Mama Roux New Orleans Style Cafe

closed.

I have always been a fan of Gumbo’s so when I heard the owners opened Mama Roux, I had to check it out. I’m totally a fan of this place and what attire Yoli will be modeling. Her cute shorts suit w fur boots in this 23 °F degree weather today was inspiring me to go shoe shopping but enough about that. I love the seafood and andouille sausage gumbo cup is a healthy portion so no need for the bowl for lunch. I love that when I asked for some Tabasco to go, she sent me on my way w a bottle, rice, and 2 rolls of sourdough rolls.
Everything I’ve tried has been excellent. The Jazzy Blackened Salmon Salad is phenomenal and huge so, I would recommend the smaller Jazzy Salad so you have just enough room in your tummy for the Tabasco Cheese Cake infused w Tabasco pepper jelly, topped w sliced strawberries and raspberry sauce. Pleasure w/​o the guilt. ;-)
Enjoy!

Still amazing, although I confess I’ve settled into a routine bowl of gumbo followed by the bread pudding. I read a recent reviewers comments about the price of the gumbo and frankly, I’m surprised. First, the bowl of Andouille and Seafood Gumbo is the best you can get in Austin, hands down. And, if you are eating the entire bowl at lunch, along with the wonderfully crispy rolls with butter and whipped garlic – you are simply eating too much food. Maybe your budget is cash strapped under those circumstances…
I can get two meals out of her bowl of gumbo (and I feel a lot less guilty when I eat my bread pudding over the course of two meals as well) But, even with the pudding, I could never eat a full bowl. The dinner salads, of which there are several options (thank you!) are large enough to share as well.
The prices, well they are a tad higher than chain restaurants but the plates are so over ladened with food, there are always leftovers. Maybe Yoli should consider small plates?

I’ve been to Mama Roux probably three or four times now. I can say that the food is great, and the service is awesome.
the staff must be very familiar with the owners because they are very consistently calm, relaxing, knowledgeable, personable, and attentive. So nice to find in a place this size.
I have enjoyed everything I’ve eaten in this place — etoufee, gumbo, jambalaya, blackened catfish, sides, even the bread.
where would I improve?
drink selection — but I think they only have a wine/​beer license.
ambiance — its a bit bright but that’s being nit-​picky and won’t stop me from going back.
just make a reservation, because its super popular.

My colleague and I decided to have lunch here for the first time. I have to say that it’s one of the best cajun restaurants I’ve been to outside of New Orleans. Being from New Orleans I know good so called cajun food when I taste it. I’ve had some of the bad and the good. Mama Roux’s did not disappoint.
The service was excellent. Our waiter was very polite and our iced tea was never empty. I had the Talapia almondine and my friend had the Catfish crawdaddy. Both was excellent. The boiled shrimp that topped my fish was excellent. We both had the vegetable of the day which was like an okra stew. Very good. The dirty rice was good as well but not what this cajun would call «dirty rice».
Oh and what’s her name… Yoli? The breastess, I mean hostess. From what I’m reading she’s the owner and some don’t like what she wears to greet the guest. Well I would just like to say that I thought what she was wearing was just fine. Hey, I like to look at breast while I’m eating. She actually worked to keep things running smoothly from what I seen. I would definitely come back here and recommend it to others.

«The Po Boys and their Great Crawfish Caper» landed here recently to give this place a whirl.
So far, I have to say, this may be the best Crawfish Po-​boy I’ve had in town.
My server was very nice, and even walked me out, holding the door for me. All the staff, in fact, was very friendly.
At $ 12+ for a po-​boy, I was a little hesitant, but pleased to see that it came with not one but TWO sides! Take that Shoal Creek! Fries plus a choice of dirty rice, veggies, or red beans and rice. I chose the beans.
After munching on a hot tasty roll with butter while I waited, the plate was set in front of me. Wowza! Now, the fries weren’t interesting, but, they served them with a tasty remoulade for dippin. The red beans and rice was a small but decent side serving, and had just the right amount of heat and spices, so you know that it’s not overly dumbed-​down for Austinites.
The Sammich, was pretty much what you’d expect. Well-​cooked bread (not too chewy, and crumbly enough), Shredded lettuce, sauce (I think more of the remoulade), and two GIANT slices of tomato. Seriously? It was way too much tomato. I sliced one in half and used it, and it was still almost too big for the bread.
But the crawfish! Man, now I realize that one of the things I’ve been missing out on is the size of my crawfish tails in these poboys. These suckers (or pinchers, rather) were large, meaty, and hot! So you know they were cooked just when I ordered them. Their texture was perfect, and I had to eat almost half of them before I could, with any success, attempt to eat my overflowing sammich.
Good job, y’all.
I can’t award 5 stars, mainly due to the wine list. I settled on an Abita Turbodog to drink, but I really wanted a glass of white wine. The list has some decent (and affordable) bottle choices, but none of them were available by the glass. The choices by the glass were only one or two low-​quality brands of wine that I decided to skip. I didn’t think ordering a bottle in the middle of the day would be a great move without someone to share it with.
Although I would’ve gladly shared it with the lovely lady (owner or Manager, I think) who greeted me at the door.
I’ll be back!

My favorite dinner companion, who paid her Cajun dues at Tulane, proclaimed her flounder over crawfish étouffée «okay but bland and overpriced.» She wasn’t in awe over her garlic mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini dusted with nutmeg, either. But she did enjoy dipping her bread in the seafood gumbo, with its huge and plentiful chunks of shrimp, crawfish, and sausage. I actually prefer my gumbo a tad less soupy with a touch more heat, but that’s why there’s Tabasco on the table.
As for me, I spent the entire time slowly spooning my pie-​hole with an exquisite bowl of red beans and rice, topped with what appeared to be a half-​pound of sausage. (Oh, c’mon, how many times do you get to say «pie-​hole» in a sentence?) It occurs to me that lamenting over Cajun and Creole cuisine in Austin is probably a lot like living in New Orleans and wondering why you can’t get superb moist brisket and ribs on every street corner — sometimes, you just gotta go with the flow.
Surprisingly, the Tabasco cheesecake blew us both away, and seriously deserves all the accolades it receives. Aside from being a simply fine piece of cheesecake in itself, the anticipation of having that very sly and very subtle Tabasco zing hit your throat is just plain fun. Wait for it, wait for it…
This place opens at 5:00, but by 6:00 on Saturday it was packed and the waiting area was completely filled. Our waitperson Pete was spot-​on, and the colorfully attired person I presumed to be the owner obviously knew her regulars and was personable with us. With a shared house salad, water, and a decent tip, the two of us got out of there for $ 61, which I thought was pretty reasonable. I think the only thing that would stop me from coming back here is moving to New Orleans.

Sorry there folks, some rules you just can’t break. Don’t commit bestiality. Don’t play in traffic. And DON’T FREAKING FAIL TO HONOR YOUR BUSINESS HOURS!!!
I was super excited about this place and was taking the gf there for a surprise dinner before I went out of town. I’d heard nothing but good, read the reviews, I was all set. Hours on the website and on the door said Tuesday, 5 – 10. We got there at 9:15. There were still two tables of folks inside and four guys in the kitchen, plus a waiter. But the door was locked and the sign off and they didn’t even come out and talk to us. And their voicemail isn’t set up on their phone so we couldn’t call and complain.
I know my frustration is compounded by the high hopes I had, but this about the worst thing you can do to a customer in my opinion. I’d rather have them spill a bowl of hot soup on me, at least I’d get to lick some of it off me and they’d feel bad and comp my meal and salvage a customer. Instead, I get pissed and they get a bad review.

«Oh my damn!» Those were the first words out of my mouth as I took my first bite of the succulent blackened catfish covered in lump crab placed in front of me. It was reminiscent of the same dish I had in this tiny, hidden spot in New Orleans a few years ago that had my pants twisted it was so good.
My husband had the Catfish Mama, which was blackened and came with a spicy crawfish & shrimp cream sauce. We also had the red beans & rice… to die for! As a matter of a fact, they put my own red beans & rice (which I’m known for) to shame. The beans were tender, savory, full of flavor with the just the right amount of spice. Well, they were just plain awesome!
To top off our beautiful lunch… yes, I said lunch (the proportions were huge), we had the bananas foster bread pudding. Mmmmm! Now, I’m not typically a bread pudding fan, but you can thank Chef Rob of ATL for even opening my tastebuds to a great bread pudding, and this joint right here gave me equal pleasure. They use croissants, so it’s a much lighter version, and use very few raisins (thank you). It was topped off with a warm caramel sauce & vanilla bean ice cream. As the saying goes, I was ready to «slap my mama» it was so good!
Finally, no meal is complete without great customer service, and this was no exception. Very commendable, personable service. We will be regulars no doubt!

There’s a lady in a spandex, light green noodle strap dress walking around showing off half of her booby’s making sure every customer is satisfied… must be cold for her in here…
«Gitchi gitchi ya ya da da
Gitchi gitchi ya ya here
Mocha chocolate, ya ya
Creole Lady Marmalade…»
Num num num, yum yummm… What was that honey?
«Voulez-​vous coucher avec mo ice soir?
Voulez-​vous coucher avec moi?»
Num num num… WTH are you talking about?
Nothing! I’m singing! How yours Étouffée?
Great, want some? How’s your Catfish Mama?
Great, want some?
Hmmmmm…Yummy!!!
Hmmmm…Yum!
?!?
Ps. I’m not gay BTW; I just like to look at pretty things. (No offense Snuggly G.)

Ok, so I’m leaving Austin soon and I finally get around to visiting Mama Roux and this meal alone made me think twice about moving.
It’s legitimate cajun food and you really won’t understand until you try it. As others have said, you can get thrown for a loop pretty easy by surroundings and location. It’s in a strip mall type space right by a Wal-​Mart, so you would think it’s a soup and sandwhich joint if you didn’t check Unilocal first. :)
Anyway, it’s actually a pretty nice place that could serve well for a date night in addition to a family dinner. I got the Blackened Catfish with Crawfish Etoufee and it was amazing. The catfist was spicy, but not so much that I could not enjoy it. The etoufee was brilliant and the sides were equally tasty. I went with the dirty rice and smashed potatoes and wow, it might be the best meal I have had in months.
The price range for dinner is close to 20 $ a plate, but the portions make it worth the price and it would not be out of the question for a couple to share an entrée along with an app if you were looking to save a buck.
I’m leaving soon, but I’ll be back a couple times before I go and recommend this place highly.

The day after the new Golden Corral over by the Wal Mart opened, my family and I decided we would go check it out, figuring that if we went at a normally dead hour maybe we could get in. No such luck. The place was packed, with cars parked in every spot, in the dirt lot across the street, and in the fire lanes. The line of people was out the door. Not wanting to walk half a mile and wait 3 hours for sub-​par buffet food, even if the place did have a bunch of red and yellow flags all over it, we decided to go elsewhere.
So, we decided to drive over to the little collection of shops that have sprouted like mushrooms in that area to find somewhere else to eat. We briefly considered Red Robin, but the thought of eating at a hamburger place that can’t manage to get hamburgers right was unappealing. So, we drove around and I spotted Mama Roux. Luckily, my wife was just hungry enough to eat anything but not quite hungry enough to be disagreeable, and so my suggestion to try the place was accepted.
We walked up expecting a cheap cajun place, since I didn’t think the Wal Mart crowd would be the target for a fancy restaurant. Instead, we walked in on a cute little quiet creole place with real cloth napkins and a real semi-​fancy dining area. Hearing my credit card scream in protest from my back pocket we almost backed out, but by that time we were contemplating which one of us would be first if we had to resort to cannibalism, and I didn’t like the hungry look in my wife’s eye. So, we decided to stay.
I had the blackened catfish with crawfish ettouffee. It was easily the best blackened catfish I’ve ever had, and I’ve had plenty. The heat was substantial but never dominated. The crawfish were large and tasty. The fish was moist and flaky. Everything was perfect. If I hadn’t already been crying from the exquisite spiciness of the dish I would have cried at the almost religious experience the flavor was giving me.
My wife had the pork tenderloin which was also incredibly moist and flavorful. My kids had the chicken and the fried shrimp. The kids meals, by the way, are not on the menu, but are quite tasty and surprisingly affordable. Just ask your waiter, he’ll tell you all about them. If you order sodas, they’ll bring them to you in cans, which you would think means no free refills. And yet, if you drink it all, they will quietly bring you another at no charge.
I grew up with my grandfather cooking cajun food for us, and I’ve been to many cajun places. I’ve had some good and some bad, but nothing comes closer to what my grandpa used to make than this.

Closest thing to New Orleans fare you’ll find in Austin. Fantastic gumbo. The shrimp & crawfish Mornay was delicious. The red beans had a nice smokey, meaty flavor. I loved my shrimp po-​boy, although the only thing I miss from New Orleans was being asked whether I want it «dressed.» No biggie, because I did, and that’s how it came. :)
Next time I will save room for one of the two different styles of bread pudding offered!
To the other reviewers criticizing the décor: Get back to your chain food at the Domain, you heathens!

After an ill-​fated train ride to nowhere, I was absolutely famished! My original plan to try a new place downtown was foiled. So I needed food and I needed it now! Mama Roux’s to the rescue! We got there shortly after it opened, around 5:15 and already the place was bustling. Our waiter, David seemed very eager to do a good job. He was very attentive, answered all of our questions and made some suggestions.
We started out with the appetizer special, mussels. Very tasty broth. One of the entrées we ordered came with a Jazzy salad, which we split because it was so big. For entrées we got the special, which was swordfish with a side of ravioli, topped with shrimp and crawfish in a cream sauce. My entrée was Catfish Crawdaddy. My sides were dirty rice and green beans. I got 2 huge fillets, perfectly blackened and swimming in a delicious crawfish étouffée. Portions were big and everything was tasty. I really wanted to try the dessert-​I was torn between bread pudding and the cobbler, but since I was taking 95% of my entrée to go (after gorging myself on mussels, bread, and salad, I was pretty much done by the time the main course arrived) there was simply no room in my belly. So imagine my delight when our waiter came back with a complimentary piece of their Tabasco cheesecake to go! It was phenomenally delicious! I probably wouldn’t have ordered it otherwise, so it was great to be able to try it. In a particularly decadent move, I ate it for breakfast the next morning. You know life is good when there is cheesecake is for breakfast!

2.5
So reading the below (or above) reviews you would think this restaurant is authentic, and like you were just transported to New Orleans. So I visit a NOLA style restaurant about once every couple of months, in hopes I will find something Authentic. First the gumbo was bland, so I tried my friends Red Beans.bland. Also What was with that Shrimp Creole? Why do people call dishes as such just for the novelty of the name? If it is not shrimp creole. then do not call it that! Dear High (HIGH) heeled– short skirt wearing (and unprofessional)
«Yoli», if you are the owner of this restaurant. it is one ugly restaurant. Ugly table covers, ugly left over cheap Mardi-​Gras posters/​mask, and some big wall separating everyone behind a view of any kind. even if it is just cars. Also NOLA is called the Big Easy for a reason, its the attitude. The no pretense, everyone is welcome manner. I love a restaurant that has servers in shirts and ties. and everything around them is the opposite of fine dining. Especially with those plates. that your staff and kitchen do not seem to know the term of «presentation», as in clean your plates before serving.
What is with this choice of 2 sides with an entrée thing? Is this Popeye’s? A deli/​corner market? Cafeteria food… umm yes it is.
Claustrophobic? Mall Food? Rude/​Fake/​Pretentious Hostess (and whorish)? YES!
Decorated with a shoe string budget? Yes! Do you want to open an actual authentic NOLA style restaurant in the same shopping center for those deprived customers? YES!!!
P. S. «Po-Boy’s» are called that for a reason… got it?

Freshest crawfish I’ve ever had that wasn’t just-​boiled-​from-​live-​and-​peel-​yourself.
I lured my Cajun best friend here with promises that other people from Louisiana had given it rave reviews. She was still skeptical. But after she was moaning with delight with each bite of her rich fish smothered in creamy sauce with crawfish and shrimp (called «Catfish Mama»), she was skeptical no more! :)
The crawfish and shrimp were tender but with that bite that tells you that it’s really fresh. «This isn’t Chinese crawfish… this tastes like crawfish from Louisiana.» She marveled at how little they charge when they use copious amounts of the shellfish… and that it was more expensive to buy frozen crawfish than to buy a meal at Mama Roux’s (every entrée on the menu was pretty much in the $ 10 – 15 range).
The seafood gumbo was chock full of crawfish, shrimp, and catfish. You could really taste the complexity of the roux — it was nice and dark but with a broth that wasn’t thick and clumpy. Although if you order a bowl, you will get a HUGE bowl. Think phở bowl large size. My boyfriend ordered it and an appetizer of fried popcorn crawfish and thought he was going to be the one of the group eating «light» that night. He ended up having the most food of anyone!
I ordered the Salmon Le Roux, which was a thick filet of salmon wrapped in proscuitto, pan fried, and then roasted in the oven… topped with loads of crawfish in a tomato based sauce with a little of that creamy sauce drizzled on top. My favorite part was actually the crawfish and chunky tomato sauce mixture… the salmon portion was too big for me, and I actually prefer it cooked medium.
The Tabasco cheesecake (yes, you can taste it in the aftertaste, and it is interesting but good like hot pepper jelly can be) is light, airy, with high clearance and reminiscent of authentic NY cheesecake.
Wednesday nights, half price wine night — including the $ 60 bottle of expensive Mumms champagne. $ 60 for $ 30? Yes, please.
Fantastic service from David, our waiter, and the woman running the place. David insisted that we take his business cards with his name on it. They were so festive for St. Patrick’s Day too — it was cute. Oh, and in the waiting area there is a portrait of a cute doggie on the end table. We asked and discovered she’s Mona, the owner’s pride and joy (there is a dish named after her on the menu).
As for the wait, if you have more than 5, it might take a little while… but it’s also not too busy on non-​Friday/​Saturday nights.

Went to Mama Roux for to celebrate my wife’s birthday.
First off, the service was impeccable. Our waiter was attentive but did not hover like a Chinook.
I started the evening with a cup of Gulf Shrimp Gumbo (anyone but Yao Ming would have considered it a bowl). The roux was seasoned just right and the cup runneth over with nice sized Gulf shrimp. For my entrée I chose the Tilapia Almondine — a very flaky piece of fish smothered with shrimp, toasted almonds and capers. It was accompanied with sides of Red Beans & Rice Pilaf and Roasted Garlic Smashed potatoes. My wife had the Shrimp and Crawfish Pasta and son had Salmon Le Roux — an enormous slab of salmon wrapped in prosciutto and smothered with crawfish. Although I did not taste it, he informed me that it was quite sensational.
Having noticed that it was my wife’s birthday, the waiter offered her a complimentary dessert. She opted for the Lemon Pie, a very light pie that was enhanced with limoncello. And I chose the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding — the pudding was warm and floated in a sea of caramel rum butter interspersed with banana slices. By this point I felt like I was floating in heaven.
The only fault I could find with the evening was that the coffee was not piping hot — only lukewarm, although this is a complaint I have with many of the finer restaurants.
Overall, I’d recommend this restaurant to anyone that likes truly delectable food at reasonable prices. But be sure to bring an appetite. Although I was more than sated by the the last bite, we still lugged home three containers of left-​overs. That being said I’m about to devour the last few bites of the Banana Foster Bread Pudding.

So this is definitely the best meal I’ve ever had in close proximity to Walmart.
After eating here this evening, I’m definitely stuffed! The portions are HUGE. If you know the history of Mike & Yoli and Gumbo’s, you won’t be to surprised by the choices on the menu. It’s pretty comparable. The word’s out, too. This place was packed for Friday dinner.
We tried the Creole Calamari and Gulf Shrimp Gumbo to start. The calamari itself was good and overall cooked well — the batter was a bit over seasoned and salty for my taste. I’m all for Cajun/​Creole spice which is often far from subtle — but this was just a bit too much. The shrimp gumbo was good — nice flavors, complex but subtle, and not overdone. It’s probably difficult to come by another gumbo in this town (not counting the homemade variety) that beats it.
For the main course, I had the fish of the day (Mahi Mahi) Catfish Mama style. The blackened fish was great and it came nearly covered in a creamy Cajun sauce with shrimp and crawfish. As it’s still pretty early in crawfish season, the crawfish are fairly small in size… but that really makes them just right for this application. Sauce was pretty darn rich. Garlic smashed potatoes and red beans and rice on the side were tasty. My sweetheart had Ricki’s Pasta — crawfish and shrimp in a garlic butter romano cheese sauce over fettuccini. The seafood with sauce seemed the same as what was topping my fish. The pasta was just a bit overdone. We probably had to pack up half of each of our entrees… the portions are so big! We could’ve shared one plate and totally been stuffed.
Thank goodness we committed to save room and try the the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding. Everything I’d read made me believe this was a must try… and I’m SO GLAD WE DID. Wow, this is totally delicious stuff… and it’s listed for only $ 3.95 on the menu… and it’s a huge portion. In the end it didn’t even show up on our bill. This is the best bread pudding I’ve had with one exception — a random place called Sha Sha’s in Creole, Louisiana.
Overall, I’d say it’s 3.5, but the bread pudding totally makes it to 4 and worth a return trip!

huge FAN! This place is in such an unpretentious location and has the best Cajun food in the city!
I ordered the steak special knowing the portions are huge and planning to split the entrée with my wife. She doesn’t eat any type of fish so we got the lump crab meat on the side. The lump crab meat was big enough to be an entrée on its own! And the steak was cooked to perfection for less than $ 25.
They also have a great sommelier in training that has paired several wonderful wines that are at great prices! Good times for the whole family with a tremendous staff that has followed the owners from the original Gumbos.

Excellent! I had the Catfish Mama (Daddy? …er… it was fried catfish with a wonderful crawfish etouffe on top) and the hunny had a nightly special – swordfish with some kind of seafood bernaise sauce and fried oysters on the side. HOLY MOLY! My dish was good, but his was butter-​dripping-​excellence. I felt my heart seize up a little with just one bite: he ended up taking the fried oysters home; it was just too much artery-​clogging goodness for one meal.
If you love really garlicky mashed potatoes, you MUST try the garlic-​smashed potatoes here. They were definitely some of the best I’ve ever had in a restaurant. I think I detected a hint of sour cream which is how I make my taters, too. Extra points to Mama Roux for cooking as well as me. *sniff*
We started off with a cup of seafood gumbo which was the best gumbo I’ve had in several years – I could handle it a little more spicy, but the complexity of its flavor was excellent. And we ended the night with the bananas foster bread pudding which was TO DIE FOR and I’m something of a bread pudding snob. The best part? The lovely hostess (I’m assuming she was the owner) came over to chat with us and gave us the bread pudding on the house!!! That’s how you treat customers if you want them to become repeats! We’ll be back for sure. :)