This place is such a great addition to the Union City plaza! I dropped by on a random Thursday night, and the restaurant was already decently packed. The vibe is awesome, they have a great bar area with a couple of TVs playing sports, and the music was definitely bumping. The staff was incredibly nice and super attentive to our table the entire night. Food-wise, this spot doesn't miss a beat. One of the best surprises was that they offer fresh crawfish, which is pretty rare to find at most seafood boil places. Everything we ordered was packed with flavor, and the garlic fries were amazingly good. Honestly, this boil spot isn't lacking a single thing. Whatever they are doing, they need to keep it up! This has easily jumped to the top of my list as one of my absolute favorite seafood boil spots. read more

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I was looking forward to trying Backyard Bayou, but unfortunately my experience never made it past the waiting area. My party arrived around 6:38 PM and added our name to the waitlist for dinner. While waiting, it became increasingly clear that more than half of the dining room had already finished their meals. Many tables appeared to be staying simply to watch the soccer match on the TVs. I completely understand wanting to enjoy the game, but at the same time there were 4-5 parties waiting for tables, with groups of various sizes. This raises an important question: at what point does management step in to balance hospitality with serving waiting guests? While no one should be rushed through their meal, when tables have clearly finished dining and a long wait is building, there should be some effort to manage table turnover during peak dinner hours. After waiting about 45 minutes with no indication that seating would happen anytime soon, we decided to leave and eat elsewhere. Ironically, we didn't receive the text that our table was ready until 8:07 PM--nearly an hour and a half after we first checked in. The food may be great, but based on this experience, the waitlist management left a lot to be desired. I hope Backyard Bayou reviews how they handle busy nights and finds a better balance between accommodating guests who want to linger and serving the many customers waiting to dine. read more

Backyard Bayou - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Union City, California

We had a very mixed experience here recently. We specifically called ahead to confirm their $25 special (1lb shrimp, garlic noodles, and a drink) was available from 4-6pm. The Pricing Confusion: We placed our order at 5:05 PM, and the server initially took it. However, a few minutes later, they came back to explain it wasn't actually a happy hour deal, but a lunch special. This was frustrating since we had called to confirm and had already ordered. While our other food arrived earlier, we waited over an hour for the shrimp. We watched five separate tables who arrived after us get served their shrimp first. Even though we told the staff a couple of times that our shrimp hadn't arrived yet, we were still left waiting. The shrimp didn't finally arrive until 6-6:10pm. They eventually explained they thought we had already been served and suspected our order had accidentally been packed into a to-go order. The food itself was actually delicious, the shrimp and garlic noodles were very flavorful. I don't even have a photo of the shrimp because by the time it finally arrived, we were so hungry we just started eating! To their credit, once they realized the error, they slashed the price of the 1lb shrimp and gave us free rice to make it right The food is great, but the kitchen organization was a mess during our visit. Management was honest and tried to fix the mistake, but waiting an hour for the main part of your meal while watching five other tables eat is a major headache. read more

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Very very poor management skills for the manager on duty last Sunday. We were on wait list for 30 mins and yet despite of multiple tables were done and have paid the tab, they ended up staying to finish the game and had all wait listed parties wait for another 30 mins. We ended up going to a different place and felt so sorry for the owner of this establishment... not only that they lost a lot of money that day but they will definitely loose more in the future if they don't change their management team. read more

My sons took me out for my bday (month long celebration). We love boils and this was suggested to us. Chill vibe, pretty attentive staff, busy but not noisy. Bucket shouldn't be in the description as there's no bucket. You get a bag of food that you eat out of the bag or pour on the table. We used napkins as barriers to keep the sauce on the table. Martini 2outta5 Good flavor but the rotten lychee was unacceptable. Why serve that?! Fries 4outta5 Nice Cajun flavor Chowder 4.5outta5 good savory flavor, thick, just needed more clams Oysters 3outta5 The ocean water flavor wasn't explosive as expected...Basic presentation. Hot sauce, cocktail sauce aren't included and horseradish wasn't available. Seafood Boil 2.5outta5 I got the hot seasoning. The spice level isn't overpowering, no tears or runny nose. It was just right w/a good flavor profile. The cook on the seafood was over. The shrimp were mushy. The crawfish were a nice size but were dry inside. If they're prepared correctly, you should be able to suck juice from the head. The corn was over and mushy, no pop in the kernels. The potatoes and sausages were ok. The cook is not worth the price by any stretch. #GoTaste&See for yourself read more

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I found this place nearby the hotel we are staying out, thanks to Yelp! It's located in a market place surrounded by several restaurants and shopping centers.The menu is quite large and they offer many seafood and boil options. I noticed their happy hour which came with a seafood option 1/2 lb (shrimp)and included potato, corn and sausage slices for $$20. I chose the garlic butter (mild) and ordered a side of garlic noodles. The boil was pretty good. The noodles were so good and very flavorful. I'm not a fan of overly generous garlic foods but the noodles were delicious! Staff was helpful and attentive. Good happy hour deal and I had enough to take home. read more

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This is a solid seafood boil place in Union Landing! It's also Asian-owned and shows it in the menu! Service was friendly and fast! Inside is a little dark.....but spacious not too loud. They got our part of 10 a table within like 20 mins on a Sat night. The regular sauce was so yummy and flavorful. I shared 2lbs (crawfish & clams) with steamed veggies and corn with my husband and we barely finished (and we can EAT). Total came out to be ~$70+. I will be back to try the other dishes!! read more

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I've heard good things about this place online. It's inside Union Landing plaza so lots of parking. We were a party of 4 and were seated immediately on a Tuesday night at 6pm. The server got us water and explained the specials to us. We ended up doing the special of 2lbs of any meat with garlic noodles. We split 1 special for 2 ppl so got 2 specials for our table of 4. My friend and I split 2lbs of head on shrimp and crawfish with the combo seasoning and mild. The sauce was so flavorful and garlicky (which is so good). You do have to pay extra for lime so we didn't do it but even then the sauce was so good. The shrimp were good size and crawfish as well. The garlic noodles were really good and big portion. The garlic noodles were better than other seafood boil places I've been to. Service was quick and they got us our food quickly and kept refilling our water. The inside was clean. I will definitely be back! read more

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Just tried this spot over the weekend. Pretty standard Cajun restaurant ambiance. Clean and well lit Service was very friendly. Everyone had a smile ! Food was excellent and the sauce on the seafood boil was nice and thick with good flavor. We ordered quite a few things off the menu and everything was good. read more

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Location has a lot of parking and lots of seating, the staffs are great. Menu is very vast and has alot of options. The garlic noodles were extremely soggy and drenched with butter. I love my garlic noodles but there's a limit when the brown paper box shows sign of moisture. read more

went here around 7 pm on a tuesday. wasn't really packed at all, it started to fill up though. the parking was plentiful and its around other shops so it's helpful. the place is kind of small but there are booths to sit in and huge tables as well. for the most part you the hostess just tells you to sit where you want and then a server will be there to help you shortly. for food: deep fried oysters - not a huge fan, most of the oysters were huge and clumped up together and had more of a slimy texture, i like oysters but i think the problem was they were too bunched up in one serving. soft shell crab po boy - great sandwich, honestly really shareable and it comes with fries of your choice, i love sweet potato fries so i ate those. overall super good restaurant, i would usually get seafood boil or something but my girlfriend and i thought to switch things up. read more

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Ngl, very disappointed with the owner here. The food itself was good, and I do want to mention that our server was very attentive and polite, so this review is not about the service on the floor. Unfortunately, the issue came when I got home and checked the bill. The bill was calculated incorrectly, with extra fees that didn't add up properly (attached picture). This is not 20% service fee, and it's not even correct if you add 20% after tax. 20% after tax: $431 + $58.72 = $489.72 20% of that = $97.94 (still not $115.40). The total still doesn't come out to $115.40, so I'm not sure how they calculated it. It's frustrating because basic billing should be accurate. Very disappointed in how this was handled by the owner. I will not be coming back. read more

Backyard Bayou - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Union City, California

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Came to get drink and met Han for the first time ever in my life . Amazing owner who cares about his guest. Above ownership , let's dive into food and what more can we say just amazing . Definitely will be back and thank you Han for showing me your concept . Jazz read more

Another amazing experience here tonight 01.18.26! The customer service was top tier starting with the hostess Kayla. Even though it was a wait (per usual) getting on the waitlist for sure saved us. Ivan was attentive, personable, and had great recommendations for the menu. We were celebrating my mother's birthdays she really enjoyed herself. Ryan was also very friendly and was walking around checking on people. Wow! You don't see that in a lot of restaurants. The bartender Alex made tasty drinks. Th food was hot and delicious. Will always come back for amazing customer service and good food. read more

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Went last week with friends and they seated 10 of us in 45 minutes. The place was packed, it was also raining hard- saw a table umbrella get picked up and blown away by the wind and rain like it was nothing. Felt bad the workers had to run and get it outside- luckily nothing was damaged and no one got hurt but they were drenched! Anyway, my first time here at Backyard Bayou- we did the Seafood in a bag- ordered 3 pounds of shrimp and 1 pound of Mussels- we did 2 garlic noodles and 4 rice- each rice order is 2 cups of rice. Once it arrived, we went to town! We were so hungry! They give you black gloves, and bibs to get messy with. Paper trays for plates and lots of towlettes. Overall, food tasted great, I'm a shrimp person so I loved it- I will be back! read more

The food was great. This was my first time here I wanna say our server Randy our server was amazing. Paid attention to the party to the table helped us with all our extra goods, sauces, ketchup boxes, bags to go, loving the ambience love the music, I mean l they're playing good aZz music fa sure ... especially the vibe is chill and my shrimp Poboy was on point , great with the coleslaw on the side, Cajun fries and that backyard sauce oh yes, I might need a whole bottle of that ish i again I need extra peppermints I will definitely be back soon for the boil, medium heat with rice shrimp almost forgot I'll be bring a group read more

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I really appreciate that the sauce here isn't extremely greasy like other seafood boil restaurants do. There's no layer of orange oil in the bag. Thank god! I also feel like I don't get as bloated. 1 lb of head on shrimp, 1 lb of clams, 1 corn, with sides of garlic fries and cornbread was just over enough for two people. Fries were ok. The cornbread was a little dry and chalky but not bad. Service was awesome. All the staff were nice and it looked like they all loved each other. I would come back here just for the lower greasiness. read more

As a seafood boil fan, I'd have to place this one at the bottom of my list. For the price, I honestly didn't think it was worth it. We ordered the Bayou Bucket with Dungeness crab, crawfish, and mussels, paired with the Backyard Style sauce at Hot spice level--but it wasn't spicy at all. (You have to pay an extra $2 to make it spicier) The portion was decent, but the flavor just didn't deliver. The mussels tasted off, almost like they weren't fresh, we didn't even finish it. The crawfish were a good size and had a nice amount of meat. The crab was meaty, but it lacked flavor and wasn't as juicy as I'd hoped. We went on a Wednesday, so the $1.50 oysters were honestly the best part--they were super fresh and enjoyable. Service was solid--our server, Ryan, was warm and attentive. The restaurant itself was clean and well-maintained. Overall: I don't think I'll be coming back or recommending this place. For the price we paid, the quality just didn't match up. read more

Backyard Bayou - Bayou Bucket - Dungeness Crab Whole, Crawfish, Mussels - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Union City, California

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Passed by here all the time and their recent weekday lunch special got me interested. I like a seafood boil but my family doesn't. This lunch box special worked in my favor, you get a pound of shrimp, mussels, or crawfish and an order of garlic noodles. There were two lunch specials and my server suggested the Bayou box over the other. After ordering a pound of shrimp in mild backyard style, I was so excited with digging in. The mild flavor worked just right for me. The garlic noodles were firm and tasty, not too overpowering. I had a whole booth to myself. There were televisions on the opposite wall but not too loud. My order didn't take long. Since the garlic noodles came in their own container, I wrapped up the leftover shrimp with the noodles. It definitely hit the spot and enough to satisfy my seafood boil cravings. Will definitely come back. read more

Backyard Bayou - Lunch specials - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Union City, California

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A delicious sea food boil restaurant! This place is unique in my opinion because they have an Asian inspired sauce that fuses soy based Asian flavors with the classic Cajun seafood boil. If you ask, you can combine the sauces to have a mixture that is extra garlicky, savory, and delicious. The service was quick and the waitress was so kind. She allowed us to try the Asian inspired sauce before ordering. Their restaurant had a great ambiance. Although busy and bustling, the restaurant had ample seating and we were seated as soon as we walked in! read more

Backyard Bayou - 1lb Mussels + 1lb headless Shrimp / backyard bayou + garlic butter sauce - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Union City, California

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This has to be my favorite seafood boil restaurant!! I've tried so many but none compare to backyard bayou. This place was recommended to me and I've never had seafood boil prior, the day my family and I came in- the staff was so kind and understanding. They were willing to explain the menu and offer us recommendations on what's most popular! The prices of the different buckets and combo meals they offer are so good too! They always give great portion sizes and offer a lot of extras like corn, sausage and potato's. A lot of seafood houses make you pay extra but not here! The food is delicious and the seasoning is perfect! There's never been a time where we had gotten sick or smelled something fishy with the food. It's always great and we always have a fun time coming here! The ambiance is so much fun, there's always games playing on the big screens, great music selection and just good vibes all around. It's been a year since I found this place and after trying different seafood boil places, no one tops them!! 10/10 read more

Went there on Fathers Day, there was half hour wait, we waited outside on the tables. Once inside I ordered the spicy Bloody Mary, OMG it was spicy and fabulous. My son ordered the steamer bags with headless shrimp and mussels spicy. It's so delicious, we also got garlic bread and lobster Mac n cheese. This place is beyond my expectations and we are coming back in a few days to celebrate a birthday. This is one of the best seafood restaurants I've been to. Come here, you won't regret it. read more

Back again for my crawfish fix. Service and vibe was great as usually (love the mix of R&b/pop playing). If I haven't said it before. This is THE BEST seafood boil in the bay. I love the way they seasoned/cooked the crab this time. It doesn't even need any sauce from the bag because how well it's flavored. read more

Backyard Bayou - Family Bucket - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Union City, California

Everything was great. We had literally not more than 5 minutes wait time. Our server was friendly, attentive and very knowledgeable about the menu. Our appetizer didn't take long and neither did the food. It was hot and very good. I will be going back soon read more

Service is good. It was packed but you can still hear your conversations. Came Friday night at 630. Told it was about a 30-40min wait and would text us. 10 min later our table was available. Got seated and served quickly. Ordered 2 lbs of shrimp backyard style medium, head on. It seemed more mild to me but the flavor was there. More on the Asian flavor than your normal Cajun but still good. A good fix if you're in the area. read more

Backyard Bayou - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Union City, California

Service was so slow and lackluster...she didn't really know what she was doing or familiar with the menu. We ordered a bottle of wine that was not available...which led to us finding out that 5 other bottles weren't available as well. We ordered the selfie bucket and after our order was placed and wine was opened we found out that they had to mussels (it was Thursday and 2pm...that's crazy) read more

Backyard Bayou - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Union City, California

If you are looking for Cajun Seafood in Union City, I highly recommend that you go to this place. They have so many different types of food to choose from. Can't miss their Cajun fries and fried cat fish. I love the ambience and they provide excellent customer service. Sometimes you will find the owner HAN in the restaurant also and he is far the best restaurant owner I've met. He always makes sure that all his customers leave satisfied. He sometimes even will pour you a drink for free. This is a must go place for seafood boil. All employees are very friendly & they treat everyone like family. read more

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Left a review saying they don't clean their shrimp. What I had ordered was the headless shrimp seafood boil ... and there was a lot of poop inside of it ... they don't clean it and the owner responded back saying " sorry you feel this way " ..... so you don't clean ur shrimp? Or just lack of accountability .. there's too many places around that actually care about the cleanliness of the food that they serve to their customers and unfortunately this is not of em! You have been warned read more

This place was great! We had 7 people including 2 kids and they were very accommodating. The service was great! We had a few bags of shrimp, delicious souce and a good amount for $20. A few friends got the crab rolls and love it! Definitely give it a try! read more

2.5 round up to 3 I went here for my friend's birthday dinner and I would say it was an alright experience. My friend attempted to make a reservation ahead of time, but I don't think this place takes reservations at all? This is located in a big plaza with many businesses so parking isn't too hard. There was plenty of seating inside but very little space to go in and out of your seat. As for the food, I think the po boys, and crab fries were amazing. The seafood boil, was a little disappointing as it isn't as flavorful and I would have to super dip my seafood to get the flavor. I believe the shrimp was lil over cooked. The garlic noodles is a 100% miss, it tasted like maggi sauce. Overall, I will not be back again but if I were to be back, 100% recommend the soft crab po boy and crab fries!! read more

Been going to this damn spot for about a decade. The Food SMACKS, EVERYTIME. My lazy ass should of wrote this in 2016, but since its a trend now, Here ya go. Starter Pack Newbie order: 1 lb of Shrimp with head on. Backyard Style. Medium or Hot. Add a corn. Add a potato and/or Hot links. Order 1 rice and/or the Garlic Noodles. Thank me later. Lobster Mac and Cheese: SMACKS Salmon Rice Bowl with Backyard Creamy Sauce: SMACKS Lobster and/or Crab Fries: SMACKS Any of the mac and cheese: SMACKS And this year, i just realized they had a Happy Hour special early in the day. Ask about it. I've tried the other sauces for the seafood, but BACKYARD STYLE IS THE BOMB. read more

Love the fresh seafood here! Their house spices are perfect flavors. Highly recommend!!!

Came here with my friend on a Saturday afternoon based on a TikTok recommendation. There were tons of parking which was nice. There was also little to no wait. We got the crab Cajun fries, garlic noodles and a lb of shrimp and mussels with their signature sauce mild. I would say the Cajun crab fries were delicious but got cold fast. The garlic noodles were also decent. The shrimp and mussels were good too but the sauce was nothing mind blowing. I didn't see how much different it was from boiling crab. I don't think I would drive up from South Bay to eat here, but I would come if I was in the area. read more

Backyard Bayou - Garlic Noodles - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Union City, California

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Ordered a shrimp po boy & a catfish po boy. Not pictured was the gumbo & crab garlic noodles. Also (pictured) is cheesecake and "beignets". So I wish I did more research into this place but its definitely a franchise/ chain of sorts. At least the quality is telling that story. The menu just said cheesecake and I didn't expect to open an oreo cheesecake slice. And it tasted frost bitten and had absorbed surrounding flavors in its refrigeration period (IYKYK). The beignets tasted like whole wheat sourdough bread rolls rolled in powder sugar. Tough exterior & dry dense bread center. The dipping sauce is just condensed milk. How do I know? Im a baker, yes. The shrimp in the po boy texture is like imitation meat no body to it but as if it was breading in breading. The bread used for the po boy was excellent, and actually quite fluffier, airy, & softer than the beignets. The garlic noodles were good & crab ratio was fair. The Gumbo tasted like it was from a Campbell's canned soup. It was bland, no color & no sausage in it. Otherwise our server was great & the atmosphere was chill. I saw a sign with happy hour specials for every day of the week if any one is looking for that. read more

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Well worth the trip, it was pricey but it was definitely good! We ordered the King Crab Fries, one of the boils with King Crab Legs and the Lobster Mac n Cheese. It was delicious and the customer service was really nice. Everyone covered for each other, which was really cool. I especially liked the monitors on the wall showing what all the dishes looked like. read more

Food: We ordered the Selfie Bucket, all shrimp in their backyard sauce with medium spice. It came with potato, corn, and sausage. For sides, we got their cajun garlic fries and white rice. It was decent, nothing to write home about. The medium spice wasn't hardly spicy. To give context, it felt like the same level of "spice" as a regular red bag nacho cheese Dorito. Service: Randy helped us. He was very friendly, attentive, and efficient. We shared it was our first time there and he patiently explained the menu and the happy hour deal they had going. The happy hour deal was if you pick any of their combo "bucket" deals, you get a free cocktail and 1/2 off alcoholic drinks after that. So the smallest bucket was 1 free drink and the other two buckets were 2 free drinks. The servers assisting him were also really nice. Ambiance: Hmmm... it's definitely smaller than other seafood boil places I've been too. The seats were very close together. There's a bar inside but no one was really sitting there. There were a few TVs on as well but on mute. The music was maybe early 2000's R&B which was perfectly fine with me. Will I be back? Maybe. The experience was non-descript in a very neutral way. read more

Backyard Bayou - Henny margarita with a tajin rim upfront and a tall glass of Blue Moon in the back - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Union City, California

The backyard sauce for the seafood boil is way too SALTY, and does not taste good at all. Took my family to Crabby Crabby in Newark for the first time and their sauce taste way better with a perfect balanced flavor. read more

Great place if you like getting your hands dirty. Flavor of the crab was awesome! Garlic noodles, awesome! Rice wine cooler, awesome! The owner came by and had a conversation with us...very cool dude! What wasn't so awesome was the fuzzy crab... read more

Eh. Nothing to write home about. There are sooooo many bag of seafood franchises, so the competition is stiff! The food is decent. Not bad at all. However, I can't say it's the best I've had either. The food was seasoned well and the portions are nice. I got the bag with crab, shrimp, mussels, corn, potato and sausage. You can't go wrong with that bundle! There is plenty of food to share. Although I don't love the seafood sauce, I would still recommend giving this place a try. The staff were nice and the service was really good. read more

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I've been here a couple times before and the staff is usually really friendly. Today there was a 30 min wait for a table but bar was open so me and husband sat down. The bartender (wearing raider hoodie and had one of her earpods on) hardly greeted us and asked what we'd like to drink, we ordered a water and strawberry lemonade since we were hung over. She gave me this look. came back with our drinks and whispered to her coworker right in front of us, "no drinks at the bar is crazy." I called her out and she responded with I was telling her (pointing to her coworker).. like ok????? she then was blaming the fact that no one was ordering drinks all day and she had also been working since 6 am at the golf course(?) how is that my fault? we just wanted to eat. i was a bartender for years and you never have to order an alcoholic beverage to sit at the bar so the way she was treating us was unacceptable. we walked out. read more