Bayou Jacks Cajun Grill

Mother’s Day so I got to pick … Couldn’t have picked better food or service. Everyone at our table got something different and nobody was disappointed. I would eat there every day if I could afford to …
Next time anybody asks me — it’s Bayou Jacks Cajun Grill in Roanoke and I’ll have the blackened catfish dinner … so good!

I ordered the Shrimp Dinner with fried, grilled, and blackened shrimp and fries. Excellent choice! It was delicious and filling. I will be back to try other things on the menu.

I ordered the menage a trois. Dirty beans and rice, gumbo, and etoufee. They were all fantastic alone (though the etoufee was nuclearly spicy), but the trio is admittedly one-​note. I was glad to see what, in my opinion, was more or less authentic Cajun represented here. We originally showed up to babes and were put off by the waiting time. Jack’s let us right in and had a large table for the party in 10 minutes.
I would definitely return, but order something else. Fried pickles are the bomb.

We started with the Dirty Balls and Alligator Nuggets for appetizers. While the presentation was somewhat lacking, both of these were really tasty. For main courses we had Crawfish Monica (pretty spicy with a few too many jalapeños), Crazy Cajun Basket (lots of great fried seafood), Shrimp Grits (block of cornbread grits in the middle of the plate was a bit dense), and Manage a 3 (tasted like down-​home bayou style dishes). Overall a nice family meal. We’ll be going back again to try another assortment of yummy-​sounding entrees.

Decent Cajun food. Not the best I’ve had but it was busy. I understands it’s fairly new but they did seem to have a lot of locals. Plenty of spicy flavor. Servers were friendly. If you go, go for the atmosphere and have fun.

dinner here was as can be expected from a Cajun place, service was great with good suggestions on the brew as well as the entrée, the missing two stars are for the shaky table we ended up being seated at and the high price didn’t do justice to the casual atmosphere of the place.
Overall, not a bad experience, and will go back someday.

We were thoroughly disappointed with our visit tonight! The employees seemed more interested in tending to employees who were eating and drinking at the establishment on their day off/​end of their shift, rather than focusing on families that were dining with grade school kids. The manager on duty never once visited our table to ask how we were doing. He was busy hugging patrons/​employees at the bar. Our server seemed to either be new, inept or had a language barrier. He charged us for 1 extra hurricane. He brought us an order of 1 lb. crawfish accompanied by 1 very small baby potato (yes I said 1), 1 sliver of a sausage (about an inch big) and ¼ piece of corn on the cob. Mind you, this was an up charge as I was notified by our server. I had to request 3 more small baby potatoes to go along with my 1 lb. of crawfish. The kid’s lemonade, our waters and Hurricanes were all served with straws that were in an open box back in the kitchen where the server grabbed with his bar hands. The same hands I’m sure that were handling other customers credit cards, cash, etc. Pretty bad when your 10 year old brings it up before you even mention it.
Our bill totaled nearly $ 100, yet we didn’t even get a thank you for coming as we left dinner. The restaurant was probably at about 30% capacity. There were several servers, bus boys, bar backs, etc. HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT as there are so many food establishments now to choose from in Roanoke, Alliance, Keller area. Just overall really left a bad taste in our mouths about returning to Bayou Jack’s, which is really sad because we enjoyed our two prior visits. Kind of like you lost touch when you upgraded to a larger facility. Hopefully management and or the owners read Unilocal reviews and take them to heart.
Signed, a very sad patron and her family.

This is my second visit here. We come for the oysters but both times we’ve come they’ve been sold out. Kinda disappointing.

Ok, so I gave the new location of Bayou Jacks a try after a poor experience a couple of years ago at the old location. Our company had an event here and I was not excited about it to say the least.
I must say I thought the service was great this time and I once again enjoyed the Dirty Balls (sounds nasty but delicious). Crab cakes were also a great appetizer. The fries were perfectly crispy and hot. YUM.
I want to go back soon with my husband and try the catfish again :-) This experience definitely redeemed Bayou Jacks in my eyes.
Happy visit!

I had the Crawfish. The bride had the Shrimp and grits. BOTH were VERY goos.
The Crawfish rival anything I’ve had in Louisiana! The Shrimp and Grits are cheesier than I’ve had elsewhere, but still very GOOD!
Chased that down with some bread pudding. It’s a thinner serving than anticipated, but VERY tasty!
Taylor was our waiter. SUPER attentive. SUPER nice! Never felt neglected!!! OUTSTANDING young man!
Oh my… almost forgot the Dirty Balls! The appetizer was AMAZING!!!
If you’re here… come by. If you’re not… GET HERE!!!

We visit a minimum of 1x per week for business lunches. Ambience is full Cajun, they even have a wall of hot sauce for your picking. A nice craft beer selection awaits you.
Must haves are their peal and eat shrimp, perfectly cooked and sweet. I also love the gumbo for its richness and texture.

Fam and I decided to break the norm and head to Roanoke for a quickbite. Hubs and I were visiting from CO so Texas grub was in high demand. We happened to stumble on Bayou when the hubs noticed «crawfish» on the sandwich board. Maybe I’ve been living in a landlocked state too long but this place was awesome! We were pretty impressed with the Texas craft beers selection both on tap and in the bottle. Since we left N TX the craft beer scene has clearly blown up. We started with a flight (One and Done I think). Nice selection but the Sir William sucked– not a knock on the restaurant but maybe they should consider a different one on the fight.
Next the main course– 1 lb of crawfish and 6 oysters. I think the kitchen mistakenly gave us VooDoo spicy, which, while delicious, is not for the faint of heart. I LOVED it though!
We knocked a star off mainly because of our drinking experience. The flight had no names or tags to show you which you were drinking and the bartender didn’t tel us either. That was a bit of a bummer! Our server was also a little on the slow side but nothing significantly horrible.

My Bayou Catfish was yummy! Blackened THEN breaded and fried crispy. Had a slow, soft after burn not a YIKES call the fire dept.
The crawfish queso was a mild flavor and so very tasty. So tasty hubby is practically licking the bowl.
Hubby had Zydeco Catfish which had more of a bite, but that’s the way he likes it.
Wait staff attentive and helpful. Our waitress recommended my dish.

We’ve been to Bayou Jack’s twice, once at the old location and once at the new. The new digs are better and the food is still as good.
On our most recent visit we both had po’ boys – I had the whole sandwich with fries, while Mary had a half with a cup of gumbo. Everything was very good including the service. When we’re in the area, we’ll definitely come back when we are in the mood for Cajun.

Love this place! The gumbo is delicious! The wait staff and management are top-​notch! It’s worth a trip if you’re craving some Cajun food!

The girlfriend and I were thoroughly impressed with our experience here. Full disclosure, I came in with fairly low expectations. We both were completely blown away with both the variety and quality of the food.
Next paycheck I have, will be going to this place!
The crawfish queso was great, but maybe just a little bit colder than we’d like it — but still not bad enough for me to take a star away.
I had the Catfish and shrimp combo — keep it simple and grab a few staple items and see how it goes… It was amazing. By far the best fried catfish I have ever had. The shrimp was great too, but the catfish was by far and away better.
They also have a very wide range of drinks and drink specials. Ranging from Beer flights (microbrews) all the way to customized in-​house mixed drinks.
This place has it all. I highly recommend giving this place a try if you are in the area. I don’t even have to second guess that.

Went to Bayou Jacks during lunch on Friday and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised!
The service was quick and friendly and the menu had a lot to offer! Amongst our table we had the hushpuppies, blackened shrimp, red beans and rice, gumbo, peel and eat shrimp, salad and shrimp po boy.
I had the shrimp poboy and it was great! The baguette was delicious and the shrimp and fries were cooked perfectly! I would definitely go back for that. The hushpuppies were also great and I heard everyone mention at least once that they really enjoyed their food.
I am eager to bring my husband here as we really love oysters and there were quite a few reviewers raving about them!

Service took a little longer. They kept forgetting to bring out our orders. Service wasn’t that good. Crawfish came out cold. Won’t be back.

I had dinner there tonight. This restaurant is in the Roanoke entertainment district that includes several restaurants. Tonight I decided on the Big Easy shrimp pasta adding a side salad.
The salad arrived less than 5 minutes after I ordered it. I was pleased. It was a nice sized salad for $ 3.49 and good. I had taken my second bite of salad when the my waiter shows up with entrée saying that the kitchen got this ready in a hurry! He wasn’t kidding and I became unhappy as he set the plate down. I really don’t like when the timing of the courses are presented this way. Now I have to sit and watch my entrée get cold as I hurry and finish my salad.
I finished the salad that I liked and dove into the pasta dish. While I gave the salad a 4 I decided to give the pasta a 3. It had small popcorn sized grilled shrimp with red peppers and onions in the white cream sauce. I thought it was good but did not stand out to warrant a 4.
They do have free wifi. Get the passcode from your server. Currently it is goodfood.
I would return here to try something else. The restaurant is nicely decorated with a folksy homespun feel. My service was good with the exception of the mistimed food presentation.

Came in with my boyfriend for a quick snack and drink! Bayou Jacks sure did hit the mark for just that!
We shared the shrimp and crawfish ceviche and Fried oyster nachos!
The Ceviche was more like a Mexican shrimp cocktail… My one and only complaint is it was lacking avocado! Other than that it was really good!
Fried oyster nachos have recently became my favorite appetizer. It’s it’s on a menu I will order them! These were some of the best I have ever had! Cooked perfectly for my liking (not over cooked). I really like the Pico de gallo and spicy mayo based sauce! I could see myself ordering them Togo for dinner!
We will have to come back soon!

Casual and comfortable atmosphere. What caught my attention were the bright colored wooden chairs and metal tables. Decent sizeTVs located at the bar and corner areas. Walls are all decorated with pictures and posters.
I ordered a blackened tilapia sandwich with red beans and rice as a side. The fish was nicely grilled and presented. Looked good and tasted great. It was fresh and tender. The red beans and rice was great also. I could see small pieces of andouille sausage. The waitress said there was also bacon, but I didn’t see it. The Louisiana rice was good too. Overall it was a great lunch. The amount of food was just right without feeling too full and needing a nap :(I would come back and try something else.