DON’S Seafood

We used to go to Don’s for crawfish when they first opened and the crawfish were pretty darn good. After the first season the crawfish were not so good. Tonight I really wanted some crawfish so we decided to give Don’s another try. I am so glad we did. They were really busy for Valentine’s Day but the crawfish were very good and the service was excellent!

Love the seafood gumbo, but very pricy at 12 $ a bowl. Lots of fried food. The half priced oysters on Mondays is a good deal.

My colleagues and I dined here one night after work. The service was good and most of the food was good. The raw oysters and the grilled yellowfin tuna were good. My colleagues enjoyed their redfish and rib-​eye. I noticed that the hamburger steak didn’t really look appetizing, however.
Overall, it’s a good & laid back place to visit after work.

Always good service… Charbroiled Oysters Kacked Up are awesome. Can go wrong if you’re looking for some local flavor.

I’ve been to Don’s several time before last night and it has been great every time.
Last night my wife and I ate there with other family members and it was quite busier and much noisier than usual. The service was great for how busy it was but the food was lack luster.
I ordered the shrimp dinner and wife ordered the half shrimp half etoufee dinner for her, the fried shrimp were salty not natural tasting. My dish was very greasy and salty.
No one at our table was able to finish anything bc of that saltiness in the food.

Eaten their twice recently. Service was great both times. Redfish was delicious. Crabmeat au gratin for my wife was very creamy and cheesy.

Meal was great. Took advantage of check in offer and stepmother enjoyed the gumbo. Lots of shrimp in it and no okra. Only thing is there seemed to be lots of Worcester sauce resulting in being a bit salty. She also enjoyed her filet mignon that was done excellently. Father had catfish with red beans which he said was delicious. I took advantage of the Wednesday special of all you can eat boiled shrimp. It too was delicious. Came with a mini cob of corn and a couple of red potatoes. Shrimp boiled with red, green and yellow peppers which added a nice touch.
Service was excellent with our server being on top of his game the entire meal.

I stopped going to Don’s in Metairie around 6 yrs ago. They increased the prices and I felt the quality or value just wasnt there anymore.
Fast forward to yesterday when my grandmother chose this location for dinner. The décor was really cute. I love the repurposed wood on the outside and the rich woods and cozy booths on the inside. We ordered ½ doz raw oysters ($ 7), fried shrimp platter ($ 17) and crabmeat au gratin ($ 20) to split. The raw oysters were very good and we enjoyed the hot horseradish. The crabmeat augratin was good but the portion is just a tease for 2 ppl. It now comes with mashed potatoes and they were sad. They were old, dried out and served in a cafeteria cylinder shape. Why pair a soft mushy side with a soft mushy entrée anyway? The fried shrimp are butterflied and remind me of the frozen kind at Red Lobster.
We took a bowl of gumbo to go and our total bill was $ 80. For that price, I left underwhelmed. The jacked up shrimp are prob the way to go and oysters. Everything else is a menu filler in my opinion.

Jacked up Shrimp is my favorite! Everything was super yummy! The Don’s seasoning is a must have if you are not local! I’m taking mine back to Oregon! Definitely filled my seafood fix! Waitress was polite! Nice atmosphere! Gumbo had a nice dark rouge but the rice was dry. Boudin balls were amazing! We were well satisfied with our dining experience!

Great, relaxed atmosphere; delicious Cajun cuisine, although, not too spicy; friendly service … Great choice for dinner!

Good service, but they should change the name to Butter’s not Don’s. Everything was covered in butter! So gross! Gross oysters, overly salted $ 29 ribeye, over cooked shrimp. Too expensive for shitty food!!!

Food was downright mediocre. Jalapeño does not go with traditional Louisiana dishes the way they were doing it and it was overly greasy to boot.

Nice atmosphere and a great menu if you want something fried. I had gumbo and red beans. I enjoyed the red beans, which was well seasoned with the taste of sausage. The gumbo however was just a plain gravy with seafood. I recommend the red beans and Abita beer.

Good food, there are better options in Louisiana but definitely decent especially if you are staying in the hotel nearby.

I spoke to a manager here today about our experience. Again, we didn’t have a necessarily bad experience, but some of the food didn’t seem to be up to par with the value. Like I mentioned: the gumbo, the shrimp étouffée, and the fried catfish. The manager was very nice as is to be expected. He was receptive to what we had to say and I, being VERY familiar with the world of customer service, felt he was genuine in his concern. This is the livelihood of his business and that of his staff we’re talking about.
I inferred that these particular issues would be resolved soon in the restaurant. I’m not in Covington very often so I can’t test this out for myself, but I’m sure residents and guests can attests to this in the coming weeks. After reevaluating all the food, the staff, and the customer service, I’ll give them a four. I wasn’t paid to do so but felt compelled to do it after reevaluating our experience.
In summary, this isn’t the best seafood I’ve ever had. It’s definitely not the worst, though. There’s room for improvements, sure, but if the gentleman I spoke to is sincere in his work, he and his staff are working hard to get it all straight. Seafood (and restaurants in general) are difficult businesses and I hope they make good on their efforts.

Stayed next door so it was convenient. Read reviews but menus seemed a little too much fried food but figured one late night to give it a try. The spicy shrimp was really good and fried alligator was good. Got a few beers since all drinks are 2 for 1. Overall not a bad place it turned out really good and the don spice is even better than Tony Chachere

I’ve been here three times over the past five years, and can safely give Don’s a good solid three stars. The food is never terrible, but it’s not outstanding, either. The service is usually adequate, though not impressive. The food quality is so-​so. I’ve never felt compelled to write a review because it’s always just so mediocre, and I usually write Unilocal reviews to call out really good or really bad restaurants.
My wife and I ate there for dinner, and spent about $ 55, par for the course. The salad veggies could’ve been fresher, the shrimp could’ve been bigger, the cocktails could’ve tasted less pre-​made. The catfish could’ve been better with half the salt, the étouffée reminded me of the general purpose brown sauce at a cheap Chinese restaurant. But it was all edible, the waitress didn’t screw up any part of our order, and the table was clean.
I don’t know why there is a line to get a table on a week night. There are way better restaurants in Covington. But there is a certain clientele that just loves this place.

Another fabulous meal at Dons. Last night me and my daughter shared an order of the Jacked Up Grilled Oysters on a half shell… the best ever! They had the best grilled flavor and just the right amount of seasoning to not over power the flavor of the oysters. My daughter had the crawfish étouffée, which she should have asked for the rice on the side (she can’t eat a lot of rice) because it was a scoop of it right in the middle of the bowl which she had to scoop out. I had the grilled stuffed shrimp which was perfect & is also my favorite dish at Dons. They also allowed us to use our Unilocal check-​in coupon for a free cup of seafood gumbo.
The waitress was pretty busy which is why I think we weren’t offered drink refills. Other than that we had another wonderful dinner at Dons:)

Great food and great service! It will be hard «trying» somewhere else after knowing what Don’s has to offer!

I was PLEASANTLY surprised at my 2^nd and more recent visit to Don’s. They must have gotten new Management or something. I think I went on a Monday, when every other restaurant on the Northshore likes to be closed. It was half off all Oysters and a great experience. The waitress was great and the food really exceeded my expectations. It is more than just a chain to me now. I ordered a seafood salad and was just wowed! It was exactly what I want to see when ordering a $ 12+ salad. It had lots of fresh seafood on it and tasted wonderful, like a damn seafood salad should taste! My boyfriend ordered the soft shell crab dinner and it looked really good as well. I tasted a piece and it was really seasoned well. Oh, and I can’t forget the Chargrilled oysters! They were great too! (Although NOTHING or NO ONE beats Drago’s charbroiled oysters). Also, they have a patio… Which I find hard to come by on the Northshore. So, check out Don’s and I hope your experience is as good as mine was!