Ms. B's Authentic Creole Cuisine

11/29/2007 Posted by newaustonian

Four of us went to the Mesa Dr Ms. B's location on Wednesday night. It is located in a strip mall, but inside is decorated nicely. The lights are too bright to give it much ambiance, however. The waitress gave us the wine list, which had 25 or so wines listed on it, but then told us that they only had three of them in that night. They also didn't have the beer our friend wanted. I had a small green salad before dinner and the green onion dressing, which was excellent. We all received warm rolls from the waitress, who gave us all different types (her choice, not ours) - cornbread jalapeno roll, 2 cheese-jalapeno rolls, and a buttermilk roll. It was a nice touch and they were tasty. For dinner we all ordered something different. I had the crawfish etoufee. My friends had the crawfish enchiladas, the shrimp etoufee, and the chicken jumbalaya. The crawfish enchilades were good, but small (two small tortilla sized echiladas w/a serving of rice on the side). The etoufee gravy was dark brown, unlike any etoufee I've had in the past, as it is usually a light cream color. It tasted more fishy than I'd ever had in the past as well. I couldn't eat more than a few bites before feeling overwhelmed. I had to request another small roll to have something in my stomach. The chicken jumbalaya had crunchy bits in it and so we presume it was fried chicken in there - we hope anyway. After dinner we passed on dessert as we were eager to get out of there. The cook was doing something with the grill that was making the whole place smell like burnt popcorn! No doubt trying to get us to clear out, which we prompty did. We headed to Mangia where I ordered a small pizza because I was so hungry after my Ms. B's experience. None of us were impressed with the entrees. I thought the ambiance was lacking as well. The waitress was good, but I don't know what was up with the burning grill at the end and was glad to leave and will not be back.

Cons: Have never experienced cajun this bad

08/21/2007 Posted by lmangino

I love to try out new spots. As soon as I saw Ms. B's I was there. I was quickly disappointed. The atmosphere was nice and the waitress was pretty good, but the food was a mess! I had the crab cakes as an appetizer. They were the worst I have ever had. They were made with snapper which has a very strong taste that more than over powered whatever crab was in them. At $12 for two small ones I would expect some crab. They were not eaten and they were removed from the bill. Both my husband’s and my meal were very bland and, in my opinion, over priced. I don’t mind paying good money for good food, but I don’t appreciate being charged a high price for food I can barely eat. I cook Cajun food at home and have eaten it for years. I don’t know who Ms. B is or where she is from, but I am pretty sure that it is not the south, and certainly not Louisiana. I was more than disappointed with the experience there and we will not return.

Pros: Nice look, easy to get to

Cons: the food is bad

08/22/2006 Posted by capaustin

A San Antonio business man was in town and was taken to lunch as Ms B's. He was so impressed that he sent us copies of the menu. We tried it for dinner a few weeks ago, and really enjoyed it also. Last weekend, he drove to Austin with his wife just to go to dinner there with us. Another winner. I searched the web to find the phone number and was greatly surprised to see the negative reviews... certainly doesn't match our several experiences. The restaurant on Mesa is tucked into a corner of an old-tired strip center, near a gas station, sub shop, dry cleaner, etc. In that environment you might expect a cheap meal from an old, tired restaurant. Wrong! This is definitely an upscale restaurant, in the New Orleans tradition. The choices and flavors were as good as real New Orleans Creole - in the opinion of our businessman friend who gets to New Orleans more than we do, better than many meals he has had in New Orleans. The prices were New Orleans prices, not cheap, but not particularly expensive either. I didn't expect to write a review, so I didn't note the menu details, but I recall most entrees in the $10 to $20 range. Most deserts were $5, and worth every penny (One could argue that no bread pudding should cost $5, but I have paid that much elsewhere, and the flavors and sauce were outstanding). One reviewer commented on the poor bread service. I agree. They had several types of bread, but simply put a small cornbread roll on our plate, without offering a choice or offering extras. Not what we expect here, but a small point on an excellent meal. They may have had staffing problems recently (which may explain the bad reviews). The first time we went, we discovered that the dishwasher was the owner (clever - he could watch the entire operation from there). The visit this weekend, he was cooking, and nobody was doing dishes. We wish him well - we want to return again and again.

Pros: Food and inside ambience

Cons: Outside ambience

08/13/2006 Posted by eastsideboy

I have to say, we had the worst waitress that we've ever had in a 15 year dining history in Austin. And, on top of that the food was not good and was overpriced. The food... The Shrimp Etouffee is a bowl of roux with an ice cream scoop of crunchy rice in it. After waiting and waiting and waiting for the waitress to re-appear, we sent these items back and ordered gumbo instead since the waitress said that all of the Etouffee would be that way since all the rice is made beforehand. The gumbo arrived and was cold. By cold, I mean that it was room temperature and that the crawfish and seafood bits were ice cold as if they had been thrown in frozen. We were so tired of complaining at this point that we didn't send the gumbo back -- we just wanted to cut our losses and for the dinner and the experience to be over. We ordered some of the $4 side dishes to try as well which were below average and ridiculously small portions. The service... She was nice enough, but provided extremely slow service, was completely unknowledgable about the food and drinks, and even left our table to go to another table in the middle of taking our orders. The table next to us was so unhappy that they got up and left. I reported her to the manager who was very apologetic, but didn't change us to another server. Before the meal arrived, the waitress showed up with a bread basket that she walked around and allotted each person 1 small piece of bread without asking what kind of bread you even wanted. When we asked her to leave the basket (some of of wanted to change out what she gave us), she said she'd have to charge us extra. I'm sorry, but if you can't afford to provide your customers with bread, then don't even offer it. Or offer it as a menu item so that we can pay for it. The desserts were explained to us with all of the additional charges as well. ($2.50 more if you want it a la mode). Give me a break. Just build the price into the item and get it over with.

06/17/2006 Posted by spiderlilly

being a native Louisianian, i can attest that the food here is not bad, but it is *extremely* over priced. When the etoufee I was served wwas lacking in efficient rice, I asked for a side af white rice and was charged $4 for it--for the equivalent of about 3 tablespoons and it was over-cooked. The server was not friendly and actually rather condescending and at his best aloof. do not plan to visit again and instead wait out the next trip to Louisiana for the real thing all around.

Pros: nice atmosphere

Cons: overpriced, ridiculaous charge for a side of rice, rude service

06/03/2006 Posted by fturner

Food was terrible, had to send back my iced tea due to bad taste (try cleaning the tea brewing machine once in a while--it makes a world of difference). Couldn't eat the $6.50 bowl of gumbo because it tasted horribly burned. Had to argue with waitress to get the gumbo taken off the bill. It may look tempting, but stay away!

03/09/2006 Posted by lauryn1

My husband & I had heard of Ms. B's so when we found ourselves in North Austin, decided to try it. My husband dressed in a ballcap & shorts & I in my scrubbs felt underdressed. Our waitress's attitude was one that you would find in a swanky French restaurant- $10 & some change for an oyster PoBoy (5 oysters) & tea is outrageous- Paying with cash was an issue since most "pay with credit cards". Here we were underdressed & credit cardless. I do hope that those of you that have never been to Louisiana don't form an opinion from dining @ Ms. B's. You may want to go to South Austin if you want a true Cajun experience.

10/25/2004 Posted by kpl

I have been to Ms. B's twice in the last week and have to say that the food has improved remarkably since the last time I was there, about three years ago. On my first visit there last week, I ordered the smothered pork chops with red beans and rice. The dish was very good. The only suggestion for improvement I had would be that they add fresh onions to the gravy. On my second trip there, I ordered the baked trout with crabmeat and shrimp in a lemon-butter sauce. It, too, was delicious. My dinner companion had the stuff flounder and found it be be very tasty. I commend Ms. B's for their excellent food and for their wonderful service. I will be back.

05/25/2004 Posted by in_the_neighborhood

I have tried Ms. B's twice and two times I was very disappointed. I have also sent my food back and was still charged for it, even though I didn't order anything else! DON'T DO IT!

11/02/2003 Posted by ahcorn

I have never walked out of a restaurant before last night! We were barely acknowledged when we arrived. Once seated we waited ten minutes before having to stop a passing waiter to ask for drinks. He acted like we bothered him - no apologies! Once we did place our order we waited another 10 minutes with no drinks and the table next to us told us they waited an hour for their salads. Upon hearing that we left our table and askd to speak to the owner. We told him we waited twenty minutes and still hadn't gotten drinks. The owner said "well, we aren't a fast food restaurant". We told him we understood that, but other tables were upset as well and his response was "um, okay". No apologies! We would of been much more understanding had there been. Horrible! Don't ruin a great evening by dining here.

Cons: Service, Ambience