crescent city grill

had a verygoodlunch today at crescent city grill. i had the zydeco chicken which is a grilled chicken breast smothered in a creamy cajun sauce, mushrooms and andouille sausage. great flavor in the sauce and the sausage. i also had potatoes au gratin and dirty rice for my side. the potatoes were solid, but my rice left a little to be desired. dirty rice should not be sticky and there was not much flavor. service was attentive and friendly. i really like the variety of the menu with various poboys, shrimp and fish dishes. definitely will be a repeat stop while in hattiesburg.

i decided to stop in for supper because i like the atmosphere. the old dark wood in the restaurant and a bar a cozy. i decided to eat light so i got a dozen raw oysters. they weregoodand the time to get them short. the person shucking knew how to do it, no shells and they came out of the shell easy. i added a cup of seafood gumbo and it was outstanding, just enough spice. i may get a bowl on my next trip. i had three miller lites which were served at the bar where i ate. i probably should have tried one of their many beer on tap. this isgoodclassic old restaurant which always hasgoodservice and food.

recently visited for dinner. had blackened snapper. very good! have been dining here for 9 years and find the food consistently good.goodatmosphere, but a bit loud. i must be getting old. crescent city is one of my favorite places to eat in hattiesburg.

had lunch with my wife and oldest grandson. our meals of speckled trout and a hamburger for my grandson were very good. the service wasgoodbut the dessert (bread pudding) was just okay.

recently(march 2019) had lunch with my wife. we both had the cobb salad. it was outstanding!

have always had agoodmeal here; this place has been a favorite over the years - something i can't say about their snooty sister, purple parrot. as a non-seafood eater, i appreciate the wide-ranging choices on the menu.


-----10 aug, 2014-----

i've heard various complaints about ccg over the years, but hubby & i always have a great meal here -- such a large and eclectic menu! they're still one of my favorite places; just wish they'd take complaints to heart so more of our friends would want to eat there when we do!

my food was horrible! the service wasgoodbut the food wasn't. they could never compare to any gulf coast cuisine.

diners from hattiesburg/petal. we've always looked forward to the craw fish days -- several weeks ago we ordered our standard salad with fried crawfish, fried oysters and those wonderful fried jalapenos. i asked for the creole mustard salad dressing and was told it was no longer on the menu. this was a house favorite -- spicy with a little heat and some sweet honey to soothe. needless to say, our lunch was not thatgoodand especially with a waiter who was uninformed about the menu nor willing to see if anything could be done to accommodate. why in the world would you take an item off the menu that was such a popular item. mr. st. john allowed this restaurant to become run-down years ago - and it had a surge of growth within the past few years. time to reevaluate again!!!

also, the closeness of the seating (especially in the raised platform area) is very uncomfortable. you cannot hear conversations due to the tin ceiling resonating voices and clanging of plates and utensils. i usually request not to be seated there - impossible to get up without bumping into someone.

mr. st. john -- rethink this - you are the only game in town that is worth mentioning. live up to the name you've worked so hard at establishing all these years. get back to basics. and, while your manager is roaming the floor -- be sure to tell him to notice the waiters who are not getting back to their customers and refills -- never got the second glass of water for lunch - and we were there 45 minutes.


-----25 may, 2014-----

disappointed. we've always looked forward to "crawfish season" at ccg. upon arriving today around 1pm the hostess asked us to wait --there were several open tables for two, but she continued to talk to the male waiters. finally seated the loud and uninformed waiter came to our table. i asked for the creole mustard dressing, and he said he didn't understand. this salad dressing has been at ccg for years. finally he said they didn't have it any longer. i ordered the creamy balsamic vinaigrette. we never saw the waiter until our meal was completed, and then he appeared with water only after the manager noticed we were out. mr. st. john, get a handle on your staff -- uninformed, lazy, and generally a no care attitude. and, where is the creole dressing? not agoodday!!!!

food isgoodand the service is almost always great, but the furniture is way too crowded. i know the interior makeup forces it to be a little tight, but just be forewarned, if you are sitting on the raised platform, it will be impossible to get up to go to the restroom if anyone else is coming. the aisle is too narrow for two people to pass each other. sit down at the bottom if you can

terrible food. i cannot understand why people continue to patronize ccg. it does have agoodatmosphere, but you cannot eat atmosphere. the service isgoodalso but what about the food? the presentation is nicely done, but there is nothing about this food that is good. to call it new orleans style food is a sacrilege. robert st. john's restaurants would not survive 1 week in new orleans! i think the only reason he is surviving here is that there is no competition in hattiesburg except the chain restaurants. in the past 3 years since we have moved here from new orleans, we have eaten there 9 times & have yet to have a flavorful meal. last night was the worst. the char grilled oysters were absolutely pitiful. how can you ruin oysters grilled with lemon, garlic, butter & cheese?? but, they managed to do so. what they called corn & crab bisque tasted like something out of a can from campbell. i couldn't even eat it. the batter they use to fry the stuffed shrimp & the stuffed mushrooms with was so heavy & thick, one could use it as a hockey puck. by the way, i still haven't tried the purple parrott because i cannot make sense of the menu & tabella's is so far from being authentic italian food that it's a joke. i simply do not get it!!!

passing through hattiesburg and had dinner with friends at this restaurant. i checked "liked it" but actually my husband and i have mixed reviews. he said his shrimp and grits were delicious and so were my crab cakes orleans, thougjh they had too much filler for my taste. hubby said au gratin potatoes were from frozen potatoes that they added cheese to. he ought to know as he orders from food distributers. the bread pudding was okay but nothing like what we have had in new orleans. this one was pureed and sliced like a pie, no texture. whiskey sauce wasgoodthough.

disappointing. my wife and i have heard such great things about crescent city we had to try it. we started with the gumbo which had agoodthickness and color but had little meat and no rice. the shrimp and grits were watered down and had too many onions for my liking. the crab and corn bisque was ok but the crab crake was very small and had little flavor. all the dishes had a sour finish to them almost like lemon or something and nothing tasted fresh. i'm sure they leave all the roux's on a hot plate all day and just dip from there. i doubt we try crescent city again.

prettygood--was high. i detest anyth9ing with creole/cajun seasoning but my server had them do my fish of the day with garlic/lemon so i was happy as could be -- i sure miss fresh halibut, sea bass and grouper (cooked in parchment paper with herbs/buttah like pacific cafe in san francisco--rachel ray had them on her program -- not a bad deal for amazing home made clam chowder, green salad or caesar salad, fish, side of steamed herbed/butterd veggies, or rice or tater - i just ask for extra veggies -- and the sour dough bread omg -- that's a splurge and of course free house wine when standing in line!!).

used to be agoodrestaurant. i agree with the last review this place has gone down hill pretty fast. i already gave trip adviser a detailed review but we wont be back. poor value and atmosphere and they dont really care if you complain. my advise give it a miss there are loads of better value restaurants in hattiesburg.

patio should be non-smoking. i've eaten at cc/pp ump-teen million times and am thankful each time for this level of restaurant that continues to maintain the benchmark in the area for fresh fish dishes andgoodservice. the st. john restaurants demonstrate a level of service that you won't find anywhere else in town. sure, they have to train new staff periodically and sometimes my tea goes a few minutes without being filled but the management usually picks up the slack (we had a new waiter yesterday that clearly needed some help and the manager was quick to refill our drinks and haul off dirty plates, etc). you usually won't find that elsewhere in town and you definitely won't get that from the chain restaurants. one gripe though, it's time to go non-smoking completely; including the patio of mahogany bar. we wanted to eat outside yesterday but couldn't even get out the door before being hit with a cloud of smoke. i realize it's a bar and it's outside yadayada........but really, c'mon; it's 2012. time to make a statement and go totally smoke-free.

good gumbo. having eaten in the purple parrot and the crescent city grill, i decided to have dinner at the mahogany bar tonight. the house salad with the sun dried tomato vinegarette was excellent and very fresh. the soup de jour was seafood gumbo which was a nice thick roux with shrimp and seafood and a bed of rice. the gumbo was very good. very reasonable prices too.


-----22 may, 2012-----

verygoodlunch. having tried the purple parrot once, i was anxious to give the crescent city grill a shot so i had lunch there today. the hostess quickly showed me to a table and alex, my server, was quickly there to get my drink order and tell me about the specials. i picked the lunch combination special which was cajun roast beef with mushrooms, pepper jack cheese and horseradish sauce, along with a small crock of french onion soup and some crispy home-made kettle chips. the soup was excellent with a light, but flavor packed broth, plenty of onions and some nice bread and cheese; and the cheese was not ridiculously stringy, as it can be. the sandwich was also very tasty with tender beef and the horseradish really came through; there could have been a tad more meat on the sandwich, but i won't complain. the kettle chips were crispy, flavorful and not overly salty. the food was great and the meal was a bit over $13.
my only issues were these--one small and one not so small. when i went to the rest room there were no paper towels, so i mentioned it to a server when i came out. my bigger issue was the temperature. bring your parka! it seemed really chilly when i got there, but i decided to wait a few minutes and adjust. the longer i sat there the colder it got. when the hostess came by to seat another group next to me i quietly asked if she could adjust the temp and she agreed it was really cold--right then the other table said the same thing, so i know it wasn't just me. my food arrived and the arctic blast eased for about 10 minutes, but then kicked back in. i would have stayed for dessert, but i had to get out to avoid frost bite to fingers and toes. (and it was only about 78 outside, not exactly an inferno). just be warned, wear layers when you go in there :)

weird, butgoodfood. im not a seafood guy, but i went out on a limb and got the sushi grade tuna steak. it was very good, and the asparagus was sogoodi asked how they made it.
i've been back twice for the same meal. very good, live atmosphere,goodservice.