Night time ambiance is definitely a bar vibe. Nothing wrong with that, just don't come here expecting a relaxing or intimate date night setting. The food was excellent, fried pickled okra was very good, not too sour but perfectly breaded. I had the salad Evangeline and it was just right, a little cajun sampler of crawfish blackened shrimp and fried green tomato's, all sitting atop their house salad. Only complaint was my daughter's green beans were complete mush, as you can see in the picture. Would like to come back for lunch when it's warmer outside, they have a nice looking patio. read more

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We were here on a day that they were unfortunately out of oysters (Sunday), so we couldn't get the oyster appetizer or the oyster po boy which we visited for. The service was excellent . Our server knew the menu well and he was very helpful with suggestions. My husband got the burger and said it was good. My son and I split the fried seafood platter with shrimp and the portion was a bit small, in my opinion. The Cajun fries were very good. We will give this place another chance for sure next time we pass through. I love the location and the outdoor stage. The inside of the establishment is rustic and kind of like a roadhouse, but nicely laid out. read more

Alright for an out of towner parking was very confusing. It appeared to be more in the front but my GPS brought me around the back where there was maybe 3 parking spots. I picked up my food a shrimp po boy and a seafood platter. The shrimp po boy was pretty good decent amount of shrimp and fries. Could have had a little more remoulade but acceptable. On the other had my wife's shrimp plate was nothing to write home about. The cole slaw was omitted fortunately I checked my order before I left. There were 5 shrimp, a container of Mac and cheese and the cole slaw I had to run down that wasn't in the picture. Do yourself a favor pass on the seafood plate it's not worth 22 bucks. read more

Bayou Banner Elk - Shrimp po boy - Smokehouse Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

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Google & Yelp says they're open for breakfast. The neon sign out front flashing OPEN also leads one to believe they are open. Multiple "BREAKFAST" signs all around the restaurant would make you think they serve breakfast...and they do...at 11:30. Also known as lunch around the rest of the country. Facebook has accurate hours. Once I come here for lunch, at 11:30, I'll update this review for food quality. read more

Love Sunday breakfast. Very Different items to choose from. Have tried them all! Service is also very good too read more

Outstanding breakfast and cappuccino. It was a beautiful day to sit outside and there was no wait. Nice and clean restaurant. We had the avocado toast (highly recommend) and the fried green tomato Benedict. read more

Bayou Banner Elk - Avocado toast - Smokehouse Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

Food is good service is great pretty fast came around and checked on us a lot ambiance had a pool table pretty cool would probably recommend

Food was mediocre and server was afraid to ask kitchen to add onion to a sandwich because they didn't do that . Ambiance was great.

First time trying Bayou in Banner Elk. It was a great experience! I loved the awesome selection of food with a bit of exotic options. I ordered the alligator bites and char grilled oysters. They were so good! For my main I ordered the two meat plate with sausage and brisket. The brisket was fatty but it was delicious. Be sure to come hungry as the portions were huge. Definitely recommend! read more

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Sooo good! If your plans bring you into Banner Elk by way of New Orleans STOP HERE! Food and service outstanding! Swamp bites for an appetizer or wings are good too. Houston heat is recommended for seasoning. Red beans and rice sooooo yummy, and yes, yes, add the Andouille. Enough for sharing. Gumbo & Etouffee also delish. No room for dessert- but for dessert I want to try the pecan pie with Bourbon whip cream! Yes please! Breakfast also filling! Yummy egg & bacon sammie on a biscuit. Perfect start to the day. read more

I have been coming to this place forever. I always sit in the bar area and that is what my buddy and I did. Good beer selection and plenty of spirits if that tickles your fancy. Oysters looked good, my friend enjoyed. read more

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So, we're on a family trip for my boyfriends birthday and we're staying on the beautiful Sugar Mountain. After experiencing the amazing alps coaster, we headed here for lunch. Looking forward to a great experience, we were severely let down. We parked by the entrance and walked into an upscale bar room. We were then ushered into another dining room. In this dining room, we were met with our forgetful and lack-of-personal-space loving server. Through out our meal, she continuously forgot multiple items for our orders. We tried to show her grace until we looked around and there was a total of maybe 10 people, most of them at the bar. My boyfriend's dad asked for cocktail sauce and tartar sauce twice and we were handed the bill instead. Whenever food or drinks came out, every 30 minutes might I add, she made her presence known by sliding the tray almost into the middle of the table, running over my phone. She also got cozy when it was time for us to tip and stared extra hard to make sure she got something in her pocket after the lousy service we received. Food was nothing to write home about and the server was nothing above average. read more

Had the alligator bites, shrimp and oysters.chicken sandwich was crazy good looking too.

Came here for brunch after a ladies ski weekend on our way out of town. Our server was nice and handled a large party well. There was lots on the menu that we were eager to try although it was unfortunate that they were out of avocado toast for our vegetarian friend. A few of us ordered the biscuits and gravy and while the flavor was good, it probably could have used about 50% more gravy lol. Atmosphere was what we expected, relatively low fuss place and we weren't expecting anything grand, just something local and hearty. No real complaints, we got a good meal and headed home! read more

The Bayou has been one of our favorite spots for several years now. It's changed quite a bit after a shift in ownership, but they've kept a few of the original items around that we love. The Cajun flare in the food is the closest we've found to what we've eaten in New Orleans! The staff have always been friendly and we had a great server on this specific visit. We were there midday on a Sunday were sat immediately. I ordered my usual, the Salad Evangeline, and my husband had the Fried Seafood Platter with shrimp, cowboy beans, and a side salad. Both were great! read more

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Corey the bartender is the man! Great job and performance on service and food . He treats you like family, and that is hard to find nowadays. read more

I wish I could give it 4.5 stars, because it wasn't a bad place. My friends and I stopped here for lunch while traveling. The food was very good (I got the fried chicken sandwich and it was very tasty!) and I even tried alligator for the first time. One of my friends got the hot pretzel and said it was one of the best she's had! Our server was great, except he did not mention that each sauce was $1 extra. The fee itself is a little steep in my opinion, but not knowing about it until getting the check was worse. read more

First time there, sat outside on a beautiful night. We finished dinner before the band started, which allowed us a nice conversation. Food was fairly good, service was good. read more

If you haven't had the pasta it is definitely the best meal I have had since moving to Banner Elk what a treat read more

Bayou Banner Elk - Smokehouse Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

Tasha is an amazing server. We sat at the bar and she treated us like family. The food was quite good as well. Big screen tv to watch a game too. read more

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Never again. Rude server. Awful food. We only ordered an appetizer. Had to go somewhere else to finish dinner.

The food was great! I loved it here the atmosphere was so nice, but I'm pretty sure that elk on the wall is AI. My only complaint is I thought this was where Madri Gras was! Where is my king cake! Where is my baby? Where is my baby! read more

Fun place! The staff were friendly, cold beer, good food, a great live band and plenty of local color for good people watching. They have really good Cole slaw. read more

The cheese macaroni sucks. I don't recommend it, they have limited options on what to choose if is not to watery is over cooked. The service was great he understood our complaints even do he tried to help. We when in the morning so it was completely empty. read more

This place is trash. Took 1 hour for someone to come take my order!!! The workers were just walking around and look at us but not coming over to take my order!!! read more

Worst meal I have ever had. Says "Smokehouse" but this is not true. Got the barbeque. Chose chicken and brisket. The chicken tasted like it had been rewarmed. No smoke, no grill. Maybe baked with bbq sauce slapped on. The brisket was basically fat and once again, appeared to be cooked in an oven. The little bit of meat was chewy and tasteless with bbq sauce slapped on. My husband questioned if it was even cooked thru. I told the waitress this is bad. She just shrugged her shoulders and moved on. I was physically sick within the hour of eating...never again! read more

Brisket was just a little dry, but good. Service was stellar. Beer was cold and fast. All side dishes were fine.

Horrible experience. Went there today with a party of 6 . Ask the outside bartender if we could just have a seat he rudely said hostess inside. Went inside and ask hostess if we could sit at round table outside she said NO I am not seating outside. Ok can we sit at large table by window she said NO that is for band. No on was in restaurant... So my wife said were can we sit she looked around again NOONE in restaurant and said back there. We left went down the street to Town tavern and ask for a table for it were served quickly and politely. And spent a good deal of money. Moral is if you needed a few hundred today you lost it with rude horrible behavior. read more

Hands down, one of the worst experiences I have ever had at a restaurant. We were the only people in the restaurant and our waitress came to the table once. She never refilled a drink, did not ask if we needed anything and never checked on how the food was. Twice I had to track down someone else to ask for boxes, and the bill. Not only was the service terrible but the food was gross. Every side clearly came from the frozen section of the local grocery store. My 10 year old son who eats anything couldn't even stomach the mac and cheese. The only decent part was the brisket and the people I came with. read more

It was good. We sat at the bar. The food service was very slow. I'm guessing close to an hour to get our food. The bartender was crazy busy and all credit to him! I loved the salad and my shrimp po boy was good. It was just hard to eat so I ended up just eating the shrimp. My husband wasn't crazy about the chicken sandwich and the fries were meh. But overall I liked the place. Beer was great! read more

This place is awesome. Came here with friends, and everything excelled. The service was great, the ambiance was light and friendly. Was not too overcrowded or understaffed. And the Food was exquisite. Best Green beans I've ever had. read more

Let me keep this quick.... We have a house in BE and have been here 7+ years... we support all local businesses and entrepreneurs... today Bayou was doing decorate cookies for the Small Town Christmas event. My wife went to BE scoop and got a coffee. I took the kids too Bayou and said "Hell its cold and 4pm" give me a Buffalo Trace... Bartender asked Single or Dougle , I said single on ice please. Got the drink... Watched kids make cookies and my wife came over from getting a coffee.. . We were done wife went too close out tab.... and BAM.. $16 for a single of Buffalo Trace ..which is a $28 MSRP bottle...OK.. but then $1.50 for ICE ... I lost it... im a Borubon Drinker and in a lot of the Borboun Communities ... its bad enough you hit me $16 for a single Buffalo Trace... Almost paid for the bottle with 1 OZ of pour... but then $1.50 for some regular BaR ICE.. go f@ck yourselves... will never go to any of the Sorrentos places again. Straight Greed... taking my money to Stonewalls Restaurant ... who helps Avery County Government families. read more

Bayou Banner Elk - Smokehouse Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

Wow! We decided not to eat here because of the reviews. We were shopping in the boutique next door and asked where we should eat. She said, "The Bayou." I told her they had bad reviews. She said, "The newest owners have really turned things around." So my husband and I went. Boy am I glad we did!! He had the queso bacon burger and his words were "this is one of the best burgers I've ever had." Thick patty, great flavor and the queso added a whole new element. I wanted something different and went for the Red Beans and Rice. FREAKING AMAZING! The flavor was out of this world!! Our waiter was great, attentive and friendly! Next time we visit the area it will be at the top of our list! read more

Bayou Banner Elk - Smokehouse Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

I was looking a place nearby that served Southern Cuisine and this place checked off what I was looking for. I got the chicken fried chicken, mashed potato, fried okra and collard greens. The breading on the chicken was delicious but the gravy was just kind of okay, didn't take away from the chicken or add much to it. The fried okra was good as was the collard greens. Our server was so nice, he made sure my sweet tea was always filled! I would definitely would go back to try again. read more

Bayou Banner Elk - Chicken - Fried Chicken Mashed Potatoes with Cream Gravy and Fried Okra - Smokehouse Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina

Service was superb! The bartender was amazing and ran the show! His bloody marys were spiced to perfection and smooth! The brisket nachos are a must try! They offer indoor and outdoor seating. It is family friendly and next door to an arcade and ice cream shop. FYI the shirts their staff wears have hilarious sayings and are available for purchase in their gift shop. We purchased two lol read more

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Service was very poor. Went on a slow afternoon weekday and staff didn't care to serve. 3 in corner talking and rolling silverware and no one cared to ask if I wanted to eat or drink after sitting for 10 Minutes. Go to Town Tavern instead. read more

Okok if you come here and stop at the smokehouse you missed out. Service food drinks are amazing. We stumbled on this place by accident and we our so glad. If you're in Blowing Rock wondering where to eat or hangout for drinks welll don't miss this place. read more

It's Been about 6 months since the last visit and the foods and service was fantastic. Just a note the jambalaya is very spicy and hot. *One of the best burgers in Banner Elk! read more

Pros: our server was nice and attentive, menu is diverse so there's something for everyone, all workers were wearing fitted masks, fried pickles were tasty and not too much breading and not too greasy Cons: the fried green BLT is mostly bacon (only the tiniest slivers of green tomato, the remoulade wasn't good (chunky and kind of oniony), the French fries were way soggy, tiny parking lot We were seated away from people, but a lot of people were sitting at the bar not distancing. Then a family came in and sat right beside us. Luckily we were done and left. Friendly service, relaxed vibe but the food was mediocre. read more

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We really wish that they would honor their posted open hours for service so we can enjoy their amazing food as locals. It really sucks to drive down from the top of Beech MTN when they are posted to be open just to see a hand written sign tapped to the door that they are closed. read more

Bayou Banner Elk - Smokehouse Near Me - Banner Elk, North Carolina