Louisiana Cafe

closed. out of business.

Not much to say of this place. Jumbalaya terrible. Slow service. Overpriced. bad location.

My husband and I ate here for lunch today and let me tell you… the customer service was very friendly!
Our waitress (part owner) greeted us at the door, always paid attention to our table (i.e. made sure we had full drinks, asked how everything was, quick to grab condiments when asked), and was knowledgeable about the menu. Her son (I’m assuming also part owner) also came around to make sure we were doing okay as the restaurant (and his mom… and I know it was his mom, because he called her «Mom») started to get busier. Many moons ago, when I was a waitress, I always tried to make sure my tables were happy with their food and with my service, so I appreciated the constant check-​ins.
Now let’s move on to my favorite part-​the food!
The menu was small, but I had done my research and didn’t expect a 3-​pager to look over. I had read that their «gator chips» (fried pickles) and fried chicken were highly recommended. Shame on me for not trying either (I was on my lunch and didn’t want to have to go back to the office asking my boss for a nap because of all the fried goodness I had just eaten). Oh well… I’ll try them when I go back for dinner and can quickly change into sweat pants after!
My Entrée
I got their sassy shrimp entrée with cole slaw and french fries. The shrimp was a little over done (chewy) and the seasoning was okay. I ended up using hot sauce with the shrimp because I needed more flavor and I like my food spicy. The cole slaw was good. Nothing fabulous and the fries were regular crinkle cut with seasoning on them. My lunch was good, but nothing to brag about.
My husband’s entrée
My husband on the other hand go their craw-​fish étouffée and let me tell you… this was the balls! The meal is a mixture of craw-​fish, sausage, and vegetables in a roux based gravy served with rice and bread. OMG! So good! I think I ate more of his entrée than I did my own!
All in all, I would say I would definitely go back. I didn’t try any of their staple dishes, so I don’t think I got the full experience of the restaurant, so I will definitely be going back.
The only drawback is that I thought the Café was a bit pricey. We paid almost $ 40 for the two of us… to eat lunch! Yikes! I would say definitely worth a try though!

Ms T and I had been to Louisiana Café once before in the old location for dinner and I had been there once to buy two gallons of potato salad for a gumbo-​off and party at work. A woman I worked with is from New Orleans and liked their potato salad. We had been meaning to get back and found that they had moved, so tracked them down in their new location, which by the way, is a little obscure.
The place is run by super friendly people, no doubt a family, so service is very attentive. We ordered shrimp étouffée and fried chicken (spicy) along with collards, potato salad and fried okra. They fry the chicken to order, so there is a little wait, but that is not a problem for me. I understand this is not KFC.
While there were shortcomings with some of our items, the food was solid, homemade stuff and was infinitely better than anything we had at Sweetie Pie’s. The greens were excellent, well flavored with both sausage and ham hocks. They had a hint of cayenne. The fried okra were perfect I would say, hot, fresh and lightly salted. The coating was not heavy and the okra flavor came through. The fried chicken was hot and fresh as it should be, cooked to order. The coating was light and crisp, salt was just about right and it was juicy. It was not fiery hot, but you could feel a little spice. This was good fried chicken.
On a more mediocre note, the potato salad recipe has changed from the two gallons of creamy, dill flavored stuff I bought several years ago. This was fairly bland without any of the dill. The potatoes were very grainy, perhaps they use russets. It was a little sweet. I dumped hot sauce all over it and made it passable. The étouffée was a weak effort. It really lacked seafood flavor and I suspect was not made with shrimp stock. It had good black pepper tones, but that is about the only flavor. It was more like peppered cream gravy. It also was made with a very light roux. My rule is darker roux for seafood and I would use at least medium brown if not dark red-​brown, that is the way I like it. The roux should contribute to the flavor, not just be a thickening. But then I have not yet found a restaurant trying to do Cajun in St Louis that makes dark enough roux for my taste.
Finally, the food is a little pricy for what we got. I had two fairly small pieces of chicken with two fairly small sides for $ 11. I would have been quite happy with one more piece of chicken and I could have used a larger serving of the delicious collards and I am not really a big eater. The shrimp was not excessive in the étouffée either and did not have much flavor. That is probably an issue with trying to serve shrimp in St Louis. I guess they are not fresh local shrimp!
So I would certainly return, probably without Ms T. I will focus on their strong points like the chicken. You can get 8 pieces and two large sides for about $ 19 and that would be a good feed and feels like a better deal. I loved the greens and would sample several other sides. This is one of those places that I really want to succeed and I plan to test more of the menu.

Hard to find but worth the drive. I had the fried chicken and dirty rice with cornbread, my husband had the sausage po boy, fries and beignets. This is not a place you go if you are in a hurry everything is made to order, but we both agreed well worth the wait. The chicken was melt in your mouth good, my husband liked his sandwich and fries and the beignets were pretty tastey. I cannot give it 5 stars because they were out of crawfish and was hard to find, the staff was very friendly and attentive it is a family run business and we liked the overall feel of the place we will be back for more.

I had a great experience at their new location in St Peters. I’ve seen several negative post and hope they will give this place another try. I used to eat fairly regularly basis at Tim’s old place near the gas station on Hwy N and 40 and was alway surprised how well their service was. I visited their old location in an attempt to find their new place as he had told me they were going to relocate. I visited their new location which is in an area that I wouldn’t expect a restaurant to be. The parking lot is huge and the space is 3X as large. I was greeted by two attendants and took my to-​go order. I was able to meet David the new owner. The menu and recipes are still the same but they will have their startup struggles like any new business will. I wish them all the luck as I missed their fried chicken and honestly everything they serve. The gator chips-​fried pickles were perfect. The fried catfish was cooked to perfection. The red beans and rice were fabulous as usual and the gumbo was loaded with chicken and sausage. The folks in St Peters should consider themselves blessed to have this location close to them and I will now make special trips to pick up some awesome southern-​cajun style food on a regular basis.

I love creole food, and this place is not it. To be fair I did not get to sample much of the menu on my visit. Ordered a crawfish dish — out of crawfish, ordered oysters — out of oysters, you see the pattern. Fried pickle appetizer was salty and not edible. Settled on «Louisiana Fried Chicken» for dinner — two small pieces — only one of my two sides ever made it to the table, and the chicken thigh on my plate was not fully cooked, literally bloody. Ordered the cajun kabob, overpriced, overcooked everything, missing ingredients. Long story short, go somewhere else.

With the recommendation of a friend, my fiancé and I decided to have dinner at the Louisiana Café and we were beyond impressed. The service was quick, friendly, very prompt. The fried green beans and okra was very good and not over battered as some restaurants tend to do. The owner David was very friendly even joking with family about using a butcher knife to cut corn cobs.
Between the table we had the Gumbo, shrimp étouffée, and Chicken strips which were all very well done and authentic. Besides food, the atmosphere was very nice and laid back. The radio played traditional Cajun music, jazz, and blues to set the right mood for your big easy feasting delight. Definitely will return to try more of the delicious food.

Been meaning to try this place for some time. Tried the shrimp PO-​Boy and it was pretty good, not great. I will go back and try the fried chicken which I’ve heard is excellent and also want to try the shrimp étouffée. I hope the place makes it because the location is bad and not visible from Jungermann. The last few places in this spot didn’t last long. There was a Chinese restaurant that was successful in the Chesterfield valley that didn’t make it here and I’ll bet it was due to the poor location, not the food.

The wait for our food was over an hour. There was only 1 other table when we arrived so not sure why the food was so slow. The Jambalaya, if you even dare call is that, was dirty rice with some dry chicken and dry sausage mixed in. By far the worst Jambalaya I have ever had. One of the guys with us ordered Dirty Rice as a side and it was the same stuff as the so called Jambalaya. I’ll stick with Gulf Shores on Olive. That is good cajun food. This, sadly, is not!

Luv it luv it Luv it!!! Never eaten anything here that we didn’t LOVE.
Étouffée, gumbo, catfish, corn dogs, French fries, collard greens, Beignets, it’s all so yum, !
And now that they are right around the corner from us in st peters… we’ll be back more often. Next, fried chicken!

Was pleased to learn that the restaurant moved from Dardenne Prairie to St. Peters. The restaurant quadrupled in space and was nearly deserted on a Thursday night (7÷19÷12) although there were multiple to go orders while we were there. Greeted warmly and had great, attentive service. Started the meal with Gator Chip (deep fried pickles). These were in a lighter breading than other places and were surprisingly crispy. Definitely ordering these again!
Ordered the 8 piece sicy Cajun fried chicken with fried corn, red beans and rice and dirty rice for sides. Also shared a chicken and a fried shrimp po-​boy. The po-​boys came with wonderful fries with a hint of spice to them. Visited with David the owner while waiting for our food. Very nice guy! He warned us the chicken would be hot when it came out and boy, was it! It was also juicy, flavorful and perfectly cooked. Red beans and rice took me back to my Louisiana days. David brought out a small sample of shrimp étouffée for me to try and I would swear that the lunch ladies from West Monroe High School were working in the back! Soooo good. Po-​boys were excellent, soft bread, creamy not too sweet and not too vinegar-​y coleslaw on top. Beignet’s for dessert topped off the meal. Definitely coming back again!

Fried gator po boy, fried oyster app, frog legs and red beans and rice — all delicious! Party of four, service was great. Not sure what happened with previous posters and their negative experiences, but I’ve ate here three times and always had a great experience. Only negative is some of their items are overpriced — $ 12 for small oyster app. Very tasty nonetheless.

Update: Stopped by for dinner last night, and the service was VASTLY improved. I didn’t see any of the people working from last time, and the ladies behind the counter were pleasant and quick AND knew how to work the computer system. I was tempted to ask them WTF was going on the last time I was there. No angry customers in sight, either. I finally got my Jambalaya (ordered and received in under 10 minutes, no less!) However, the Jambalaya was incredibly, insanely bland. For $ 11, I got a small portion that tasted like rice ever so slightly seasoned, with a few bits of sausage and chicken. Meh. Was not impressed, and I took four bites and put the rest in the fridge. Still not sure what to think about this place food-​wise. :(Upped to two stars, but still not great due to the food. Should I try again? I’m really wanting to like this place.
I was a fan of the old Louisiana Café by the gas station off hwy 40, and, in fact, was excited to find out that when I got my new job, Louisiana Café served lunch at our office once a week! Then they closed, and I was bummed. Fast forward several months, and our office admin assistant notified everyone they had opened a new location in St. Peters! Yay! I made plans to go there with my husband that very evening.
The new location was a little difficult to find, it can’t bee seen off the main road… not sure how that is going to hold up for attracting new customers. My husband and I walk in and we noticed how much larger the new place is (although it was not busy at all that night). We waited around for quite some time before one of the waitresses came over and helped us. We said we wanted to place a to-​go order. She looked flustered and said she would be right back. Slightly annoyed, we helped ourselves to one of the menus at the register and started deciding on what we wanted.
We had decided on Jambalaya, Crawfish Etoufee, Gator Chips, and Red Beans and Rice. After several more minutes, the server reappeared to write down our order. After rattling off what we wanted, we were informed they were out of Jambalaya, Etoufee, and probably Gator Chips, but she wasn’t sure. We asked if they ran out of Jambalaya, and she said «Yeah, something like that.» ??? What does that mean??? My guess is they messed up making it that day and had to scrap it. By now we are slightly even more annoyed, and we decide to give the menu another go and revise our order. By now we had been inside for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, a line of customers start piling up at the register to check out. As my husband is looking over the menu, I notice these other customers are ANGRY.
The first group, after quite a wait at the register to get some assistance, demand the Manager and then go off about how they waited an hour for their food, and then when they got it their orders were all wrong and the food was cold. They refused to pay for their meal because they didn’t eat it, and left. The second group of customers gets ignored by both the waitress and Manager at the register as both of the two get wrapped up in arguing on how to use the computer system for orders. The waitress was visibly annoyed and was being sarcastic with the manager in front of everyone waiting in line.
I decide to go sit down in the waiting area and watch as the waitress finally scribbles down my husband’s revised order, the second group of customers at the register voice their annoyance with their experience and leave, and then the waitress and manager start arguing over the computer system again. At this point I’m SERIOUSLY doubting my decision to come here for dinner… and at that moment, another group of customers leave. One of them looked at me, leaned down and said «Honey, we’ve been waiting for our food for an hour… we’re giving up, and I suggest you do too.» And they walked out! I couldn’t believe it! That sealed the deal for me. My husband and I high-​tailed it out of there and opted to get BBQ instead before we starved to death.
I don’t understand what was going on here. I seriously hope that this was a case of new management and the first opening days of a new restaurant where things are bound to go wrong with inexperienced staff. If not, this place needs an intervention from Robert Irvine and Restaurant: Impossible… STAT. Depending how adventurous I’m feeling, I might give it another go in a month to see what’s up and revise my review here… until then, I’m staying far, far away.

I love to find a little really cool restaurant that seems to be tucked away somewhere, maybe isn’t marketed to well — except by word of mouth and absolutely great food.
Louisiana Café fills the bill.
When I first went in to the old location, I was welcomed in a very warm way, as if I were walking into a smalltown roadside café down in Louisiana Cajun Bayou country. I really enjoy that. When they discovered it was my first visit, they put a tray in front of me with six entrée tasting samples. How cool is that? Jambalaya, Crawfish Etoufee, Red Beans and Rice… everything was great. Therein lies the dilemna.
I had been invited to a Cajun wedding in a South Louisianna Parish, while stationed at Keesler AFB. The food was awesome and the long line of beautiful Cajun girls waiting to dance with me in my cool Air Force blue uniform was also awesome… I fell in love with Cajun food and young women there and then.
The red beans and rice has spices and fine bits of peppers to give the dish a tasty, just right spicy flavor. The spicy pork chops were a delish dish.
Can’t wait to visit the new location by Jungermann and McClay. The picture of the interior on Unilocal looks like they did the interior just right. Employees of the former owner, who moved back to Cajun Country, have taken over, and from what I hear, have recaptured all that was right at the old location and taken it up a notch, as Emeril would say.

Never got to this at its old location off 64 in O’Fallon, next to a gas station. The new location is walking distance from my place, for now. Appreciated they were open until 10 pm on Sat. A little hard to find, can’t be seen easily from the street, turn next to Valvoline. Pretty limited menu. I wish they had muffuletta sandwiches, still looking for a good one in StL. Ended up with a catfish platter, very crunchy, with more breading than I’d prefer. Side of red beans and rice ok, potato salad was better. The beignets, which the hs-​age server kept mispronouncing, were quite good. Not bad overall. I’d also like to see homemade tartar sauce instead of Sysco packets, it’s really not hard to do, and it makes a real difference!

I just had lunch here — um, can I redo the last two hours of my life and enjoy my lunch all over again? I want to relive what I just experienced.
What I ordered: shrimp étouffée, a bowl of gumbo and sweet iced tea. Six words: H-​E-​A-​V-​E-​N. The tastes were absolutely amazing; I even found some crab legs in my gumbo for flavor … unbelievable.
The place is big, cozy and friendly. David was the manager on duty, I believe, and he’s an awesome guy.
This is exactly the kind of Cajun place I’ve been looking for in the St. Peters/​St. Charles area.

«Laissez les bon temps rouler»
New location! Long awaited return of Louisiana Café! Tucked just off of Jungermann Road and McClay.
The catfish, the crawfish etouffée, and the jambalaya with sausage is the taste of New Orleans. The gumbo, is as good as it gets. It’s dark, rich, earthy, full of sausage, — whatever might be on hand. It’s a filé gumbo, distinctively seasoned and it is superb.
The fried chicken is very good, crispy-​crusted and tender and moist on the inside. It’s not too spicy, and it does make a fine meal.
If you long for GREAT Louisiana Food in St Louis this the place.
C’est tout

Same delicious food at this new location. Great, friendly owners and staff. If you like Cajun, this is the place to be. Spicy, fresh and tasty. In addition they have the best fried chicken I have ever had. The only down side is that the service tends to be slow. Call ahead if you are in a hurry at lunch time. Otherwise, relax and enjoy.