Lagniappe On the Bayou

It’s too bad this place closed. Maybe if I hadn’t waited so long to finish this review, they would have survived. :(
It just so happened that we ran out of propane at the house on Fat Tuesday and couldn’t cook. We wound up at Lagniappe’s for the first time. My daughter got the boiled shrimp and alligator bites. I ordered the boudin and white beans & rice. We gave never had any of these dishes before, and they were wonderful.
There was a smiling policeman at the front table when we arrived. He matched the banner giving discounts to firemen and cops on the front window.
We didn’t know how to order nor where to sit, so we just stood for a few minutes reading a menu and watching the other customers. We figured out that The staff mostly wear realtree camouflage.
The shrimp must have been spiced with file, because they had a unique flavor that made them perfect without any dipping sauce. The alligator was nice and meaty, the boudin were like big round hushpuppies with delicious sausage inside. The white beans and rice had tender pieces if ham inside. I didn’t really like the house sauce, so I will just try another one next time.
It was all delightfully good. The staff was hospitable and helpful. The Amber Ale hit the spot, and I had a little food leftover for a midnight snack.

I’ve eaten here several times and I love the White beans and rice, Pork Chop, and Shrimp. The dirty rice, chicken tenders (called fried chicken), and Gumbo are just okay.
I don’t feel you get enough food for the amount of money paid on some dishes. I pay the same amount at other places and get twice the amount it seems.
Nice atmosphere and friendly staff.

The food was okay. We ordered a variety of things including the alligator bites for take-​out. Maybe it waa the time of night that we ordered that made the difference, but it took way too long to get our food that by time we actually ate it I felt like there was more to be desired.
Highlights:
–The bar tender was very nice and made great conversation while we waited.
–The bread they used for the po’boys were all very soft and fresh.
–The oysters in the po’boys were huge.
Fails:
–They ran out of catfish and shrimp by time we ordered.
–The kitchen staff definitely took their time in making our food. A few fried dishes and jumbalya should not take close to an hour to prepare.
All in all, if your hours say you close at 10, why are you shutting your kitchen down at 9? Friday night or otherwise!

My husband and I went to Lagniappe last night for what we hoped would be a quick dinner. After the cashier/​server finished going through everything on the menu that they were out of for the evening, we ordered. My husband ordered the chicken and sausage gumbo and I ordered the fried chicken po’ bopy.
After we ordered the server told us that would be 40 – 50 mins!!! I said that is something he should have added to his speech about what they were out of. He explained that they had some some of Living Social deal expiring that day so it was super busy. Now that is something I dont understand, if you know how many deals you sold and you know how many have been redeemed already, how do you not expect and therefore plan on a huge rush the last day of the deal?! Poor planning. What good is the deal if you bring in a bunch of first time customers that will never return again because of sub par food and service?
Anyways, nearly an hour later our food came out. My po’boy was delicious! I wanted fries with it but they no long have fries so I got chips. You could tell they werent fresh. They were seasoned well but not crispy. My husbands gumbo was so salty it was inedible. So we told the server and he suggested the seafood gumbo, but my husband doesnt eat seafood so he got the po’boy instead. 15 mins later or so the server came out with the po’boy. I forgot that it didnt automatically come with a side, but I thought since we ended up with a $ 9 menu item instead of the $ 12 item we paid for, that they would throw in the chips, but I was wrong.
The cashier/​server was so flustered and overwhelmed. He was bad at prioritizing, and often would continue cleaning tables instead of greeting guests as they entered. Even when he took our order, he began with «are you ready» instead of a «hi» or «welcome». It just seems like if this was a big push to grow the customer base, it was a huge failure.

I was waffling between 1 and 2 stars for this place, but I just can’t justify 2 stars. I can’t… I hope no one else suffers the Étouffée here.
Oh where to begin…
Lets see… Boiled Crawfish out of season — can’t really blame them for that I suppose. No boiled shrimp either, really? It gets worse. Kitchen was out of Jambalaya @ around 4 or 5pm. Kitchen out of Seafood Gumbo… C’MON MAN! How can you be out of Jambalaya and Gumbo at the beginning of dinner time at a CAJUN restaurant? If we were smart, we would have about-​faced and marched on out right then and there… but alas, we decided to stay the course.
Now we’ve had our share of Crawfish Etoufee, both locally here in VA, and down in NOLA… so we know a thing or two about good Etoufee. This Crawfish Etoufee was more like thick strange supernatural seafood flavor gravy; it was very dark… like they had been cooking the roux all week; midnight dark, and did I mention super thick — like you could pick it up with a spoon turn it upside down and it wouldn’t even consider falling off the spoon. You could probably patch a hole in the hull of a boat with it thick. At the same time, it was very greasy — which almost didn’t make sense considering how thick it was. It was super gross and I can only imagine how terrible it must have been healthwise… Had us WISHIN’ the kitchen was out of it our fateful evening. We ate like 2 bites and figured it wouldn’t be worth eating even if it was calorie free.
The shrimp PoBoy (my consolation pick since they were out of my first three entrée choices) was supposed to be full o’ BOOKOO shrimp. Which I’m assuming is Louisana speak for lots of shrimp in there… but alas, it was stuffed to more of a «booo» level than bookoo.
We ordered the appetizer sampler… the only redeeming quality of this place for us, like other reviewers have mentioned, is that they do deep fry things well. The sampler had alligator, crawfish, and boudin balls. I didn’t care for the balls, the gf thought they were pretty good– they had a pretty strong liver taste to them which turns my guts inside out… The other two were pretty tasty as properly fried food can be… however, this was even marred by the fact that at prime dinner time they had no silverware «rolled» (as explained to us by the waiter) so we had to eat everything with our hands… we didn’t even get plates. C’mon man! You know how small little fried crawfish bits are? I felt like a toddler in a high chair using my fingers to dunk tiny little marbles of crawfish into their dipping sauce getting all sauced up.
Sorry Lagniappe, we will not be back… 2 stars for their ability to fry stuff well. Minus stars for everything else… Very sad for us, because we are big fans of Cajun/​Creole food, but this place missed the mark by a bookoo mile.

Tried it once. Mediocre. Bland. Got the large gumbo. Primarily rice and barely any substance. Better off going to Okra’s.

Lagniappe on the Bayou has been on my list of places to check out for some time now, however because of the poor Unilocal reviews I never made any real effort to get there. My dear friend Brandi K. is moving to the Big Easy in a few weeks and we decided to head on over to check it out before she left.
Let me start by mentioning that the address is «Manassas», but this is not Manassas proper… actually, it’s more Woodbridge in my opinion. It’s off Hoadly Road in the shopping center with the Ihop.
I won’t lie, once we found the place and walked in we were rather confused with the «ordering» process. There are no signs to direct you to wait to be seated or to sit anywhere. There wasn’t anyone at the counter so we sat at one of the high top bars. After a minute or so we noticed the sign hanging above that said «order here»… ah, mystery solved.
A few moments later a very nice young lady came from the back and asked if we had ever been there before, once we told her no she walked us though the ordering process.
We wanted to sample a few different options. We started with the alligator bites and the boudin balls. I like to consider myself to be pretty well versed in the deliciousness that is boudin… and these balls didn’t disappoint. Both of us commented on how well they were fried. Obviously the oil is fresh because the breading was light in color and extremely crispy. The alligator bites were just as scrumptiously fried and were much «meatier» than those that I have had at other places. (Ahem Okras!)
I ordered the crawfish e’touffee which was served with one side item and French bread. Sadly they seemed to be out of all of their sides except rice, (which comes with e’toufee anyhow)… fries, hushpuppies and potato salad. They were out of basically everything green, which I think is needed to lighten up a dish like e’touffee… I ordered hushpuppies. The hushpuppies were good… they were fried nicely but perhaps a bit dense. They were good dipped in the house sauce. The bread never arrived. The e’touffee was surprisingly good however a bit scarce on the crawfish tails. The roux was dark and flavorful. It lacked a little heat I was looking for… but hey… that’s why there is hot sauce on the table.
I ordered a drink called the «son of Craig»… sweet iced tea and Fireball. Yum!
The menu had a lot of items crossed out and there were quite a few things that they didn’t have, but the food we did get was overall very good. The service was casual and very friendly as well.
If I could make one suggestion… bar stools with backs on them PLEASE! Those backless things are terribly uncomfortable and I think people would linger a little longer (and drink a few more) if the chairs were a little more comfortable.
At the risk of offending some people… I really don’t understand the hating that was going on with the food and atmosphere. It’s a casual atmosphere with casual laid back Cajun food — it’s not meant to be a 5-​star culinary masterpiece people… its crawfish. You suck on their heads for God’s sake. Don’t let the crappy reviews delay you from trying this place out. Go and make the decision for yourself — but seriously… when is the last time you had a silver platter (read: yuppy) crawfish boil in the swamp?

I did like the food although pricey for the portion. I’m not from Cajun country so I don’t know what the proper taste should be. Friendly staff. It’s kind if weird to have to order at the register but they print a ticket wanting a tip. Do I tip or not? I’d go back for happy hour.

Ordered $ 50 worth of food to go. 1pound of crawfish, Rocky Sampler, and SeaFood Gumbo.
They didn’t have steamed crabs today.
Not a big fan of the Gumbo
But everything ells was hella good.
Would try this place again.

I have to be honest. I was skeptical about dining here — lots of mixed Unilocal reviews, storefront in a strip mall in Manassas plus I am not a fan of crawfish, but we were meeting friends for dinner and wanted to try something different. This was central to both our homes so we decided to meet here.
I cannot speak to the authenticity of the food at Lagniappe On the Bayou. I can however say that we all thoroughly enjoyed our meals. We started with an appetizer sampler — alligator bites, boudin balls and fried shrimp. While all three were good, the alligator was my favorite. The fried breading was light and not the least bit greasy. The alligator was tender and juicy. It was delicious especially dipped in the spicy Cajun sauce. There was plenty for the four of us to share in this appetizer.
For dinner I was debating between the jambalaya and gumbo. The bartender recommended the jambalaya without hesitation so I went with that. Plus my husband ordered the gumbo so I got to try both anyway! Both dishes were tasty — not as spicy as I would like, but totally understandable and plenty of hot sauce available to spice things up as you like. My only criticism — I would have liked a bit more Andouille in both dishes. Our friends ordered the crawfish boil and a crawfish po’boy. I have never seen so many crawfish on a platter as what came with that boil. My jambalaya and my friends po’boy each came with a side — fried okra it was. This too was lightly breaded and not the least bit greasy. Every meal we ordered was more than enough food.
What’s a meal like this without a nice cold beer? I was happy to see Abita Turbo Dog on draft as well as Purple Haze. In fact, they seem to carry the whole line of Abita beers. My friend (not a beer fan) ordered a rum and coke — apparently the bartender had a generous pour as she needed more coke to lighten the drink. This is not a bad thing.
Prices were very reasonable. This was one of the cheapest nights out we’ve had in awhile. I really debated between 3 stars and 4, but the friendly service and the fact that the owner took the time to ask and listen to our opinions about the restaurant and food took this to 4 stars. If it were not such a long drive, I would definitely stop in on occasion. Great family owned place with a casual feel and tasty food. Loved looking at all the pictures around the restaurant as well.

This place joins the long list of very mediocre restaurants that miss the mark by a mile. I don’t know why restaurants in this area get rated so highly. I guess residents really, really want to enjoy a meal for once and delude themselves into thinking the food is better than it actually is.
First, the gumbo I ordered was lukewarm. I paid $ 12 for a large. However, the «bowl» was more like a small saucer. If I had to guess, I think each spoonful was about 30 cents. The gumbo itself was bland, unoriginal, and sans flavor. I was expecting a darker roux with richer flavors. Instead, I got a lighter roux without any hint of complexity. We also ordered Crawfish E’touffee. Same here. Bland, lukewarm, small portions, and bereft of bold flavors.
The ambience is very strange. The seating is bizarrely laid out with very few tables and a long high table with bar stools. You order at a counter and the sit down and wait (a while) for your food. It is VERY casual and has an «in-​and-​out» lunch crowd type vibe. The only redeeming factor is they serve the full line of Abita Brewery beers.
I am from the south and have travelled extensivelly in Louisiana. I love Cajun food and (still) crave a good bowl of gumbo. This place was a disappointment. Add this to the list of NoVa eateries that get high reviews despite being mediocre at best.

My husband and I stopped in during crawfish season and were very pleased, that’s why I gave them at least two stars.
Our next visit resulted in over 30 minutes of waiting to get our order with only two people ahead of us and the quality of the food was sorely lacking. Not much seasoning or spice at all. My order of beans and rice was more like bean paste over dry rice. Three tiny pieces of sausage and no ‘gravy’ to speak of, literally just a dry paste of beans. You don’t have to be from the south to know this was gross.
It may have been a family recipe, but it ended up in the garbage. We won’t be back until crawfish season.

Casual, friendly, and very solid food. I had the kids with me and the fried pickles were a huge hit. You can enjoy a beer at the bar, which I must say was a great selection of brews. A steady stream of patrons flowed through while we ate, but it never felt crowded. My son (5) raved about the catfish and still requests it daily. I had the crawfish étouffée… simply awesome. I’ve never been to Louisiana, but this was a great small step. A couple next to us had a huge plate of steamed crawfish AND a plate of crabs. They were from Louisiana and thoroughly loved the meal. I’d say you must try this place out first thing. We’ll be back without hesitation.

Well, I said I would write an update after I tried the catfish, and I definitely think they are deserving of a better rating because of the catfish alone. It is not as crispy as I like, but it is definitely fresh and has a great clean flavor. Some catfish tastes like the lake it was fished out of it, Lagniappe’s catfish tastes like it was fished out of a bottle of Aquafina. Superb!
I also want to comment on the red (white) beans and rice — like the dirty rice it is seasoned well but not over spicy. Tis yummy! Also, two thumbs up on the fresh brewed iced tea — thank you for not using that instant crap that some of the lazier restaurants around here try to get away with.
The baskets are a little over $ 10 with a drink, so not a cheap lunch but it hits the spot.
Lots of menu options with all your cajun favorites — except for Natchitoches meat pies *hint hint*. ;)
I will definitely be back next time I have a hankerin’ for catfish.

I’ve never written a review on Unilocal before but after eating at Lagniappe On the Bayou and reading other reviews, I felt compelled to write my first one.
We went there for the first time last Saturday. We got a pound of crawfish to share, Sausage and Chicken gumbo, Jambalaya, and Crawfish E’touffee. We were quite pleased with the amount of spices and flavor of each dish. The flavor of the crawfish boil was very, very good.
Dinner plans for Sunday night fell through so we ended up going back again so we could get some more crawfish (one pound split between us just wet our appetite). We didn’t get there until 6pm or so and unfortunately they ran out of crawfish about 10 mins before we got there. Understandable with it being two hours before they close on the last day they’re serving them the weekend.
We ended up getting their Rocky Sampler, Fried Oyster Basket, Fried Shrimp Basket, and a Fried Oyster Po’Boy. The Gator Bites were excellent. We had had them before at another local place and they were like chewing on rubber. Not these. These were good sized pieces too. Really good with the sauce they give you. The Fried Crawfish in the sampler was swapped out for shrimp since they were out of crawfish but wow were they good. Really good. Same with the ones that came in the basket. They were fried and moist but not oily. Not quite sure how they pulled off that combination but they did it well. The Boudin Balls, Oyster Basket and the Po’Boy were really good as well.
To help out first timers to this place, let me tell you a few things to expect (assuming my two visits so far are standard for this place).
When you walk in, you go to the counter, get a menu, then either sit down or stand around figuring out what you want. Once you’ve figured it out, you walk up to the register to place your order. When your food is ready, they call your name and you go get it. Not a big deal, but could be a surprise if you’re expecting waiters and waitresses like most local places. I think they should offer small pieces of paper and golf pencils or something like that for people to write down what everybody at the table wants, but that’s just me and my bad memory.
Authentic Cajun food. Some have commented that this isn’t authentic Cajun food. What does that mean? Can someone explain what authentic American meatloaf is? If you go to 20 houses in America and have them make meatloaf for you, you’re probably going to get 20 very different things. Just because these family recipes for Cajun food aren’t exactly like what you had when you were in Louisiana, doesn’t mean they’re not authentic. If authentic Cajun people came up with these Cajun recipes then it’s authentic Cajun food. Sorry if it doesn’t match up to your exact expectations.
Pictures on the website show plates so they don’t quite match what you get. I don’t know why they decided to do this or if it was a temporary thing, but just about everything here is served to go in Styrofoam containers.
Seating. There are a few tables on one side of the room and a big long table with barstools on either side on the other side of the room. We’ve sat at both. The big long table is kind of a family style seating arrangement where you may be sitting with others. It didn’t seem to bother anyone there, ourselves included, but it was a bit of a surprise when we first walked in.
We were very pleased with both of our visits to this place so far. We plan on making a return trip this weekend to get more crawfish. Very happy to have this place in the area and I highly recommend it. But remember and learn from my mistake: If you want crawfish, go early in the weekend to make sure they haven’t run out!

I guess my lack of credibility pissed off certain people on here, so to be clear: I was born and raised in New Orleans, lived there until three years ago when I moved here. After college and prior to my move to DC, I managed an extremely well-​known seafood restaurant.
Please continue with your Unilocal reviews since you have friends from the area, but stop threatening me in direct messages.

I’ve been to (and spent considerable time in) Louisiana and Alabama, so when I found out about this restaurant opening near me, I was so excited. Unfortunately, I wasn’t all too pleased with the food. I tried a shrimp po’ boy for carry out. The shrimp were bland and undercooked! The bread was dry. It also took a pretty long time even though it was a weekday.
I was going to give this restaurant my typical 3 star review for okay service and forgettable food, until I read some of the other reviews. SP’s review SHOCKED me that the owner would be so rude and terrible to a customer, especially starting out. Who sends a letter to a customer like that! And another review calling her fat and a bad cook? Avoid this place at all costs. Who do they think they are?! Luckily I paid in cash and I won’t give out too many details about myself so they can’t track me down or anything, but jeez what a-​holes.

After much reflection, I’ve decided to re-​post a review because I have a right to be heard. Here are the facts:
1. I’ve eaten there twice. Both times, I’ve had the fried oyster po’boy and the fried okra.
2. I’ve written two reviews. The first was 2*, the second was 1*.
3. I personally did not enjoy my sandwiches and wrote about them in my reviews. I also submitted a picture of the fried okra with my second review to illustrate a point.
4. After the first review, another reviewer (Mike O.) insinuated that negative reviewers are idiots and have been put on some sort of Wall of Shame. Yet another reviewer (James C.) sent me an offensive private message calling me stupid and fat… oh, and a bad cook.
5. The restaurant owner wrote me a letter basically telling me to stay away and that my picture has been posted in her kitchen and store, had her entire staff sign it, and mailed it to my home. I am assuming she took my name from my credit card slip, Googled me, and found my home address.
6. In the wake of receiving the letter, I deleted my reviews because I was scared that everyone on staff at the restaurant may have my home address.
I’ve discussed my options with Unilocal,fellow Unilocal reviewers, and friends, all the while omitting the name of the restaurant because I’ve been accused of slander and defamation. Here is my new review:
«The restaurant is VERY nicely decorated and the staff was very kind and helpful both times I went. Their regulars seem to really enjoy the place and the owners are extremely proud of their family recipes. The red remoulade was delicious and my husband really enjoyed his fried shrimp. It is truly a nice option to all of the Woodbridge chain restaurants IF you enjoy their food. I did not enjoy the oyster po’boy nor did I enjoy the fried okra.»
I do not want this family restaurant to fail. I don’t want ANY small business to fail, especially in this economy. I went back the second time, Mike O, because the owner asked me to give them a second chance after they went back to getting different oysters. James C, I may be fat, but I’m a GREAT cook.
I ENCOURAGE other people to come here and try the food. Taste whatever suits your fancy from their extensive menu. My opinion is just that: MY opinion. If you choose to write a less-​than-​stellar review, you probably want to consider paying in cash.

The problem with opening a new restaurant in the DC area is everyone thinks they are an expert. The only thing worse than that is coming down to the ‘burbs and opening a restaurant and having a bunch of pretentious would-​be «foodies» tell you how to cook your family recipes.
I have many friends from Louisiana, and I have had Cajun and Creole all kinds of different ways. Some are awesome; others, well, I don’t find myself running back for more.
After reading the good reviews and the plenty of available hater reviews, I had an urge for some good food of the Bayou and decide to give Lagniappe a try. I was not disappointed.
I ordered the gator bites (first time I have seen gator on a menu since I left Okinawa), the white beans and rice, and the chicken gumbo.
Contrary to others who apparently think you should get an entire gator tail, the portion was more than enough for two people (as an APPETIZER), and a small meal for one person. I ate it alone and was more than satisfied. The cup of house sauce that came with it was actually the perfect amount. If you need more, then you might as well just drink the sauce by itself, because you are obviously not ordering the gator for its flavor at that point. And, the $ 13 market price for the amount you get is a deal.
The white beans and rice were really good as well. And for a $ 5 side item, it is nearly a meal alone as well! There were plenty of beans to mix with the rice, and the dish was well seasoned with the right amount of sausage. Any more, and I think it would have been a sausage and rice dish with white beans. The only «complaint» I would make, if you call it that, would be that the container is filled to the brim and you have to eat down the side a little to make enough room to mix everything together. Or, you can just dump it into a bowl at home (if you take out) and mix it up that way. For a «side item» it was more than enough for two, and, as I mentioned before, enough for a small meal for one.
On to the star. The gumbo was pretty darn good. I ordered the large and barely ate a quarter of it as I was already full from the previous two items. I think of gumbo as one of those dishes that is always better the next day, anyway. But, at first taste, it was very good as well. Lots and lots of chicken, sausage, rice, okra, etc. It had just the right amount of flavor and spice, but not enough to be over powering or really hot (spicy-​hot, that is). I am not sure who is serving up everyone else’s gumbo on here, but there was more than enough meat in mine. Now, I will say that I have a friend that makes an amazing gumbo at home, but it is obviously HER recipe not THEIR recipe. And for not having any other gumbo/​po’ boy options in the area, this one is pretty much as good as it gets.
I went on a Monday evening and there was no crowd, the place was quiet, very nicely decorated, and the staff was really friendly and helpful with the menu. I don’t think I waited anymore than 15 minutes for my food, and was back home in no time to enjoy my dinner.
I look forward to going back and trying out the rest of the menu over time, but as far as the basics go so far, Lagniappe is definitely going to be my go-​to place when I am in the mood for some good Cajun comfort food.

My wife and me have been eagerly awaiting the opening. We finally went there tonight (Sat) for dinner.
We got there about 530 and ordered a Crawfish PoBoy, some Chicken and Sausage Gumbo and Dirty Rice. It took almost 30 minutes for my PoBoy and the Dirty Rice to come out. Unfortunately it took about another 15 minutes for the Gumbo. The restaurant was crowded and there were a lot of people being told that the restaurant had sold out of a lot of dishes. It was their first Saturday night service, I’d expected some hick-​ups but 45 minutes for Gumbo?
That said, the PoBoy and Gumbo were GREAT!!! No tomatoes in the gumbo though. I know that’s a controversial point from Parish to Parish but we like em! The Dirty Rice was a bit dry but some hot sauce helped that out. Sadly no Crystal sauce.
I am sure that they will get past the kitchen problems. We will definitely be back to try some more dishes!