Kenner Seafood. Kenner: 3140 Loyola Dr. 504-466-4701.

Written by Tom Fitzmorris August 12, 2011 17:34 in

2 Fleur
Average check per person $15-$25
 BreakfastNo Breakfast SundayNo Breakfast MondayNo Breakfast TuesdayNo Breakfast WednesdayNo Breakfast ThursdayNo Breakfast FridayNo Breakfast Saturday
LunchNo Lunch SundayLunch MondayLunch TuesdayLunch WednesdayLunch ThursdayLunch FridayLunch Saturday
DinnerNo Dinner SundayDinner MondayDinner TuesdayDinner WednesdayDinner ThursdayDinner FridayDinner Saturday

Kenner Seafood

Kenner: 3140 Loyola Dr. 504-466-4701. Map.
Very Casual
AE DC DS MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
Usually so busy that you may have to wait in line for a table, Kenner Seafood is both a restaurant and a small seafood market. In the latter, they specialize in boiled seafood, and seem to go to greater lengths than most places to obtain crustaceans to render red and spicy. So you might see boiled crabs here when nobody else in town has them.

WHAT'S GOOD
The major specialty is boiled seafood, and seem to go to greater lengths than most places to obtain crustaceans to render red and spicy. So you might see boiled crabs here when nobody else in town has them. Beyond the menu of boiled seafood, the restaurant offers the entire spectrum of local casual seafood--fried, stuffed, broiled, or grilled. The menu is fleshed out with a long list of poor boys and a few miscellaneous platters, all at prices a shade below the market average.

BACKSTORY
Kenner Seafood opened in 1997 in the University City section of Kenner, a neighborhood full of modest family homes. Most of the residents are drenched in New Orleans culture and immediately recognized a classic local seafood house when they saw one.

DINING ROOM
After driving up to a stark building with the look of a parts store on the outside, you enter a much nicer-looking dining room, with brick walls and brick-reminiscent floors. It's longer than it is wide, with the bar adding to that dimension. The bar is always busy with those waiting for tables. Even the regulars have to admit that the service is something less than sharp. I suspect that most of what I've eaten here would have been better had it been delivered sooner. Make a big point of getting your boiled seafood hot.

ESSENTIAL DISHES
Starters
»Boiled crabs, crawfish, or shrimp »Wop salad (sic)
Grilled or blackened shrimp salad
»Shrimp cocktail or remoulade
Shrimp salad stuffed tomato
»Oyster Rockefeller soup
»Oyster artichoke soup
Crawfish corn chowder
Seafood gumbo
Crabmeat mirliton soup
Chicken andouille gumbo
Fried okra
Fried eggplant
Onion blossom
Crawfish blossom
»Fried artichoke hearts
Oysters on the half shell
Sauteed or fried crab fingers
Fried crab fingers
Crabmeat au gratin
Onion rings
Jalapeno hush puppies
Mozzarella sticks
Fried buffalo wings
Crab cakes
Stuffed mushrooms
Fried pickles
»Oysters bordelaise
»Soft shell crab bordelaise
Entrees
Red beans and rice
Fried shrimp Creole
Spaghetti and meatballs
Shrimp, veal, chicken, or eggplant parmesan
Chicken alfredo
Primavera alfredo
Shrimp or crawfish pasta
»Catfish, shrimp, crawfish or soft-shell crab Marie
Chicken fried steak
Open face roast beef
Hamburger steak
»Fried seafood platters (shrimp, oyster, catfish, tilapia, grouper, redfish, stuffed crab, soft shell crab, frog legs, or combos)
Grilled or barbecue pork chop
Grilled or barbecue chicken breasts
»Fried chicken
Poor boy sandwiches
»Fried seafood (shrimp, oyster, catfish, crawfish, stuffed crab, soft shell crab)
Turkey
Ham (cold or grilled)
»Roast beef
»Hot or smoked sausage
Chicken fried steak
Veal cutlet
French fry
Meatball
Hamburger
»Italian muffatetta
»Seafood muffatetta
»Fried seafood boats (shrimp, crawfish, oyster, catfish, combos)
Desserts
»Bread pudding
Gourmet turtle cheese cake
»Grandmother's carrot cake

FOR BEST RESULTS
I suspect that most of what I've eaten here would have been better had it been delivered sooner. Make a big point of getting your boiled seafood hot.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
The menu is too extensive, acting more as a price list than as a list of specialties. The fried seafood was always either under- or over-fried, in my experience.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

  • Dining Environment
  • Consistency
  • Service-1
  • Value +1
  • Attitude
  • Wine & Bar
  • Hipness -1
  • Local Color +1

 

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
  • Open Monday lunch and dinner
  • Open all afternoon
  • Oyster bar
  • Unusually large servings
  • Quick, good meal
  • Good for children
  • Easy, nearby parking
  • No reservations

ANECDOTES AND ANALYSIS
Usually so busy that you'll have to wait in line for a table, Kenner Seafood is both a restaurant and a small seafood market. In the latter, they specialize in boiled seafood, and seem to go to greater lengths than most places to obtain crustaceans to render red and spicy. That's the best part of this place. At the tables, you're offered the entire spectrum of local casual seafood--fried, stuffed, broiled, or grilled. The menu is fleshed out with a long list of poor boys and a few miscellaneous platters, all at prices a shade below the market average. For reasons that elude me, the clientele is rabidly enthusiastic about the food here. I was stopped four times on the way to the table one night and touted on six dishes. At eating time, though, I've had absolutely nothing here that rose above the level of ordinariness. What wasn't overfried was underfried. What wasn't oily was dry. And the only way I can figure that somebody would be impressed by the likes of the crabmeat au gratin or the oyster Rockefeller soup is that they've never had another version anywhere else. I must be missing something, because this is one jam-packed house full of satisfied customers. Convenience, maybe? I don't live in Kenner.