Alligator Cafe

Went here based on reviews and was very disappointed. Worst service the waitress took forever to take our order and forever to bring food and check. Food was cold and way overpriced for what you get.

There have been a ton of changes in staff, cooks, and bartenders, that’s affected the atmosphere, food and drinks. I like consistency and this is not, however the food is good.

Here with my family for a late Saturday night dinner after seeing its 4 out 5 star Unilocal rating. We lucked out!
Crab cakes and Gator bites kicked off the dinner and was yummy yummy for the tummy tummy!
Brice, our waiter, was spot on in recommending the Atchafalaya for me. My wife had the tilapia w/​shrimp sauce; both my sons had BBQ wings.
If the delicious Cajun food on the menu doesn’t transport you to New Orleans, Alligator Café’s ambience will!
Find this jewel of a restaurant near the famed Dallas Arboretum and stay a while. You won’t regret it!

It’s been a while since I was their last and I think it will be a while before I go back again. There were only a few tables that had anyone and it took a good half hour or more to get our food. The chicken breast was dry, the grits were way too thick and the sauteed spinach had raw garlic mixed in with it giving it that pungent flavor. Other than the garlic, the spinach was not even salted. All in all, it was a real disappointment. The reason for the 2^nd star is the waitress was
pleasant.

Don’t go with a large group, if you have to go at all. Wait staff does not support each other. Dish arrived and was already cold, but just in spots, indicating it was microwaved. $ 16+ for a dish of lukewarm pasta. Yea. Not again anytime soon.

We got here, ordered and an hour later still no food, he brought us our drinks but never came back. Awful service

The food, pretty OK, but the service was excellent. Will try it all over again in the near future.

Good beer selection. Food is tasty and authentic! Live music is always a treat when they have it too.
Prices are a little higher than expected, but not absurd. We normally order one of the ponchatrain type dishes and a po-​boy. Gumbo is great too. Still haven’t been disappointed. Would recommend!

Great food. Got the Ponchartrain catfish. The sauce was so good. My husband regretted not getting a specialty of theirs. The specialty entrees are the best. The gumbo is good too. He also tried the creole or jambalaya which ever it was well a boy from Mississippi it just wasn’t right. The food did come out a bit slow they had but a few more tables full. But again if you get a specialty or some gumbo you just won’t regret it. Depending on what you get it can get a bit pricey maybe $ 20 a person including drink. But they have cheaper options like the gumbo & po boys & such.

Was craving some shrimp and grits so my hubby found this place. Great meal and live entertainment made this a very nice outing. Of course I had the shrimp and grits. The grits were creamy and seasoned to perfection. They were topped with plenty of succulent shrimp in a delicious sauce. It also had mushrooms which were ok but not necessarily needed. My husband had the crawfish combo (crawfish étouffée and fried crawfish). The étouffée was served over dirty rice (choose regular or dirty). He cleaned his plate. We both were very satisfied. The live entertainment was just the icing on the cake. Will definitely go back to try something else on the menu. Live music on Saturdays, but go early they close at 10:30pm.

Love the fried green tomatoes. Blackened fish a bit greasy for my tastes.
I’ve eaten here several times. The wait staff is exceptional.
Here is my main issue in not giving Alligator Café better rating…
During my last visit, I watched the waiter serve the entire restaurant. Evident he didn’t have any support and he was incredible at doing this. Never missed a beat. He was serving about 5 –6 tables, including two on the patio. I complimented him for an incredible job well done!
I took the time to locate the manager in order to let him know the awesome job this waiter was doing. The manager was walking towards the host station, never broke stride and appeared totally uninterested in my compliment of this staff member.
I’ve got two main problems with this manager
1– why wasn’t this guy helping out the waiter, clearing tables at a minimum?
2– he in essence blew me off.
What the what?
When a person in a leadership position has the qualities this guy displayed, crap follows.

I may be bias because I know authentic creole/​cajun food homemade when I taste it. The food here was good but not great. The boudin balls were kind of flavorless. Not terrible but really had no kick to them. I had to doctor mine with tabasco. However the main entrée, the Atchafalaya, was good. The portion size was right and dish taste pretty delicious. I should’ve not ordered the bread pudding, though. I didn’t enjoy it at all.
The service was a bit slow as well, even though the restaurant was far from being crowded.
Overall the Alligator Café was a cool experience.

Lunch time after the Arboretum and Unilocal said 4 stars, so off we went. Small place in a shopping center dressed up to be New Orleans. Perfect, with some good soft music in the background. Our waiter said he was new, but did a great job. Glenda’s shrimp tacos, after we added the spicy mayo, were fantastic. Tortillas were grilled till just a little crunchy, and the blackened shrimp were perfect. My half muffuletta was very good, great after I added the spicy mayo. Are you seeing a trend? Get the spicy mayo! It’s so good. The bowl of gumbo was better than any of the chain places (you know who I’m talking about). Full bar and great food, we will be back. Oops, forgot the bread pudding. A huge piece that was pretty good, but the whiskey sauce turned it from OK to a winner. Very good.

Not impressed. 1^st had a gator bite drink. No liquor in it. 2^nd. Appetizer fried green tomatoes. These were perfect good portion also. 3^rd. Main course. I had the atchafalya lunch portion– blackened catfish topped with crawfish etoufee on dirty rice with a side of red beans and rice. My girl had side salad with ½ fried oyster po boy.
All food came out cold and over salted. Her salad looked the best. Very disappointed

I lived in new Orleans and learned what a good po boy is. Not perfect, but I really enjoyed this. The lady at the front was very polite as well. She informed me if my poboy was too cold, she would give me a gift card here. Well done.

Alway good. Best Cajun food in Dallas prices aren’t bad and if you like beer with your food their selection isn’t bad either

I was torn between going to Torchy’s Tacos or Alligator café. Shrimp tacos or shrimp po boy? My tummy screamed po boy and my eyes said Torchy was full of hipsters which might drive me crazy.
Service again was top notch. When the host was busy with a phone order, a server left her silverware wrapping immediately to make me feel welcome. She wasn’t even my server. Another young lady waited on me and did a superb job. She timed my cup of gumbo out first and I got my po boy just as soon as the soup was gumbo was gone. The manager even picked up my napkin that blew on the floor. At the same time no one was intrusive. Truly remarkably good staff.
Fried shrimp po boy was a thing of beauty. Fat shrimp cooked perfectly and top notch warm crusty bread. I was quite pleased. They make an excellent shrimp sandwich here. I dare say it blows Flying Fish in Fort Worth out of the proverbial water. This place is worth your dining dollar.

Excellent meal and good service, can’t wait to go back and try some more dishes. Tonight, I had shrimp and grits… yummy!!! The grits were creamy and cheesy, the shrimp was cooked perfectly and the andouille sausage gave it a little spice. Topped off with a couple of hurricanes, a great meal.

I arrived with two other people and we were comfortably seated immediately. The atmosphere feels very welcoming. There was a live band that would play off and on throughout the meal.
Drinks were on point and appetizers were pretty good as well. We ordered the chicken fettuccine and the New Orleans pasta. As soon as our meals were sat in front of us it went complete silent. Everyone was too zoned into their food to look up and talk. Very impressed.
We ordered the bread pudding to go and it did not disappoint one bit. Very sweet and doughy.
Looking forward to my next visit here. Service was excellent.

I got the Po Boy lunch combo of oyster with chicken and andouille sausage gumbo and it was quite good. I give this a 3 star because I also ordered a bread pudding dessert $ 7 and although it was huge, it was very disappointing — the bottom was soggy and the flavor overall was meh.
I guess also of note is my phone struggled to get any reception in the restaurant so I had a hard time checking in or doing anything online.