Gator Cove

Have eaten here many times before but yesterday was a terrible experience. 4 people ordered crawfish and one ordered catfish. The crawfish came out within a half hour but the catfish took an additional 25 minutes to come out! We asked that the catfish be removed from the bill as it took so long and the manager (?) told us no– that’s just how it was. I understand that pocked get busy but an unapologetic manager who does nothing to help his guests is a disaster for a business.
Will not be returning to this place and will encourage as many people as possible never to go back based on this experience.

Arrived at gator cove restaurant it was full but no wait which is sometimes and issue at six o’clock on Saturday night. No menus where available at the time of the sitting. Took along time for waitress to come to the table, ad least 20 minutes, to get drinks and give menus. My husband ordered crawfish bisque as an appetizer and it was ice cold along with the rice we did complain to the waitress which nothing was done not even a comment. We ordered boiled crawfish it was taking so long that we inquired what the hold up was and we where told they only had 1 cook and 1 pot which was small. We had been at the table 1 hour and 20 minutes by this point finally the crawfish arrived, just so you know the crawfish here are boiled only in plain water no crab boil or salt nothing. They sprinkle the top with Tony’s so they where on the salty side. The flavor of the crawfish and fat where good. Corn and potatoes where cold. Will not be back.

I hard schedule stops here whenever I’m in Lafayette. Of course the crawfish is alway awesome but even if it isn’t season the other items on the menu make it a must visit.

Stopped here on a road trip for crawfish and gator. We arrived a little closer to closing time than I’m ever comfortable with, but they were still happy to serve us. Our server was super helpful in teaching me the best way to deshell these things. I enjoyed the gator bites, and although this was only my second encounter with crawfish it far exceeded its predecessor. Being from Houston my husband is the connoisseur, and they probably weren’t on his top 5 list, but he was still happy with them and thankful to get his fix so late in the evening!

Ate here last night. Got the Catfish Heaven, blackened catfish, and Childs popcorn shrimp. Nothing has any seasoning. All was very bland. Not as good as it used to be. 2 stars because the service was great.

I had some business to do in Austin, so after flying down to Texas we decided to do a road trip to New Orleans. In that route came Cajun country and Lafayette is sort of the mecca of this area.
I ate crawfish at a total of 4 places, and I must say that Gator Cove was the ABSOLUTE best. We walked in and right away you can tell this is a spot for the locals. There was country music, heavy accents, and well, gators. It’s very down to earth and very «Lafayette» if you will.
The servers were all very friendly and attentive. The crawfish was AMAZING. They were big, juicy, and this was the only spot that got EXTRA spicy right! Lets just say our noses were runny, but seriously delicious. We shared 3 lbs, but I could have easily gone through 3 more.
It’s a shame that this place has the ratings it does. Almost everyone who reviewed this spot based on the crawfish gave this place stellar reviews. However, there must be some issues with the rest of the menu.
If you are looking for the BEST crawfish in the area this is absolutely it! Also, very fair prices.
I loved this place so much that on the way out, we stopped to do a repeat, but they were out of crawfish. It’s really a shame that they were out off season, but I’m so glad I got to try the first time around. I will dream of them all the way from Philly!

On a 17 $ seafood basket we received $ 4 of seafood and $ 13 in filler. Seriously! 4 shrimp an 4 tiny oysters and an extra large serving of French fries + bread.
We ordered an expensive hamburger for my son. McDonalds is making a better burger than this place — and for $ 10!!!
Your best bet is so skip this place!

The real Thing. Good food in an Amazing atmosphere. Crawfish, Alligator & Soft Shell Crabs were excellent. Homemade Butterfinger Pie was great as well.

This was my first dining being back from AZ. It was pretty good. I was lured in by the promise of shrimp and grits. I am a sucker for shrimp and grits and not many places offer that special dish. Let’s just say they did not disappoint.
We ordered take out, but did have a look around while waiting on our order. The place reminded me of a couple places further south in LA, so that was nice, and the staff was very courteous.
Like I said, the shrimp and grits did not disappoint. Creamy grits were topped with a «cajun» sauce of sorts, with five «jumbo» fried shrimp on top. I didn’t know about the sauce until I got home, but I’m glad, it was a nice surprise. Like I said, the grits were creamy and delicious, and the fried shrimp, although in the sauce, remained crunchy and flavorful. My favorite!
We also tried the shrimp po’ boy, the bbq brisket po’boy, and the gator tators. My husband really enjoyed the bbq brisket. A little dry for my liking, but all in all, very tasty. The shrimp po’ boy was okay. Compared to the shrimp on the grits, the po’ boy was nothing to write home about, neither was the bread, but it makes for a good quick sandwich if you have time to kill for lunch. The gator tators was seriously good. Not good for you, but hey, this is LA not much is good for you. The sliced potato rounds were topped with bacon pieces, onions, jalapenos, and pepper jack cheese. Yummy in my tummy all around! I believe the potatoes were baked, not fried, and they were so light and fluffy. Needless to say, very happy.
I will definitely be returning for the shrimp and grits of course! I say give them a go, next time I think we will dine in and experience the atmosphere. :)

I don’t know what more one could want… good food, and awesome locals.
Had some delish crawfish and met some cool people (thanks for the glass of wine Dr. Roy & for the special sauce Miss Moss)! Seriously, great town and great food!
If you like simple, local, hometown & down to earth, this place is for you!

It took some debating on whether to give this place 2 or 3 stars, but 2 eventually won out. I stopped in the other day on my way out of lafayette, mostly just to dodge the massive amount of traffic. They had Blue Moon on tap, which was a plus, so I had a couple pints. They were on the higher end of reasonably priced. Later on I noticed that they had Schlitz beer, presumably in the bottle, but by then I wasn’t drinking any more because I had to drive. They have a pretty extensive menu, but its all the standard cajun restaurant items. I eventually decided on the blackened alligator platter. I’ve never been a fan of salads, and the shoddy one that came with my platter wasn’t about to change my mind on that. When the platter came, I was pretty much mortified to see that the «vegetable» promised on the menu was a pile of warmed canned green beans, not even seasoned up or anything. It did come with a pretty badass crusty roll though — if I had to pick my favorite thing on the platter, it was the roll. I stuffed it full of blackened gator and some sour cream from my potato and made a little gator sandwich. The baked potato was just that, a baked potato. Nothing special. Then there was the gator itself. The blackening seasoning was a joke — practically flavorless with no spice. Not the worst gator I’ve had, but far from the best. Also if you haven’t had gator before, don’t be fooled by that other review here — gator tastes nothing like chicken. It has a texture approximating the gristle from a steak, but with a flavor like a very mild tilapia. The closest other meat I can think of is frog legs. Anyways, all said and done I paid about $ 30 for a filling yet lackluster meal and 2 pints. A little high if you ask me, in baton rouge I could have a similar meal for no more than 15. Also as I was getting ready to leave, I heard a waitress telling some newly seated customers about their daily special. I don’t recall what it was now, but it sounded really good and I remembered thinking I would have gotten it. Unfortunately, I got a shoddy inattentive waiter who neglected to inform me that they had such a special. He disappeared frequently and seemed more concerned with talking to his coworkers than actually working. Overall, I lowered the review from 3 stars to 2 mostly because of the service.

Brisket was really tasty, and the meat LITERALLY fell off the bone of my pork rib when I picked it up. It had a ton of fat on it but man it was tasty.
There was a live peacock in the back garden area with her baby chick — that was interesting to look at. Definitely the kind of place where the locals hang out… a lot of blue collar oil industry types.
I am in business from Houston — where there is GREAT BBQ so I am a pretty harsh critic… I have to say the two meats I had were pretty good.
They lose points for two things — they were out of bbq chicken, which is what I really wanted — and the sides were terrible — just terrible. That’s not an uncommon trait of bbq places — good meats, bad sides.
Anyway, like the atmosphere, and the guy slinging meats was saying hi to people by name. Good vibe here — just wanted that chicken and some good sides.

Crawfish was good. A little pricey but good size and juicy. Could use a little less salt but I still tore them up.

The atmosphere was 100% pure Cajun, whether that’s good or bad is your decision. The service was not very good, and the crawfish were small, cold, and inconsistenly flavored. Not an overall good dining experience.

I was looking for some craw fish and they were unfortunately out, due to the cold spell and the season. Fine… I’ll find something else. Tried the broiled shrimp. What was I thinking??? Typical food, ambiance was less than mediocre, cleanliness was below average (for christ sakes, I have fruit flies in Jan flying around my food!!). Average food… high prices for what I got.