marilynn's place

wonderful brunch....wish we had more places like this in maryland! :). marilynn's place in shreveport.....i just don't know where to start this review. my hubby has been working here in louisiana for the past six weeks as part of his job. we thought that we were going to be relocating here; i booked a trip as we thought we were going to be house hunting. things changed, so my house hunting trip turned into a pleasure visit. usually, i'm a little more prepared when i am traveling and i know where we are going to go. this time, not so much. about a week before my arrival, i did a little reading about local places and came across marilynn's place on several websites. most all of the reviews were very good to amazing, so we decided that we would do the sunday brunch there. sunday brunch is not something that many places in maryland have and i have a total romance with it. marilynn's place did not let me down!

marilynn's place is located in an old gas station in a lovely area of shreveport. there is a lot of character and marilynn's fits the neighborhood to a t. sunday brunch opens at 10. we got there early and it was a good thing that we did! you order at the counter and the menu is on one page....love this! we didn't have to spend a lot of time stressing over what to have! we met the chef/owner, robert and he was just in a word, awesome! he explained the menu and the drinks and told us about some of the food. he was exactly what i think of when i meet someone that is a chef....someone who enjoys food and people! he has it going on in that department. i understand it well as someone who considers herself an amatuer chef and a consummate foodie!

there is some indoor seating and a lot of outdoor seating. my husband preferred to dine inside, so we were able to secure a table for two with no problem. there is a bottomless bloody mary and mimosa bar that we opted not to get as we had other plans for the day, but if we would have been just hanging around, i would have opted for it. drinks looked delcious!! we both had big cups of coffee instead.

upon ordering, you give your name and they call you by name to pick up your breakfast at the counter. food is southern style, stick to your ribs, forget your diet at the door!! my husband selected the mexican breakfast, which was a tender, flavorful hunk ofbreadwith the right amount of heat and sweet, topped with a fluffy egg with a tomato based sauce and two huge strips of applewood smoked bacon. he was in heaven and was very pleased with his selection.

i ordered the country biscuits with andouille sausage and gravy. i'm a product of a southern mama and can make a mean biscuit myself, so i pretty much compare any biscuits to mine. these did not let me down. they were very tender, flavorful and flaky. the gravy was a little thinner than i am used to, but it was really, really tasty! loved the spice in it.....i've never thought of doing that to mine. i would most certainly order this again!

we had an order of beignets which were just the death of us! light, pillowy puffs of dough, sprinkled with just the right amount of 10x sugar along with some strawberry sauce to dip in. they were in a word just delightful!

if things couldn't have been anymore caloric, robert the chef personally delivered the special of the day which was a shrimp and artichoke strata. this isn't something that my husband and i would have normally ordered, but it was delicious! it was presented on a beautiful bed of greens and was full of plump shrimp and tasty artichoke. everything was very fresh and tasty.

marilynn's place draws a crowd, so it's well worth getting there a little early. we still have a few days left....might have to try a dinner there. if you are in the shreveport area, i definitely give it a two thumbs up!

marilynn's place is set in an old gas station & on days weather permitting, all doors are open and folks can enjoy open air dining. it was perfect weather for our visit. to order, walk up to the counter and take a menu and a seat. make your choice and pay the cashier, when your order is done, your name will be called to pick up your meal.

i chose to order the shrimp remoulade po-boy and my lunch date ordered the fried crawfish po-boy. marilynn's serves real gambino frenchbreadfrom new orleans. that's a great place to start. i loved the remoulade sauce they make. it has all the right flavor and a consistently that compliments the seafood rather than covering it up. i asked for extra shrimp, i like my po-boys packed. i was given what amounted to an extra portion, and although i offered to pay for it, was not charged.

it was deliciously filling, sweet potato fries was a nice side. the crawfish were breaded with a mouthwatering mixture that made them outstanding to pop & eat if ordered alone. the po-boys came dressed and with very little wait time. the people are very friendly, the prices are great and the food is simply delicious. there are several awards on display for their culinary excellence, when you taste the food, then you will know why. enjoy a bite at marilynn's place, i sure did.

first time and last time i will go to this place. poboybreadnot crisp as advertised in menu ... my nephew got hamburger it was cooked do hard he almost broke his tooth... my uncle got gumbo he said was good but very hot ....

i just don't get the love for this place. it has serious potential, but the execution just isn't there. the poboybreadis too much, it just overwhelms the sandwich. nothing here has blown me away and to call it cajun is stretching it. the best thing i have had here was their coconut curry lunch special they would run when they felt like it. great location and a lot of potential, just needs a menu revamp and different poboy bread.

..no gloves ! the food was made without the use of gloves in the open kitchen area. the cashier asked if i wantedbreadwith my salad and then took mybreadout of a tub without washing her hands and no gloves after handling money. and the salad was 10.00 dollar's soggy with about 5 pieces of pepperoni and mozzarella. not great.

we were driving through shreveport on our way to texas. looked on urbanspoon for a good place to eat. found marilyn's place. the red beans and rice was fantastic. the fried curry fish was even better. the hush puppies were very dry ... as if they were cooked yesterday. thebreadpudding was as hard as a rock. we were not greeted when we entered, we were obviously not sure what we were doing, and was given no direction from the staff. if i lived in the area, i would not return. open air seating ... kitchen is open air as well .. flies every where.

graded e for effort. if you read the reviews you'd never try this place. i like to try a place for myself and form my own opinion. first time there was a week night. we tried the roast beef sandwich (poorboy..hmm ?) jambalaya, red beans and potato salad. every dish was really good. we are from new orleans so we had our fingers crossed. we are so tired of all the chain restaurants here in shv. food was tasty, we liked the vibe and we met the owner. we chatted for a while and he knew a lot about new orleans and we could tell he puts his whole heart and soul into his business, my family owned a few restaurants in new orleans so i very much aware of what it takes to run a successful restaurant. about three weeks later we returned. early dinner on a saturday. here is what the owner needs to be aware of...and i did see it mentioned in another review. you cannot be fully confident that your staff will run your restaurant like you would if you are not there, the girl taking our order seemed unfocused. she did take the order correctly but it took a while for her to enter it into the system. we ordered a 14 inch roast beef just mayo and wanted thebreadtoasted. thebreadthat you use is too doughy to be called po'boy bread, po'boybreadis not a shape it's about texture. and i know we are in shv but if i have to settle for gambino doughybreadthen please please toast it so your po'boys have texture/crusty exterior. your kitchen barely warmed the bread. hamburger po'boy..um sandwich that is, meat was barely warmed, could not have been cooked to order because it was ready too quickly. people do not mind waiting for good food. please do not cook your burgers ahead of time. also, one measly patty is not enough meat on a po'boy. also, roast beef was dressed. we did not ask for dressed on roast beef. kitchen is too caught up in serving food quickly. priority should be on freshness, temperature and accuracy. we will probably try it again on a weeknight. thank you for giving shv a unique place to dine.

this place was fantastic! we had chicken & dumplings, which was creamy deliciousness, gumbo, sweet potato fries, hush puppies, chocolatebreadpudding and peanut butter chocolate mousse pie. it was all fantastic. i would eat here again in a heartbeat.

okay, so we spent $35 dollars on 2 sandwiches, 1 cola, small fries and cole slaw.....the only thing that was halfway decent was the shrimp poboy, but even that was a bit too saucy and thebreadwasn't toasted at all. the hamburger wasn't seasoned at all, and there is a very good possibility it was pre-frozen/pre-packaged patty from the grocery store freezer section. the fries were way over seasoned, not too mention how gross the actual seasoning was....ummm.....i don't like cinnamon on my french fries...weird. and, last, but not least, the cole slaw....old, bland, soggy and browning....yes....browning...apparently, marilynn's place is willing to sacrifice freshness in order to save money on lettuce...lettuce...either that, or they are just lazy. i don't get it....what is the big hype with this place? over priced, and not good at all.....it's gotta be the people that own it...they must know people or something, because there is no way it got it's popularity from it's actual food.

pretend cajun/creole. my wife and i are tdy at bafb, originally from biloxi and have eaten creole and cajun food all our lives, both at home and in numerous cajun/creole restaurants, many of which are in new orleans. this place should be categorized as something else, just not sure what exactly. it really is an old gas station and would do better as such. the place seems to be entirely staffed by college kids who got some recipes from the internet and hang out. we ordered the shrimp creole and a shrimp po-boy and with two iced teas our bill was $30, which in all retail fairness should have been about ten bucks. there is no table service and you can bet that these kids are making minimum wage and thus they have no incentive to produce quality food or even care. the kitchen is open to the seating area so you can pretty much see what is going on. the shrimp po-boy was served as boiled shrimp slathered in attempted remoulade sauce which tasted like spiced-up sour mayonnaise and thebreadwould have been better used as a sponge to wipe the tables, all of which were filthy. we were expecting the shrimp to be fried and were not told otherwise upon ordering. our other menu item, the shrimp creole is listed as "rich and zesty" and is anything but. if you take some watered-down tomato juice and add some generic flavoring, a few cherry tomatoes and a sprinkling of dime-sized salad shrimp, then you can make it yourself. i felt embarrassed for this place and wish that we had read the reviews that would have warned us ahead of time. there are some positive reviews listed here as well but one can only assume that they are staged reviews meant only to bring in unsuspecting patrons.

overpriced. i've been twice to marilynn's and i really want to like it but am having a hard time. the first time we went on sunday, so i was disappointed they didn't offer their full menu of poboys on sundays. i got the red beans and rice, which was watery and unmemorable (although i do remember the big hunks of meat kind of grossing me out...). they have nothing for kids. we ended up paying four dollars for a bagel for our toddler, and it was a bagel with a plastic container of philly cream cheese. my husband got a casserole that wasn't very good. i was not impressed at all.
i went yesterday to try it out again, and i got the pork poboy with the pineapple sauce and they gave me the sandwich without a plate, basket or anything. there was so much juice in it thebreadwas instantly soggy, and the pork just wasn't that great. i don't understand why this place is so expensive. thebreadisn't even good. my friend got the veggie poboy and it was just ok, too much bread. our half poboys did not come with fries for some reason and the meal was $28. i was floored. if my kids weren't keeping me so busy, i think i would have asked for a different sandwich or my money back. not sure why this place is getting such good reviews.
i'm not sure if i will be going back.

on the right track. i lived in south louisiana for 25 years and i consider myself somewhat of a poboy afficianado. they're on the right track here except for the bread/preparation. the authentic frenchbreadloaf is too thick. this could be partially remedied if they would wrap the poboy tightly in the butcher paper, compressing the poboy and blending the flavors, instead of wrapping it very loosely. as is, the poboys are too bready and difficult to eat. they are very generous with the filling and it is seasoned perfectly.

love the po-boys. we have had several types of po-boys--all good, though i wish thebreadwere of the crispy frenchbreadvariety you see in many poboy shops in nola. the shrimp remoulade and fried shrimp are also good. usually, this restaurant offers good value for money, but we were very disappointed in the shrimp and grits. first, the shrimp were in a tomato-based creole sauce vs.. the lemon, bacon, butter combo of flavors i'm used to. but the biggest issue was the $9 price tag for 6 very tiny shrimp. such an aberration for this restaurant, but we haven't ordered brunch again. overall, we've found the food and staff to be a really great addition to shreveport. one plea--please get signage. i sent someone one evening, and they never arrived since there was no sign other than the gas station sign. their loss, but also a loss of income.

soggy, underwhelming food. as another reviewer pointed out, this restaurant has poor ventilation. you will definitely smell like grease when you leave this place. even my car smelled like grease 2 hours later because the stench had saturated our clothing.

i had the "cochon de lait" sandwich. the pork itself was okay, but the sandwich was so wet that thebreadturned to complete inedible mush. it was supposed to come with some sort of pineapple corn relish, but luckily the guy making the sandwich forgot to add it. had it put the relish on the sandwich, i'm certain i would have been eating it with a spoon.

i tasted my the crawsfish on my friend's poboy, and it had virtually no flavor. the same goes for another friend's burger, which i also tasted. both were completely underseasoned.

overall, i think this restaurant has potential, but i was very disappointed with the food. the prices are too high for food that is so poorly executed.

a great neighborhood eatery. i really enjoyed this restaurant! i had dinner there a few weeks ago and am eagerly waiting an opportunity to return.

i ordered the daily special, a coconut curry with pork. the dish was exceptional and exotic for the local restaurant scene. we were later treated to banana's foster andbreadpudding. both were fantastic.

our party had the great pleasure of meeting the chef. he was a very nice guy, full of fascinating stories.

if i were forced to identify a negative, it would be the building itself. it was very plain and showed no obvious signs of being a restaurant. it is a former gas station and still retains that signage. i hope they correct this soon. because it is far to good of a restaurant to loose because of poor marketing.