It was so many years ago I can barely remember, but Tom and I took the kids to Young’s Steakhouse in Slidell, a legendary place insanely popular for their steaks and steakhouse food. The atmosphere was not why they went, though I found its quirkiness charming. Young’s was doing something I only heard of in L.A. There was no sign on the building. It was almost like some sort of a secret.
Keith Young grew up in that environment, and he opened a Steakhouse in Madisonville that was very different from the original Young’s. Keith Young’s is glamorous with a huge sign out front. Its success is apparent with its three parking lots, always full.
Keith had the magic formula. He served great food at reasonable prices with a friendly staff. I used to love to see Keith come out of the kitchen with a butcher’s apron. He went through the dining room greeting tables, and the look of that apron assured you those steaks were fresh.
As the years went on, Keith added a lot more to the menu. It’s a really large menu for a steakhouse, and everything on it sells. It is polished food that is really delicious, for a price you hardly believe. Tom often had a pile of the crispiest fried catfish around. It's my Gold Standard classic American cheeseburger. No smashburger foolishness here.
Keith’s does not do the sizzling butter practice started by John Vojkivich at The Crescent City Steakhouse in 1934, but the steaks at Keith’s are still “cooked to perfection,” whatever that means to you.
I have always loved everything placed before me at Keith’s, from the Oysters Bienville that Keith asked Tom if he liked once when he ordered them. (He always did.) When Tom told him they were excellent, Keith laughed as he said, “ I thought you might like them. I got the recipe from your cookbook.”
Not long after that conversation, big changes began at the restaurant. It made us sad when Gus Martin came in during COVID from across the lake and changed a lot of things, including the Oysters Bienville. But not all the changes were disappointing. One was spectacular. The bar at Keith’s tripled in size to include a fashionable outdoor space with enormous pots of banana trees and Fiddle Leaf Fig trees.
No one knew it then, but an agreement to sell the restaurant had been made between Keith and Jorge, who came over with Gus Martin from the Brennan Group during COVID. The sale was completed in 2024, and Keith retired from the restaurant to focus on Greystone, the wedding venue he owns with his wife. Jorge is likely to be the one to greet you at the door. He's an excellent front-of-the-house guy.
All the basics remained at the steakhouse, and the food continues to be fabulous. I prefer the bar either inside or out, because it is more casual. I rarely eat in the main dining room. I used to make Tom get some fresh air and outdoor Vitamin D at lunch, so we ate on the patio. It has televisions and a considerable number of tables, and it is always packed. Inside too.
I regularly meet friends there to sit in the bar for Happy Hour. They like cocktails, and we linger for a while over cocktails and bar food. Keith’s has a great bar menu of sliders, Almond Crusted Shrimp,
housemade chips with Blue Cheese Dip, Truffle Fries, Ahi Tuna, Springroll, Steak Tips, and Meatballs. These aren’t special prices, but they are a special menu. You can order from the regular menu here too, and I usually get the incredible creamed spinach (best in town) with crabmeat and a pile of great crostini. My brother and his wife drive from across the lake just for this.
Keith’s also has unbelievable lunch specials, like two courses for $18. ML and I recently went here for lunch, and the bill was $44, which we can now regularly do at a Mexican joint.
I have written about Keith’s before because it is a favorite, but I have never had their special menu for the Northshore version of COOLinary, called Tammany Taste of Summer. It is $40. I went with the same friends I usually meet here, and we each got something different. The starters are House or Caesar Salad, or Soup du Jour or Onion Soup. Entree choices are Shrimp Alfredo, a 14 oz. Pork Porterhouse, or an 8 oz filet mignon. Desserts are bread pudding, raspberry sorbet, or vanilla ice cream.
Two of us got the onion soup, and the other got a Caesar salad, and the three of us each got one of the entree choices. For dessert, we had two vanilla ice creams and a bread pudding.
I have always loved the soups at Keith’s. They are exceptionally good. I think it’s because the salt level is high. But I like salt. The Tuscan soup is a favorite, despite a key ingredient of kale. And the basic vegetable beef soup is wonderful. But I had never had the onion soup, and it was time to try it.
This will certainly not be the last time I get this divine soup. It came to the table in a cup sort of sealed by melted cheese, with little specks of herbs dotting the landscape. Underneath was a caramel colored broth with plenty of large pieces of caramelized onion. I could have had another of these and called it a meal. It was fantastic.
I even liked the way the salad looked in front of my friend. It was crisp and fresh with a luscious Caesar dressing, big croutons and lots of shaved Parm. I had plate envy.
One of us had the filet mignon, because she thought the deal was too good. It came with a small dish of Keith’s super luscious potatoes au gratin. This was standard Keith’s, with a buttery filet and decadent potatoes. What’s not to love?
The pork chop was also stamped with approval. It was large and glazed with a Creole cane syrup glaze. It was so large that the accompanying Brabant potatoes had their own large plate. I’m not a huge pork chop fan, or enough of a carnivore to eat a wonk of meat like this, but the guy who got it enjoyed it.
I was underwhelmed by the Brabant potatoes, which were too dark for my taste.
My own order was unusual for me. I got the Shrimp Alfredo because I felt like a creamy and cheesy pile of food. The shrimp were the perfect size, meaning not too big, and nicely seasoned, but it was the pasta underneath that wowed me. A bend of cheeses on penne pasta that wasn’t too al dente made for heavenly filling for a thankfully large bowl. I was crazy enough about this to crave it again, and soon.
The bread pudding that came next had raisins in a Rum sauce, and it was welcomed and approved by its recipient. The two of us had basic vanilla ice cream, which was, …basic vanilla ice cream. Not a lot went into this one.
We had a lovely time in a hopping bar. People were still being seated from the bar at nearly 9pm. The special meal is only available at dinner Tuesday through Thursday.