marilynn's place

we had a good time here a couple weeks ago.
jg score from us this visit of 4.5/10 (+1.5 for food, +1 for atmosphere, +1 for price, 0 for no diet dr pepper, 0 for typical service and +1 for we would return)
the food here was good; some very good but some not so good. the very good for us was the william edward joyce curry friedcatfishpoboy. we also liked the seafood gumbo especially with its crab. the not so good was the hurricane katrina burger with its bland meat patty and roast beef...what a shame because it had the most promising name. the rest was just okay like the cajun fries, the beignets, the crawfish étouffée, and the boudin. basically, the food here was worth it and we would like to try more.
the atmosphere here was cool. we went in the spring with the doors up and nice weather. this converted texaco site has just the right touches. would be less fun though if really hot or cold here.
you can eat here for $15 or less but it would be hard...probably have to get a water.
no diet dr pepper, only diet coke.
the service was friendly and nice.
we could easily go back here sometime.

even if the food would have tasted like dirt, i still would rave about this place just for the atmosphere. extremely upbeat and friendly staff. i've worked in the food industry off and on for 15 years and i can tell you for a fact; this is very hard to find in a restaurant. it is extremely valuable though. the entire restaurant seemed happy. and it carried over to me and husband. thank you!

on to the food! mac n cheese was fantastic. pepperjack was a nice change :-) friedcatfishwas great as well :-) portions were huge with everything! jambalaya was some of the best i've ever had. perfect amounts of seasoning. cajun cheese fries... yum! spicy but in a good way which was surprising for this yankee! we will definitely be back!!

to tell the truth i haven't reviewed marilyn's before because i was a bit torn. i like the atmosphere even thou there's that dreaded walk up order counter. my past visits have been so mixed i couldn't really decide where i landed, clearly it was on the fence. after my last visit i'm ready to come down on the good side of that fence but with a small reservation...

 tired of the usual places for lunch and having recently revisited marilyn's zomato page from bayoubabe's review i set out for marilyn's just after the normal lunch rush had ended.  things had quieted down as i entered, that was a big help, in the past i felt rushed and crowded at the register as i ordered, not good. i also recalled seeing chris jay's ode to coleslaw from years past as well as the currycatfishmentioned, so my mind was made up form me. i mentioned upon ordering that i usually like gumbo with my meals and the very upbeat and friendly lady behind the counter suggested the combo, great idea!

i found a table nearby and enjoyed the new orleans blues playing from their sound system as i waited. it was a short wait as my name was quickly called out for me to come retrieve my meal. my hopes were lifted as i saw the large bowl of very appetizing looking gumbo sitting next to a good size portion of crispy golden catfish.

the gumbo was one of the dishes that put me on the fence before. granted i'm very picky about my gumbo. my mom made absolutely amazing chicken and sausage gumbo, the kind my friends talked about for weeks after a visit then would bring up again months or even years later! i was also blessed to spend time in south louisiana traveling to many cities large and small sampling amazing food as i went, it's harder to find bad food down south than good! my first taste confirmed that this was indeed much better than i remembered from past visits thou not up to "down south" standards.

thecatfishchanged everything, no longer a fence sitter!
thou i was looking for more curry flavor, it was terrific, perfectly fried crisp. the fries were really good, thick "steak" fries that i enjoyed dipping in the remoulade sauce. the hushpuppys were good also with fresh bits of onion and green pepper inside. then there was that coleslaw! spot on chris, this is not your ordinary slaw! fresh chopped cabbage with red onion, cilantro and carrot in a vinegar based savory dressing, outstanding!  

my final take, i like this place and it's food. i will say from my experience that i'd go with their fried creations over the other entrees. if you are looking for a more traditional "sit down" restaurant this might not be your thing. there's not much in the way of service and the layout is different. it's more neighborhood bar / hangout feeling to me, a good thing if you like south highlands, if not well...

shreveport cajun food
picked solely on it’s zomato rating, marilyn’s place was just as described. housed in a former gas station building, it has garage doors that open up into the parking lot (but not open this particular day due to the heat). when we arrived there was only one car in the parking lot…not a good sign. but once we went in and placed our order, the crowd appeared. you’re welcome marilyn’s place! ok, it might have been the good food might have attracted the crowd…
if you decide to go, make sure you’re hungry because the portions are filling! i had acatfishpo-boy and my husband had the crawfish tails. the po-boy is offered in 8 or 14 inch sizes but my 8 inch sandwich was plenty for me. the crawfish tails have just enough of a spice kick to satisfy your tastebuds. i could see this place as a fun place to go on a date night or with a goup. although we sat inside, there was a crowd gathering on the patio too. if you’re in shreveport, go on over and try marilyn’s place. and tell them travel and table sent you! travelandtable.com

meh. we had high hopes of finding a gem in the culinary vacuum of shreveport. the gem we found in marilyn's place was cheap plastic. thecatfishis overcooked and bland. it was the currycatfishwhich sounds exciting. nope. the red beans and rice were bland. the jambalya was bland. no amount of tabasco helped. the beignets were ok. my advice to the cooks and owner...get out and taste some good stuff in no or lafayette and taste what you plate up. sorry.

the fried shrimp platter and curry friedcatfishwas very good. did not realized marilynn's was a converter gas station. staff is friendly. the slaw is very good and sweet. the banana foster is goooood.

will never go back. admittedly, this review is based on an experience about 2 months ago. i only write because i don't understand why this restaurant is so highly rated.

i had thecatfishplate. it was very pricey for what i got (their whole menu is, really). thecatfishwas not fully cooked. i ate about half of my first piece (of 2) and informed the counter employee of the issue. they took my plate from me. it was returned 10 minutes later with one piece ofcatfishon it and nothing else. that piece was the one i hadn't touched - but it had been thrown back in the fryer. they threw away the other half piece and all fries and hushpuppies. i don't make it a habit to complain about a restaurant, but this was totally unacceptable in my mind. i will never ever go back to this overrated and overpriced place.

less than impressed. after all i had heard about marilyn's, when we finally tried it i was so disappointed. we went on a sunday for lunch. there was only a limited "brunch" menu. so being forced to get something i didn't really want i tried the red beans & rice. huge portion, but it was so spicy i couldn't eat it. my boyfriend go the open faced biscuites with roast beef, and it was pretty tastey. we gave it another try a few days later being able to order off the full menu, i got thecatfishand he got the curry fried catfish. fish peices were tiny and there were only 3 in each plate, with a mound of fries, thecatfishwas good in flavor though. the coleslaw almost unidentifiable, it smelled horrible, needless to say we didn't even attempt to taste it. i don't think we will be returning any time soon.

could be better. first of all, the restaurant is actually pretty cool inside even thought the outside looks like a gas station. there is no sign outside, so unless you know exactly where you're going, you won't find it. i was expecting the food to be good after reading the previous reviews, but i was less than impressed. we ordered acatfishpoboy and the crawfish etoufee. the poboy was decent- thecatfishwas crispy and cooked well. my only complaint is the lack ofcatfishcompared to the large loaf of french bread. i know they're trying to be authentic with the french bread; however it was just too bready. the etoufee was actually recommended by the cashier and it was not good at all. it was obviously not fresh. you could see that some of the crawfish were almost blackish gray in color and very mushy while other pieces were a more normal color. there were large bits of mush that i couldn't id at first but seemed to be chunks of undissolved base or cream sauce. it was very obvious that this was either previously frozen or refrigerated and then added to some that was a little fresher. all i could think about was that show kitchen nightmare's. who knows how old the etoufee really was. i was not impressed.

below par. i have had much much better tasting food. it really seems like a lot of people don't know what good quality food tastes like. sure the portions were very large but the quality was terrible. not as bad as something like the golden coral bad but considering golden corall to be a 0 on a scale of 0 to 10 i would give marilynn's a 3 or 4. for those who might be curious what my wife and i had, it was acatfishpoboy (they really need to use a different bun) and the crawfish etoufee (had the heat like i like but flavor was certainly not fresh and tasted old and dead). i thought any etoufee at least tasted palatable but this was actually repugnant. we took it home to our son and watched his reaction and he immedately noticed it's subpar quality without any hint from us. he did however say it was palatable. it could have been because we didn't feed him for a couple of days prior to that though. just kidding, i don't really torment my son.

great addition to the area. as has been mentioned in previous posts the ventilation isn't the best, but the food is awesome! we got ours to go and i tried thecatfishcurry po-boy. i'm normally not a hugecatfishfan, but i do like curry. this was perfect! several people had told me about it so i decided to give it a try. it's definitely a new favorite. the portions are huge. really huge. the kid of huge that requires you only go on an empty stomach. and the manager told me that on sundays they have an unlimited bloody mary bar for $11. that could make me forget about any ventilation issues!

great new place. begnets are great (except they run out frequently).
nola roast beef poboys with debris is fantastic!
hamburgers taste like bland meatballs or meatloaf.
sometimes shrimp orcatfishare underdone.
they often forget the hush puppies.
gumbo is great, just needs spice.

great little place with great food!. we went to marilynn's for the first time today & the food fantastic! the special was a cornbread stuffedcatfishserved over rice topped with crawfish étouffée. my husband loved it. i got the nola roast beef & it was wonderful. there was more food than either of us could eat. i also got the bread pudding which was also good. we are definitely coming back & would recommend it to anyone.

d-lish. the shrimp po-boy is the best ever and the currycatfishis surprisingly fantastic. we have never had a bad meal from marilynn's and recommend it to all of our friends.

friendly and prompt service and an all around great experience.