Restaurant Review: the Gumbo Shop in Rock Hill, Missouri

On a recent trip to St. Louis I had the opportunity to have lunch at The Gumbo Shop in Rock Hill, MO. The Gumbo Shop is a place to go for Creole and Cajun food. There are several reasons why eating at The Gumbo Shop was a pleasurable experience.

It seems that finding a good place to go for Cajun food can be quite difficult at times. Sure, you can find a great burger or steak restaurant, but finding good Cajun food can be another story. That's why when a friend suggested the Gumbo Shop I didn't get too excited. So, on a recent trip over to the St. Louis area, I decided to make a stop in for lunch.

The Gumbo Shop is located in a strip mall which seemed rather odd to me. How good could it really be if they are in a strip mall? Well, I was about to find out. When I walked in the door I was pleasantly surprised at good everything smelled. When you love Cajun food you know something good when you smell it! I was immediately greeted and seated by a very nice hostess who showed me to my table and handed me a menu.

Since I had not eaten here before I asked my waitress for some ideas. She mentioned some of the best menu items are the jumbalaya, blackened catfish and fried oysters. Well, I love blackened catfish so that is what I ordered. Along with that I also chose some red beans and rice, corn bread and to top it all off, bread pudding.

The atmosphere at the Gumbo Shop is nothing like you would expect when you drive up. I found out during my lunch that most of the recipes are family recipes of the restaurant's owners. Apparently they used to live in the bayou country down south and brought the recipes with them.

My order arrived in about 15 minutes and I was shocked at everything that was packed onto my plate. One taste of the blackened catfish and I wanted to seriously thank my friend for telling me about this place. It was the best I have ever tasted. Naturally, the red beans and rice had a wonderful flavor to them as well. After all of this food I did manage to leave just enough room for the bread pudding. If you are a bread pudding lover, you have to try this at the Gumbo Shop.

Pros

Nice atmosphere
Great food

Cons

Hard to find in a strip mall