Hit Pappadeux Westmont today for lunch(kind of tired of Chinese food right now)

Saw some folks eating crawfish @ the bar, so figured I would ask if I could get some for lunch. Answer.. yes, at the Wednesday & Thursday night special price of $3.95/lb(served with corn on the cob & red potatoes).

A heaping portion of crawfish, kind of small in size compared to the ones I have had @ CC, but still alot of them. Kind of light on the spice in their boil liquid, but all in all good. 2# of mudbugs for under $8.

Were the crawfish as good as Cajun Connection has, or what I remember having @ the Toon's boil last March? Heck no... but for $8 not bad at all. Im good to go for a little over a week crawfish wise until the 20th @ Toon's.

Also had a wedge salad with a chunky blue cheese dressing, and a cup of crawfish bisque. THe bisque here is probably my 2nd favorite soup in all of Chicagoland(my favorite is @ Joes Stone Crab, the brilliant stone crab bisque they offer). Rich broth, slight spice kick, and at least 6 whole crawfish tails in the cup.

another nice lunch @ Pappadeux today, 1/2 dozen oysters, 4 stone crab claws, and 1/2 dozen shrimp.


Really hooked on oysters righ now.

Just a heads-up that the crawfish special is through the end of April.

(And despite the title of this thread, there's nothing warmed over about it.)

Another perfectly acceptable meal @ Pappadeux - Westmont last night. For what I eat there they do a fine job at a fair price. Gulf coast oysters $4 for a 1/2 dozen, add a 1/2 lb. of stone crab claws for $7, and get mudbugs for $3.99/lb. Cant beat it anywhere in the chicagoland for these items. oysters fresh, plump, and good, stone crab as good as it can be(funny the folks @ Shaws,an alleged crab house havent been able to source stone crab claws on my last two visits, but Pappadeuxs has had them each of my last 4 visits.. ).

If you order right here a good meal can be had, of course stay away from the cajun & sauced items, ( there is only one place to go in the area for good cajun food and thats about 65 miles west of here). go for the fresh items, oysters, lobster, crawfish in season, also the bisques are good.

Last nights tab for the 1/2 lb of stone crab, 5.5 lbs of crawfish, 1/2 dozen oysters, a king crab maki roll, a shrimp po' boy, 4 24 oz. schooners of beer, and a grey goose cosmo(cheaper than a shot..)... a little over $60.. cant beat it.

A nice Friday supper @ Pappadex-Westmont, started off with a grey goose cosmo($5.99 cheaper than a shot during happy hour, plus I wanted some cranberry juice). Moved onto a large Miller Lite draft, and a jim Beam Neat. total $15.

Had a table in the bar area, and until 7:00 Mon-Fri there is a happy hour food menu, also the hot appetizer section of the menu was 1/2 price. Oysters are always cheap so I got a dozen, a half dozen cold shrimp, and 3 stone crab claws(season is almost over). Oysters were good as always, same goes for the shrimp, stne crab claws were great. Other items ordered at the table alligator bites(decent, a little salty, and not as good as Cajun Connection, but not bad), Coconut shrimp(large deep fried shrimp served over a sweet thai chili sauce, actually pretty good). Blackened scallops over dirty rice, a nice dish, and an appetizer we have tried before. Fried calamari, I didnt try any but everyone thought it was good. Last item was cheese sticks, we had a toddler at the table, so we wanted an option for her.. funny thing is the adults ate more of the cheese sticks than she did as she focused on the gator, cold shrimp, fried shrimp, calamari, and stone crab(smart kid).

Total tab with a few more beers like $65. Not a bad

We finally tried the Sunday brunch a few weeks ago. It was not bad, especially for the price. They had several cold salads, eggs benedict, several types of fish, fried chicken strips and fried fish of some kind, green beans....They had a pancake and waffle bar and a guy making ommletes and carving meats... The real bust was the dessert table--3 selections, cheesecake bars, lemon bars and a pecan bar. Surprisingly small selection. They brought a plate of beniegts (sp?) towards the end, that was nice. I would go back, as at $16.99 it was quite affordable, but know it isn't the fanciest, largest buffet around.

Last night provided some more soild fresh oysters at a good price. 1/2 dozen gulf oysters, and a dozen shrimp for about $10. Oysters were fresh, and plump. However typically when I get a 1/2 dozen I get 7, and when I order a dozen I get 13, last nights 1/2 dozen yielded only 6.

Off the 1/2 price hot app. menu was another round of thie coconut shrimp, 6 large shrimp over a sweet thai chili sauce, really nice for $5. I am typically not a fan of coconut shrimp, but these are good. Also some cheese sticks for $3.50.

Off the dinner menu 18 oz. of garlic snow crab, not bad, not the best I have had, but not bad. $20.

Opted for a happy hour specia grey goos martini(straight up, with a few olives tossed in), a healthy pour of vodka for $5.50. FOllowed that up with a shot of Jim Beam, and a couple larger drafts of Miller Lite. I didnt drive home.

Total tab before tip was about $62.

If you know what/how to order pappadeux can be fun, and good.

Jim...what the heck are you going to do when the supply of oysters dries up (thanks to the recent oil spill)?!!!!

razbry wrote:Jim...what the heck are you going to do when the supply of oysters dries up (thanks to the recent oil spill)?!!!!

Probably switch back to the cold water varieties I first tried. I do like the character of the warm water gulf oysters though.

I went to Papadeaux’s for lunch today. I haven’t been there since early May. Back then oysters were $9.95/dozen. But they had been running a sale for a long time at $3.95/dozen. I got a dozen with every visit.

Today oysters are ‘market price’, which was $15.95/dozen. They were from Vancouver. I was told that the price started going up right after the spill. I had the chopped salad with fried crawfish. I asked where they were getting their crawfish. I was surprised to find out, farm raised in China.

I thought they tasted fine. I was going to ask about other changes to their menu, but they didn’t seem in the mood to talk to me.

D.

dodger wrote:Today oysters are ‘market price’, which was $15.95/dozen. They were from Vancouver. I was told that the price started going up right after the spill. I had the chopped salad with fried crawfish. I asked where they were getting their crawfish. I was surprised to find out, farm raised in China.

I thought they tasted fine. I was going to ask about other changes to their menu, but they didn’t seem in the mood to talk to me.

how were the cold water oysters?

I am not that surprised that the crawfish are now coming from somewhere besides LA. Not because of the oil, but because the season is pretty much over. I am worried about next years crop though.

>how were the cold water oysters?

I am not an expert, but I thought they were VG. IMO they had more flavor than the gulf ones I had gotten early this year. I am not sure I will get them again, more because of the price, then the flavor.

I still can’t get over Chinese crawfish. I guess one never (really) knows where their food comes from.

D.

dodger wrote:
I still can’t get over Chinese crawfish. I guess one never (really) knows where their food comes from.

I hear you, once the it gets to this time of year, I assume they are Chinese, or frozen from earlier this spring.

jimswside said:

"I am not that surprised that the crawfish are now coming from somewhere besides LA. Not because of the oil, but because the season is pretty much over. I am worried about next years crop though."

"I hear you, once the it gets to this time of year, I assume they are Chinese, or frozen from earlier this spring."

This isn't anything new. For the last 20 years, Lousisiana crayfish have been harder and harder to find due to the lower cost of the Chinese product. And because imported ones are cheaper, they dominate the market. Order 1# bags of frozen crayfish tail meat from any local purveyor ans see what you get. Same story as with Maryland fresh crabmeat vs. Indonesian pasteurized crabmeat. Crab packing houses on the Maryland Eastern shore have closed left and right because young Americans don't want to pick crab for a living.

Evil Ronnie

Evil Ronnie wrote:This isn't anything new. For the last 20 years, Lousisiana crayfish have been harder and harder to find due to the lower cost of the Chinese product. And because imported ones are cheaper, they dominate the market. Order 1# bags of frozen crayfish tail meat from any local purveyor ans see what you get. Same story as with Maryland fresh crabmeat vs. Indonesian pasteurized crabmeat. Crab packing houses on the Maryland Eastern shore have closed left and right because young Americans don't want to pick crab for a living.

Evil Ronnie

Personally, up until recently, I have had no problem sourcing crawfish tail meat from Louisiana sources EVEN at Walmart. I think that is somewhat ironic as I have seen a lot of Chinese tail meat sold at Walmarts in Louisiana.

A lot of the reason for the declaine in Chesapeake crabmeat availability is that the supply is down substantially in the past 20 years. The number of watermen is down substantially. As for the crab pickers, in most areas around the Chesapeake, the crab pickers were African American women who had few opportunities to do anything else but packing seafood which is at best a seasonal job. With economic development in many of those counties, a lot of those folks have found a lot better jobs. (For the record, one of my kitchen staffs consisted of 12 former crab pickers in the Northern Neck of Virginia).

Oh, by the way, many of the crab pickers were making under minimum wage as you were paid by the pound and the packers would deduct heavily for any missed shell they found in the final product. Even with the lower COL in that area, it was barely a subsistence income.

Evil Ronnie wrote:
This isn't anything new. For the last 20 years, Lousisiana crayfish have been harder and harder to find due to the lower cost of the Chinese product. And because imported ones are cheaper, they dominate the market. Order 1# bags of frozen crayfish tail meat from any local purveyor ans see what you get.

Evil Ronnie

I agree not anything new for frozen tails, and I guess other varieties. I dont buy frozen tails, and try not to eat any crawfish that wasnt alive a few minutes before it was boiled.

I heard from a friend today that Pappadeauxs is closing at the end of the year - does anyone know if this bad news is true ?

Yes. This past Saturday a Pappa employee informed me that the Arlington Heights location would be closing on Jan. 20, 2011; employees had just received the news and some appeared to be shaken.

Pappa "corporate" is pulling the plug because this location has not reached it's profit potential. It is a huge space; I have been told much larger than other Pappadeaux locations.

Pappa is having running a special on raw Texas Gulf oysters. On Saturday I opted for a meal of the fried oysters. Good-good-good! I had a meeting in the area today and I wanted to go back for another platter.

Too bad, I have enjoyed various seafood dishes there over the years for a reasonable price. Their gumbo is more than decent.

x

They have a location in Westmont as well. I haven't heard that one is closing.

921 Pasquinelli Drive, Westmont
(630) 455-9846

This is truly sad. I live a mile away from the Arlington Heights location and eat there regularly. Their Sunday brunch is a bargain at $16.95. I love their crawfish trio, oyster specials, and crawfish boils. My wife and I would regularly bring home 9 pounds of mudbugs during crawfish season and feast. While it's good to know the Westmont location will remain open, I will not dine there regularly due to the distance. Pappadeaux Arlington Heights will be sorely missed by me and my family.

Here's an article from the Daily Herald about the AH location closing. Westmont will stay in business.

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20101123/business/711249849/

One warning.

Pappadeaux's has been promoting gift certificates in today's e-mail despite the fact that they are closing the Arlington Heights store in January. Make sure that you are aware of this before purchasing them.

Sorry to hear about the Arlington Heights location closing. I usually go to the Westmont location, in fact...I was there yesterday If you are looking for a new place to get Brunch on Sunday check out Shaw's. I went to their Sunday brunch for the first time and was really impressed. Great food, great selection...a bit pricey at $40 (I think that's what it was) but kids eat free.

go...Go Gumbo!

dan

I'm new to this forum and am a tad emberrassed to do my first review on a chain restaurant, but I feel I have to let you know how bad this place is.
Our first vist-We ordered a tri stuffed baked oyster app. It was so salty, tasted like chunks of rock salt. Server advised the salt taste is "from the ocean". We ordered a lobster tail. It was chewy, dry and had been sitting under the heat lamp for awhile so I'll never know if it was cooked properly. I went to the washroom and one of the stalls had blood smeared on the walls. I told the hostess, who never did anything about it. I wrote the company a letter which led us to a gift card...
The second visit 2 months later. Sat at the bar to take advantage of their drink specials. Ordered fried alligator, which was totally covered in salt. I also ordered the lunch fried shrimp, it was huge. Turns out the server thought I said "large" not lunch. Their good bread had been replaced by cold sliced french bread. I ordered a 2lb. stuffed lobster. After waiting 15 minutes, I was informed they didn't have any. I went to the washroom. Remnants of the blood from my last visit were still on the stall wall. I complained to manager, who comp'd our meal. We still had to pay for drinks. I walked away with the gift card from my last visit complaint, still in my pocket. It did not cover alcohol. So a month passes and it's....
Visit #3. The raw oysters were good. The onion rings were way too salty. Note: They load on a very salty seasoning to most of their fried items. I ordered cobb salad and it was filled with slimy zuccini ribbons and was not on the romaine I had requested. The slimy zuccini ruined the salad. Server insisted they were cucumbers. They advertise zuccini ribbons as a side item. Being a retired chef, I know the difference between a zuccini and a cucumber. They must have had too many old prepped zuccini's in the kitchen, so they threw them in my salad. It thucked. We then ordered the 2lb stuffed lobster. It took 45 minutes to come out of the kitchen. It looked like a 1 lb'er. No hot butter. By the time the server got the butter the lobster was cold. We also had to fetch our own silverware, extra napkins, side plates. When I got the bill the server advised they no longer have drink specials. Cute shot, he had heard me tell my companion about the specials. Server was trying hard throughout our visit to pad the bill.
The service here is a joke, most servers are about 21 years old and don't have a clue about proper service. The food is not all that great, prices somewhat high, and management is not to be found. Don't waste your time or money here.

I have been a Papadieux's three times in the last 4 weeks and have had nothing but the best experiences.The waitstaff has always been courteous and attentive.
I ordered the Cajun Combo,blackened catfish fillet and shrimp ettoufee.The fish was moist and moderately spiced as was the shrimp.
I have followed these postings for a few years now and could never understand the wide swings in experiences.
The waiters have been very considerate when me or my wife have asked for substitutions to the orders.
I firmly believe that everyone is entiteled to their own opinion but also suggest that some people should stay home and eat.

Jer, I realize that when you live in a town where the delicacy is a wet burrito you may appreciate a place like Pappadeaux. My post was honest, from a person with 35 years in the restaurant business.

I go to Pappadeaux’s regularly. Most of those experiences have been very good. I don’t think they serve excellent food, but they don’t charge excellent prices. I believe the quality is very good (usually) and the service I have experienced has been very good (usually). I consider their prices reasonable.

They have started their annual crawfish fest through Fat Tuesday and then every Wednesday and Thursday through the end of April. It is more expensive than in prior years, but I think it is worth it.

I went yesterday and the size was bigger than I expected and the flavor was very good. I am not an expert, but I have been told that crawfish in March are usually small and they get bigger near the end of Pappadeaux’s fest. But these looked bigger than last year’s.

D.

Just saw the price for this year, 9.95 for 1.25 lbs vs 3.95 for the same amount last year. Talk about a ridiculous price increase!

I look forward to this each year, but for 10 bucks a lb, I'd rather ship some crawfish to my door and do a crawfish boil myself.