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Bayou Cafe

3.3 (233 reviews)

About Bayou Cafe

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BAYOU CAFE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Divey
Casual
Happy hour specials

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Recommended Reviews - Bayou Cafe

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Chicken wings with their homemade hot sauce
Lita L.

You would think being on the Riverfront this place would be touristy, but is is most definitely a locals kind of place, at least sitting at the bar. Most everyone knew one another, and chatted at length with a local blues entertainer. We were there during an extended hours happy hour and ordered a well drink, Vodka with club soda and lime, for $2.50 made with Commodore vodka, from a local distillery. Pretty decent, so I had two! Food was decent also, an oyster poboy as if we were in NOLA, and chicken wings in their homemade hot sauce. Entertainment every night of the week around 9, so we might have to come back for that too.

Shrimp po boy
Lucy M.

Man I had an amazing night here. I ate elsewhere first, but made friends with someone who shared their shrimp po-boy and fries with me. It was OK, don't come here for just the food. They have great live music, I came in on Tuesday jam night with Eric Culberson. Think dirty blues. A woman whose name I cannot remember also got up and sang an original song called Catch & Release that had every person in the place up and dancing. They kept the energy up all night, the small space packed with smiling people. Crowd is eclectic, all ages, races, and types. Bartenders took great care of us - particularly Mike who helped me carry more beers than my little hands could manage outside to the eight strangers who all left as friends to go sing down by the river - only a good bar can bring people together like that. If you want a break from the usual on River Street, a place that's got all the character of a dive but without (much) sleaze, this is it.

Low country bowl
Peyton R.

Husband and I went to savannah today and came to grab a bite to eat. We noticed the place was kinda empty but it's also shift change. It also looks like they have live music as well. I don't know who our server was because she just came in and it was kinda back and forth between this guy and the blonde hair girl. We ordered two sweet teas and only ended up getting one and it was pretty sour. We didn't really say anything and the refill of it wasn't as sour so I don't know what really happened. We ordered alligator bites as our starter and they were pretty good. Our entrees weren't amazing. My husbands alligator gumbo was lukewarm and small. My low country shrimp boil was okay at first but my shrimp were pretty grainy and it was kinda bland. Our server( the blonde hair girl) sat at the bar on her phone most of the time and didn't really check on us that much. It seems most of the staff was having a chat about getting screwed about the upcoming saint patty's day festival which I can understand and some other chit chat about the news. Not to shabby I just think we caught them on an off day. If we're ever back in Savannah we might try them again but most likely not. However seems like a great bar the bartender seemed pretty chill.

Happy hour is forever!
Donna-Marie T.

MUST MUST MUST try this place. The staff is extremely friendly, the drinks are good and the food is amazing. We were walking by while waiting to check into our hotel and saw the 11pm-7pm happy hour sign! WOW! The bartender told us that they have live music on the weekend and we should come back that night (Thurs) or the next night to here blues or Jazz. When we came back there absolutely was live music that you could hear from the patio seating or upstairs where it was a little more spacious. We got the shrimp po boy and the seafood Gumbo. The gumbo was about room temp. Not sure if this is how it's normally served but it was delicious with just being warm. Do your taste buds and pockets a favor and stop into this place.

Buffalo shrimp
Dina W.

We stumbled upon this restaurant. The menu looked good so we decided to check it out. Inside is fairly small. The view is great. There's only one waitress working all the tables. She was friendly but not super attentive. It would've been great if there was a least one other waitress. It got super busy at the end of our meal. We had a party of eight. The food came out sporadically so we all couldn't eat around the same time--the food would've gotten cold--that's how long the wait was in between. Overall, the food was good. We ordered alligator bites, fries pickles, shrimp queso, buffalo shrimp, and wings as appetizers. Entrees included crab and corn chowder, raw oysters, fish and chips, seafood broil, wings, and chicken tenders.

Flavorless shrimp and alligator gumbo
Ming H.

So I tried the Bayou Cafe Food Truck on Saturday of Saint Patrick's Day weekend. I understand why I would have to wait one hour. However, there are apparently two separate lines, one to place your order, and one to pick up your order. There were no signs indicating this, and people got really confused while standing in the pick up line. Because the pick up line was so long with people who had not even placed their orders, the order line got purposefully stopped so the kitchen could "catch up" on these orders people have not even placed. Confusing, right? After waiting an hour to place our order and get our food, it wasn't even good. The boiled shrimp was so flavorless and each shrimp needed to be submerged in cocktail sauce. I also tried the alligator gumbo, which was eh. Yeah, just eh. For $20, I will just wait to sit in at a real seafood restaurant next time around.

Mahi mahi- fish is great but soaked in oil.
Afnan T.

Fun environment with live music. It's pretty dark inside. The service is good. I had the shrimp queso. The dip itself was delicious, however, the chips were stale. For my entree I had the blackened mahi mahi. The fish itself was delicious but there was too much oil sitting on the plate.

Cajun Shrimp Scampi
Val O.

This place is ok. The service is nice but the food is meh. We came in at 12:30 and there was one table of two when we got here. It took quite a while before we got our food. I got the shrimp scampi and I couldn't even eat half of it. It was bland and the cornbread was dry. For that much money, I would somewhere else. The server was nice and funny, but kept forgetting to refill our drinks, and we were eating cajun plates. Since he only had one other table, I'm not sure why it took so long. Almost everyone at our table of 7 ate only 1/4 to maybe 1/2 of their plates because they weren't all that amused with the food. So much waste, and it wasnt even stuff you would want to box and take home, so it went in the trash were is belonged. The building is nice, the service was ok, the wait time is dumb, and the food was almost ok. There are so many better places to eat, guys

Our view while eating.
Melinda S.

My boyfriend and I came to Savannah for the weekend. This was our first dining spot. We came in for a late lunch close to 4:00. We sat right down at a table with a nice window view of the river. Our server was prompt and friendly and took our orders quickly. I ordered a cup of seafood corn chowder for an appetizer and the Cajun sampler with red beans and rice, etouffee, and seafood gumbo. My boyfriend ordered the alligator gumbo. My soup came out and was nice and hot and a great consistency. I did feel it was bland and lacking in seafood pieces. This made me weary of what the rest of the food would be like but luckily I had no reason to worry! The red beans and rice were very tasty and topped with some nicely seared sausage. I loved the etouffee. It had a great flavor and some nice chunks of crawfish. I tasted my boyfriend's alligator gumbo and it was really good. My least favorite was the seafood gumbo. I liked the brown roux on the other items better than the red sauce on the seafood gumbo. Just a matter of personal preference. I recommend checking this place out! We finished our meal and took our beers to go to continue our exploration of Savannah.

Brandy T.

We made a stop in Savanah on our road trip and just stumbled upon the riverfront area. We stopped just hoping to walk around and maybe grab a few trinkets to take home with us. The menu for Bayou Cafe was right off the beaten path so I stopped to take a look and see what they had. I wasn't even hungry, but I saw "deep fried blue crab claws", stopped reading and hurried inside. It's a very small and intimate spot. Very quaint and full of character. If you're looking for the Cajun version of Oceanaire, this isn't it. It's not the prettiest, but it has charm and character. Our server was VERY personable and friendly; it almost felt like we were stopping at a friend's house. There weren't many people there initially, but the place did start to fill up shortly after we got there so we ordered quickly. I had the etouffee and crab claws, he had the salmon sandwich. Everything came out rather quickly, hot and fresh. I've never had etouffee before so I have nothing to compare it to, but it tasted exactly as I imagine it would having had other creole dishes. I'd highly recommend this place for a first date or something. Definitely the kinda place where you don't have much else to focus on outside of each other lol

Tim S.

Man, the reviews for The Bayou Cafe are all over the place. People either love it or hate it. Five or one star reviews with very little in between. Just a note The address listed, 14 N Abercorn St, is incorrect. If you google maps that address you will end up at the wrong place. The Bayou Cafe is right off River Street and the actual address is 4 North Abercorn Ramp. This place is an absolute dive, which maybe the reason some of the reviews are bad. Small seating area and with no doubt this is a dive bar. The food is cajun and is surprisingly good. When we walked in for lunch we were the only customers in the place. Normally not a good sign. I figured it would be meh or even suck but I was pleasantly surprised how good the food was. They have homemade catsup and hot sauce on the table which is also very good. Our waiter, who was also the bartender, is a Kid Rock doppelgänger. He took very good care of us. Recommend.

a band playing in a dimly lit room
Scotty C.

Was looking for something to do on a pretty quiet Tuesday night on River St and were about to head elsewhere until a few locals leaving a bar suggested we check out The Bayou for their open mic/music night. The way they explained it was that it was an open mic but the artists are always great. We followed along and walked into the middle of a 3 piece band playing. The place seemed like a cool little spot on the river but for us it was all about the tunes. The place is bigger than what we saw. We went upstairs to check it out but, it was closed and just the downstairs was available for hanging out. We ended up chatting with one of the artists who we ended up watching play later on. He was bouncing around on a tour from Portland and was leaving to head back the next morning. After the music ended, a few artists took things to the porch... including an artist named Myles. Myles has no affiliation with the place... he was just live drawing people for cash and we saw his amazing work on the way in. My friend was pretty hammered and suggested Myles draw me ASAP and it sounded like fun. We all hung out while Myles did his work and a couple of guys jammed on guitars. The music was great and Myles had the best stories. This went on til 3am and we all had an absolute blast. I'm sure The Bayou Cafe wasn't thrilled with our antics but, we had one hell of a night and appreciate them harboring our good times. If you ever encounter Myles down there (thin, older, black gentleman drawing people) stop and tell him that Scott & Andrew from Charleston say hello and then have him draw you, if not for the finished product, for the great time you'll have hanging with Myles. Plus he does an amazing job with his work too.

Fried Pickles
Jay P.

Update: We stopped again in June 2018 for lunch. The waitstaff are still slow to greet, slow to serve, ignore you most of the time. However, the food was amazing. The chef came out with my boiled shrimp plate and mentioned how fresh the shrimp was. He was so right! I haven't had shrimp so fresh and flavorful. I'm not a corn on the cob fan but after taking a bite, I am a convert. The corn was the freshest I've ever had and delicious. A wonderful lunch and I enjoyed the friendliness of the chef.

Entrance

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6 years ago

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3 years ago

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3 years ago

Dirty, filthy place. Service is slow and the food was worse. I think their food is bought and they just heat it up. Do not recommend

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7 years ago

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Ask the Community - Bayou Cafe

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To put it simply, this is probably the best tasting burger in Savannah!…read more This eatery is located in the Starland District outside of Two Tides Brewing. The burgers are cooked fresh to order, and the taste is unbelievable. The burgers are a little more expensive when compared to other local food trucks, but the taste is worth the price increase. Visit them if you're in a Starland District.

Always seen the Crispi food truck parked at Two Tides Brewing and it always smells amazing --…read morefinally decided to try it, and wow, not disappointed! You can order online for pickup while you're seated at Two Tides sipping their amazing sour beers, which is such a great setup. The patty was nice and crispy, flat, and well seasoned, and the Crispi sauce really makes the whole thing. That said, my patty melt had a few misses: the bun could've been toasted more, there was way too much sauce (it was practically drowning in it), and my patty didn't even cover the bun. The onions also needed to be caramelized more. The potato stix on top gave it a nice crunch though, and overall I still enjoyed it. They offer a gluten free bun for +$2, which was a nice option -- quality, soft bun, and both my husband and I got our burgers on it. His double patty was even better than mine, with tons of meat. We were both stuffed by the end. Overall a solid stop if you're at Two Tides -- would go back and probably ask for less sauce next time.

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Crispi - Parking lot party during the hurricane weekend.

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Bayou Cafe - seafood - Updated October 2026

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