FABULOUS food, Great service and Fun atmosphere! As busy as they get it remains a great experience. The crawfish sauce is to die for! You can get it over their French bread or just about anything else! The redfish is amazing, the chicken salad is fantastic, Nina's chicken (grilled or fried) and veggies are delectable, the potatoes are ginormous and filled generously with your choice of topping. The BBQ potato is at least two meals and the one filled with crawfish sauce is just ridiculous! Definitely a favorite spot for an incredible meal anytime! read more

Craving Cajun food and found this lovely family owned restaurant! Service was very quick which was nice. We ordered crab cakes to start which were pretty decent, there wasn't too much crab but they were a very good price 2 for $18. I also ordered the shrimp and grab gumbo and loved it. Delicious roux and full of flavor. For entree we had the redfish Nina and it was so good. The fish was soft with crispy edges with crawfish cream sauce on top. I'd certainly recommend checking this restaurant out. read more

See all

Incredible, this is the best thing in Lake Charles besides winning big at a casino. The food was excellent. They were voted the best gumbo for over 10 years. I wouldn't know because I didn't have room in my belly for anything else. We started with the crawfish bread. You would think it would get soggy from all that delicious creamy crawfish sauce. But NO it stayed toasty and firm. Now on to the main event. Reddish Magnolia and Redfish Lafayette. Both came with what seamed like the same creamy flavorful sauce as the bread. Services was excellent, they took good care of us. This was our first time and won't be our last. read more

Nina P's Cafe - Redfish Lafayette on top with shrimp & Redfish Magnolia bellow - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

See all

Really great service and even better food! This place was highly rated and I'm glad I had a chance to eat there on my short trip to Lake Charles. I was of course craving crawfish since I was in LA but never had them as 'crawfish kickers' and was surprised how good they were!! read more

Nina P's Cafe - Shrimp Cup of Seafood Gumbo - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

See all

Passing through town and wanted a locals favorite and this came up. It was Memorial Day so it was a little busy but service was prompt and friendly. However, the restaurant was very dirty; food all over the floors, doors full of finger prints. Not sure if the hostess heard me but shortly after I saw someone trying to sweep up the mess. Overall, the service was good, food was good as well and not overly overpriced. The redfish was very good! read more

See all

Wow! Got Louisiana cooking right here. The place ate hearty! I tried the zydego chicken dinner that came with a side salad and onion rings. I was one happy chuck walking out of this restaurant. The place has a lot of character. It's warm, and family oriented. There is a small bar area as well as indoor and outdoor seating available. Plenty of parking. read more

See all

Where do I begin? Pulling into the parking lot my first impression was very good. Greeted quickly by staff and she made an excellent assessment to seat us at a corner table. We were given a proper amount of time to look over the menu. The menu offered numerous options (beef, chicken and seafood, if there was pork I simply overlooked it), I was very pleased. We chose two Nina house creations the blackened redfish Nina and fried chicken Nina. The food was outstanding, the service was great and the Louisiana decor, zydeco music, comfortable feel of this cafe was way above the norm. WE WILL COME BACK! read more

Amazing food and service! As busy as it was, the food was fantastic! I can't wait to go back!

Great food and service. Highly recommend this establishment. Menu has many Cajun dishes and they are delicious

Visiting from out of town and I'm so glad I found this local gem. This restaurant gave me a "home" feeling. A small sweet & southern restaurant. I sat at the bar & the sever was very attentive. The food was full of flavor and everything was really clean. Reasonable pricing and a smooth & gentle atmosphere read more

Beautiful interior and outdoor seating. Arrived at 5pm on Saturday and finished a four course meal in 40 min. We got last available inside table. Server was swift, knowledgeable and professional. Wait time for food was short. read more

Every day at 11am there's a long line waiting for the doors to open. Food is great and service is too

HOLY BON TEMP I'm visiting friends in the area and we passed it every day. Finally decided to pop in and wow I am blown away! The service was incredible, the fried green tomatoes are 1000000/10 That Nina's signature sauce is AMAZING!!! The brisket spud was the star of the show. It's huge and delicious read more

See all

Read good enough reviews and wanted to try. Walked in and felt veryyy unwelcome. You could tell they did not want a new table walking in. We thought maybe they were closing or we weren't white enough lol? But it was 4pm and said open. Food was ok, service very slow and forgot some items. Burger was great. If the hostess and waitresses don't want to be there, let them go! You're in hospitality. In reading more of the reviews since our visit, we see other people experienced similar. Cute restaurant but the service will harm business. Would go elsewhere for NOLA cuisine. read more

The cafe is very quaint and cozy however the service is poor. Til this day we still do not know our servers name. She was a sweet girl but she dropped the ball on making sure our experience was a great one . She seemed to not care at all. We also tried the gumbo but it is not pictured because we did not finish it. It was salty and tasted burnt . The egg rolls had a sweet syrup on them that was not necessary. The fried green tomatoes were delicious though. They were hot and fresh. We will not be returning however I do believe that with some adjustments this place could be much better. read more

Nina P's Cafe - Egg rolls - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

See all

Outside seating is terrible. Bird feces everywhere ... would not recommend. Food was super salty and delayed - Not sure why people come to this spot! read more

Ordered the Nina Magnolia Red Fish and the Fried shrimp with 3 baked potatoes. Besides being overly salty the baked potatoes were the size of meatball and they were overcooked. read more

Holy cow! Our new FAVORITE place in LC! Not sure where to begin, but know this is the place. Service- top notch. Ambiance- amazing. Food- stealler! read more

See all

We went here based in a google search as we were visiting our daughter at Mcneese. I can tell you after near 40 years as a restaurateur I have never seen such a beautifully run restaurant. We were greeted by a lovely host who couldn't have been more sweet and communicative. This place was packed but not overwhelmed around 12:30pm on Tuesday 7/14 which tells me this is clearly a locals favorite. Our server was lovely and attentive and spot on with her timing. The PoBoy, salad, and gumbo, were spot on. But, what impressed me most was the teamwork we witnessed among the employees and the attention to hospitality. These folks believe in what they're doing and I can't wait to come back on our next visit to Lake Charles read more

The service in this place is subpar at best the server and hostess like to talk trash about the customers The food was great it makes up for the nasty attitude the hostess had. Only down side is not much seating read more

Nina P's Cafe - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

This is my favorite spot in lake Charles. Everything on the menu is amazing. The service is amazing! And ambiance makes me feel like I'm at home. Always will recommend this place. read more

Overrated. No idea why it gets so much love from the locals. Food tasted like it'd been frozen and reheated. Gumbo had a funky taste. Chicken was rubbery. Servers were overloaded and took a long time to take our orders. read more

Staff is very pleasant and friendly. Seafood gumbo was good but a bit cooler than I like - ask them to heat it up! I had the Mardi Gras Stack - fried shrimp are good, the sauce is good, not too rich as to overwhelm the food, but the crab cakes were a bit "wet", eggs were perfect, but the whole dish was a bit bland for Cajun food. I was looking for a little kick but it was missing...I had a loaded baked potato as my side - it was good but not totally baked - cool on bottom and only warm otherwise- cheese didn't melt. I'll visit again, but probably won't have this dish. read more

Nina P's Cafe - Mardi Gras Stack - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

Great food. Nice servers. Family atmosphere. This is one of them gems in Lake Charles!

If I could leave negative stars, I would. We went on a Tuesday evening excited to try their potatoes, which are advertised as always available (which has probably changed, now). My two in-laws, my spouse, my infant, and I arrived around 6:30 pm and were told we would have no more than a 30 minute wait. After two hours, we were finally brought through a dirty restaurant (the floors) to a table where we waited 20 more minutes. We had plenty of time to review the menu, so we were ready to order as soon as we were greeted by our waitress. As we gave our order, we were told they were out of potatoes, which was severely disappointing. My father in law thought the waitress was joking with us. Unfortunately, since we all wanted potatoes, and since we'd waited so long we just picked other items. Very disappointing. Our food took about 35 minutes to come out and was cold. One word for this place... terrible. read more

The service was very respectful and nice this was my time in Louisiana and my server was helpful on show me the best menu option they had. I had the Cajun boudin egg rolls in which I was not disappointed at all and the stuffed redfish Lafayette was delicious. The atmosphere was nice and everyone working was flowing. Definitely recommend if your needing lunch in lake Charles read more

The Monday special, chicken fried chicken was amazing as always! Our service was perfect. We were in and out in no time on a very busy day.

Cute buzzing southern hospitality restaurant! Be prepared to be hot since A/C wasn't working very well. We got the fried green tomatoes and fried chicken baked potato. My mom got the chicken salad with cranberries and walnuts. The dressing was amazing and sweet. We saved the potato for home since it was just too hot to eat inside restaurant. Otherwise, I'd give this place a 5 star. read more

Such a hidden gem with some of the best New Orleans style food around. Everything is always full of flavor and cooked perfectly. The cooks absolutely kill it every time, and you can tell a lot of care goes into the food. Between the great atmosphere, amazing service, and incredible food, this place deserves all the hype. read more

So I am part of a flight crew and this place was suggested. Really good local new orleans food. Highly recommend and the servers are nice. read more

See all

The positive - I walked in for lunch and I was greeted with a smile from the hostess. The building is cool inside and out. Service was quick... Now for the negative. I sat at the bar and ordered unsweet tea and that was good. For lunch I ordered their crab cake with sauce and a side of their seafood gumbo. Both were horrible and I did not finish my gumbo as it was loaded with salt little seafood and no real "gumbo" flavor. The crab cake tasted like it was out of the frozen food aisle at your local grocery store. Mushy, tasteless and lifeless is a good description. I didn't finish the gumbo. The bartender must have been having a bad day.... Never smiled and had a crappy attitude towards almost everyone, it wasn't just me. .... When in Lake Charles - Go to Pujo St Cafe for good food and great service... read more

Nina P's Cafe - Not so good gumbo - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

We were in town for a funeral and joined a group of locals, first time here. The atmosphere was calming and the food was delicious.

Best food I've had in a very long time!! If not ever! The service was outstanding with a full house. It only took about 10 minutes for us to get seated. The atmosphere is great very homelike. I have not had seafood like this in a good while me and the wife will definitely be returning. Layken was our server. She was very friendly. Got everything out very quickly. read more

See all

Food and service are outstanding!!! Award winning gumbo, fried shrimp dinner is soooo good! Honestly cooking at its best!!!

We came here whilst visiting our dear friend in Lake Charles. The stuffed fish was good, the shrimp was fresh and the CRAWFISH BREAD was so damn good-enough to make my mouth water as I write this. read more

The food was so good I was full in like 5 minutes and I really liked the Fried Chicken Nina. The meals are HUGE read more

Nina P's Cafe - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Lake Charles, Louisiana

Service is great! The food all looks wonderful but lacks the flavor profile so far.. The crawfish bread was amazing and the beneits were great! I would still go back and try some more entrees lots to choose from! read more

See all

The food is always good, the service is always incredibly slow. Went yesterday early, and they weren't crowded... more than a few empty tables. Waited 45 minutes for a stuffed potato and a sandwich. The server brought the wrong thing to me, so had to wait even longer to get the right one. I should also add that tables around us that came in after us, got their food before we did. Very frustrating. read more

We ordered the day's special: Beef Tips with Rice & Gravy, Green Beans, Corn, and a pistolette. The tips were fork tender in a rich dark gravy. The veggies were cooked tender and were seasoned not-too-salty. Service was spotty because the server wandered between her tables, but it was fine; the lunch time crowd had settled in. Other than that, they had the "N'awlins" music up too loud, but that's their thing, so avoid this place if you (like us) don't find that music style exciting. read more

This was a super cute place! Bonnie our waitress was hands down the best! She was friendly, made suggestions and was very attentive. Even with my daughter asking for specifically Louisiana Hot Sauce lol. We had the fried mushrooms, gumbo, hamburger steak, blackened redfish, cinnamon beignets and strawberry cake oh and I can't forget pistolettes. OMG those beignets were magical I've only had the original with powdered sugar. These were dusted in cinnamon sugar and drizzled with the most amazing icing. The fam bam devoured the mushrooms and the gumbo was very good! read more