Who Dat’s

My son and girlfriend went here a couple of weeks ago on a Friday night. They said the experience was «horrible». Food prepared without gloves and appeared unsanitary and cooked using a couple of microwaves. They said it was just a very bad food experience. They are new and just moved to Columbia so they will not be back. I guess this place is on it’s way down and out and/​or could care less about quality. It will be out of business at the rate it is going.

Didn’t care for the heavy handed white pepper. Cajuns balance it better.
Yankees tryin to imitate art.
Gooey butter cake has a gritty taste feel, more time mixing might help to eleviate the sandy texture.
Noise level gets pretty loud in this tiny place.

We have tried this place several times. The ambiance is more like a tavern, dark and filled with late middle aged dudes in the regalia of I don’t give s shit what I look like– light washed jeans, white new balance, and vacation t shirts. The last two times it had the smell of an old fish house. The service even at the bar was slow.
It’s a shame. We wanted it to work. Not worth going.

The very small place had clearly been busy today with the art fair crowd.
The food looked and smelled good. People who received their food, seemed happy and enjoying themselves.
FOLLOWUP: I deleted the details around my visit because I wanted to ensure they got back to the owner. I was touched by a someone who reached out to me today. Obviously a loyal patron. I understood that the issues were related to the staff that night. If I were the owner, I would want to know so I could better train my staff. That was the reason I went into such detail. I love Who Dat’s in Troy. I know that what I experienced was out of the norm. I’m glad Bailey reached out to me. I am certain that the situation would not be repeated. Like I said, everyone with food looked very happy and the food smelled delicious.

Went to Who Dat’s tonight. Big disappointment. While we are used their typical poor service, it is normally easy to overlook because the food is so good. But, today the food was not good either. This is the second time that we have been there recently and the food has been sub par. The gumbo was tasteless and normally that is my favorite. The red beans and rice was also very bland and came out looking like mud. There was virtually no sausage in either dish. The Shrimp Creole was excellent, though. My wife’s dish was palatable, but she said it was not as good as it usually is. What really made our dinner unenjoyable is that the «server» brought all 3 of my dishes out at once! My food got cold and we repeatedly had to ask for more water and tea. The dishes that were completed were not removed from the table and when they finally were cleared, the owner reached over my shoulder hit my arm and grabbed my dishes without saying a word. Normally, the food is decent at Who Dat’s, but that appears to not be the case anymore. If you want terrible service and below average food, feel free to go. Otherwise, you’d be better off skipping this once good restaurant.

So far so good! Appetizers excellent, shrimp cheesecake fabulous! Shrimp cake wonderful ! Étouffée & jambalaya were fantastic. Service was good food came out for the day sometime I would highly recommend you to eat here. Space and if you like that NOLA Cajun Creole food

We had dinner for four the other day and I was surprised and pleased by the incredible food and service that we had. From the Crawfish etouffe to the BBQ’d pulled pork our meals were incredible. However, my wife said that the gooey butter cake was the best she ever had. It was so good large in serving that she took most of it over the weekend.

Food is not that great. Service is great, nice people, but I wouldn’t take my family there for dinner again.

Not a fan. Food was boring. Seems they try to overcome a lack a flavor by just adding more spice. My wife saw the cook checking the temp of food by sticking her finger in it after it came out of the microwave. Really?!?

5 stars for their food.
4 stars for their service.
There was a wait (which I didn’t mind). We stood next to a local who recommended menu items.
But once we were seated the wait staff got confused and took the order to the people who came after us.
With that being said, everything was ironed out and they apologized everything was fine. They stated that were busier than normal that Friday (probably because of Groupon the month before and it was Mardi Gras weekend). So I will give it to them.
Me and my husband shared the sampler, the grilled poor boy sandwich, and Andouille.
Loved the sauce on the Sandwich. We ate everything but the Gumbo (but my husband took it home and put hot sauce and he enjoyed it :-)
So the food is really good. We will definitely be back.
If you go (even if you are full) get a piece of gooey butter cake to go. It is AWESOME. They had two different selections (I told him to surprise me on the flavor). It was great. He put it in a to go container but we both almost ate half of it before we left the restaurant.
If you want Southern Cajun, try them out. It is a small location but quaint.

Excellent food!!! The Cajun sampler hit the spot. Thank you Chris for being a wonderful host and the great food.

They make an amazing gooey butter cake. I love this place. The owner is from NOLA. I always start with a hurricane. As an appetizer you must try the bbq Cajun shrimp. Finger licken good. I had the muffletta and my friend had the Gumbo. It was just the right amount of spice and kick. The service here is always amazing and most of the time it is the owner that servers you. This is a little part of NOLA in Columbia.

Good food and nice people. Étouffée was excellent. Closest to New Orleans in southern Illinois!

Who Dat’s is a fantastic option for good food in Columbia IL. There crawfish étouffée is great, BBQ nachos are also quite tasty.

Don’t wast the money or the time to drive over there. Tiny bar with soso food. Very disappointed

Southern food — mediocre Southern hospitality — nonexistent
Servers and manager were rude, rude, rude — they gave the impression we should be grateful to eat their food. We decided to go ahead and marshal on to sample the fare, as we had made the trip expressly to try this restaurant.
Only part of the menu was available as they did not have shrimp, so we ate, Crawfish Étouffée and Crawfish Boil plate. The etoufee base was fine, but the crawfish was difficult to locate and the boil plate was waaay short on seasoning. A long way from New Orleans in fact and spirit.
Our seats were located between the men’s and women’s bathroom where the floral deodorizer and other scents were wafting by our table, very close quarters. This was after being told to sit anywhere you can find a seat — no problem, we approached a single person sitting at a 4-​top and asked if he would be willing to share, he was happy to have company — but, someone who appeared to be the manager swooped in and said the seats were saved we would have to find somewhere else to sit.
Perhaps customer service is saved for the locals or when the restaurant is not so busy. Waiting for good food is never a problem, being made to feel as if you are «in the way» and a problem for them is. The shrimp dishes may be better, but we are not willing to make the trip back to find out.

My husband and I were loyal customers to Who Dat’s until a recent altercation left us feeling incredibly disrespected. Last weekend, my husband called to inquire about an expired Living Social Deal. When we purchased it, we were under the impression that there would be an event every Saturday. We had hoped to attend one in January, but when we called in late December, we were told that the events were over. However, we were also told that per Living Social’s policy, we could use the face value of the deal. There were no issues with this at that time.
However, when we called last weekend to ask if we needed to print out the coupon or if we could use the iPhone app, my husband spoke with the owner of Who Dat’s, and she was extremely rude. She yelled at him about how stupid we are for letting it expire, how the Living Social deal has ruined her business and how she has to work 12 hour days just to keep the business afloat. She took all of her anger and frustration she felt with her business out on my poor husband for a solid five minutes. The restaurant business is not easy, and I can understand her frustration. However, these are feelings respectful business owners do not share with customers. I have never been so insulted by a company owner in my entire life.
We chose to waste the $ 20 we spent on this Living Social deal than drive all the way out to Columbia to be treated like dirt, and we refuse to visit Who Dat’s ever again. I am not sure if this type of business ownership works for Who Dat’s, but I’d be careful if you choose to visit this establishment. Try and stay out of the owner’s way at least. She’s probably in an awful mood and won’t hesitate to take it out on her customers.

Wow… one visit and I am hooked! Who Dat’s is who good! If you like nawlins style food make a beeline to Columbia, Illinois and enjoy. I can’t wait to get back and sample the whole menu.
On our first visit we had:
Crawfish Etouffe
Boiled Shrimp
Smoked Pulled Pork
The seasonings and flavors were great and the bite was just right. I wanted more of everything.
I was surprised to only see one dessert item on the menu until I learned they serve it with a twist. They take Gooey Butter Cake and add a daily flavor. I had peanut butter and it was great… lickin’ plate great.
I’ve heard their Jambalaya is amazing as well and I plan to find out in my next visit. I also saw a foot-​long hot dog topped with pulled pork, cole slaw with bbq sauce. That will be visit number three.
The service was extremely friendly and the owners made us feel like a regular. Then the regulars made us feel like a regular.
Add Who Dat’s to your list of new restaurants and then you can become a regular after one visit too.

I like this little place. Very neighborhoody feel. Good food. It’s the kind of place where you can eat, then hang out and have a couple of beers. What’s good for us is that it kind of had a bar-​and-​grill feel, but not so much that you can’t bring the kids.
We had crawfish étouffée and it was great. We also tried their buffalo chicken sandwich, which was very good. Abita beers are available, which not only tastes great, but as a N’Awlins beer, adds a degree of authenticity and shows they care a little bit about doing things the right way.
Several menu items sounded good, so I have no doubt we’ll be back to do a little more exploring.

This is yet another restaurant that I would have never found if not for Unilocal.I have been looking for and wanting a good Cajun place to go to and I think I finally found it. I ended up ordering the Andouille Po’Boy. The bread was fresh as were the toppings. I especially enjoyed the remoulade sauce. I went here solo so I didn’t order anything else but I had the luxury of sitting next to a large group who were very loud. The Who Dat’s dog looked and smelled AMAZING and was huge. I know the guy eating it was very impressed by it and he said that it was the best hotdog he had ever had. The Gumbo smelled amazing as well and the other people seemed to enjoy it. Next time I come here I plan on trying a cup of Gumbo and a cup of Crawfish Etouffe.
The background of this establishment is cool as well. «New Orleans boy meets Saint Louis girl. His and her family recipes.» Give this place a try it really isn’t that far away from many people and is worth the trip!