The Big Easy

I went in expecting a memorable meal and I found more of a chain experience. It’s really crowded and the food is really not that special. However, they have good deals, a great, fun setting and great draughts.

Once in awhile, it’s great to treat yourself to a big classic surf and turf meal. My friends and I came here for a pre-​Christmas meal thanks for a gift certificate from his mum. In all honesty, this place is a bit touristy, too pricy, and only for special occasions.
The food was decent but nothing truly memorable. Lobsters, Ribs, Steak is tricky to get wrong if you know what you’re doing. What I really enjoy is the selection of Whiskey they have. The servers were friendly and very patient with us. Love the western décor and music.
A little note is that you may want to reserve a table to ensure that you get a seat. They’re normally packed!

I’m a big fan of The Big Easy. The Big Easy first opened its doors on the Kings Road before launching this ‘bigger little sibling’ in Covent Garden. I’ve never been to the King’s Road location, but the Covent Garden restaurant is an incredible building. It is built into an old electrical power station, the space dates back to 1883 when it was the HQ for the Charing Cross & Strand Electricity Supply Company.
While it’s not a perfect replication of true American BBQ, the smokiness is really what sets Big Easy apart from other London wannabe bbq joints — especially when it comes to their burger. It’s the most flavourful beef patty that I’ve had in London, full stop. It’s as if the grill tops have been infused with months and months of wood smoke and various other cuts of beef, pork, and chicken — and then when they cook a burger, the grill imparts that melting-​pot of flavours into the beef.
The «Smokehouse Burger» comes served atop of some crispy veg and fried onions and topped with melted and smoked cheese, BBQ sauce, and THICK cut bacon. They also offer BBQ pulled chicken, pulled pork or chopped brisket sandwiches. All of these plus the beef Smokehouse burger sit on one of my «best value in London» lunch/​pre-​theatre deals.
For £10 (between noon-​6pm or from 10pm-​close) Monday through Friday, you can pair one of these sandwiches with a good-​sized starter or desert cupcake for just ten quid! A REALLY good deal for London prices.
If you are a hardcore BBQ fan, I highly recommend the huge meat feasts from the Big Easy Pit. The BBQ Blow Out Platter is the most American of the over-​eating you can do, and for just under £20 per person you get a massive deal for that. They serve pit-​smoked chicken, St Louis pork ribs, and Carolina pulled pork with cornbread and fries in massive amounts on an upside-​down trash bin lid. It’s a meat lover’s dream… AND you can add brisket to that mix for another £3.I talk more in-​depth about my experience on
, my review site, but I’d say this is definitely worth dropping in for a bite and a drink!

I’ll have to visit The Big Easy again, as I’m not sure it would be fair to judge them on the meal I had, which was on Thanksgiving Day. Granted, we went for lunch so it wasn’t as hectic as it could have been at dinner, but despite my booking being for 2, I was asked literally 3 times after I had been seated whether I was ready to order my main (from a set Thanksgiving menu) even though I was clearly waiting for another party.
Undeterred, I scanned the drinks menu and after perusing for a bit, settled on sweet tea. «I’ll have the sweet tea,» I told the waitress when prompted. She looked at me blankly. «Um, I don’t know what that is,» she replied, pen poised over pad. «No worries, I’ll show you!» I said, pointing at the menu. «Here you go. Sweet tea. A glass of that, please.» Later, my husband seemed to have the same issue when ordering root beer … «What kind of beer would you like?» she asked after he ordered. «Um, root beer,» he said. She went on to list the different types of beers in house. Again, we opted for pointing to the menu.
The caeser salad was pretty good to start, although I wish it had come with a warning of the heaps of blue cheese it came accompanied with. I left about a third of it on the plate. Our Thanksgiving mains of smoked turkey, cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole and sweet potato was delicious enough … but it arrived lukewarm and became cold within 10 minutes of us digging in. I couldn’t be bothered to ask for it to be reheated as I was on my lunch break after all.
After being whacked the £75 bill (for food and drinks), I left feeling a little … meh. Just as my rating says. I hope their lobster’s better …

Neeeeeeeewp. Can’t justify it for the price.
5 smallish chicken wings for £9? Completely unseasoned steak and two unseasoned prawns for £33.50? Overcooked and unseasoned green beans for £4.50? Sorry, but if you’re trying to be a southern inspired joint, those green beans should have bacon in them.
I tried a bit of the shrimp boil that was on special for the night and the broth was pretty tasty, although a smidge on the sweet side. And the sausage included in the shrimp boil was really good and had a nice «snap» which is what you want in a sausage. I’m from Texas. We eat BBQ. I know these things. But alas, I didn’t order the shrimp.
Not to mention, literally everyone working there was new and our orders were messed up several times as pointed out by Jules and Grant. Went to the loos and there was a congregation of waitstaff all giggling and commiserating about how many times they’d messed up for the evening. Not impressed.

I have to say eating at Big Easy is probably one of the weirdest dining experiences I’ve had. After ruminating for a week about what I might order (do I go for the fried shrimp special? do I go for something else? What about the shrimp boil? Well the reviews say the shrimp boil has no seasoning. Well my friend said the fried shrimp wasn’t that good…), I showed up without a clue.
The server (while adorable and Spanish) warned us in advance that it was his second day. It definitely showed as the number of mistakes he made were insane. To be fair it wasn’t just him, it was everyone. It seemed that they had recently replaced the entire waitstaff with new people. We were told our fried pickles were calamari (they were definitely fried pickles). Drinks were forgotten. Drinks were delivered to the wrong people. I ended up ordering the shrimp boil, and we got brought the fried shrimp. Not just the once. And not twice. But three times they tried to tell us someone at our table had ordered fried shrimp. They hadn’t.
Foodwise, it seems like things can be hit or miss. The hot wings were fairly mild for me. But they were okay. The fried pickles actually were pretty good. The person who ordered the burger thought it was pretty terrible. The lobster was apparently nice, but not as good as other places you get lobster for a similar price. The steak and prawn combo was underseasoned. Turns out those of us who ordered the shrimp boil won the dinner lottery for the night. The shrimp boil was delicious. Really thick, spicy sauce with prawns, sausage, corn and potatoes. And it was all REALLY GOOD. Everything was cooked well and tasty. Because it was unlimited, I did order another plate, but I was already full. I didn’t care. I was putting more of that deliciousness in my face if it killed me. I may have only eaten the shrimp and sausage out of the second one. But I was going to have more.
I left feeling euphoric. I was ready to go nuts and give them the extra star that I thought they deserved for the shrimp boil. This morning, the euphoria is gone. They definitely need to up the service game if it’s going to be anything better than average for me. To be fair, I’d definitely come back. But probably only on a Tuesday for the shrimp boil.

I have to admit … I dug my own grave here. I wanted to avoid the costly Burger & Lobster and instead had a not very nice, but still costly burger in this place.
We met here for Book Club, which was not my best idea. Its just a bit too loud to talk nicely and its also very densely packed with furniture, as they try to get as much seating as possible out of this location. Our waiter was very new and very cute, but that didn’t help him much when he brought breaded instead of boiled shrimps, not just once, but twice to our table. The starters were ok, but nearly swimming in fat. I had a burger, which was also very fatty (battered onion rings and oily brioche bread) and the meat was kind of crumbly. I was not impressed. Especially when they brought me my beer (£5.50) and it was still in its can. Canned beer? really? for that price? really?

It was okay. The décor was cool. Full of American-​ness. I specially like the bip you got to wear when you ordered the lobster cake. If you are there with friends, it is best to order and share. The small dishes are a bit ordinary to my understanding. But the Big lobster looks good.

For what it is, I think it’s quite pricey. This could be forgiven if the service and ambience was top notch, however, we didn’t experience this.
This place was busy, loud and difficult to hear others on your table. Downstairs the tables are packed so tightly together that walking around when trekking to the bathroom is a challenge, I would go as far to say that it could even be a fire hazard. Also, I’m not joking when I say the bathroom is a trek as it’s a really long journey to get there.
The service for us wasn’t great. Maybe because they were extremely busy, but this shouldn’t be an excuse.
Firstly I ordered a glass of lager and it didn’t come, after 20 minutes I reordered, it still didn’t come, reminded the waitress, who then brought it about 10 minutes later. Also, there were not enough napkins and splash bibs on our table and I had to source these myself.
All the steak orders were wrong and no apology given and the mac & cheese was very light on sauce. Also, the chips do not stay hot either, so you end up leaving then because they’ve gone cold.
The seafood was good and I can’t fault them on this. Nice big crab claws and massive prawns looked impressive on the plater and were tasty to eat. Also the spicy chicken wings are nice too.
I probably won’t return as there are far better BBQ places with a more competitive price.

A big BBQ fan, I was eagerly anticipating our visit to The Big Easy. From the food, I wasn’t let down. My boyfriend’s St Louis ribs were fantastic — easily the best we’ve had in the last year — and I enjoyed my 250g sirloin steak and half lobster, which is the Thursday special, as ridiculous as it sounds. The voodoo shrimp to start were also scrummy, with delicious sauces complementing the crunchy, large prawns.
So although I was happy food-​wise, there were a few flies in the ointment that lead me to downgrade it from fully recommended to just a decent option.
Firstly, I think it’s too expensive for the sort of restaurant it is. In some ways, they make up for this with the specials and the early/​late menus (which seem like particularly great value at £10 for two courses, though you do have to be eating at a weird time to take advantage). But everything on the standard menu just seems like a bit of a stretch for quite a casual meal, particularly if they don’t include sides, with many coming in at around £20. And starters are also a bit of a pisstake — we really wanted the voodoo shrimp, and they were good, but it was £9.90 for six, which wasn’t completely out of sync with the other starters.
What irritates me (this might sound weird) is that there’s SO much food. Neither my boyfriend nor I could comfortably finish our meals. We’d have been happy with more normal portions but spending ²⁄₃ of what we did — it just makes it feel unnecessary. However, knowing this now if we went back, we would probably share the ribs and maybe a starter (which would still mean spending about £18-£20 each depending on if you get a drink and/​or a side, which again feels a lot considering you are sharing something that is supposedly for one person).
We also had varied service. Our waiter was lovely and very helpful for making menu selections. Food came VERY quickly — i.e. before our drinks, which felt kind of weird and not what we wanted, and also made it seem like we were just in a factory line and they were pushing us through. But on the other hand, when we asked for the bill, we had to wait 20 minutes to actually pay, which was probably about a quarter of the time we spent there in total.
I would go again — but I would either try to go for the pre/​post theatre menu, or split a meal with someone to make it reasonable value.

3.5 stars. It was okay, but I don’t think I would be really up for another visit. I ordered the lobster & steak, but imo the lobster wasn’t as good as the ones from B&L, white the steak wasn’t as good as the ones from steakhouses. Maybe it just wasn’t the best thing to order. It wasn’t bad though, I mean the portion was quite big so it was still good value for money I guess.

I came here during lunch hours and they had a lunch deal going on. The lobster was lacking abit and I believe it was less filling.
But all in all, the food was good and the restaurant ambience was fab.

If you like lobster, don’t go any further. This is the best place to eat some without selling your kidney. The Big Easy is everything you can expect from a crab shack and the atmosphere is more layed back than his fancy cousin Burger and Lobster.
For £20 you have a whole lobster, fries, salad and a beer or slushie (minus the rasberry blue syrup but with alcohol instead).
Desserts are huge — I could never finish one so I would recommend to share.
They also do ribs and steak but I didn’t try them (yet. Lobster call is always stronger).
Plastic bib provided.
Don’t hope to get a table without a booking though. The place is huge but it’s impossible to just walk in and ask for a table in the evening (you might get lucky at lunch time).

Hahaha!
Let me just start by saying that unless you have eaten IN the city of New Orleans, you can’t possibly know what Nawlins-​style creole food is supposed to taste like.
This was one of those situations where I was so amazed at how tasteless my shrimp boil was, that I kept looking around to see if others were having the same reaction. I can only explain it by saying that English food doesn’t carry the same spice and flavor of other cuisines, so they may be trying to appropriate an inherently spicy cuisine to a blander palette.
My problem is when a restaurant appropriates a distinct type of cuisine, one that is meant to be swimming in spices, and puts absolutely ZERO flavor in it. None. I had a shrimp boil and I swear there was not even so much as a speck of garlic, butter, cayenne pepper… nothing. Just a bit of herb.
Worst of all, my shrimp boil had FOUR shrimp and the rest was potatoes and a bit of corn. I know restaurants may try to save money by mixing in more of the cheaper ingredient, but this place didn’t even try to hide the fact. That’s hardly a shrimp boil. It’s barely a shrimp cocktail.
Have these chefs ever been to New Orleans or eaten proper creole food? If they have, then they are purposely making it bland for what they think the local palette would like. If they haven’t, then they have no business attaching New Orleans to the food served here because it carries no flavor.
The only reason I’m giving it 2 stars instead of 1 is because the bartender is amazing. He is a proper cocktail bartender, knows his stuff and is really passionate about it. I would come here for the bar alone.

After many failed attempts at walking into The Big Easy’s Covent Garden location, I had the foresight to make a reservation in advance to take the carnivore in my life to indulge in a protein-​fueled feast for his Birthday. We were time constrained because we were eating before a show on the West End and this caused some confusion– I made the reservation for 18:15 after seeing that they had a pre-​theatre menu available on their website; however, when they rang to confirm the booking that afternoon, I was advised that items from the pre-​theatre menu must be ordered before 17:45. As it seemed too risky to reconfigure our plans, I explained that we had exactly one hour to order, eat and settle our bill. The woman who sat us enthusiastically noted this would be possible– I also advised her that it was my boyfriend’s Birthday and she indicated that a cupcake would be arranged and sent over to us– sadly, this surprise never came into fruition in the haste of us paying and leaving!
The Big Easy boasts a lively, moody atmosphere and typifies everything you expect from an American barbeque joint– it’s a guaranteed good night out and will satisfy any meat eater or seafood lover’s cravings. The food is bombastic and messy, slathered in the house barbecue sauce or swimming in creamy or spicy stock. The meats come delivered on wooden blocks or, in my case, the seafood arrived in a bulky cast-​iron skillet. The portion sizes also exemplify what you would expect from America: bordering on greedy, but you definitely feel like you are getting good value. The food isn’t exactly cheap, especially for some of the steak options and the Nova Scotian lobster, but that is typical for London.
I can’t neglect to mention the bottomless specials on offer throughout the week, as I imagine that these are extremely popular. We were there on a Tuesday, which was deemed unlimited jumbo shrimp night (or unlimited portions of a Southern shrimp broil) for a seemingly reasonable price of £19 per person. This included a selection of sides and a slushie cocktail or beer. They offer an unlimited hog roast on Wednesdays and other specials throughout the week.
My boyfriend ordered a Taste-​O-​Rama platter, a professed cornucopia of meats consisting of pit-​smoked barbecued chicken, dry-​rubbed St Louis pork ribs, Carolina pulled pork and smoked beans and coleslaw on the side. He opted to add the Texas brisket as well because– damn it– it was his Birthday. Everything arrived smothered and glazed and he happily tucked in, affirming that each item in turn was smoked to perfection. He even thoroughly enjoyed the barbecue beans on the side even if they were humble compared to his primary concerns. There were no carbs here to act as filler, so he managed to put away every last morsel without complaining of the type of sweats that often accompany such rich foods.
As a seafood eater, I opted for the Crabshack Combo in a spicy soup, which arrived as a sample of giant shrimp (singular), several crab claws, mussels, calms and a handful of new potatoes bobbing in a spicy broth. This was a monster of a dish, requiring untold effort to tuck into– as a warning, do not order this if you are:
A) In a rush; or
B) Going to the theatre.
I was left frantically cracking away at my crab claws and fishing out the meat with various instruments right up to the wire– it was both ugly and messy. The food was delicious, but I had lingering remnants of the meal underneath my fingernails for at least a day afterwards. It was naïve on my part to be allured by this selection, but everything emerged from a wood burning oven in perfect condition; the mussels were plump, the crab was succulent and the shrimp was rich and meaty. I was not offered any wet wipes, however, which would have been appreciated.
The atmosphere is relaxed, the waiters were helpful and there was notes of the blues wafting across the restaurant. I hear that the live jazz band plays every evening and they are worth the trip alone. The cocktails are also supposed to be out of this world.
Our service was a bit staggered, but this is a very busy and buzzy restaurant that makes attentive service an impossibility– we could have used a bit more attention to clear the plates provided for discarded crab shells and the promise of a Birthday cupcake was never fulfilled (and that would have been a nice touch).
We will certainly return to this location of The Big Easy again, but I will order more prudently and we will pace ourselves and make sure to catch the live music. This is a great spot in central London for a boisterous night out in a group.
Beware that you will be offered a plastic bib– it’s just that kind of joint.

This place is huge inside!
I wasn’t expecting as much room in here and for it to be as busy! With a completely wooden interior they have nailed the western USA look they were aiming for!
The place was absolutely packed with a mix of table full of beers and others full of food. People had come here at the same time for both. The beers weren’t cheap but what do you expect just off Covent Garden?! Very loud, buzzing atmosphere and plenty of happy faces. I didn’t order food as I was on one of the tables full of beers. I will definitely be back at some point for food though. There aren’t many thing I wouldn’t do for a full rack of ribs and a nice rare steak so this place has me covered for my return. The only issue I can think of is finding a table!
If you are a fan of meats, beers and loud spaces check out this place!

Visited here back in January
Friend and I were seated straight away at 7pm even though we didn’t book however there was only room at the bar — which was fine for us (not actually bar but bar area with bar stools)
Pretty quick service, friendly staff and good wine
Good choice of food on the menu
Main menu quite pricey for what it is but very tasty food
Would definitely go back with a group of people

The food is amazing!
We shared pop corn shrimp to start which were so delicious they were gone in an instant!
Then we had the pit smoked ribs and taste o Rama (chicken ribs and pulled pork). The meat was all amazingly cooked with a gorgeous flavour. The BBQ beans were delicious and the coleslaw was a nice addition.
The servers were all amazing. And the décor was appealing and set the atmosphere off perfectly.
The only criticism is the price of the drinks

Lots of deals but only available Mondays to Fridays. On Sundays, only the Lobster Fest is available, which is either a whole lobster or a lobster roll with salad and chips, and an alcoholic slushie, for double the price you would pay during the week, at £20. Therefore, considering you get the same at a lower price during the week, it is not good value. Very disappointing too, as the lobster roll was actually a soggy cold toasted sandwich, a few leaves of rocket for the salad and a small tin bucket of overdone chips. I always feel let down by lobsters cooked by Westerners, when you can get a nourishing meal of lobsters and noodles, cooked the Chinese way, with so much taste and just so much more yummy and meatier. The only other lobster meal that matched it is Bob’s Lobsters.
There were six of us in our party, three had the lobster roll and two had the whole lobster, which was not that fresh, and we were all left feeling still hungry, whereas one who actually checked what the Lobster Fest includes made a different choice as it did not sound filling and ordered the BBQ meats, which was extremely filling, but unfortunately, they were all burnt and overdone and very dry.
We then had some waffles with ice cream for dessert, which was nice, but nothing special.
It is not as busy as the Chelsea branch, which is always heaving, and the bar is positively empty. Perhaps, because it is Sunday, and also no happy hour!
A disappointing experience here, especially compared to the Chelsea branch the portions there are positively huge and everything is much fresher, the atmosphere is heaving, but service is still quick, friendly.

I’ve been to the Big Easy in Covent Garden about twice now. First for the pre-​theatre special and most recently for the Thanksgiving dinner.
For the pre-​theatre menu, you need to put your order in before 6 and you’ll get 2 course for 10 pounds. I ordered the mac and cheese with the basket of deep fried shrimp. Portions are huge! Really good value and would even consider coming here for lunch. Food was okay — but for a tenner can’t expect any more.
For the Thanksgiving dinner, I’ve been disappointed a number of times at restaurants in London. On thanksgiving, they only offer 1 menu which gives you the option of a few different starters or a veggie main (instead of turkey). I had the spinach salad to start — pretty much like everything else at this restaurant it was a huge portion and good. My bf and I of course had the turkey and it was delicious! Wasn’t dry at all like most places and it came with an array of sides. The pumpkin pie was amazing as well. I will definitely need to go back again next year for Thanksgiving. (Big Easy — can you do the turkey all year round??)

De la comida no puedo tener queja alguna, todo muy bueno.
Este local además te ofrece musiquita en directo, lo cual siempre es un extra que se agradece.
Sin embargo, y aunque el personal es muy atento en el trato, nos tuvieron esperando más de media hora hasta que nos sirvieron simplemente las bebidas, que por cierto, pecan de escasos en tamaño los cócteles… luego otro tanto hasta que tomaron nota de lo que queríamos, y claro, después a esperar a que llegasen los platos.
Por otro lado, la comida es abundante, ¡así que piénsate lo dos veces si quieres pedir entrantes!