The Bayou

On a business trip to Monett, MO I kept hearing about this cajun/​creole restaurant called The Bayou. Honestly, I was a skeptic. Cajun/​Creole style food in Missouri??? Indeed, and some of the best I’ve had in a while.
The service was good with a friendly helpful wait staff, but the food is the real drawing card.
I ordered the gumbo as an appetizer. I will admit, it was the least favorite of my meal, but it wasn’t bad. For my taste, the roux wasn’t dark enough, which didn’t impart a very deep, rich flavor. I’m going to chalk it up to a matter of personal taste. Gumbo is made 1000 different ways and perhaps that’s the way the chef at Bayou makes his/​hers.
The shrimp Po’Boy was delicious! It was well seasoned and included a generous helping of shrimp. The bread was so fresh and crusty. It was exactly like the real Po’Boy bread you get in New Orleans… very legit.
Lastly, was the great Bread Pudding. It was very tasty and a nice finish to my meal.
The Bayou is the real deal for Louisiana style Cajun/​Creole food in Missouri!

I gave The Bayou 2 stars mainly because of the service. When we walked in we had to wait to be seated. We then waited to have our dinner order taken. Then we waited for our food to come out. Then we had to wait for our ticket. I had to yell at another server to tell our server that we were ready. Our entire meal took an hour and a half! We enjoyed our food, but the service left a bad taste in our mouth.

Although the GPS took us a different direction then it really was… it was worth the chaos. We had the reds and rice and the fried shrimp po-​boy. VERY GOOD! Loved the balcony about the dining area… made us feel like someone from NOLA was running the place. Our server Christopher was good, polite and really trying to make everyone happy. Lance was talking to someone so I had to ask… you’re not from here? Yep, that’s right, he is a Louisiana boy! Thanks for taking the time to visit with us and reminisce. We aren’t from NOLA but it is our home away from home with family business there. We will definitely be back on a Saturday for the crawfish boil!!! And we will definitely bring some Missouri folks with us. I would like to have heard a bit of the cajun music we so love but maybe next time. Everyone was definitely on their southern hospitality best!

We came to Monett on business. The Bayou was recommended as a good restaurant by the hotel front desk. I had a cup of gumbo and the blackened salmon. Though both were very flavorful the heat was not over powering. I would describe them as zesty. Although the lack of powerful capsaicin was a bit of a disappointment to me the others in my party were grateful. Plus they did have the requisite materials to spice it up. The bread pudding was also very good. The atmosphere is a little bit split-​personality; there is the restaurant in the front and the back room is a bar. We were there during Mardi Gras so the waitstaff was all decked out. There was live music in the bar and you could hear it in the restaurant. It was pretty good beer drinking music, but nothing to write more on. I would definitely recommend this place to others.

Not the least bit impressed. Heard about the restaurant in our local current times. We decided to try it out, so we drove a hour to get there. Waited awhile and finally was seated, waited forever for food. Ordered seafood platter, wanted crawfish as well. They were out of crawfish, oysters, jalapeño cornbread, coleslaw, and alligator. Ordered several items and they happened to be out of those items, but still charged us for them. 6 people ate and the bill was $ 70. I was very disappointed. I won’t go back I felt like I had been stolen from. My money is good why can’t I get what I order?

Love love love this place! Food is always amazing and you couldn’t ask for a friendly better staff! COME TO SPRINGFIELD! :)

Good food and drinks best hot wings around and the shrimp boil is amazing! The service is some what lacking depending on who is working.

Having lived New Orleans, I was looking forward to a great meal. I was disappointed. The cole slaw was the only item that I found tasty. The fried crawfish was mediocre at best. The waitress acted as if she would rather not be bothered. I will not be a return customer.

Had a meal there a couple of years ago and swore we would never go back. Decided to give it another shot last night. I had the catfish basket which came with several nice choices of sides. The fish was hot and not dry and the batter was crunchy and had good flavor. My husbands rib eye steak was excellent considering this is not a steakhouse. The food was all presented well and our waiter was friendly and very helpful. We will return.

Want some overpriced «Cajun» food? You got it! Want a good olé time with a fun atmosphere? If you’re a regular here, you got it (other wise, you’re in the wrong place). Want to be treated with some dignity and respect? I hope you’re not a woman, because you’ll probably strike out there, too. From former employees to recently former patrons the list of complaints I have heard about the owner and other staff members just keeps getting better and better!
This place is well known for being clique-​ish and failing to treat women like people (especially those who work there). Best of all? They will (and have on more than one occasion) defend men putting hands on women in an unwelcome way! The place really deserves a worse review than this, but I can’t give it less than one star.
The only redeeming feature here is a few employees that are still there. The owner and Tj? Well those words I don’t think I am allowed to say on here.
Ps-don’t try the gator or the salmon. One made me pule and the other made me sad it was called alligator.

Amazing food. I recommend starting with alligator tail and a mother’s local to wash it down. The catfish po boy for my main meal with sweet potato fries on the side. Service was second to none in a 50 mile radius.

Highly recommend! Stopped in for lunch with a co worker. Had the muffuletta and it was awesome. Co worker had red beans and rice and salad. I have family in Slidell, LA so right away I recognized the waiter’s accent right away. This is the real deal. On Saturdays they have crawfish and shrimp boil. Definitely taking my wife.

This is a 2 sided review.
The food is outstanding. I love it. I have the Gator Appetizer that was great. I will say it is pricy, but it is worth it. 5 star food for sure
My bone of contention is the service. They ran my card twice. The server we had was great. the service, to be brutal, was slow at best. the restaurant, for a Friday Night at 7pm. Due to this fact, i won’t go back, and it is only because of the service.
Mistakes like this are truly not acceptable. The food was worth the hour drive. the week it took to straighten out my bank is another.
and I the topper is i really got the feeling that what had happened wasn’t a big deal. That’s not the way to handle a situation like this. I did not ask for anything, but, I also realize that an offer would not have been out of the question.

We Love this place! Unfortunately we moved out of state, but while living in Springfield this was our favorite place to eat! The Muffuletta and PoBoys are off the hook. The chef comes straight from New Orleans, so it’s truly authentic cajun food. Everything is tastes very fresh!

it’s pretty sad that you had to steal the name of mother’s (a genuine new orleans institution) signature poboy, the ferdi special … a name that has significant meaning to mother’s, but for you it’s nothing more than stealing a trademark. tsk tsk tsk

Awesome authentic New Orleans food. The best you will find outside of New Orleans.

Hello old friend, oh how I have missed your sweet delicious southern cooking. You remind me of home… just without the yelling, the name calling and the overall cruelty to one another.
I went here for lunch and was talked into the Ferd sandwich. An old favorite, it consists of Italian roast beef (IE Dago) crisped ham on a french baguette. I ordered mine with slaw on it instead of cabbage and I almost forget why I let New Orleans. They also have New Orleans gumbo that is not to be confused with creole gumbo. I am such a fan of this little place I am going to take my girlfriend here. If you are reading this after April 2^nd then she will be my wife (I am going to start to introduce her as my first wife).
My server was Solitaire and she was amazing. She stopped by no less than 8 times to make sure we didn’t need or want anything. I was very impressed with her and even a bit smitten by the end.
So when you get a cravin for some amazing food from the best place on earth jump on down to Monett (I know… who knew they had something) and cruise over to the Lunchbox, hell you may even get to play a little solitaire while your there.

Went in quite some time ago (I think they had just opened) — it was good, but nothing special. A friend convinced us to join him there for Karaōke this past Friday night, so we went early to eat first. EVERYTHING was OUTSTANDING — first thing I’ve found in this area even CLOSE to genuine creole/​cajun dishes since moving up here from DEEP SE Texas/​SW Louisiana area. Crabcakes were awesome, as was the Fried Catfish & Alligator. Some of the BEST fried alligator I’ve EVER had in fact. The meatballs in the spaghetti were exceptionally good. The gumbo was really more of a veggie soup w/​some sausage and a very little bit of seafood as a garnish more than an ingredient — a very thin & light roux, tasting like not much more than chicken stock to be honest. BUT, it was very good — just not my idea of gumbo. The bread pudding was absolutely sinful it was so delicious!!! For two fatboys to walk out full as ticks for under 60.00 bucks (Incl Tip) I thought it was EXTREMELY reasonable and well worth it. And the Karaōke DJ that came in later did a great job with the small crowd that stayed that evening. Will DEFINITELY be going back.

This is the same establishment as the Bayou Lunchbox, previously on Dairy Street, but in a bigger space with a bigger menu.
This restaurant is nothing short of phenomenal. The food and service quality is consistently high. I’ve been here over a half dozen times, most recent being 4÷29÷11 and they never disappoint. This is New Orleans in Southwest Missouri and I’ve driven over an hour out of my way just for the jambalaya and gumbo!
The owner and staff are very friendly and willing to bring you a sample if you aren’t sure. Everything is made fresh daily in the kitchen and seafood is brought in fresh. Portions are generous and prices are very reasonable. You can even buy a quart of your favorite to go.
Personal favorite: A cup of gumbo or jambalaya, followed by a Catfish Po’boy (ask them to dress it with slaw), and some bread pudding. You could also easily grab a cup of red beans and rice, gumbo, and jambalaya and make a meal of it. You’ll be stuffed!
There’s nothing bad on this menu folks!