato hash. I’ve never tried it, but having watched friends enjoy theirs when they’ve ordered it, I can say it looks very tasty.
I usually go with the filet. I’ve never had one cooked wrong, always a great sear, juicy and seasoned beautifully. There are several other cuts including new York strip and a bone-​in rib eye. The side dishes are great as well: the cheese grits, horseradish mashed potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, bacon potato hash are my favorites.
The menu does change fairly frequently, some of the current offerings include a thick pan fried pork chop served with capers, anchovy and an egg over a bed of spaetzle. There’s also a glazed beef rib that sounds delicious… I will probably try it on my next visit.
You probably won’t have room for dessert when you’re done with your meal… my suggestion is order a coffee, enjoy your dining companions’ company, and give yourself a few minutes to digest. Then order dessert. Don’t leave without it! Some standards are their bread pudding and coffee crème brulee served with beignets. Seasonal dishes such as red velvet cupcake stuffed with marshmallow and blueberry shortcake were amazing, and currently there is a sweet potato cheesecake with toasted marshmallow topping that I wanted to order 6 of last time I was there.
There are a couple of private dining rooms for larger parties of 8 to 20. And as with most restaurants in casino locations, you can use your reward points to pay for some or all of your meal. If you frequent Harrah’s Gulf Coast you probably get discount vouchers for Magnolia House already. If you haven’t gotten around to using them… do so, you’ll thank me!

Was really looking forward to this restaurant on our trip to Biloxi, because what’s better than winning at the Casino than blowing it on a good meal. But, was greatly disappointed!
To begin with, the ambiance leaves a lot to desire. The advertised «Southern Home» concept was lacking. Instead we entered a series of large rooms with 5 – 6 tables in each. Hardly intimate and very lacking in any art or décor.
I will say that the table was set nice; the host was kind and polite; and service was good.
Then came the food. I ordered the Gulf Crab and Brie soup. The Crab was full of tendons and shells. Very disappointing. The Snapper was cooked nicely but the Pontchartrain Sauce included Crawfish that was filled with shells. The Creamed Spinach was thin and lacking in greens.
Enjoy, it’s better than a Red Lobster but don’t set your expectations much higher.

We made reservations but before we did, called to find out if it was required (it was) and if they accept Caesars Total Rewards points (they do).
We were in the small area by the entrance which i hated because it was by the bar area and it was very loud so ambience was terrible.
To drink, I had the Smokey and the bandit which was Tequila, chartreuse some other things and little bits of jalapeño. It was very strong and just okay. Hubby had sweet tea which was just tea with syrup mixed in as expected of this type of restaurant. He initially asked for Coke but they have Pepsi products which is why he got the Sweet tea.
For main course I ordered the Gulf flounder which was flounder filet lightly coated in flour over squash in a sea of what i think was too much butter and some capers. Hubby got one of the chef’s special which was the mahi mahi with etouffe topping and broccolini and he liked it.
We decided to take a look at the dessert menu to see if they had crème brûlée and ordered the Chicory coffee crème brûlée with beignets. It was an odd combo and something i would have never though to try but this literarily blew me out of the water and it was my favorite item of the night! Yes, i wish the beignets were lighter like the Café du monde beignets but my husband couldnt tell the difference as he had never been there. What i liked about this dessert was the coffee crème brûlée and beignet combination. It makes sense because what do you drink with beignets? coffee! It was amazing and a genius idea to combine them together.
Overall, Magnolia House was okay and what saved the experience was the dessert. Next time we’re in Biloxi we will probably give them another shot because my husband happens to be a member of Harrah’s total rewards and often has points he wants to use at the casinos and restaurants. Hopefully it will be a much better experience!

Had dinner there recently and unfortunately was somewhat disappointed. First the good parts: Joe, our waiter and Andre, his helper were very nice and professional. Ambience was very nice. Serving and timing of food was good. My friend’s steak was done to her liking and was very tasty. We shared the chicory crème brule for dessert and it was very yummy, but accompanying «beignets» were very small and heavy, like they had been made with whole wheat flour. I guess I’m spoiled by Café du Monde beignets. Anyway, my entrée, the catfish was done perfectly but was curiously tasteless. Lotsa crunch with moist fish but almost no taste. Accompanying brabant potatoes were not much more than thick, dry potato chips. Once again, lotsa crunch not much taste. There was too much crunch to this entrée… it needed something of a different texture to balance out the experience. And basically it just needed some flavor. I just slogged my way thru it, not enjoying. My reisling was excellent and there was a sazarac also which was good. So glad I had a $ 100 meal voucher and didn’t have to pay much out of pocket. 2 drinks, 2 entrees and 1 dessert: $ 105 plus tip on top of that.

Unfortunately I have to say that the experience at Magnolia House ended up in the «OK» category. I was hoping for better, but too many hiccups in the service and meal to make it any better.
Service: To begin with, our intial drink orders took nearly 20 minutes to arrive to our table. On paper that may not look like much, but sit for that long after ordering and it will feel like a lifetime. The restaurant wasn’t even 10% full at the time. Our server made trips back and forth to the bar area to retrieve the drinks, but clearly didn’t have much control or say in getting our drinks made. By the time the drinks had arrived we were nearly done with our appetizer. This didn’t set the tone in the right direction for the night.
The next hiccup came about 15 minutes later as the server arrived to the table to share the news that the restaurant had run out of grits. Seriously? A restaurant ran out of grits in Mississippi? It was a 6pm dinner. That’s like a bakery running out of flour. My wife had ordered the «shrimp and grits» entrée and that they would need to either substitute someting or my wife could order a different entrée. She elected to have the mashed potatoes with her shrimp. My wife loves to try various shrimp and grit entrees from various restaurants so this was a pretty big disappointment for her. I understand things happen, but why did we find this out 30 – 40 minutes after we ordered.
A couple service hiccups we can usually deal with; but most disappointing was that they didn’t apologize for either issue .
Food: The Shrimp and sauce on my wife’s dish was good. The mashed potatoes didn’t quite bring it together as she hoped, but it was an overall pretty tasty dish.
I ordered the Bone-​In Ribeye, which was great. As a consumer of many steaks in the Chicagoland area, they did cook a pretty tasty steak.
Chicory Coffee Crème Brulee was good as well.
Overall…food was good, but service was lacking. Likely hit them on an off night from a service standpoint but it may be enough for us to not return.

Food is amazing. Portions are large. LJ provided great service. The restaurant manager came by our table serval times to check on everything which was a nice touch. Our waters were refilled constantly which we appreciated. We ordered the crab cakes as our appetizer and they were delicious. I ordered the snapper and the portion was large. Flavors were great. My husband ordered the chefs special– I cannot recall the cut of meat but it was stuffed with blue cheese and fried oysters. The only negative– he ordered it medium and it was most definitely overcooked; however, we did not mention it.
Will definitely be back.

Outstanding. We always joked about going there and how it was so weird to be in Harrahs.
We finally went after a few months of banter and wow. We had the crab appetizer and the catfish. Amazing. Portions are very large and service is not stuffy. Would like to see a better bread option much like K Paul’s in New Orleans.

Underwhelmed on our dinner at Magnolia House, especially considering Chef English present on site at the time of our visit. Granted, although knowing this is a casino restaurant, we went in with pretty high expectations from the reputation of the Chef and price point. We were a group and each ordered different things from appetizers, large plates and dessert to sample. The venue is nicely decorated with understated yet comfortable furnishings. 5 stars there. Cocktails were pretty good. Wine list decent as well. Service was attentive and accommodating. The appetizers were overall tasty, especially the oysters. Shrimp was delicious too. I’d recommend getting the oyster one if you go! Unfortunately none one of us was impressed with entrees at all. I am happy to pay higher prices if the quality is there, but… to me this was a classic case of «sounds mouthwatering on the menu but failed on execution». For example, Fancy Pants Burger, sounds amazing on paper, but a burger at $ 27 with premium Wagyu patty, every details must be perfect or it is an insult to the ingredients. It was overcooked till no juice was left. Hand cut fries were soggy, under seasoned and sad. I hope we just went on an «off» night. This could be a place we can frequent, but at this time, we are hesitant to return.

I don’t expect a lot when dining at a celebrity chef’s casino property generally because honestly they don’t have to try as hard for customers and especially not if they also do the room service out of the same kitchen. That said I’d give Magnolia House the same five stars if it was stand alone.
The food was terrific and well conceived in a way that exuded thoughtfulness. I also have to give a huge thumbs up to the kitchen for only serving fresh local fish. I ordered the swordfish which is a regular menu item to be informed the restaurant hadn’t been able to procure enough fresh swordfish and thus was offering fresh caught Tuna in its place. I highly appreciate the respect for the customer that kind of flexibility and commitment entails, and giving a chef that kind of leeway in the kitchen is awesome.
The fish was excellent; the raw oysters were served with an apple cider mignonette with fresh diced apple that was surprisingly good. The shrimp and grits though were among the best I’ve had, super high quality grits that were cheesy but not overwhelming and shrimp with a phenomenal sauce. Just a hint of curry I think and the andouie and house blend spice, I couldn’t recommend it more.
I appreciated the wine list because it was well curated, not overly expansive and filled with excellent selection. I personally like to pick my wine in under 5 and I appreciate a GM who puts time into a shorter list of quality standards rather than putting together an esoteric trope. I didn’t get a chance to enjoy a cocktail so I can’t speak to how well they pour, but if the bar is half as committed to their craft as the kitchen I’d be satisfied.
The décor and ambience was nice, the restaurant is trying to emulate the feel of a home with separate rooms (literally and figuratively). To be honest it was all a little beige/​corporate to me but still very comfortable and nice, and great bar space that also offers the full menu in case you don’t have reservations. I’ll also say that not having the restaurant close enough to the casino to hear the slots is not something that all casinos have figures out so points for that too.
Overall, a meal that exceeded my expectations by a lot, I would go to Harrahs Biloxi just to eat here. Five stars.

Fantastic! I had the pleasure of meeting dining here last weekend and would absolutely recommend it to anyone staying in Biloxi.
Here are a few highlights:
–Fresh, local ingredients. It really shows that kitchen takes full advantage of the Gulf across the street. Try the oysters!
–Fantastic service. Prompt, friendly, and very knowledgable about the menu. As someone who has worked the front of the house, I will always appreciate when management takes the time to invest in their employees by teaching them the in’s and out’s of the menu.
–Great wine list! We had a great pinot noir by the bottle (or bottles…). No matter what you order (steak or seafood) you can find something to go along with it.
–The bar. No reservations? As a previous review suggested, you can sit at the bar! Looks like it’d be great if you’re dining alone or just need something a little quicker.
–Shrimp and Grits: I thought this was the most representative dish for the restaurant that we tried. Just a simple, staple Gulf Coast dish prepared slightly differently with seasonings you’d never normally find in grits. Or the Gulf. It was refreshing and interesting.
–Desert: All of them. My personal favorite was the sweet potato cheesecake with roasted marshmallow. Tell me you don’t want that.
I’m looking forward to coming back to visit!

Excellent service!!! Food was upscale and well presented yet had major flaws. Just not an excellent standout food experience. Menu needs refinement. Had a «soup» that was more like a heavy chili (and not anything to rave about.). Got a crab cake appetizer that was good (4 stars). I had shrimp and grits. Shrimp was over cooked and had «shrimpy» taste. Lady had mahi mahi. It was not seasoned well nor tasty. All stars are basically for exceptional and responsive service.

The food was really good I had an appetizer of fried oyster salad it was delicious not a lot of salad but a lot of oysters. For my main course I had a steak stuffed with oysters and blue cheese the steak was cooked perfectly the oysters were falling out of the steak and the blue cheese with melted all over it was very good for my side dish I had cheese grits that were cooked perfectly as well with a lot of cheese YUM the staff here were very friendly knowledgeable and quick. I would definitely go back here again

Doesn’t get any better then this! I like to skip the RSVP and simply eat at the bar, area! Fantastico! enjoy;)

We recently dined at this restaurant after passing by the casino and seeing the sign advertising it. The service was great! The food was amazing. I had the twice fried chicken and my husband had the swordfish. Both dishes were excellent. We split a side dish of okra and eggplant. The flavor was awesome; it reminded us of a few curry dishes that we’ve had. I highly recommend this restaurant. Our server was initially tied up with getting the check for another large table and one of the managers came over to get our drink order. The craft cocktails were really good, but the French 75 wasn’t that great or they tried something new that didn’t work with this classic cocktail. The St. Maggie is a great choice– champagne and elderflower. We also tried desert– bread pudding– It was phenomenal. We will definitely be regulars at this restaurant!

In a word our experience at the Magnolia House was «spectacular.» The food, its presentation, the service, the pleasant staff not only was exceptional (even though it had only been open for about a week), but from our point of view it was also a great value considering its quality. That doesn’t mean it is inexpensive, but our experience with celebrity related restaurants in casino hotels is that they are massively overpriced and with few exceptions do no deliver what they promise. Magnolia House does!
I started with a Romaine and Anchovy Salad which came in a large bowl with an excellent creamy roasted garlic caesar dressing. It could have easily been shared if you have the same tastes in salad (read that to mean likes anchovies).
My wife would much rather go directly to the main course and she selected The Morning’s Gulf Catch which I believe was Cobia which was served as a filet with sauce pontchartrain and market vegetables. As a meat eater, it would be my kind of fish. The sauce was excellent with some very nice things done with the veggies (i.e., carrots which were slightly thicker than a julienne perfectly cooked and charred).
We ordered an wonderful side dish of grilled asparagus which we shared and really didn’t need except it sounded great and was and we were happy that we got it.
I chose the Magnolia version of Surf and Turf for my entrée. This consisted of a 14 oz. New York Strip Steak, incredibly tender and served a perfect medium stuffed with blue cheese and huge fried oysters and accompanied by a very rich sauce with lots of mushrooms. I could not finish it all.
The food portion of this dinner came to just over $ 80. If you are like us, you may want a cocktail or a bottle of wine, or both and of course that will add to the cost. I thought the wines offered were carefully selected and not outrageously priced, probably about double what one would pay retail, if you could find them and at Magnolia they come poured with a smile. We loved the place and will return!