Vautrot’s Cajun Cuisine

The fried catfish is good and that is what I usually get. I decided today to try something new and get the crawfish étouffée. Boy was I disappointed. The crawfish étouffée was more like soup and tasted like muddy crawfish. Will go back because we eat there quite often but will not be getting the crawfish étouffée again.

Best fried shrimp you will ever eat in your life. Period. End of sentence. And I am Cajun.

The sweet tea had a uniquely wonderful smokey flavor [not far from a high quality Lapsang souchong (正山小種/​立山小種), but far subtler]. The Boudain Balls have a deserved reputation as a house favorite. I got the Super Sampler as my entrée (which included a sampling of shrimpp gumbo, crawfish e’touffee, fried crawfish, fried catfish, fried shrimp, fried oysters, alligator bites, frog legs, and stuffed crab) and was pleasantly surprised with how good it was. The service was also very good.

Can’t leave stars without posting anything. But this is the only place I will eat Gumbo or Etoufee at. Everything is delicious and taste perfect!

We’re here having lunch on a Saturday on the drive to New Orleans. It took about 20 minutes just to get someone to take our order. Another 20 minutes to get the food which is just so-​so. The gumbo: too much rice and roux and just a tiny handful of shrimp. Really, if you get seafood in every bite you’re left with half a bowl of rice and roux. The shrimp po-​boy was tasty, just short of shrimp. A full po-​boy only had 5 shrimp. The service was friendly, they just need to put more seafood in their dishes!

Went here for the first time today and it lived up to it’s reputation. I got the seafood platter and fried alligator appetizer. This was some of the best fried alligator I have had. The Seafood sampler was excellent and let me sample several of their foods, every one was delicious. My fiancé is not a fan of seafood for the most part, but she had boudain appetizer and chicken strips. Both were excellent also.
We plan on going back soon.

I’m being very intentional about rating Vautrot’s 5 stars. There are places around that may have more elaborate food preparations, or dishes that aren’t available on Vautrot’s menu. But all things considered, I really think this is the best Cajun restaurant in the Beaumont area by a long-​shot. Nothing fancy, nothing overwrought. Just great service, great prices, and great seafood.
My go-​to dish at Vautrot’s is the Uncle Emerick’s Seafood Sampler. It includes fried catfish, shrimp, oysters, crawfish tails, a salad, and a side. All perfectly fried, all delicious (though I usually ask to substitute the oysters for more fried crawfish, as I’m not the biggest oyster fan). But what pushes it to the next level for me is the bowls of shrimp gumbo and crawfish étouffée that they throw in with the sampler.
The gumbo has a nice dark roux, and it’s definitely delicious. But the étouffée is something else entirely. Most of the dishes at Vautrot’s taste like something my family would serve up (which is another huge plus), but I’ve never had a preparation of étouffée like they do it. So good!
Oh, did I mention the house-​made sides are all fantastic too? Try the sweet potato fries if you’re so inclined; they’re great here.

Wednesdays fried pork chops are awesome

This place is authentic Cajun, and you feel like you’re stepping in to your grandma’s house. (At least my grandma. Some of you complaining about the décor just don’t get it. Embrace the culture.)
My best friend’s mom used to be a cook here, and then my best friend and I waited tables here while we were in high school, and I’m so glad we did. I got ADDICTED to the crawfish etoufee, and have yet to find a recipe or a restaurant that makes it as good as Vautrot’s. I love the soup-​y, less thick/​gravy-​like feel, and the rich, velvety taste.
After etoufee, some of my other favorite items at Vautrot’s are the boudain balls with ranch and tartar sauce… oh, the tartar sauce. Another one of the items that I am trying desperately to recreate or find a match for. It is deliiiiicious. The fried crawfish and shrimp are also really good. And, you can ask for your seafood grilled if you’re trying to watch the waistline. My advice is to make this a cheat meal, if so. It’s worth the fried, calorie laden goodness.
There are also some decent desserts served at Vautrot’s. Try one of the cobblers, back in the day they had peach and blackberry, and I also was a big fan of the ice cream and brownie Muddy Bayou sundae.
The prices have definitely risen $ 2-​$ 4 an entrée over the past 8 years, which I suppose is reasonable, but does make it harder to eat here as often.
Back in the day you could also rent out the back room for a private shower/​event with food/​people minimums. If you can’t do that, it’s still great for a large group for a birthday dinner, and you can also order large quantities of gumbo, sweet tea, etc. to take to your wedding rehearsal or other event.

Wow! No more driving to Louisiana for Cajun food! How has this place been here for over 20 years and we didn’t know about it? This will definitely be our go to Cajun place! Seafood sampler is huge and everything is good! Good hamburgers too! Can’t go wrong with anything on the menu!

Stopped for lunch and was so happy we did. Excellent gumbos, especially the sausage and chicken. Chicken and dumplings were really good too. Rustic ambiance, but comfortable. Friendly and polite wait staff.

Chicken Toes (wonderfully friend chicken tenders) were great, light crispy and still very moist and tender. Surprisingly my favorite part was the roasted veggie side, wow… just perfect. My fiancée had the large side salad and it was more than enough to fill her up (with a couple of bites of my entrée). I wish I had checked out the étouffée or gumbo, the server walked by with one and it smelled heavenly. Will definitely be back when we swing back to Beaumont.

Vautrot’s is an authentic Cajun home style seafood restaurant! The servers are all friendly and helpful! The best sweet tea is served in a mason jar! Chicken fried steak is great but the steak fingers are better! Gumbo is better than étouffée, but the rice is perfectly cooked for both! If you like a good burger, they are delicious! The club sandwich is great too! All fried seafood is delicious and they have a great poboy If you’re in the mood! Onion rings are the perfect side and the Muddy Bayou is the perfect dessert! If you are looking for a healthy option, order the grilled catfish with grilled vegetables! Bön appetite!

Another restaurant in the middle of no where, Unilocal to the rescue. It’s family owned and operated and the service was really friendly and welcoming. This place was packed the night I went, but the food came out a timely manner. The décor is very casual, the tables are plastic foldable tables but it’s a casual place so that’s fine. The portions are very generous but I thought the food mostly leaned on the salty side.
The food:
Boudain Balls– a pork and meat mixture combined with rice and seasoning then deep fried. I really liked these a lot. The spice mixture was nice and they fried the boudain well, it was not greasy.
Fried Pickles– the flavor was nice, but a tad on the oily side. They were kinda salty and the pickles were a little too sour for my liking. I thought it was just so so. And the portion was ginormous!
Uncles Emerick’s Seafood Sampler– The shrimp gumbo had a lot of depth of flavor but was really salty and I wasn’t a fan of the shrimp they used. The étouffée was the better of the two soups, the flavor was more appealing. The fried catfish had nice flavor but was really salty. The fried shrimp were a good size shrimp and had nice texture but they were greasy. The fried oysters had really good flavor but was greasy as well.

On March 6, 2014 I had their crawfish étouffée for lunch. It came with a salad for $ 12.95. It was very good with a slight buttery after taste to the étouffée. It came in a large bowl and was full of shrimp, veggies and rice. It was different in that it was almost soupy with the étouffée ‘gravy’. I am used to it being over a bed of rice and eaten with a fork. This étouffée required a spoon.
Like I said it was very good and I would give it a 5.
This is an excellent restaurant where you are assured a very good meal no matter what you order. The only slight negative is that it is about 7 miles from Beaumont but it is well worth the drive even if you are just passing through Beaumont. From I 10 it is about an 8 minute drive.
I have eaten here twice and realize that this restaurant is worth a 5 star rating. It really is that good.
Go eat here and you will leave happy!!!

The food here is awesome! People are friendly. Daily lunch special are great!
Seafood platter fried just right! The home made chicken fried steak is to die for! Also nice chunky clean fried alligator. Not like some places that have chewy dark meat ones. I visit 4 times a week!

The Wife and I went on Friday night for dinner. The Boudian balls were hot but of average taste. The Salad was good and fresh. we ordered the $ 17 Sampler for 2 which included fried catfish, crawfish, shrimp, etoufee and we substituted chicken &sausage gumbo for shrimp gumbo and onion rings! the onion rings were homemade and delicious! etoufee was good but could use just a touch more seasoning. the gumbo was great once I added some Tabasco cause i like it a little spicy! The catfish, shrimp. and crawfish were seasoned well and fried perfectly. some suggestions would be to add garlic bread to menu. We had the bread pudding which was awesome but adding ice cream to it would enhance even more! The service was excellent and we would definitely be returning! a hidden gem in Beaumont.

I don’t really understand why this place has some many good reviews… Must be family of the owners. I had chicken fried steak the other day it was gross and most definitely frozen pre-​made crap that you get in school. Gross!

It was a little hard to find this little gem but when we did it was well worth it. Not a lot to look at inside except for some nice old wall décor and even a wall covered in plates it is rather unassuming here but we were very happy. They were fast and friendly which is nice after a long day on the road. I got the craw fish E’Touffee, a Cajun classic kind of like gumbo or a stew served over rice was excellent. The craw fish was succulent and very well flavored, I scraped the bowl. My mother got the gumbo which tasted very good but was somewhat unappealing due to the presentation which was a dark brown looking stew. Otherwise it was very good and a good diet experience with Cajun food.

2^nd visit — august 7, 2015. met 3 friends. had large bowls of seafood, chicken & sausage gumbo, fried shrimp and alligator bites — ALL delish!
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
si bon!
ces Cajuns savent pas cuisiner! [these cajuns know how to cook, sha]
we split the $ 17 sampler which included: bowl of gumbo, cup of crawfish etoufee [brown the way its suppose to be!!] salad, coleslaw~~now for the fried delicacy’s~~fried oysters, catfish, crawfish, shrimp and onion rings! EVERY bit of it… was delish.
brought our own bottle of wine [yes, its allowed] BYOB
and had homemade blackberry cobbler w/​ice cream… to die for
yall support locally owned family business… and geaux try you some vautrots
i live in houston, but will geaux again fa shure!
[shout out to Pat our waitress… she was friendly and prompt]