Louisiana Lagniappe - Destin, FL

During our travels looking around the Destin area, I kept seeing a sign for a restaurant called Louisiana Lagniappe with a crawfish on the logo.  My cousin had always been intrigued by the restaurant and he told me, "You guys should go so you can let us know if it's good or not."  Always up for some fresh seafood with a Cajun twist, my wife and I did just that one night.

Louisiana Lagniappe (pronounced LAN-yap - a Cajun term for a little something extra) first opened its doors in June of 1984 in what was, at the time, part of the Sandpiper Cove Yacht Club.  Kevin Ortega run the restaurant for 14 years before he sold the restaurant and moved to Baton Rouge, LA to open a Louisiana Lagniappe there.  

The Destin Louisiana Lagniappe was purchased by the Southern Restaurant Group - an entertainment and restaurant corporation that got its start in night clubs before acquiring The Back Porch Restaurant soon after it was formed in the late 70's when the company was named the Destin Development Corporation.  The company acquired four more restaurants and renamed themselves the Cobb Investment Company.  A year later after opening four restaurants in Orange Beach, AL, the company became the Southern Restaurant Group.  In addition to owning Louisiana Lagniappe and The Back Porch restaurants, they also own Pompano Joe's in Destin and Panama City, Fisherman's Wharf in the Harbor entertainment complex in Destin, and Cafe Grazie in Orange Beach, AL.  

Louisiana Lagniappe is part of the Sandpiper Cove condominium community on the east end of Destin Harbor.  (see map)  We had seen the sign for the restaurant while driving by the north side of the walled condo complex along U.S. Highway 98.  I set the GPS for the place and it took me to a guard shack at the entrance of Sandpiper Cove on Gulf Shore Drive.  Pulling up to the guard shack, I asked the guy inside if I was in the right place for Louisiana Lagniappe.  He gave me a sheet of paper to put on my dash and said, "You see where that car is coming out of up on the left?  Turn there and go straight ahead into the restaurant's parking lot."  

The parking lot wasn't all that large, but we were able to find a spot.  Walking in with no reservation, we had no idea how long of a wait it would be.  The hostess asked if we wanted to eat indoors or out on the deck.  We decided upon the deck and she said that we'd have about a 15 minute wait.  It was no problem to us.  

The bar area was well lit and featured comfortable cloth upholstered high chairs around the three-sided bar.  I was going to order a couple drinks while we waited.  Cindy excused herself to go to the restroom.  However, before the bartender could come over and before Cindy got back from the restroom, the buzzer had gone off and lit up on the bar in front of me.  It was a lot quicker than a 15 minute wait. 

 
We were excorted through the main dining room, an elegant setting with linen table cloths and smart looking waiters. The dining room was about half full with diners and it was quiet and classy.  

The outside deck looks out over the bay.  But that was about the only redeeming factor it had going for it.  We were seated at a table that was in the midst of three other tables - each with boisterous people trying to outshout the other table.  The wood ceilinged deck kept all the noise close by.  The din of conversation was only trumped by the unbelievable number of green tree frogs croaking just outside the deck area.  Green tree frogs - when in abundant numbers - can get very loud.

Our server for the evening, a young guy by the name of Alex, came over to greet us after we were given menus by the hostess who seated us.  He brought out hush puppies and placed them on the table.  They were sort of sweet for hush puppies, but a nice little touch to start the meal.  But we both wanted a drink and he hustled away before we could get an order in.  

The menu at Louisiana Lagniappe is mostly seafood and fresh fish with a Cajun flair, but they do have steaks, some pasta dishes and a number of delectable appetizers that included blackened scallops with a pineapple-rum butter sauce, smoked tuna dip with crackers, and lobster rangoon with wontons filled with lobster meat and cream cheese, deep fried and served with a sweet chili sauce.  

Alex finally did come back and he asked us if we'd like to hear the specials for the evening.  I told him that we'd really like to get a couple drinks before we did anything.  He seemed to be scattered - he was waiting on the other tables in our area - and also seemed to be void of any personality at all.  He went off to get a glass of pinot grigio for Cindy and a Sweetwater 420 pale ale for me.  

I was looking at a couple seafood entrees - the blackened redfish entree was topped with lumped crabmeat and medallions of lobster then drizzled with both a hollandaise and a garlic beurre blanc sauce.  That sounded great, but they were also pretty proud of the price.  $37.50 for that made me stop and ponder that decision.  The blackened bay scallops that looked so good as an appetizer were also available as an entree.  And the Grouper Kevin - probably named after Louisiana Lagniappe founder Kevin Ortega - featured a grouper filet topped with grilled shrimp with a beurre blanc and mushroom sauce on a bed of rice.  I almost pulled the trigger on that.

But I was sort of interested in their jambalaya - chunks of chicken, andouille sausage and shrimp all together in a tomato based sauce with rice.  I was also going to get a cup of the gumbo which was an upcharge of $2.50 over the dinner salad that is served with the meal.  

Cindy settled on the Crescent City fettuccine - pasta tossed with a tasso ham cream sauce with spices, topped with grilled shrimp and finished with some parmesan cheese.  It was getting late, we were ready to order, our waiter was nowhere in sight.  

Now, I realize that he had other tables.  The table of four next to us was finishing up their meal and contemplating dessert.  The table of three boisterous and somewhat drunk ladies had ordered their food and were getting their salads.  The other table consisted of five younger adults who were obviously friends getting together for the first time in the summer and they had just ordered their food.  When Alex finally came to take our order I was seriously considering getting up and leaving.  It was that bad.  

Alex had the personality of a limp rag and with a paucity of words he took our order.  I told him that I was going to get the cup of gumbo instead of the salad with my meal.  He didn't acknowledge what I said, but he was writing it down.  

My gumbo came out and it was a nice sized cup topped with parsley and rice.  The gumbo was a little fishy in taste - it was not the best gumbo I've ever had.  Still, I was able to finish it by mixing in copious amounts of Tabasco.   

 
After finishing the gumbo, Alex brought out salads for both of us.  I sort of looked at the salad and then up at him.  He wordlessly walked away and I was sort of dumbfounded that he brought me a salad after I told him I'd substitute my salad for the gumbo at an upcharge.  Cindy also pointed out that he didn't offer fresh cracked pepper for either of us.  The salad was fine - it was pretty basic with fresh lettuce greens, some crumbled cheese and an oil and vinegar dressing.  

We were ready to eat when Alex brought the entrees to the table.  My jambalaya was thick and covered with shrimp, chicken and bits of andouille sausage.  Somewhat bland to my spicy-craving taste buds at first, it had a sneaky spicy kick on the back side.  I zipped it up considerably with some Tabasco and made it much more to my liking.  The jambalaya was thick and filling.  It was good jambalaya - not great, in my book.  But I was happy enough with it.  

 
As it always seems to happen, Cindy's Crescent City fettuccine was the best of the two entrees.  Large grilled shrimp were mixed with the fettuccine pasta and the somewhat spicy tasso ham cream sauce.  She offered me a couple bites and I thought it was outstanding.  It wasn't overly spicy - just enough to get your attention.  And it was very rich.  Cindy was having trouble finishing the dinner.

We finished our meals and Alex came over to entice us with some dessert, but we were full enough from the dinner.  He left off the check and disappeared.  And he never came back. 

I had my credit card out with the dinner check.  We waited 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and finally 20 minutes passed before I said, "Well, this is ridiculous..."  We both got up and walked toward the hostess stand with the bill.  The hostess was nowhere in sight, either.  But it was technically past the closing time of the restaurant so they weren't seating anyone any longer.

We walked to the bar and I asked the bartender if he could take care of us.  "Our waiter disappeared on us," I explained.  He told me that only the waiter could cash us out.  I said, "We've been waiting over 20 minutes on the guy to come back to our table.  This is completely unacceptable for a place like this!"  Actually, it was unacceptable for ANY restaurant.    

With the help of the hostess who appeared from a room near the stand, the bartender was able to track down the waiter to give him our bill and my credit card.  We waited patiently at the bar and he finally brought it back to us and said, "Here you go, folks.  Have a good night."  He was completely oblivious to his horrible short comings on the service end of things that evening.  And he got a pretty small tip in return.  

The food at Louisiana Lagniappe was good to very good.  The outdoor seating area was too loud - thanks to the acoustics compounded by Mother Nature.  The service was absolutely horrible - some of the worst service I've EVER encountered at any restaurant I've ever dined at.  I don't like to call anyone out, but Alex's service was completely horrid that particular evening.   The next day when my cousin asked how our experience at Louisiana Lagniappe was, I said, "Good food, horrible service."

Comments

[Richard Nelson]

You should have pointed out to management on the spot of the shortcomings of the waiter.

[ken]

Wow, you're a joke! You have no idea what your talking about.