Review Galley Seafood Restaurant - Metairie

Second time here, I HAD to come back. First time was years ago, my first time in New Orleans. This place is great! Food was soo good. Staff was super friendly and our server, Jacob, was on point. We were greeted upon entering and seated right away, on a Friday too (usually much busier). I highly recommend coming to check this place out!

Summary: Great place to stop for a bite if your near. Seemed like an old neighborhood restaurant where you get a bunch of regulars, with some new comers. Good to experience the southern cuisine in its fullest flavors. More detailed review - Location: Located in the heart of Metairie, surrounded by residential homes and some business buildings. Great looking neighbor. Restaurant: Very straight forward building design, and easy entrance access. They have patio seating for the warmer months of the year. Clean place, well kept up. And my favorite was the atmosphere, it gives off an old traditional seafood restaurant. Staff & service: Friendly and attentive. I was greeted right as I walked in. They seemed very genuine with everyone they interacted with. Definitely not lacking any customer service values. They also held small conversations with the local customers. Truly makes you feel welcomed. Food: I enjoyed everything I ordered. Menu was straight forward and fairly priced. Didn’t wait too long in between my dishes. It was also my first time having craw fish, and it was absolute delicious. They sell it by then lbs separate from the menu. I recommend, and will come again.

Always Always delicious!! A wonderful neighborhood seafood place .... that the locals love! You must stop there during crawfish season...and everyday in between! We enjoyed the gumbo, the Red Beans and Rice and eggplant strips! We've never been disappointed in any dish that we've ordered from there. The guys who work there, have been there for years! A good sign of a good family restaurant! They are all so fun and friendly! The service is also fast and on point! This Denver visitor has been there several times with local friends...and it's always the best!

What a great place!! Food was amazing from start to finish! Robert our waiter, never missed a beat!! We will be back often!!! Highly recommend the crawfish!!

The most amazing seafood both boiled and fried! The portions are very large and the taste is always consistent. The Galley Burgers are delicious with some homemade onion rings. This place does NOT disappoint. They have something for everyone from chicken Parmesan to shrimp and grits.

Great atmosphere and staff. Prices were way above average, and the $50 seafood platter had as much slightly less food than other places that charge only $25. Food was tasty, but gonna have to think twice about going back.

Food was excellent! They served us the largest oysters and the best boiled seafood I've had dining. They offer a huge selection of apps, sauté crab claws are a must have!! My only complaint is the cold draft from the window covering that was blown loose.

HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT! Been to the Galley before many years ago and the food and service were average. Just returned this past year and the food was good. Unfortunately, there is no one to greet you or seat you. Seat yourself. We sat down and waited to be served. Waited. Waited. Waited. Servers saw we were there. Another couple came in afterwards and were greeted. Drink order and food order taken. We still waited. Waited. Finally, we left. Probably will not return. Too many other better choices.

My first time back at the Galley in about ten years. It used to be one of my favorite places for seafood when I lived in the south shore and just don’t have the opportunity to visit as much as I would like. NOLA style boiled seafood is where they shine. Our crawfish and shrimp were fantastic. Crawfish pies for an appetizer and a hot sausage poboy as good as a hot sausage poboy gets.

<br/><br/><br/>Was in area for a few days. Found this place. One of the best places I have ever been to. As I'm not familiar with local food, the staff helped me order and helped me eat properly since I'm from the north. It was so good and fun we came back two days later. If your near Metairie you have to stop here. I'm really sad to see any bad reviews. These are all old reviews and not current. The place is great amazing and awesome. This is my first review of anything and they deserved the greatest rating I could give. Bring the whole family.<br/>

Do yourself a favor and order the boiled shrimp. Folks, I've never seen shrimp like this. It was like I was eating chicken strips (the size) They are slightly spicy, but not over powering. We split this between 3 people and could have just kept ordering the shrimp and been happy. Our other items were red fish, crab cake and I orders the chicken parm. The sauce on my chicken was a little thick, but the chicken was tender enough to cut with a fork. Excellent meal overall.

Great neighborhood spot for po boys and seafood. This place is old school and hasn't changed a bit after all these years which is part of the reason it's so popular. Love it!!

Food was great but had to keep asking for stuff like condiments and silverware. That should've been no brainers to included with the food. Overall good food.

By far the largest and most flavorful boiled crabs and boiled crawfish I have ever experienced! As a native New Orleanian have experienced 95% of New Orleans seafood markets and restaurants! You have to try this place!

Decent food but not worth the price. Almost eight dollars a pound for crawfish. That's crazy. The price of fine dining but it's not. That's Old Metairie for you though.

Love it. We have family in town from Colorado and for the third year in a row this is their choice of restaurants. They were born and raised here. They know great food when they have had it. We always have wonderful service. Tonight our server was Robert. Robert was very much on top of his game. All the food was hot, fresh and seasoned to perfection. Not one person in our group of 10 had to ask for a thing. I know this is a great place with great food! Bravo to all who once again made our experience so wonderful!! Great job Robert!!!

Owner and waitress need a vacation or eat lemons too often. Food is always wonderful and we make plans to eat here every time we visit the area. But service is continuing to disappoint us. The owner stands behind the cash register and never smiles or welcomes customers to her place of business. I even heard her make a rude comment to an older couple that could not hear her. The waitress was also rude. Maybe it is because the tip was included in the bill? We will not be back. Goodbye Galley Seafood. A hello, smile and thank you sure go a long way in the restaurant business. You clearly do not want us and we can find food just as good with someone that likes serving customers.

We moved from St. Charles Parish, where we ate at the Seafood Pot, to Old Metairie, and decided to try this place; however, we found it to be way overpriced for a neighborhood seafood restauraunt. The prices you pay to eat their are the same that you would pay for an upscale New Orleans restauraunt. We will continue to frequent the Seafood Pot where the boiled seafood is top notch and no comparison to this overpriced restauraunt.

Plenty of fish in the sea............ My first trip there I walked out before I ate because I was being FORCED to sit where I did not care to sit in a virtually empty restaurant. Second trip not much better as the waitress seemed to think she was doing us (my party of 3) a favor by waiting on us. The food may have been hot at some point but was served closer to room temperature. And the prices here are out of line. Several dollars more per item than most any other seafood restaurants you can name. It's due to the Old Metairie location. Their food is priced to coincide with their neighbors wealth.

Yes. THE BEST IN OLD METAIRIE. Even better than buck town. The best service I have had I give it five stars.

The Galley is the pearl of Louisiana. Family owned, the staff made my family and I feel like a part of their family. The food, especially the boiled seafood, is the best Nola has to offer. So impressed with the quality and quantity, service, and over all feel of the restaurant that we can not wait to return with more family and friends!

The galley is could be an excellent restaurant, however, it is executed very poorly by the owner. Tonight my family went to the galley and probably had the worst dining experience I have ever been a part of. The owner is not only rude, but she treats her regulars like crap. Tonight after asking to speak with her multiple times over an issue, she cs over and proceded to yell at us. Moreover, the food is really overpriced for the quality they serve. $120 for 3 pounds of crawfish, a crab, and one entree is waaaay too much money. With the quality in this city, you shouldn't be paying that much for average food.

Service Charge for Credti Cards. This is to let anyone know that if you pay with a credit card, you get charged a service fee, which they do disclose this on the door and the menu. My husband and I had gone, the waiter we had didn't put an option on the check about if we paid with cash. We figured it out with the tax rate multiply 1.0875 for the 8.75% tax rate. Got $1.60 more charged. So I asked the waiter. He didn't know if it was the service charge or not, so I asked him to ask someone. He decided to not put an option on my check for if we paid with cash. So you all better WATCH YOUR BILL because if you pay with cash, I am willing to bet the waiter would have not given me the correct change back because he didn't even know the amount I would have owed paying with cash. I had to tell him and he went to find out. It was $1.60 more as I said, which is a lot to pocket from everybody. The manager I find wasn't caring that I talked to about this and acted like that when I talked about the other parts of the service she said she was more concerned with the service, I was like "The check IS part of the service as to why we left him almost nothing because he was going to steal." She claims you'd get the money back, but HOW when we weren't given the amount owed if we chose to pay in cash? She said that most people pay with credit cards, but I sure wouldn't want to pay that service fee, so that's why we paid with cash in the first place. We always pay with a credit card normally, but I feel that it's wrong to make the customer pay the service fee when no other restaurants around here that I have been to so far does that. So instead we chose to pay with cash. Also, the waiter told us before we ordered the prices are wrong on the menu for the shrimp well that technically was being overcharged because what's in writing is supposed to be by law what they are supposed to charge you regardless of if they don't have the newer menus yet, but I let that slide since he told me ahead of time about it. The thing I didn't let slide was that he had no clue what I would have owed if I chose to pay with cash. I told him "How do you know how am I going to pay?" The check should have had 2 options one to pay with cash, one to pay with a credit card.<br/><br/>So all you cash paying customers out there, make sure you multiply 1.0875 x your bill amount on your cell phones to make sure you aren't cheated, stolen from. This was wrong and I think the manager didn't know what she was talking about that I'd get it back, because it's like HOW when my bill said I owed a $1.60 more than my bill amount? The waiter never conveyed to us that this was the amount for a credit card when giving the bill. I thought if we gave the credit card, that's when the waiter would say that it's going to be such-n-such more billed to your credit card or that they would have listed both options on our bill. Any waiter with common sense would have done this. I think this was all about taking money from the customer on purpose unless he is just that unintelligent.<br/><br/>As far as the manager goes, yes we all the time pay with credit cards, but $1.60 each time to pay a credit card fee I am not willing to do, that's not even the cash back I would get using my credit card(it's only 1%). <br/><br/>What bothered me the most was the manager's attitude that the check isn't part of the service as if him not writing both amounts(cash amount owed and credit card amount owed) on the check. I bet he would have pocketed the money. She said no, but I told her "How am I supposed to know that?" <br/><br/>The thing that bothered me the most about the waiter was that he didn't put what would be owed if a person chose to pay with cash to not want to pay that credit card fee. To me, that looks like he wants to overcharge on purpose in my eyes or he doesn't know the tax rate here. Either way, what he did was wrong and he knows it. Not everyone wants to pay their credit card fees. I won't be back. If I would have had better service like everything would have gone well and we would have had both amounts(cash and credit card amount owed), I would go back, but probably not as often because they want to make the customer pay their credit card fees. I think it would make it easier for everyone involved if they just increased the prices than do this if you ask me. While it may be making the customer that never pays with a credit card pay for it, it would reduce the hassle of having to calculate both options on the check. <br/><br/>I am not paying no $1.60. We tip normally 25%-30% and upwards for good service, but in my eyes, he was going to charge us the credit card amount, because he had no idea what we would have owed if we would have paid with cash, because our check total was based with the credit card fee. I feel he wouldn't have given us change on the original bill before the credit card fee. I think the manager may think they are supposed to, but the waiter sure didn't either seem to know which is REALLY RIDICULOUS or he was doing it intentionally to make more money and get a higher tip based on the higher check each time as well.<br/><br/>When I had questioned him he didn't know at first and said "It's probably the credit card fee", but then I said "How would you know how I would pay?" He couldn't answer that. To me, that looks suspicious in my eyes. I know most people pay with credit cards, but with this fee I would think a lot of people may not as often and some people do with cash normally. Any smart waiter would have had BOTH options so the customer could decide if they wanted to pay that fee or not. We aren't bad or cheap tippers, but for us it's the principle that we didn't want to pay a credit card fee for the restaurant when we did have cash on us, it didn't make sense to spend a $1.60 more. Personally, unless he was really that uneducated with how to do the job, he did it intentionally. He also didn't apologize for this entire situation. That was wrong period! The check is VERY MUCH a part of the service. You get that wrong on purpose, there's no way a tip should be given or much of a tip for stealing.<br/><br/>I hope that this place loses business from making customers pay their credit card fees. I hope that anyone that goes that this will help someone else down the road. I won't be going back, mostly because of the manager's attitude that the check isn't part of the service. That's wrong as if our money isn't just as important as theirs is. She sounded selfish and ridiculous to say that. Anyone with common sense knows that the check has to be right that it has to do with service. The check is always part of someone's service. I am not sure where she gets this from? The only places that it's not is like when you go to a buffet like at Golden Corral or something that you pay ahead of time before you get to your table, otherwise if you pay at your table, that's service period!<br/><br/>I hope this helps people in the future to calculate their bill and hope no one else gets overcharged on purpose. If you see this post and go there, get only one amount(the credit card amount owed) listed on the check without saying prior that you are paying with a credit card, then we know it was done intentionally. It's not that we are too cheap to pay the fee, it's just like why if we had cash on us why spend $1.60 more before tip even? I just don't feel I want to pay a credit card fee, that's just the way I feel.<br/><br/>I honestly think we would have been given change back as if we paid with a credit card. Watch and try it out, see for yourself. Maybe they will fix it since I said complained about it, I don't know. Maybe the manager didn't know he was not putting the cash amount owed on the bill, I don't know? This is just to be considerate to other people out there to not get overcharged like we were probably going to be and were in a way by giving us just the amount owed if we paid with a credit card. How would the customer have known how much change their were owed without an amount written on if they paid with cash and what if the customer paid with cash, then left, they would have been overcharged on purpose for sure then. That's wrong. I think this look suspicious if you ask me. I understand they go by most people, but some people pay with cash and they even have a review on here about a person that had an under $20 tab that paid with cash. So yeah, some people will be paying with cash. It just looks like he got caught if you ask me, but that's my opinion on it.

Ordered the crab cakes. Not good at all. Really mushy inside. Probably the worst I've ever had and really expensive at $27. Tiny salad from a bag; broccoli was tough. Highlight was the blue cheese salad dressing.

The Best Ever Seafood!. OMG! We were in town on a brief visit and I was dying for a good seafood platter. My husband's doctor suggested that we check out the Galley Seafood restaurant. Born and raised in New Orleans, but relocated to Georgia years ago....and from time to time I get a huge craving for some good seafood! Well let me tell you they didn't disappoint! I ordered the seafood platter with the soft shelled crab and my husband ordered grilled fish and a salad! Our seafood was soooo fresh! Felt like we were sitting on the dock of the bay! My husband was equally impressed with his dinner. The portions were huge. I ordered macaroni and cheese with mine and it tasted just like Big Mama was back there in the kitchen "throwing down!" The staff was so friendly.....especially the young lady that took our order. Our order was "to go" and normally when you get home you find something missing or wrong! Not here! They even gave me boiled shrimp with sausage, potatoes and corn.....to sample! I advised all of my friends to go check them out! I can't wait to get back there!

I normally am not the type of guy to leave a bad review, but this is well deserved. My wife and I just recently moved to N.O. From New Jersey. We decided to try some local seafood fare. I ordered the red beans and rice with fried catfish. No complaints here. My wife does not eat seafood , except for crab cakes. She ordered the crab cakes and Alfredo. The cakes and Alfredo tasted fishy like maybe there was some cross contamination going on. The inside of the crab cake was mushy and literally disgusting. She took two bites and I took one. We had told our waitress the problem and she got very defensive. She said that she has been serving them all night without complaints. She grudgingly agreed to take them off. We received or bill and were shocked by the total. We added everything up and could not figure out why there was a $9 difference. We bought it to the register and they went back and forth with me about the crab cakes. Even going as far as saying a gulf blue crab is completely different than a new England blue crab. I just shook my head and agreed to take the hit. We were also charged the $4 for the ridiculous salad that came with her meal. They got 1 star because my plate was pretty tasty. Spend your hard earned money elsewhere

Great food, but the staff always seem flustered and inconvenienced. Makes the customer uncomfortable and feel rushed to eat & get out.

Used to be decent though pricy. Would not recommend anymore. Tried to get a coke refill on 200.00 lunch tab and was informed no refills. I will not be back for over priced blah food or to be nickel and dimed.

Go below to the galley. I used to love the galley but it has really gone down hill. tired of waiters throwing food on the table and food is nothing more than marginal. get a new cook and a few waitresses and it may have a chance.<br/><br/>gave the galley one more shot for craw fish. the owner should be running a body shop not a restaurant ( so nasty ) and they still need a few waitresses vs guys slinging food. crawfish B-

Came to Galley on the recommendation of some locals. Amazing food!! Amazing service! Will come here again next time we visit NO.

More grease than Fonzie's hair!. Tell them not to use the fryer grease for the cleaner when they wipe the tables!

Really good seafood. Crawfish:great. Boiled Shrimp:great. Soft shell crab- delicious.

Blah. All I can say is, I was not pleased.

Always a must-do for me when I'm in New Orleans. Best boiled shrimp & soft shell crabs around. Love.

Terrible service. Visited this place on a sat evening. it was busy but we were seated right away. Over 40 minutes later we finally got a waitress to get us a menu. Yes (A) menu..only 1 for 2 people. She was very distant and distracted and hurried our order process. As a first time diner I had a couple of questions and was met with "just make up your mind" from the waitress. We ordered and during the near hour wait spoke with many people seated around us who were having the same problems. after getting and overpriced overcooked slab of triggerfish with lifeless broccoli and some stale bread that had marinara spilled on it and an overcooked plate of fried shrimp we choked down what we could and paid and left. I tried to approach a man at the door who appeared to be a manager and he blew me off immediately. i will never return.

Overpriced and rude!. I was a loyal customer for years. Then several things happened to turn me off permanently. One thing was a generally surly staff, like I was doing myself a favor by coming. Another was a generally rotten way they canned two waitresses that were mt "regulars" over the years without a reason, a thank you without any notice. Even after this I called in several to-go orders, and when I went in to pick them up, the owner was rude, abrupt, an unpleasant without reason three times in a row! I admit the food can be pretty good, but who needs a ration of grief as a side?

Expensive. But I love the coconut Shrimp<br/> So much

Disappointing and overpriced!. Great in it's heyday, but now just coasting on reputation. Boiled seafood prices are high, and anybody can boil shrimp at home. Fried food is over-fried. <br/><br/>Seated quickly despite appearing crowded. Boiled food prices so high we went to the specials menu. Stuffed artichoke a tiny 'choke with a few tablespoons of stuffing mashed onto (not into) it (~$9!). Softshell crab and pasta (~$26!!!) an overcooked crab and a cheezy mass. Daughter ate the leftovers as a 2AM meal (college), told me it was "bad." Wife had a crab & something salad, came with ~ no dressing. Asked for some, it never came. Guests similarly disappointed.<br/><br/>No bright spots. Dull, bland, overcooked, expensive.

Overpriced for rather underwhelming seafood. Disappointed -- fried calamari appetizer - paperthin and overly crispy; fried oysters - although the oyster s were large, they were over-fried. The fried seafood platter was tiny for the price and also - underwhelming compared to other better tasting and better priced fried seafood you can get in area restaurants. Extra cost for sauces, and no free refills on fountain drinks --- REALLY? This place is overpriced and overrated. The only redeeming quality was the service was good.

I had the shrimp dinner for lunch. The service was quick and friendly. The shrimp was cooked perfectly and I had the sweet potato fries which were cooked the way I like them--nice and crispy! ( without having to ask) and they held their shape even after they cooled down. Also neither item seemed greasy so the temperature when cooked must have been right on. All this and they were very busy as it was lunchtime. Needless to say I liked it very much.

Over priced!!

Love the Boiled Shrimp. When the shrimp are in season, this is the place to get them. I love the boiled shrimp... My wife likes the softshell crabs. The boiled shrimp are some of the best and my favorite. We love the servers over there.<br/><br/>M.C.

Galley Seafood; as good as it gets. The selection of seafood is obviously done very carefully, and it ranks with the best around. A little high on pricing, but worth it if you have the coin. A step down in price but not in quality is Charles Seafood in River Ridge. Both places mean a great dining experience New Orleans style.

Mixed feelings. The food is good, don't get me wrong. But it's a little more pricey than it should be and the people at the front aren't the friendliest.

I ate there yesterday and was not disappointed this was some of the best seafood I've had. The only complaint is there was not enough, every bite was cooked to perfection not one item was overcooked are under cooked, if you want great seafood visit Galley.

Huge Disappointment. Went to have dinner this past Saturday with a party of 8. We were directed to a separate room off the main dining room that was not being used so they set up some tables and turned on the AC/Heating window unit which warmed us about as good as a candle on the table. We never took our coats off. Our waiter "Andrew" appeared and took our drink and appetizer orders. After delivering them he took our dinner orders and the nightmare began. The po-boys and entrees arrived separately over a period of 15-20 minutes really ruining the chance of everyone dining together and two of the entrees and sides didn't arrive until everyone else had finished eating. Our waiter never returned to check our drinks or replenish anyones water, and we ended up dealing with the host who originally seated us. When I mentioned that 2 of our party hadn't been served he went in the back and came back 10 min. later with 1 of the orders and informed us the other order was on the way. When everyone had finally finished eating "Andrew" magically appeared with the bill. He even had the nerve to ask if everything was OK to which I replied it was not. When I looked at the bill I noticed that we never even received one of the sides on the bill and when I pointed this out to him he asked if we wanted him to box it up or take it off the bill. Then I proceeded to ask why an automatic 20% tip was added to the bill to which he replied any party of 5 or more is charged that. I then mentioned that the service was nowhere near a 20% tip to which he informed me that he just takes the orders, its not his fault how the kitchen handles them. The kid was a real jerk, then the manager came and said he took the $4 off of the bill for the missing side... Yippee... Anyway, while I had been there before and enjoyed myself after that experience, I'll never be back. There are way too many other good places in town to have to put up with that kind of incompetence and not even be offered any kind of apology... They just lost me and anyone else I can convince to dine elsewhere...

I find the food at Galley Seafood to be very good. I also really like the atmosphere of the restaurant. If you want good seafood you should try the Galley.

Through the Eyes of a 10 year Old. On one of my trips to New Orleans we brought our 10 year old son with us. Our client told us the freshest seafood for lunch in that area was The Galley over on Metairie Rd. We pull up and its packed! (Good Sign!) Well, we wait our turn at the door and the whole time we're waiting and looking around, platters of seafood are going to all the tables. By the time we sit down, we have pretty much drooled all over ourselves (Louisianians are used to this sight - Texans ain't!) We sat next to 2 cool old ladies that were tearing into the biggest pile of boiled blue crabs I have ever seen. It was beautiful. But the thing that always caught our attention were these Po Boys with fried legs hanging out of them. After a blank look and a giggle, our waitress informed us that these were Soft Shell Crab Po Boys. My son immediately said, "I want that!!" We all ordered one. I've never seen a boy light up the way he did when she sat that big ol' sandwich in front of him with all these legs sticking out of it. And he ate every bite like it was his last supper. (...as we all did.) We go here almost every time we come and are "Out-o-town Regulars". I think that pretty much sums it up.<br/>UPDATE: http://www.nomenu.com/bestdishes/Dishes51-100.html (See #81)

GARBAGE!. First off its robbing you for boiled seafood in a seafood town.(even if its metairie) what are people talking about when they say this is good seafood???? everyone i have ever been here with has agreed...i've been more than once bc i thought i just thought it had a bad day-nope. Its crowded, small and if my fish wasn't once frozen than iam scared to know where it was from??? don't go don't throw away $

Awesome awesome awesome food. I cannot stress it enough. My main dish was boiled crawfish, but my family had more. We ordered appetizers that were incredible and the main course of me and my family was to die for. The only negatives I have are it's size. The parking lot is hard to park in and it is a little crowed with the bathrooms hard to find. But if you are going mainly for food quality, there is no better restraint. It is typical New Orleans.