Razzoo's still good but raises their prices and lowers the bar a bit

I've always been a fan of Razzoo's.  Their Cajun Skillet has been a favorite of mine since I first tried it in Dallas over a decade ago.  I love the smoky flavor in their red beans, the spicy notes in their Andouille sausage, the perfectly cooked shrimp in the creole, the etoufee over dirty rice.  It's all good and I've never had that skillet when it wasn't good.  The things they do well hit the high notes but over the last year or so they've been slacking and that keeps me from enjoying them more often.  Sadness ensues.

We arrived around 12:15pm and were seated right away.  They weren't very busy but it took 15 minute before a waiter came around to take our drink order.  The other waiters were just walking past us like it was nothing.  They should be trained to act as a team and cover each other so things like this don't happen.  The guy that finally came to the table was nice and asked if we'd been here a while.  He didn't actually apologize for the wait but it was implied so we moved past it.  I ordered some fried crawfish for an appetizer and the Cajun Skillet.  Steph wasn't in the mood for her usual seafood combo platter so she decided to get the burger.  We'll get to that mushy mess shortly.  Things were looking up and the anticipation of tasty Cajun food was in the air.

It took a little while for the crawfish to arrive but when they did we dug in.  As with all of Razzoo's fried foods they were breaded nicely and seasoned according to the protein inside.  That's one of the things that stands out at Razzoo's, each food is well thought out.  The shrimp has a different batter than the crawfish and the catfish has a different batter than the gator tail.  But each works in it's own special way.  Not very long after the appetizer arrived our entrees were brought out.  They've never really timed things well at Razzoo's so we expect that.  It's more like eating a feast than a properly coursed meal anyway.  As the waiter said after he sat down the food, "Dig in ya'll."

My Cajun Skillet was everything I expected and cooked very well.  The shrimp weren't rubbery and it was all piping hot.  I dug in.  Steph's burger on the other hand was one big mess.  It's a big thick patty but they must make them from a mix of ground beef and water because it was just mushy.  And she ordered it medium rare, which they gladly said they would do, but given the quality of the meat it was more of a tepid brown ooze.  Forget a nice cool pink in the middle with a little blood and juice running out.  She orders her burgers plain so it made the whole thing rather one note.  Mush.  The bacon wasn't crispy either but that's probably more of a personal preference.

Overall my food was about what we expect from Razzoo's but I'll have to say that serving Steph that mushy burger for $9 bucks really didn't sit well.  The meat tastes better at good ol' Mickey D's.  So take my advice here and stick to the Razzoo's classic menu and you'll be happy as an order of fried clams.

Tomorrow is my birthday so I'll see you Monday.  Have a great one.