Gumbo’s of Westlake

I was pretty unimpressed with Gumbo’s of Westlake.
I ordered blackened catfish with beans and rice and all of it lacked flavor, especially for Cajun food. It didn’t have that «kick.» Nothing tasted bad, it was just all bland. For the fairly high price I expected better.
I will say that the the bread was awesome and the service was good, but I don’t think I’ll be coming back to this particular establishment. I’ve heard the other Gumbo’s locations are better.

Simply fantastic.
Got home Monday and the temp in my car said 106. I’m boiling hot, the wife is cranky and the baby in in a diaper looking at me with «the A/​C ain;t working eyes.» Quick change to shorts, T and flip flops and we hit the road for dinner…
All our usually haunts look packed Z Tejas, Maudies on 360 so we cross the street to Gumbos. We are WAY under-​dressed but the staff said come on in and don’t worry about it.
Great server, quick food (as the place was fairly slow). Shrimp cocktail, delicious. Wedge salad with remoulade sauce (yeah I looked up how to spell that!) which was fantastic. I got the catfish with sweet potato purée and shrimp which was fantastic. The wife got the fresh fish special where you can choose the way you want it cooked — Pontchartrain tilapia. Don’t ask me what was done to it but it was delicious. She also said the Mexican martini was superb. The baby had BYOB veggie puffs and bread. He was happy.
We were thrilled and this place will not be in our rotation. Next time we’ll dress a little nicer and get a sitter…
All in

We had an excellent meal here.
We had the Fish of the Day special. Which lets you choose from a selection of 4 or 5 fish. Then you decide how you want it prepared.
My wife and I both had Salmon. She had the Herb Crusted and I had the Francine.
The herb crusted was very good but the Francine was unbelievable. It was a buttery sauce with tender little crawfish tails in it. Served with dirty rice. It was one of the best meals I have had in a while.
For dessert we had the custard. That was excellent as well.

So this place is like my next door neighbor (seriously, no witty comment comparison here). I eat here pretty often given that fact.
I eat at the bar. I eat steak (oscar style) and drink wine. Lately I have been catching different sports games (GO MAVS!) there.
They have never overcooked my (medium rare) steak and the side vegetables are really delicious (from broccoli to cabbage — and I don’t typically like cabbage).
This alone would not entice me to write a review (especially because I like the fact that no one is ever there), BUT the other night I had the pecan praline cheesecake and WOW! That’s all I can say, WOW! I took the leftover home for breakfast and WOW!
The staff is great (some more than others, of course). Their hours do suck — close way too early, but what else is expected in Westlake.
As I typically get there within an hour to go until close, I don’t partake in the kick ass happy hour as much I should, but I know it rocks.

I will rank the food a 4.
I will rank the service a 3.
I had red fish francine style (has crawfish tails) and gumbo w/​crab legs. gumbo was great. i actually rate that a 5. the redfish was blackened and good w/​the francine sauce style, but I would say the sauce overpowered the taste of the redfish. I might just try blackened or simple w/​butter sauce next time on it.
The sazeracs were good. They called their sazeracs «New Orleans» style. They were good, but different from typical sazeracs that I’ve had — here there was a lot of ice and a lot of simple syrup. It tastes really sweet. If you like mojitos or mint juleps, then you will like the sazeracs here.
Service. Service is just adequate here. I sat at a table of younger folks compared to the average age of probably 45−50+ at the rest of the restaurant. I’m guessing the hostess is pre-​judging. Maybe I should have flashed her my Rolex I had on. I asked her about happy hour since there was a sign on the door about happy hour. She curtly tells me that they do not serve happy hour in the dining area. Ouch. Yes, I will order your 8 dollar sazeracs then. Our table had 6 or 7 people and at the end we requested separate checks. Her response, «OH you should have told me at the beginning instead of the end.» She brings separate checks, but wrong separate checks with the wrong thing on each single one — the checks was split to only 3 checks btw.
I think if you go to the one in Westlake, you had better have gray hair or make sure you flash your Rolex or park your fancy car in the front so the staff will serve you better.

First of all, props to a nice «white tablecloth» restaurant that will serve two casually dressed people who walk in at 8:50 pm on a Sunday. I’d give Gumbo’s of Westlake 5 stars just based on service alone (Morgan was our waitperson), but considering our food, I am giving it 4 stars.
First, we ordered the calamari, which was the thick kind. I’m more of a fan of the thinner version, but it was cooked just fine, not too greasy and whatever the white dipping sauce was that accompanied the calamari was delicious.
I had the trout prepared in the George style, and the fish itself was cooked perfectly. The beurre blanc sauce that surrounded it was also very good and very rich, but it was a bit thick. Maybe I should know better, but I was expecting a thinner, lighter sauce. My dinner partner ordered a pasta dish that contained nutmeg in the sauce, and I love that style. I preferred my fish over his pasta, but both dishes were really good. We also both had the gumbo, which was just OK.
Thanks again for seating us so late on a Sunday! I definitely plan to be back as I’ve always had a great experience at Gumbo’s before.

Pricey menu, but I usually get the blackened shrimp combo with dirty rice and gumbo on the side for lunch. It’s not very healthy, but I think this combo for lunch isn’t too bad for what you get.
Love their table bread too.

Hey! Unilocalers! Why don’t you eat here? Is it because this Gumbos is in Westlake and you’re afraid it’s crawling with a bunch of annoying Westlake soccer moms having book club and comparing their BMWs? Yeah, I wouldn’t want to eat there either. But you’re in luck! No one is ever there!
The Gumbos happy hour kicks ass! Hello! $ 4 Hurricanes! Yeah and they’re strong too. In fact, I love everything on the Happy Hour menu, especially the escargot. Get some bread and dip it in the garlic butter sauce left over from the scrumptious snails. Sure, your breath could choke a horse and if you’re on a first date probably not a great idea (unless it’s going really badly and he’s talking incessently about his mom and nature’s repellant will come in handy when he leans in later).
Anyway, I really like this place and you probably will too, and if they go out of business I don’t know where I’ll get my calamari/​snail/​hurricane fix for $ 10. So do me a solid and check em out.

Love it! Love it ! Love it!
My husband and I go at least once a week. I had the Salmon Salad last week it was fantastic! Their fish is always wonderful prepared any of the 4 ways they offer… I prefer blackened… and the greek salad is one of the very best in town.
You can sit inside for a little more formal atmosphere or outside for a little more casual feel. We so need more restaurants like this one in the Hill Country area and in Lakeway.
Great food, good atmosphere and I think very reasonable prices for such good quality food! My one and only complaint is their tonic… its just too sweet! We are not wine or beer drinkers and our drink of choice in every restaurant in Austin is Austin’s Tito’s & Tonic… and the tonic here is just the sweetest of any where in town… so my only improvement would for them to switch their Tonic to Schweppes or to another tonic that is not syrupy sweet.

This is the second Gumbo’s I have been to and neither one has impressed me. I was fortunate enough not to have to pay for any of the meals.
The first time I tried the gumbo, you would think this is their specialty. Meh! I have definately had better. I thought it lacked in flavor. Didn’t finish it because it wasn’t that good.
The last time I ordered their Almond Goat cheese salad. It comes with bacon vinaigrette (Looks like it’s spelt wrong but this is how they have it on their menu.) and cinnamon brandy apples. Sounds good, doesn’t it.
Well, it was okay. It did have nice wild greens and drops of goat cheese covered in almonds. The apples were only a garnish so I got two pieces. It’s a shame because they did taste good. As for the bacon vinaigrette, I couldn’t taste the bacon only vinegar.
Their food is okay. Service has always seemed snobby, like the wait staff is better than there clients.
Even if someone else pays for my lunch again, I do believe I have seen the last of Gumbo’s

Driving down 360 last night, getting hungry, so we fire up the Unilocal app for a nearby restaurant. Gumbo’s of Westlake? Really? I like the Round Rock location and didn’t know they had one on 360. So we do a U-​turn and find it thanks to the iPhone map and the guy standing by the highway with a big sign saying Gumbo’s is Open!
It’s 8:00 on a Friday and there are maybe 10 tables seated in this huge dining room. The hostess says the guy is outside because people can’t see the restaurant from the highway. That’s too bad because the food is really good.
Before I get to the food, I have a good question for all you Unilocalers. Why do restaurants insist on seating people only based on which waiter is up next? The place is practically empty but the hostess seats us at a corner table by the bathroom door. We’re a couple out to dinner on a Friday night. I see a romantic-​looking booth with subdued lighting unoccupied on the opposite side of the room. Why can’t a host or hostess think instead of mechanically seating diners? Anyway, enough ranting. Back to dinner last night…
My wife and I aren’t too hungry so we each order a cup of gumbo and split a salad and a fish entrée. The gumbo is flavorful but could use a little more spice kick. The crispy bread is really good with the soup. Served warm, wrapped in a napkin, served with spicy butter. Nice touch.
The best part of the meal is the Almond Goat Cheese Salad with mixed greens, almond crusted sweet goat cheese, and cinnamon brandy apple slices. The apples are perfect, slightly crisp with just the right amount of infused flavor. The flavors blend perfectly with the warm bacon dressing.
Gumbo’s gives many choices: it has an extensive menu of fish, shrimp, chicken, and pork or beef tenderloin. We wanted fish and the waiter offered us a choice of different fish including tilapia, trout, catfish, salmon, mahi, and redfish. The menu has a variety of different preparations including grilled, pan-​sauted, and blackened and topped with shrimp, crawfish, or crabmeat. We opted for the Mahi with crabmeat over a beurre blanc. The fish was served hot, perfectly seasoned, and nicely seared.
By the time we finish at 9:00 the place is empty but still open til 11:00. Not a good situation for the owners, I’m sure. They need some more visibility from the road, maybe some more advertising.

Nothing like the other Gumbos :(
Delicious butter/​bread, but nothing else is that good. How can a place called gumbo have such crappy gumbo?!?
The emaciated poboy is sure to dissapoint as well.
Sigh… this review is making me sad, I’m just gonna stop.

I’m a huge Gumbos fan. Used to go there when they were just a mom-​n-​pop shop in a N Austin strip mall… and you had to get there at 11:15 if you hoped to have lunch.
My first visit to Gumbos Westlake was on Father’s day. Service was awesome, food was amazing. No complaints. I’ll be back.

With a name like Gumbo’s I had to try the Crawfish Gumbo.
Thats where it went wrong. The color was nice and dark but the flavor I expected from what should be a nutty deep rich roux turned out to be bland. Did they add something of color to mimic the long slow process? I guess we may never know. But when you taste a great gumbo there is no doubt.
The happy hour isn’t bad for the selection and prices though. I love happy hours :)

This is a review for Gumbo’s as part of my quest for new happy hour destinations in the hood. It was one of those situations where you wish Unilocal would let you give half a star. I’d consider Gumbo’s more of a 2.5 than a 2.
I was giddy with anticipation when I noticed that Gumbo’s was refurbishing the former Chili’s site. But the visit to the completed restaurant left me feeling… well, nothing in particular.
The good:
1. Yummy warm crusty bread with a nice sour bite
2. The hurricanes are tasty, and really do their part to «laissez les bon temps rouler» (sp?) at an amazing $ 4
3. All apps are ½ price
4. Unfailingly polite service
The disappointing:
Well, almost all the other food.
We sampled the crawfish etoufee, calamari, oysters rockefeller, and escargot. I had never met an etoufee I didn’t like before, but this one was not to my taste at all. It was a very peculiar earthy flavor. It took me a while to decide whether it was the result of waaay too much tarragon, less than fresh crawfish, or both. I eventually decided it was both.
The calimari was composed of thick, rectangular slabs of squid rather than the typical assortment of rings and curly bits. It’s not my preference, but some may like it better than I did. To Gumbo’s credit, the squid was very tender, and I liked the creamy sauce that came with it. Their spin on remoulade was forgettable.
Escargot was fine… there’s very little I wouldn’t eat slathered in melted butter and garlic on warm bread.
The oysters rockefeller were also average, nothing particularly wrong or right about them. The sauce was creamy, and atypically sweet.
Our server was polite and attentive without being overbearing. All in all, not terrible… just not memorable.

When we pulled up to this place, it was dead! Like there were only two other cars in the parking lot and we contemplated leaving kinda dead. Either they were closed or the food had to be so bad that no one ever comes here. Either way, not a good sign.
We made our way inside after noting they were open til 2 (we arrived at 1:15ish which may explain the empty dining room). Our waiter came by quickly to take our orders and while we waited I appreciated the traditional Zydeco that played in the background. We tried two apps. The fried calamari, though not your traditional rings but more like calamari fingers, were tasty. And even moreso were the fried crawfish tails. The remoulade that came with both was a real winner. I’d say it was as traditional as something I’ve had in New Orleans.
I’m pretty sure everyone was pleased with their entrées as not much talking went on once our food was served. My seafood gumbo was a little disappointiong, very rich roux but not so much going on in the flavor department. The clear winner at the table was my boss’s fried catfish. The fish was fried to crisp and flaky perfection and the breading (cornmeal I’d guess) was perfectly seasoned.
Next time I come back, and I will come back as long as they can keep enough people coming in to stay open, I’m ordering a whole plateful of that catfish for myself. Oh, and a side of their bread pudding because it sounds delish!

4 Stars for food
2 Stars for everything else… and by that I mean the décor.
How is it that y’all are located in one of the most expensive areas in Austin and this restaurant is decorated like it’s a Chili’s? Ok, nevermind the fact that it used to be a Chili’s but really? Y’all couldn’t renovate to create a better ambiance? I work right across the street and met up with a friend for lunch here today… and I was utterly disappointed, as was he. I mean, the place felt like a cafeteria! And it smelled funny in our booth. This location does not have the look nor the feel of the Gumbo’s Downtown. It feels and looks like a Chili’s. Y’all need to re-​decorate. As my husband would say, this place is «ugly and it ain’t got no alibi.»

Gumbos in Westlake gets five stars for one main reason — it has a Gluten Free menu and it’s REALLY good. They have quite a few choices on the menu and you still get some Louisiana spices and flavor.
Went there with my daughter for her 15^th birthday dinner and they were very accomodating to both the birthday and my crazy dietary needs.
Wait staff was very friendly and service was quick. It was earlier in the evening so they weren’t slammed which may have helped.
Worth checking out if you are gluten free.

Maybe it was opening week problems, but the service was terrible. We arrived and were happily surprised at the improvements Gumbo’s had made over the previous restaurant (Chili’s). But that is about where the surprise ended. We waited for nearly 45 minutes for our meals, and then flabbergasted when the manager explained oh. sorry…we had a big order right before yours… but nobody ever came to our table and gave us an update the entire time. To make it funnier it took them over 30+ minutes just to get us the gumbo portion of our meals.
It is going to take some serous persuasion from friends /​co-​workers to visit this place again.

So, I am stuck at the light at 360 @ Westlake Dr in rush hour traffic and the light has changed 3 times and traffic has not moved aside from vehicles trying to move aside for emergency vehicles. I am starving and need to pee and am thinking about leaving my vehicle on the side of the road when I see Gumbo’s «Now Open» sign. Please please just 2 more cars and I can make it to the intersection and get into the parking lot.
Yes, I make it to the closest parking spot and make it to the bathroom (very nice and clean) wash my hands and sit at the bar.
Me «What do you suggest» and explain the traffic jam situation.
Cute Bartender «The Margaritas are 4.00 till 7 PM» as she hands me a menu.
Me «I’ll have a Marg»
CB «Can I see your ID?»
Me «Are you serious? I am old enough to be your Momma»
CB «Yes» «Oh, you don’t look that old»
I look at the menu and see the apps are half price till 7PM so I call a friend who lives down the street to join me — friend joins me within 10 minutes via bicycle.
We order the Crab Cakes (served with yummy spicy aioli and jicama slaw), the Shrimp Cocktail (nicely seasoned with a spicy cajun seasoning served with a tasty cocktail sauce) and the Oyster Rockefeller was 5 stars (the creamed spinach was devine and the fried oysters topped with grated parm was!!)
If I need to wait out traffic — this is the way I want to do it!