mary mahoney's old french house

sometimes you simply forget how magnificent the hometown classics are.  mary mahoney's has been a focal point of every special event in my life, every relative who has come to visit, but i guess i get caught up in the new stuff and forget about my old favorites.  well, not this time.  a couple weeks ago, we had a friend in town and i could think of no better place to take her.  it was a wednesday night at 6:30, a day we had had some pretty horrific weather.  i never expected a reservation would be required.  but when we got there, they were slammed!  luckily, longtime friend bobby mahoney was manning the maître d desk and managed to squeeze us in.  there's just something about old southern charm and service that is so welcoming.  as soon as you walk in, you feel taken care of, at home, like all is well and a good time is ahead.  the service is always perfect, and it was on this very busy night.  it was impossible to tell that anyone else was in the place.  our every need was taken care of.  their gumbo is the only gumbo, as far as i am concerned.  the sautéed crab claws are the best in the land.  the speckled trout i ordered with a meuniere (brown butter) sauce, topped with lumb crabmeat, simply out of this world.  ladies and gentlemen, this family can cook, and they know how to lay on the charm and the service at the same time.  best part about the restaurant is that bobby mahoney always has agreatjoke and a smile. greatjob, sir.  sorry it has taken me so long to review your very special piece of gulf coast paradise.

worth making reservations for a very nice evening out. dress accordingly as you will have first and second waiters. they know how to cook and make real drinks... they can make drinks you never knew existed. oh and the food isgreatas well. true gem on mississippi gulf coast

reallygreatfood and service. 5 stars.. the gumbo is the best i've ever had. the salmon with lump crab meat is something i tried and i was glad i did. the flavors are scrumptious together. i always get the bread pudding for dessert, but i'm sure the other desserts are delicious. i don't think anything can top the bread pudding though. i enjoyed the history of the building and the servers were very attentive, but not all over you. will be back soon.

great place for a restaurant. i love mary mahoney's atmosphere the ambience is perfect, the food however is another matter. we took out of town guests there over the holidays for lunch. our friends ordered the stuffed snapper. the fish was just fair and the side of étouffé was horrible. i tasted it and it was obviously old and someone had tried revive it with some sort of spice we couldn't identify. bottom line it was not edible and was sent back untouched. i had the fried trout with a side of pasta with crab sauce. the trout was heavily battered and not seasoned well the pasta was gummy the sauce was pasty and i could not find any crab in it. the bread pudding and coffee weregreatbut hardly made up for the poor entrées. the meal was a disappointment. at this price point folks are looking for freshly prepared food not sides but have been sitting out under a heat lamp. if you're looking for fine dining, keep looking!

ignored - never served. my mom and i drove from pensacola to new orleans to spend a few days samplinggreatfood and music. three generations of my family have enjoyed wonderful and memorable meals at mary mahoney's and we were really looking forward to having lunch there yesterday. we were promptly seated, served a glass of water then left alone....all alone for quite awhile although there were only 5 tables occupied in the room. other diners arrived after we did and their order was taken efficiently while my mom and i waited with no service. we both felt as if we were being deliberately ignored so we left. on our way out, i told a passing server that we were leaving because we were hungry and we had not been visited by any servers; she replied "ok". i sought out the hostess and told her the same thing with the same response. at the time, we were very disappointed but after reading other reviews this morning, we were grateful we lunched elsewhere. i will not return.

beautuful historical restaurant. nice staff.greatbread. unfortunately is downhill from there. salads in bowls swimming in bad dressings. stodgy overcooked entres. dreadful etouffe. forgettable deserts. try darwells in long beach for this type if food done right.

never again1. i am from new orleans so i have to disagree with the billing this place likes to give itself as "new orleans style" and "french". the poodle i bought in covington is more french than the cuisine at this restaurant. having just wasted $120 of my hard earned money at mary mahoney's friday night - i feel compelled to warn off as many people as possible..... my husband and i went there to celebrate our anniversary on friday night. i made the mistake of getting their "famous" gumbo. it tasted like nothing but file', it was served to me lukewarm and it was terrible. it is obvious to me that whoever made that gumbo had no idea how to make a roux. to make things worse, i just found their gumbo recipe in a cookbook that we just bought while we were on the coast - it had no file in it - called for okra (there was none in mine) and looked a whole lot better in the cookbook that it did on my plate!!! my husband and i also had broiled fish, served with some burnt sauce that purported to be etouffe' and was served over angel hair pasta along with some broccoli that looked like it came out of the freezer first. again, these were $36 dollar entrees, people - it was an absolute insult! staff was decent, but this restaurant has not evolved since the eighties - they are living off of their former reputation - you want new orleans food? put in the extra mileage and drive to new orleans. you want a decent meal at a fair price - don't go here! this restaurant has deteriorated into tourist trap.... very disappointed - this used to be agreatplace.....

great food. i love the food here i had the fried shrimp it was awesomegreatatmosphere friendly staff good service

historic. honest opinion. this is a historic building. as for a restaurant, go once for the experience. the food is good, but expensive. maybe best classy restaurant outside of the casinos. if you're from out of town, try some smaller local digs elsewhere. biloxi just isn't there yet in world class dining. that's ok with me. you might like the casino restaurants if you want classy. they used to have a sandwich restaurant elsewhere in the building withgreatpoboys, beignets, and such at much better prices. this was in addition to the french restaurant. it was much better ( another casualty of katrina).

biloxi favorite. we never visit biloxi without a lunch visit to mary mahoney's. skip the dining room, eat in the cafe. the lunch specials are just that,greatfood at a reasonable price.