Party of 5, we ordered the Shrimp and Baked Potato Combo, Swamp Platter, and the Crawfish Etoufee. They were all subpar and disappointing. The potatoes came out lukewarm with very little butter, the etoufee was lukewarm and the platter was overcooked and the french fries were soggy in what tasted like old oil. The frog legs in the platter were pitifullly small. The butter tasted fake and oily. The waiter had a difficult time giving us the condiments we needed for some reason and there was no sour cream. What restaurant in existence doesn't serve sour cream?! This is a tourist destination, correct? Where is the pride in the famous Louisiana cooking? How this restaurant is still open I'll never understand. Steer clear of this place as it's way overpriced for the bad quality of food served. read more

The food was AMAZING! I am not sure who our waiter was but he made sure we had what we needed and wanted! read more

Mama's Oyster House - Seafood Near Me - Natchitoches, Louisiana

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Food wasn't tasty, fries were ok. We thought the oysters were fresh tasting. Greeter & waitresses were blase', to us. We'll give 2 stars. Hope this helps others in choosing a pleasant place to done while visiting Natchitoches. read more

Mama's a true gem in Natchitoches. It is on my must visit list each time I come to town. It's the perfect spot to grab a bite and/or a drink. The oysters are amazing and always taste fresh. Raw, grilled or stuffed, they have something for anyone looking to enjoy oysters. The rest of the menu is pretty robust from the appetizers to the platters. Some of my favorites include the alligator bites, boudin rolls, grilled chicken wrap, catfish platter and the bayou fettuccine. The bayou fettuccine could use a bit more seasoning. The drinks are also pretty solid. The first time I visited I had a smoked old fashioned. Ellie smoked it for me at the table and even asked what kind of wood chips I preferred. I also appreciate that you can get drinks to go. The staff is attentive and quick. The vibe in the restaurant is always a good time. The decor on the wall is fun. Already looking forward to my next visit read more

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Well, we stopped by Mama's and both ordered the Bbq shrimp. I will say that it was good, but did not have the flavor of other bbq shrimp dishes that I've enjoyed. The bbq shrimp at Mamas was in a sauce that tastes more like a butter/garlic sauce. We also had a Bloody Mary and it was fixed just right. read more

Mama's Oyster House - Bbq shrimp - Seafood Near Me - Natchitoches, Louisiana

Congratulations, you just served my wife and I the worst meal we have ever had in the State of Louisiana. Here for the Christmas Fest, we stopped for a quick meal. I had Catfish Creole. Literally, the most tasteless sauce ever. It was supposed to be a crawfish based sauce. I found one crawfish tail. The small piece of catfish was barely a mouthful. My wife had a 17.00 chicken Caesar salad. It was a cup of iceberg lettuce and appx 3 oz of finely diced chicken. I mean really! Why anyone would eat here is beyond me. read more

The place was a nice respite from the heat. The food was just okay. We had crawfish rolls and a catfish po boy. read more

Mama's Oyster House - Seafood Near Me - Natchitoches, Louisiana

We are in Natchitoches for a few days of vacation. About 6:30, without a reservation, we started looking for dinner. On a whim, we walked into Mama's. It is a casual, fun, and lively venue. It looks like they took two store fronts and opened up the wall in the back to join the two. Each has its own bar. The south room, where you enter the restaurant, has a long bar. The north dining room has a short bar. Mama's was packed, but we were abel to be seated without waiting at the short bar. We both ordered the lite catfish meal, a cup of shrimp and corn bisque, and a draft Yuengling. The catfish was very good, and the size of the serving was adequate. It came with fries that were excellent. The fries were hardy steak fries with a twist. The fries are meaty and crispy. The shrimp and corn bisque was excellent. It's very tasty with a little kick. The service was good. It was a little noisy, and the prices are on the top end of the moderate scale. It was fun, and we enjoyed both dinner and venue. read more

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Bartender was friendly and got pretty chatty with us. Drinks were good (especially the blue frozen drink) and the food was great. I had the catfish lunch and it came with 4 big filets, fries, and hush puppies. Filets were so big that after three of them I was packed full and couldn't even eat dinner that night. A definite must go! read more

We've ordered here twice in the past year, and the food was well below average. We were also missing some of the order. The bisque and spinach and artichoke dip had no seasoning-very bland, and the pasta was oily and hard. The chicken alfredo was just ok. We loaded the food down with Cajun seasoning and salt, but it didn't help much. For the price, the food and portion sizes are terrible. Unless the food improves, we won't be ordering again. We are cooking a pizza after spending over $60+tip (DD) for 3 items. read more

I have written off Mama's over the years due to their complete inconsistency from one visit to the next! The last few years it has been more misses than hits... this trip was a complete hit and everything was great! It was a five star visit but I'm only going to give 4 stars because of the previous 2 & 3 star performances! I'm actually afraid to go back out of fear of being disappointed my next visit! read more

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Door was open, even on a cold, damp Saturday night. Felt like no one was really "in charge" and waited on someone to notice us standing in the doorway. It's a bar, so the atmosphere is open but a bit dark. Not full at the early evening hour we went, though was filling up when we left around 6P. First table we were seated, we thought we could handle the cold, but asked to move. Unsweet teas were promptly delivered by Dairen, who was helpful and answered any questions we had about the menu. Opted for the spinach dip with fried breaded pasta as chips ($13.99). The dip was very good and not goopy; the pasta chips, though, were a miss. I'd prefer bread, crackers, tortillas or even deep fried unbreaded pasta chips. We had the crab cakes appetizer ($15.99), which was 2 cakes served with remoulade on top, which was surprisingly not a horseradish remoulade. Cakes were a bit bready and not much crab. Really wanted a 1/2 doz oysters on the shell, but the season we've had garnered a $15.99, so I skipped. We saved ourselves for dessert, which was the Peanut Butter Sin Bar ($8.99). AMAZING! Like having a Reese's brownie covered in peanut sauce, served warm. Check out was a snap. Ask for Dairin for good but not hovering service. :) read more

VERY DISAPPOINTED!! Came here 3 years ago and had a bad experience! We thought we would give another try, wrong !! We walked it at 8:35 pm on Thursday night Dec 26, we were told after waiting 10min for someone to see us , they were on the close down only menu , mind you they close at 10pm . Really 11/2 hours before closing you stop serving, that was it , two strikes your done ! You could have done better !! To many other places in town ! read more

do not go here! It's been several years since I've last been to Mama's. I remember it being average from prior visits but this time it was just all around bad! I got the catfish creole and it was very average, 1 piece of fish and probably half a cup of watered down étouffée for a $20+ meal. My husband got the bowl of étouffée and after waiting for our food for over an hour the server brought it out cold!! He said it was flavorless and watery. The worst part of all though... the service! We did have a large party so we went into it expecting a longer wait for our food. We were sat right away in the blues room which was empty when we first got there but quickly filled up. I'm pregnant and hungry all the time lol so I ordered mini meat pies when the server took drink orders. After 50 minutes I asked the waiter if they were still working on the app. He said "didn't you see next door is crowded, your food is going to take a while." no apology when clearly he forgot to put the appetizer in. About 20 min later our meal came out so we just asked for him to cancel the app at that point. He also didn't give refills on our drinks. We were having to walk to the bar anytime we needed a refill. I guess he didn't care bc he got the included 20% tip no matter what? Def won't be back or recommended! AND I heard multiple other tables complaining about wait times, service, and food quality... yikes! read more

Great Service, Food, And Atmosphere! We always enjoy stopping here when we are in town. Can't wait to come back! read more

ugh. don't know what has happened to what used to be great places to eat, but it's NOT GOOD. Food and service equally horrible.

Well don't go to this Oyster House and order oysters. It's 6:45pm on Saturday a holiday weekend and they are out of oysters. Plus a festival in town. Sounds like poor planning to me. Shame shame shame. read more

Mama's Oyster House - Menu - Seafood Near Me - Natchitoches, Louisiana

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Wildberry margarita excellent! Grilled oysters with pepper jack garbage like three day old fish. Chicken Alfredo separated, cheese, bitter trash. read more

I came in today with my friend and sat at the bar. Our bartender Gracie never smiled at us, asked us what we were getting and when my friend said she was still unsure, Gracie rolled her eyes and walked off. she was negative, and not great customer service. We did enjoy our drinks and customer service when a different bartender served us! read more

How do you live in LA and ruin gumbo? It was totally rancid. Hubby had the etouffee and it was marginal. Parents had fried shrimp and fries. Not much better. If you're looking for a tourist trap... you found it. read more

Restaurant is located next to their sister restaurants down on Front St and seems like a locals place, but will also get the tourist crowd. I didn't have much luck finding a menu online or via my phone, so the only semi-accurate one is the photo from 2020 here on Yelp. Staff was very attentive and bent over backwards for our requests. Decent price of $10 for a 20 oz strawberry daiquiri. Not sure if this is all the time or a special. But you can't go wrong. Oysters Rockefeller for half a dozen as an appetizer and came with tiny French toast slices. The broiler was said to be halfway working that day, so that might have affected the taste. With so many options, I'll probably try something else though, if/when I return. The Garden Salad with grilled chicken had great flavor. Could be more than a meal for some and was a great deal. It's not listed on the menu, but there are hard-boiled eggs that come with it. We were able to customize our child's pasta, so our little one was very happy about that. Nearly at the whole bowl. New Orleans BBQ Shrimp could light your tongue on fire if you are sensitive to spice. The shrimp came butterflied bathing in their delicious BBQ sauce. I should have asked for a spoon to eat it. Came along with the standard potatoes, corn, and hushpuppies. If your down in the area, don't leave this out as one of your options. read more

Mama's Oyster House - Oysters Rockefeller - Seafood Near Me - Natchitoches, Louisiana

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Ellie provided amazing service! This isn't my first time at Mamas, but clearly, the food and ambiance keep me coming back. We had the charbroiled oysters, crawfish handpies, wraps, and a few other things. Everything was so good, and the portions are great sizes. We will definitely be back, probably tomorrow read more

Mama's Oyster House - The customer service and new options are top tier. - Seafood Near Me - Natchitoches, Louisiana

Everything was great! Food service in atmosphere was outstanding. I would definitely recommend to give it a try.

I called the day before to make a reservation and was told that I would get a confirmation telephone call the next morning - nope. Made a reservation because I wanted to be sure to get a table, but it probably wouldn't have mattered as there were open tables. This is an old place but I expected that in Natchitoches. It was a bit dark, but that kept it cooler. Darienne, our waitstaff was friendly, helpful, and fast. Lots of oyster dishes on the menu. One in our group had fried oysters and shrimp. He thought they were great. I opted for the catfish lighter fare and added a side salad. There is an all you can eat salad bar that had lots of great items and fresh vegetables. If I had not been in the mood for fried fish, I would have loved the salad bar. The fish was very good as were the French fries. The hush puppies could use a bit of green onions and seasoning. Pretty basic. One of our group had a grilled chicken wrap on a spinach tortilla. Adding aioli or ranch dressing would elevate the dish and make it moister. The crab cakes were outstanding. An order came with two huge crab cakes that were delicious and had a great white remoulade sauce. The seafood was good, but you may want to stay clear of the wraps. read more

The drinks were good, the fried food was fresh and delicious yhe grilled oysters however were tasty but not grilled. They seemed still a bit half shell, so that was disappointing read more

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Today I am sitting in the Mama's oyster house ... and I was very fooled by what people were reviewing as I decided to come to see myself and found that mamas may have changed hands, but their food is delicious and crisp and you get a full plate of variety of that combination platter and they offered instead of getting four different things that I could get one thing twice and the other two things I picked out... And I loved that deal as me and my husband sat here and enjoyed Coca-Cola and quaint View out the window that we were able to enjoy our food with salad and they brought us all kind of little sauces as I love their Roumalade sauce as it has to be the best! I pray that everyone does not listen to those reviews as this place is top-notch and well worth your time here place... Please come see all the fun stuff that they have added and enjoy Natchitoches! read more

Drinks and bar staff were friendly and pleasant. Food was meh, redfish was overcooked and the crawfish etouffe on top was luke warm and thick. For the price of the dishes I would have expected better quality of food. read more

Atmosphere was great! Food, not so much. Ordered a crab cake sandwich but couldn't eat it (tasted spoiled). Fried catfish wasn't cooked all the way through so just ate the thin parts. read more

The food was exceptional. I had the frog legs and they were the best I have ever had. Ever! The batter was really light and they were fried to perfection. Hubby had barbecued shrimp and really enjoyed it. Service was great. Desserts were pretty good. I had bread pudding and my husband had pecan pie. His was better than mine. We would definitely come back. We loved it. read more

Riverside restaurant. The food is not great... honestly it banks on it's location more than the quality of the cuisine. Everything tasted a bit ready made or frozen including the meat pies and seafood. read more

Mama's Oyster House - Seafood Near Me - Natchitoches, Louisiana

I wanted to give this restaurant a 3 star review and then a 4 star review and then back again. But the employees were great and so was the beer. In fact, they have 24 beers in tap. So four stars won. I was told it was oyster season. So I got half a dozen raw oysters. They were excellent. And big. Usually when I see oysters that large I'm afraid they'll taste muddy but these did not. They were even crisp and not at all salty. They do not have any mignonettes though; just cocktail sauce and horseradish. Off-menu they have artichoke and spinach dip served with buttered and fried bow tie pasta. The pasta IMO was weird. The dip was probably store bought but this is small town USA and so there people here love it. To me, it's just one of those things that had been overdone. But the beer was good. It even got me through the rugrats that some people brought in and couldn't control. I felt for my waitress. I know she felt for me sitting next to them. read more

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Traveling and went here based on pretty good reviews. Crawfish Etoufee had maybe 6 tails in the $14 bowl. The $14 bowl of Seafood Gumbo had one shrimp and no other seafood and was cold when delivered to table. The grilled alligator bites appetizer was half the size of order but more expensive than the order we usually get at Papadeaux's and had almost no flavor. Big disappointment. Sub-sub par. read more

We were looking for a seafood restaurant that was open on a Monday evening. Yay!! This restaurant is on Front Street in Natchitoches directly across from the Cane River Lake. Beautiful hardwood floors and Louisiana decor inside. The bar and dining room ambience is perfect for dining. Food is delicious! Blackened alligator appetizer was delish to start our meal. The prices are reasonable and portions generous. Note: They did have ribeye on the menu which was pricey but the cut was prime. We might try it next time. We will definitely be back!! read more

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Always good food and always great ambiance! Love the bands on weekends. My favorite place.

The food was awful. The oysters were blan, and I'm pretty sure not cleaned properly. Beyond chewy and I love oysters, they have never gotten stuck in my teeth before. The shrimp and corn soup was so thin and there was no flavor. The BBQ shrimp wasn't anything like I expected, super overpriced, and they gave two over cooked hush puppies read more

Great food & service. Great atmosphere. Friendly staff. Convenient to all the best shops.

It was a busy time during the holidays so I understand waiting for a table. But it took a long time once seated to get our order in and then another 30+ minutes to get one dish. Every one of our meals came out at different times. We still did not have silverware. The steak dinner came out alone that was over cooked and the potatoes were pasty and cold. It took a while for the next ribeye to come out and it was cold The potatoes were also pasty and cold. The bread was soggy and the carrots were the only dish that was hot. A few minutes later the third dish came out. It was the grilled snapper and it was hot but over cooked. Finally the final meal came out. The catfish creole was ok. Never refilled drinks. Not much customer service. Don't live here so probably won't be back. Disappointing because I was looking forward to a good meal. Waitress wasn't very attentive and didn't show much interest in taking care of our table. She added a tip to the four person order. read more

Mama's Oyster House - Cold ribeye and potatoes - Seafood Near Me - Natchitoches, Louisiana

We went during the Zydeco festival which was fun. The place was super crowded and noisy which I would completely expect and felt it was the appropriate atmosphere. My snapper was my favorite thing. We also had the fried amd grilled gator which were ok, frog legs which my daughter and husband loved, we didn't finish the seafood dip- wasn't our favorite. Drinks were great and dessert was a hit. The raw oysters were also phenomenal. Our waitress was great! Clearly overworked with an unreasonably positive attitude- I was impressed! read more

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Grilled oysters were good. Seafood gumbo was tasty but too much rice with hardly any seafood. Fried platter with 6 jumbo shrimp were delicious; 4 oysters were overcooked with lots of breading; fried catfish had a fishy taste. French fries were very yummy...crisp and seasoned well! Bread pudding was very disappointing! It was almost like eating bread with butter sauce! read more

This restaurant used to be one of my favorites but it has truly gone downhill the last couple of years. VERY nasty environment and poor food quality. the only plus was the Service was great. read more