Bayou on Bay Review

Stoped by on last Saturday (6/2/18) with four friends (three women and two men, all mid age). Asked the waitress to sit outside, she replied we don't allow more than four people at a table outside, but allow us to sit inside. I told her to keep it.
I have never been in a restaurant to be ALLOWED to sit.
I will never eat here.

Bayou On Bay is as close as we Pacific Northwesterners can get to the Louisiana bayou. Although not the most authentic of Creole cuisine, if you're craving a yummy po boy or a hearty jambalaya made with local ingredients, you should come to Bayou. I recommend coming during happy hour to take advantage of killer deals for their best options, like their deeeelicious oyster shooters. MMMMmmmm.

Great place. The building alone is worth checking out. Beautiful open spaces. I worked there a long time ago when it was a coffee shop, your downtown living room was their motto.

It was really busy when we went. I would definitely make a reservation. We were in the bar and it was slightly slow but like I said they were really busy. Food was amazing.

We were there for 2 hours, not by choice. After we ordered, it took 30 minutes to get our appetizer and then another 30 to get our actual food, and we only ordered one plate of food. It took us 7 minutes to eat. Otherwise, the food was pretty okay.

Great environment, rich food, food local beer selection. Staff is friendly but not to much of a nuisance...

Decent food, biased being raised on Cajun food in Louisiana. Not super clean and have never sat at a table that didn't violently wobble! Lol!

There are not enough good things to say about this place. Just go there.

Best frog legs! Ever! The collard greens are amazing & gumbo YUM!! They infuse their own vodka too. Never had a bad meal here! Tuesdays is happy hour all day!

I personally don't care of Cajun food. But they offered the classic American food as well. I love the amount of energy the owner put in to make the environment one of a kind. It shows character and that they care about the business and the community.

This was delicious! I wish I had this in my neck of the woods. I ordered the catfish and let me tell you, my family is from the deep south and they did a great job!

While most the drinks aren't anything too special, check out the bloody Mary bar during brunch!

Food was delicious. Particularly the Mac n Cheese was my favorite part. They did very well on their Beignets as well!

I had a really nice dinner there a few weeks ago. The food was delicious. The waitress was very friendly and attentive. It does get a bit noisy in there though

The best food! Big portions, great drinks n staff! :-)

Great Cajun food and some deep fried southern classics! The food and beer selection is good but the service is often slow and sometimes incompetent. I'm usually forgiving having worked in the food industry but they need some training. Otherwise, stop in for a beer and some hush puppies!

Absolutely loved our food. Pro Tip- order the shrimp and grits, Cajun wings, and the fried Okra

Best "chicken fish" frog legs in town. And I recommend the catfish. And fried green tomatoes.. Affordable and fun! Put this destination on your list!

Good food, reasonable price, nice space, staff could be more enthusiastic

I have dietary restrictions, so my choices were limited. I enjoy their sweet potato fries, they are good bar food and their cheap. I had an oyster shooter once and I was not a fan. With that being said, it was the only oyster shooter I have ever had, so... they just might not be my thing.

Food is good, environment on a Saturday afternoon is pleasant and there was a good number of people despite 3:30 not being a height of busy times.
The fried okra is delicious and doesn't taste frozen (though being off season, it likely was). The beignets are absolutely delicious and airy.
There isn't as strong of a spice flavor in the jambalaya and the cornbread is more dense and moist than southern cornbread, which is grittier and less sweet. It was good though and pricing was appropriate given the location, ingredients and specialty.

Awesome food awesome service and great staff will be back again

When I got my food it was cold. It tasted like it was reheated in the microwave. Also, the bloody Mary was ok. Nothing fancy. We also found hair in our food. Fantastic.

Bloody mary, sweet potato fries, and some wings oh man. Good happy hour here too.

So tasty! My favorite restaurant in town. Their food is always good and they have the best mojitos!

Really fun atmosphere, yummy Cajun food. Tried the frog legs and gator skewers and they're fun appetizers! Good drink selection. Happy hour all day on Tuesdays. They have outside seating in the spring and summer.

Delicious food and very friendly service. The gator special is really good!!! A great place to eat.

Waited over an hour for our food...dont go when the temp is over 70 degrees outside or you'll be sweating inside. Decent food but not worth the price or lack of service

Food wasn't true New Orleans food..not even ...over priced..didnt come near making collard greens right..or the okra...the only thing I can recommend is the frog legs..but at 24.00 a pop..it wasnt worth it..

Love the food. Decent service. Would be five stars if they had wifi.

Very tasty Cajun food. I really enjoyed the jambalaya especially since it included cornbread. They were sadly out of collard greens but hopefully on my next visit because I definitely will be going back.

A must-try in Bellingham, great food from crab cakes to gumbo to bananas foster.

I love the theme of this restaurant and the cozy atmosphere. Their food is amazing and their house-infused liquor cocktails are great too!! Sometimes there's a long wait for a table but the experience is well worth it.

Really nice place to eat. It's very busy and not a lot of seating in the dining room. But otherwise, staff is friendly, service was great, food was really good too! Went for our friend's anniversary on the recommendations of one of their friends.

Very good Cajun food. Try one of the excellent traditional Cajun dishes. I will go back.

Everything's good, but especially the wings (pictured), catfish, crab bene, and shrimp n grits! For drinks: ice coffee with whiskey and the Caesar! Cannot lose.

Food isn't that great. Service is ok. Usually cram packed with obnoxious people.

Fantastic food in general, but it's hardly authentic (what even is "authentic"? I'm using that term pretty loosely here and still saying the food is fantastic, worthy of a four-star review). The only downsides are that the beignets are too doughy (have they even been to the French Quarter?) and there is far too few shrimp on the menu. The muffuletta could use a sharper salami (peppered salami works well) and more green olives, but it was pretty good overall, for a Pacific NW restaurant.

Oh my gosh! Excellent! Excellent food. And great service. Knowledgeable staff.

Shrimp and grits we're good. They were out of frog legs though.

Awesome food. Pulled pork sandwich is the best in town, and their themed bar nights are great

Excellent food and great specials. Service was friendly, quick, and helpful.

Food was very good. Service was a little slow, but the place was packed. It may be by design I'm not sure. They placed zero pressure on getting you in and out the door. The slower service allowed for a very nice convo time, and made it feel much more relaxed. Outdoor seating was nice with the sunset. We ordered only off the starter menu so I can't speak to the dinner menu, but the crab cakes, hush puppies and gravy fries were very good.

The food and drink here is good, however the bar manager is completely rude and disrespectful. She immediately had an attitude when my friend and I showed her our ID, was told "what do you want" after simply saying hi, and proceeded to yell at both of us for not tipping her after we did not feel our service was sufficient. I've never been spoken to by anyone in this manner, and while I calmly gave an explanation for not tipping she called us names and stormed off. I tried once more to calm her down and ease the situation, but was told by another bar tender that she was the manager and there was nothing he could do. It's safe to say that I will not be returning to Bayou, and I hope no one else has this experience going forward.

Had a lunch with the family and thought it was some pretty tasty food. Staff were friendly and helpful, nice ales and ciders as well.

The food was good. Loved the background music I found myself dancing in my seat as I enjoyed my time with friends.

Fresh royal red shrimp and yummy chargrilled oysters, crispy hush puppies and smoky cheese grits. Don t forget to try the homemade graham crusted key lime pie so good that I had to get it again for breakfast! Happy

Amazing food and a great atmosphere. If you come during peak hours be prepared to wait but it will be worth every bite!

Great bloody Mary. Skip the analysis paralysis and just go here. You won't regret it.

Where to start? The funky vintage building, with seating areas tucked up in the rafters? The sprawling bar, with windows looking out onto the busy street life outside? The invariably friendly wait staff and bartenders who welcome regulars and tourists like they are family.

No. While all of that is true...I would have to start with the amazing food. Food that makes it worth taking the trip from Seattle, every time.

Southern comfort food that had one of our resident carnivores declaring the pickle-brined fried chicken as "the best fried chicken I've ever tasted...but don't tell my mom I said that". Cornbread. Collard greens. All of the staples are here, rendered perfectly and served plentifully.

But wait: that's not even the best part.

The best part is the Cajun food that had our Louisiana friends in wonder about how the recipes could made the long journey north from New Orleans with their flavors still intact. Lush tomato. Smokey spices. Piquant okra. Crisp hush puppies that somehow manage to be light and dense at the same time.

But that's STILL not the best part. The best part is that our vegetarian representative, often resigned to salads and sides, was able to fully partake of the Cajun bounty with vegan jambalaya and vegetarian red beans n' rice.

But can you believe that we still haven't gotten to the absolute best part? The best part is that this place exists. And is cooking up lunch or dinner for you right now. So what're y'all waiting for? Stop reading and tell Siri or Google Assistant to map you there.

Gator? Delish! Service was so so! However, the whole experience was very good.

Had the pulled pork, date had the gumbo. Food was INSANELY delicious, I cannot compliment it enough. Atmosphere was nice, service was quick, and our server was nice and funny, too! Prices were very reasonable, with food and drinks our total was 30$, which is not bad. I would recommend!

Phenomenal service, excellent food. I wish they would bring back the Crawdad salad. The Bloody Mary bar is tops.

Came here for brunch and honestly, everything was so amazing! We had the Cajun wings, fried catfish, crab benedict, shrimp and grits...mmm I m definitely coming back again!

Bayou never disappoints! With a top notch serving staff and kitchen I will keep coming back!

Great place to get a taste of Cajun food friendly staff I have not had anything that I didn't like from the menu.

Great menu options, indoor/outdoor seating, dog friendly, awesome staff. Reasonable pricing.

One day I will open a duck gumbo shop in Bellingham and put them out of business.

Until that day, it's probably my favorite restaraunt/bar in the city.

Great food and service. Jambalaya was amazing. Definitely worth a visit.

Came here for brunch. The crab cakes weren't bad, but the shrimp and grits were terrible. The shrimp were overcooked and the grits were lumpy. Service was slow but friendly.

Shrimp n grits is where it's at! Food is great, drinks came out slow but they are delicious and worth the wait.

Speak easy feel with Whatcom County presentation. Outdoor seating overlooking the best part of downtown...the waterfront

Great happy hour experience when traveling through.

We seated ourselves, and it took 10-15 minutes before we got our orders taken. The place was busy but not full. The drinks were good, but the food was mediocre. The brisket hash I ordered barely had any meat in at all (see picture). The Northwest scramble was OK.

Best chicken tenders in town! Plus, their happy hour menu is truly amazing. A cozy spot to get together with friends! I m not big on Cajun-style food, but there s something delicious for everyone.

Awesome. Love the atmosphere, service, food and drinks! Service was friendly, helpful and outstanding. Jambalaya was very good, nicely spicy, lots of sausage and shrimp. Cajun buffalo wings were crispy and juicy. I look forward to coming back and trying the gumbo!