Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen is at 2830 Windy Hill Road in Marietta.
photo by Janet Wilson
This is one of our favorite restaurants, but I’m sorry to say it isn’t in Chattanooga. You’ll have to drive a little over an hour to get to Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen at 2830 Windy Hill Road in Marietta.
The first thing you’ll notice as you enter the restaurant is the large tank full of lobsters. That’s one of the reasons we go there – good lobsters that are not served full of water, tasting like water.
Pappadeaux has two appetizer lists – hot and cold. Cold appetizers include a large selection of oysters, while the hot appetizers include Fried Alligator, Jumbo Lump Crab cakes and Cajun Sausage stuffed with dirty rice. After much debate, we ordered the Blackened Oyster and Shrimp Fondeaux with Crawfish ($10.95). It is served with a toasted french bread for dipping. This was absolutely delicious – rich, creamy, and thick enough to stay on the bread, with plenty of chunky seafood.
The menu was a bit confusing. I printed two off the internet since it had been a while since we were there. One stated Live Maine Lobster, $21.95/lb, served with your choice of two side dishes; the other showed Live Maine Lobster @ $19.95/lb. with no side dishes. Of course, the one with no side dishes is the one we were given.
We both decided to order one side; a baked potato ($3.95) for Wayne and Broccoli with Hollandaise Sauce ($3.75) for me. The smallest lobsters available on the night we were there, were 2 ½ lbs. Had we known how large these were going to be, we would have left off the side items – and I would not have ordered the tempting soft shell crab that could be added for $4.95!
These things were HUGE! They were also wonderful. When you cracked them open, a bit of water came out, but you expect that when they have just been boiled, but the meat itself did not retain any of the water. After dipping the meat into the warm, melted butter, it was richly succulent. We didn’t want the taste to come to an end, but alas, we were left with empty red shells staring back at us.
The Pappadeaux menu is full of great seafood such as Crawfish Etoufee, Stuffed Shrimp, Fried Soft Shell Crab, Cedar Plank Salmon, as well as Chicken. Pasta and Steak. There are also several gumbos including Crawfish Bisque Cream-Style. Menu entree prices range from $12.95 for Fried Oysters or Stuffed Crab to $29.95 for an Australian Lobster Tail. Of course the Live Maine Lobster would be more if you ordered more than the one pound size.
Also on the menu are several salads including Pappas Greek Salad which you can order as to how many people you want it to serve. One that caught my eye was the Lobster Seafood Salad featuring cold boiled lobster, scallops and shrimp over fresh greens in a creamy citrus vinaigrette with toasted cashews ($17).
Pappadeaux is a casual restaurant with delicious seafood. There is also a dessert menu featuring Banana Wafer Pudding, Sweet Potato Pecan Pie with ice cream, and Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce (just to name a few), priced from $1.25 for a scoop of Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream to $6.95 for Creme Brulee with fresh fruit. Of course, we couldn’t handle a dessert; we were already past “waddle”.
Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen is open daily from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m., with special lunch prices from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.