Gumbeaux’s Cajun Cafe

We were excited to finally (after living in Douglasville for 3 years) have a chance to try the restaurant that everyone raves about. I sincerely hope we just hit a bad day. We went in around 11:45AM on a weekday and the place was already beginning to pack out. Awesome atmosphere. Great service. Loved the overall vibe. But then the food came. In fairness they let us know that they only had one deep fryer so we are hoping that is what happened. First it took 30 minutes to get soup and deep fried shrimp and catfish. When we got it the shrimp and catfish were cold. The catfish was mushy. I am sure it was because they fryer was an issue. We will come back and hope we have a much better experience the next time.

I am pretty impressed. I hope to have dessert there one day– the desserts look delightful.

Let’s preface by saying that I’ve been trying to get to this place for 6+ months. Every since we moved to Powder Springs, I’ve been wanting to visit Gumbeaux and on a number of various occasions, made efforts to do so. But my husband is hard headed and my parents rather stay near our home when they visit, so each time I received the «bleh let’s find something else».
Well months later, the «great» 2016 «blizzard» hits and we decide to venture out to dinner and movie. Decided to see a early showing of Ride Along 2 which ended at 4pm. As soon as hubby asked what I wanted for dinner, I told him to drive me to Douglasville. After arguing with me the entire way there about how this place was probably going to be horrible and in the middle of no where (says the guy who moved us to Powder Springs), we finally arrive at 4:30 and there’s a line of people outside trying to get in! I don’t think he completely finished parallel parking before I jumped out of the car and ran to the line (yes, I’m THAT girl). He catches up with me and of course his annoyance has now grown to a 7… a couple points from where it was while driving here.
We get inside, a lady skips us, hubby tells me to relax (we got seated before her anyway lol), I ask for a table for 2. She puts us down and I inquire about the wait time, she doesn’t know. That’s fine, we go upstairs into a room with a bunch of bar height tables and we wait…
During this time, my husband is judging the hell out of this place. He’s convinced that we’ve warped back in time and have entered a weird establishment — he’s now at a 9. Don’t ask me why, he’s just weird. I ignore him and show him pictures of the food on Unilocal (pictures of food always make people happy right?). 15 – 20 min later, our name is called and we are escorted down to the main dining area near the back of the restaurant. Immediately our waitress asks if we’d like some gumbo or chowder to warm us up. Husband orders the chowder, I order the bisque. We look over the menu as we wait and hubby barely glances at it before he has decided he doesn’t care. I can see his meter inching over to a 10, when suddenly… his chowder comes out. He grabs his spoon, takes a bite, then looks up at me with his glossy eyes. I thought he was going to cry lol. But no, this was the look of a man in shock. Shocked by how amazing this chowder was. Chowder he has had numerous times from plenty of other places, but oh no, not like this. This chowder was different. This chowder was… magical.
I see his reaction and take in a taste of my bisque and immediately notice the thickness and layers of cheese pulling at my spoon. The lobster and other seafood hidden under the surface started to appear and omg I died. THEE best bisque I’ve ever had. I look up at my husband who has since cleaned out his bowl and has begun making selections from the menu. His meter, now at a zero.
Ok enough with the dramatics. Long story short, this place is freakin amazing. The portions are insane and worth every dollar spent. Our waitress was super busy, which I hated because we needed her one or two times but the other waiters stepped in with no issue and took care of whatever we needed. It gets busy here and people do not mind the long wait. I can appreciate that despite having 100+ ppl on the waiting list, not once did we feel rushed. The manager came out and spoke to us (which I LOVE any time we visit a new restaurant). We tend to give honest feedback when we try new places so it was nice to speak to the manager and learn more about the chef and the owner. Stuffed mushrooms, AMAZING and bigger than your average. It sits in a bed of butter that while you may cringe at if you’re watching calories, my low carb heart drooled and enjoyed it. Hubby had the shrimp and grits, I had the catfish pand… something. It was delicious. Got it with rice on the side (didn’t eat the rice because… carbs), and it comes with catfish and a bunch of shrimp, crawfish, sausage… I mean every freakin thing! We both had maybe 2 scoops of our main dishes and tapped out. It was just so much food but I’m not complaining at all. The manager treated us to bread pudding and ice cream — We’re not fans of bread pudding but this was like no other. Try it, you’d agree.
I’m so glad that we finally took the time to visit this place and hubby is already planning to go again next weekend. Apparently, while you can’t call ahead to reserve a table, you can place an order for pick up. Expect Gumbeaux to be supplying our dinner for the next couple of nights.

Really good! Had a Po boy for lunch with my husband. Everyone was really welcoming and the food came out fast and hot. I would definitely come back here to eat lunch or dinner!

Gumbeaux’s is not only THE best restaurant in Douglasville, but also among THE best in Metro Atlanta. My brother who now lives in Atlanta is a regular here and this is one of his favorite restaurants. I had a craving for seafood and I heard so much about this iconic place that I just had to go. Yes it is far off the I-​20 and it was traffic during rush hour but I quickly learned that it was worth the drive. There were so many good choices I just had to try them all. However I settled on one. The friendly server allowed me to sample the Lobster & Shrimp bisque. It had a spicy kick to it but it was thick and rich. I decided to order a bowl of the Lobster & Shrimp bisque. The portions were huge and much bigger than Pappadeaux. Amazingly I killed that entire bowl. My bro and I also ordered fried alligator. The gator was delicious. We also took home some bread pudding with the raisins. It was among the best I ever had (In my Drake voice). Luckily we went on a slow night which made the wait much shorter. Parking is mostly on Broad St. but can be crowded at times. I am coming back to try other options even if I have to sit in traffic for it.

Excellent food for an excellent price. The portions are huge and the drinks are strong. Expect a long wait time depending on how early you get here only because there is limited seating. But well worth the wait. Service is great and speedy. Staff is friendly and very accommodating. I was never a fan of New Orleans style food until I started eating here.

Overrated, overrated, overrated! Food was just ok. Nothing worth standing in line for. I tried this place many years ago and didn’t care for the food. But over the years i noticed long lines, so i thought maybe i ordered the wrong thing or the food has gotten better. So i should give them another try. Well the food was the same, nothing special. But why is this place so crowded? I realized its not the taste of the food, its the portion sizes. They give you lots of food for you money, which is always a plus, but that doesnt change the fact that the food is just OK.

Honestly I think they have the BEST LOBSTER BISQUE in the world! It is absolutely amazing!

Gumbeaux’s is definitely worth the drive and maybe the 45 — 60 min wait! For starters, my friend and I shared a delicious bourbon street crawfish dish. It was not a traditional cheese dip, rather more spicy étouffée, with a little bit of chesse for garnish. However, it was really good, especially with the small pieces of bread. It comes with both bread and tortilla chips, however, I would definiely stick with the bread.
For dinner, I had the blackened salmon, mashed potatoes, and the best green beans I’ve had in my life (seriously, I ordered some to go). Instead of the blackened salmon, I would recommend ordering the fried oysters or another fried dish. The fried dishes taste better than the blackened dishes in my opinion.
By the end of the meal, we were too stuffed to order dessert. However, you definitely get your money’s worth, as the portions are huge, and usually you have enough to take a to-​go box with you. The staff was great, did a wonderful job of explaining the entrees and the food was the closest to New Orleans style cajun food I’ve tasted in a long time. I really enjoyed my experience here and look forward to returning here soon.

So far so good. After getting my hair did, i was hungry so i figured i would grab a margarita. It was PACKED so i had to squeeze myself into an open bar seat. I ordered a margarita and and a bowl of seafood gumbo.
The gumbo is the best ive had in GA other than mine (lol). It has oysters, okra, crab meat and it had a soupy consistency. I hate gumbo thats too thick. Next time, i might even get a bowl to go! The margarita was also good and skrong! Not strong but skrong! lol
The only reason im giving this place 4 stars not 5 is because i havent tried other things on the menu. I will definitely go back and will adjust accordingly :)

If there were more stars I would give it this restaurant was the best hands down!!!

I’ve been here numerous times and this is as closest you can get to Cajun cuisine wo driving to New Orleans. I’m going to skip the intro about the place and décor and go straight to the food & Srv.
First, their service is awesome even when the place is packed… and they’re packed most of the times I’ve visited. The entire staff is friendly and attentive.
Now when it comes to their food, they’ve been consistent most of the time when it comes to quality and flavor. I’m not a big fan of deep fried food in general so I will be a lil bias on the fried stuff I have tried.
The fried gator was ok. It’s fresh but the flavors were like any other breaded & deep fried food.
I didn’t really like their fried green tomatoes. There was just too much breading around the tomatoes.
The fried oyster poboy was ok although the group I went with said it was one of the best oyster poboy they’ve had. Again I’m bias.
Their hush puppies were a hit or a miss. It is crunchy on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside. The best I’ve had when cooked right. Other times they were over fried and lose the sweet flavor inside and become like a rock.
Now for stuff that makes me drive almost an hr to get to & wait another hr to get to eat (yeah, Gumbeaux’s don’t take reservation and when they’re packed, there will be a wait).
You can

Gumbeaux is the best restaurant in Douglasville BY FAR. Growing up here, I would say I’ve been here 2 dozen times. True Cajun food in a town of very bland chain restaurants. The wait is usually pretty long on the weekends, so plan to be here awhile.
Let’s get started:
Ambiance– I can’t find a wall or even a couple inches in this place that doesn’t have some homage paid to the «mother land.» There are more Mardi Gras memorabilia pieces in here than bourbon street! In all seriousness, they got it right here. Great jazz music greats you at the door and you are taken right to the French quarter in New Orleans. Glowing 5 stars here.
Food– I’ve spent half this review talking about it already. Please go here and get the seafood gumbo for an appetizer, crawfish bread entrée, and bread pudding for dessert. You’ll thank me after. Out of this world good, save room though they have big portions here. I’ll stake my claim as best Cajun food in Georgia. Delicious 5 stars here.
Service– I was trying to think back, my fiancé and I for some reason all too often have pretty terrible service when we go places. I have never been blown away from their service but I have never been lacking. They always have had my water full (a hard task with the given nature of spicy Cajun food), and have never messed up our food. Timely and attentive. 4 stars, no wow factor but outstanding service.
Still the wow factor of the food really should be 10 stars. Solid 5 stars. Please go here.
«There is no sincerer love, than love for food!»

Read this like 4.5 stars
Dam Gina!
This place is serious. Two stories, with a bar up and downstairs (that does not matter to the non drinker in me). There is seating up and downstairs also (and food can come there also LOL). There will be a wait (we did 8:00 on a Friday) — but your patience, dear reader, will be rewarded.
Now to the food.
Dam Gina!
Be wary of what you order — the portions are huge… no let me change my font… HUGE… nope needs to be bigger… HUUUUUUUUUGGGGEEEEEEE! Seriously. The lobster bisque bowl is enough for you to drown in. The popcorn shrimp is shareable by the table (actually they all are) HINT: The Cajun sampler is a large platter of crawfish étouffée, shrimp creole, jambalaya, chicken and sausage gumbo, and red beans and rice 4oz. of each… that and dessert and you are done.
We ordered WAY too much food (and it was all delish!!) and the server gave excellent suggestions.
The only complaint — No one told us about the «You can sit and order from the bar» option — that would have shaved a great deal off of the wait time.
This is on my list of places to eat next time I am in town…
Dam Gina!

Love this place. I didn’t even know of it’s existence until a year ago. Gumbeaux has been around for eleven years in Douglasville, a short distance from where I live. How did I miss that? But anyway, did I tell you I love this place. They specialize in Cajun cuisine, most of their dishes are seafood. I thought Pappaduex had large servings. Wrong, they have them beat. I always end up with enough leftovers for lunch and dinner for the next day. My sister ordered the shrimp and grits. There was plenty of shrimp. She didn’t expect so much food on top of that, it includes two sides with it. Yep, she had lunch and dinner for the next day too.
Appetizers:
Their appetizers alone can be a meal by itself. If you’re new to this place and can’t decide what to order try the Cajun sampler. The Cajun sampler is a large platter of crawfish étouffée, shrimp creole, jambalaya, chicken and sausage gumbo, and red beans and rice 4oz. of each. Order this and drinks and you’re set. Another tasty appetizer is the YaYa wings. I rarely order wings for appetizer but I sold with their housemade buffalo sauce with blue cheese or ranch dressing. The sauce is sweet and spicy with just enough tang. Speaking of sauce, if you order the garden salad try it with the blue cheese dressing which is made in house. Their on point with their sauces, I see.
Entrees:
Besides serving size, the food stand out. My favorite dish is the soft shell crab opelousas. The opelousas had to lightly fried soft shell crabs with rice and topped with crawfish etouffe and cheese. The crab is well seasoned and meaty.
After the other night, I’m adding the grilled marinated pork chop. The Grilled marinated is new to the menu, so I decided to try it since I was not in the mood for fried. The pork chops are marinated in the Roby R’s marinade — the same marinade for their ribeye. The chops is served on garlic mashed potatoes with french bread. The marinade is great bold taste with a bit of tang and the pork chop was cooked perfectly not dry at all, which I worry when I order grilled pork. If the pork chops were that good, I wonder about the ribeye.
Sides:
I’m limited on the sides because many a bit spicy for my taste. I like the homemade potato salad, garlic mashed potatoes, red beans and rice, the cajun turnip greens, and cajun black eye peas. Top favs the newly added cajun black eye peas and the turnip greens. Both have bits of sausage in them so FYI to my vegetarians.
Overall, Gumbeaux’s is great little place close to home. Be warned, it’s a real popular place so get there early. They’re open from Tuesdays to Saturdays 11a.m.-2p.m. and dinner 5−10p.m. I usually come in for dinner early before they open and a line is already forming about 4:45 outside the door. The space is small so the wait is long. You can wait either in the bar area, outside, or upstairs in the lounge. You can’t make reservations and everybody in your party has to be there before you can be seated. Outside of that you’re in for a treat and keep things lively in small town. You have a fan.

I am baffled to realize that I had not written a review for this place yet. What in the world have I been waiting for?
A group of friends come down from NY every year and this place is always on the agenda. I am allergic to shellfish and I fo Not eat Pork so I am greatly limited to what I can eat here.
But I haven’t tried anything that I didn’t like. The portions are huge! The only thing I don’t like is the seatimg. I like to be close to my girls grom the NY. They are cute and all. But damn it I don’t want us to have to sit on each other’s lap. I pray that they can buy the place next door soon. Like prior to January. And for that reason only I take away ½ point. 4.5 stars it is.

Great service great food great drinks prices are reasonable
This is my second time here and I’m happy again…
There is a wait to be seated cause this place is very popular

Excelente comida en un ambiente muy relajado e interesante! Ideal para ir con amigos y experimentar la cocina sureña.

From downtown Atlanta, I think I have driven here like 3 times before actually being able to eat here. Initially the wait was WAY too long with people standing outside the door, down the street and around the corner. We opted to return downtown and eat at one of the other hundreds of restaurants that the city had to offer. The next time, we thought we would be sneaky and come on a Monday… early. Closed. So then we came back on Tuesday and finally it was open but even at 5pm they were chockers full of people. Why?
Clearly this was the place to be. There were large, small, funny, lazy, interesting people standing inside and outside. For 4 people we were expected to wait about 45 for a table at which point we thought it more prudent to order at the bar and then leave. After all what I was really after was their famous bread pudding. I mean… their gumbo was pretty good too. When we finally got home and were able to eat, I realized why this place was packed. While their prices were standard for food in the area, their portions were probably 3 – 4 times as big. I got a half size and I found myself forcing myself to finish off the last few bites and if any of you know me, I have a large appetite. You really can’t go wrong with any of their rice dishes and it was just a mouthful burst of flavor from all directions.
Now the bread pudding is deserving of its own paragraph. Each was individually wrapped for us and came with some very lovely toppings. Since we didn’t eat there we opted to get our own ice cream to accompany it. After picking up the most expensive vanilla ice cream you can imagine, we had a feast. Between 4 grown men, we were only about to eat 2 of the 3 that I had purchased and again we were forcing ourselves to take it down. But can I say, that between the chocolate chips, the butter and moistness of the bread, I could be eating that daily and I would be willing to be morbidly obese for that dessert? That’s saying a lot people. Obvi, it’s a must try!

I’ve eaten here a few times. they don’t open until 5 for their dinner service. most recently, we arrived at 5:10 and waited literally an hour and 20min to be seated. the food is good. but not worth THAT type of wait.
My favorite is the seafood rotini. the portion size is huge. lol I can eat half of it in one sitting and get full, with half of it left to take home. The fried platters are good. a lot of seasoning. I tried stuffed shrimp with mashed potatoes. they were terrible. it’s shrimp with this glob of their seafood cake mix stuck to the bottom. and very salty.

Gumbeaux’s Cajun Café is a popular Cajun and Creole restaurant in downtown Douglasville. It’s been around since 1994 and is a local favorite often busy with long waits. The restaurant is located across the street from a set of railroad tracks. Free street parking can be found on either side of Broad St. right in front of the restaurant. The business is family owned and operated. Reservations are not accepted and parties are not seated until everyone in the party is present.
There’s a front bar area, two dining rooms (one front, one rear), and an upstairs area known as the «Voodoo Lounge» (not sure what that place is). The atmosphere is casual and festive. The interior feels very much like a traditional Bourbon Street/​French Quarter restaurant and bar with its brightly painted, Mardi Gras-​themed yellow, green, and purple walls. A mishmash of décor fills the interior from vintage signs to masks to posters. The restaurant has some age on it and it shows. The tops of the booths are dusty.
The menu is extensive and contains possibly the most Cajun and Creole food on any menu in metro Atlanta. Most of the food is fresh and made from scratch including sauces like remoulade. There are oysters (baked or fried), crab claws, alligator, étouffée (shellfish over rice), crab cakes, jambalaya, (red or black) beans and rice, fish (e.g. catfish, grouper, salmon), shrimp, soft-​shell crab, gumbo, po’ boy sandwiches, and even muffuletta sandwiches. At dinnertime, expect to spend about $ 10 – 20 each for most dishes. At lunchtime, you can get away with no more than about $ 10 – 12 each for lunch-​sized portions.
I’ve tried a handful of dishes. Here’s the rundown:
–Bayou Fried Gator — farm-​raised alligator tenderloin cubed and marinated, lightly battered and fried, served over Cajun fries with a side of remoulade
–Roby R’s Special Baked Oysters — oysters shucked in-​house topped with garlic butter sauce and mild white cheese
–Dixie Jambalaya — diced chicken breast and Cajun sausage slow-​cooked in a spicy tomato, vegetable, and rice mixture
–Red Beans & Rice — Camellia brand red beans slow-​cooked with spices served over rice
–Chicken & Sausage Gumbo — chicken breast and spicy Cajun sausage slow-​cooked in a spicy roux-​based chicken stock, served over rice
Generally, I think the food is good/​OK, though it doesn’t knock my socks off. Then again, I’m not the biggest fan of Cajun and Creole food, so I may not be the best judge.
I like the fried gator. It’s sort of like chicken nuggets or chicken tenders. The gator meat tastes sufficiently fresh. The batter is indeed light and the meat is soft and a wee bit slimy, but not bad at all. The homemade remoulade is a little thick, but tasty. The fries are big and seasoned with Cajun spices.
The baked oysters are underwhelming. While fresh and delicious, the oysters are small and are overpowered by the layer of cheese on top. If you like oysters, I’d go with the raw ones here.
The Dixie Jambalaya is A-​OK. The portion size is enormous. One serving is two meals for some people. This one is a filling and comforting dish. The pieces of chicken are tender and the Cajun sausage is savory (best ingredient of the dish). If you want a wholesome meal, order the jambalaya.
The Red Beans & Rice are surprisingly good. It is perhaps the best thing I’ve tried at Gumbeaux’s, believe it or not. As noted above, the restaurant uses red kidney beans from Camellia, a high quality and well known bean brand from New Orleans. That’s part (or all) of the reason why Gumbeaux’s red beans and rice taste so good. They’re just delicious and I can easily gobble up multiple bowls of this stuff.
The Chicken & Sausage Gumbo is flavorful and a dish that sticks to your ribs. It’s expectedly soupy, but contains the same tender chicken and savory sausage that is featured in the Dixie Jambalaya. I’d say it’s a push between which dish is better, but I do think the gumbo is preferable for colder weather. They don’t call cold weather «gumbo weather» in southern Louisiana for nothing.
Service is excellent. Shout-​out to Brent.
In the end, Gumbeaux’s is a fine restaurant for Douglasville and Douglas County, though I’m not sure it merits the drive for in-​town Atlantans unless they’re really craving for a wide variety of authentic Cajun and Creole food.