Knotty Pine On The Bayou

My co-workers highly recommended Knotty Pine so I decided to check it out on a Tuesday for their fish specials. The scene is quaint and gives a rustic New Orleans feel. My servers were warm and welcoming. I opted for the fried catfish with rice and gravy and collard greens. The greens were delicious! The catfish was perfectly cooked, flaky and piping hot, however missing the kick of cajun seasoning I yearned for. In all, I found my meal satisfying and of good value. While there were a couple of services misses, the waitresses made up for it by providing me with a sample of the gator bites. All I can say is, “WHOA!”. They were absolutely DELICIOUS and seriously the highlight of my night. The cajun sauce served with them is the flavor I expect from Cajun food. That said, ask for the cajun sauce! On your fish, your rice and anything that warrants sauce. lol Dine local.

All I have to say is wow. My wife and I ate here for an early valentine's dinner. We had a variety of the food they offer . But I must say the steak was one of the best I've ever had . The crab cakes are phenomenal. Their Knotty fries are amazing as well as their stuffed jalapeños. The atmosphere is is rustic and unique. The decor is awesome . Service is great as well and the drinks are strong and tasty. Can't recommend this place enough. Definitely going to go back when its warm and eat on their deck .

I ate there a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it very much. I had the sautéed shrimp on pasta with a side of red beans and rice. I loved the shrimp but I have to say that is the best red beans and rice this side oh New Orleans. Go if you get a chance!

I am in the Cincinnati area for business and this restaurant caught my eye. I've not seen very many Cajun restaurants in the Midwest so I thought I should give it a try. I was welcomed with smiles and friendly attitudes. I sat at the bar and was greeted by Courtney. Courtney was fantastic, she gave recommendations and was amazing. The food was really good. I will definitely come back if I am in the area.

This was our first time stopping in. We took our waiters suggestion and had the sampler and the sea bass special, with scallops as appetizers. We could not have been more happy with our food and service. Everything tasted perfect. Do not be in a hurry, it takes time to actually cook food, and do not leave without getting a slice of opera cake. OMG! It was so sweet and creamy without being overly rich. The Top was cool while the bottom was warm and had a drizzle of raspberry sauce over it. Perfection!

Went here for my first time and thoroughly enjoyed it. The frog legs were delicious. My main course consisted of the gumbo and etouffee. Both were amazing but the gumbo knocked it out of the park. Hope to get back and get more gumbo.

A hole in the wall or as others like to call it a hidden gem 💎! This place is amazing, I ordered the scallops (which were not on their menu but a daily special) and it did not disappoint. I also had a chance to try their spicy shrimp pasta and oh my god the shrimp tasted like buffalo sauce combined with lemons 🍋 it was absolutely delicious, they warned you it might be very spicy but I didn’t think so. Everything else was also amazing, the potatoes A MUST, their salads, the bread 🤤 I will definitely be coming back!

Coming here is always a treat! From a southern boy who knows his Cajun food a place like this is a rare find this far North. We had the alligator appetizer. Our entrees were etouffee and the Cajun sampler.

Karissa took total care of us. But the whole team was so great. We felt like regulars here which was awesome. The food was delicious as well. The portions are yooge so come hungry! We love it all. The crab cakes were nicely prepared and full of flavor. The potatoes and okra were really great sides too. The shrimp and pasta were flavorful and the shrimp were cooked perfectly. I plan on trying the gumbo next trip. My wife had it and it was fabulous. We enjoyed our time here and so will you. Plan on stopping in. They'll take great care of you and you won't leave hungry!

Let me start with - I have wanted to visit Knotty Pine on the Bayou for a long time. It has been on my list for over two years. So I went in with high expectations - me being someone who loves Cajun food. The pros: The help was very good. Our waitress was kind and she knew the menu well. The ambiance was good - we got there right when they opened for dinner at 5pm, so there was no wait, and we got our food quickly. The okays: The food. I LOVE etouffee - but I was disappointed. It was kind of one-note and just okay. The fried alligator bites were also okay, as were the jumbo shrimp (they come with the heads on). My friend had the special scallops over pasta, and he said they were the best scallops he had in his life - so maybe I just misordered. No real negatives. I just was really excited to be blown away by Cajun food, and it was just okay.

Fun Cajun restaurant. A little off the beaten path. The ambiance was great and it was decorated for Spooky Season. Portions were huge and my husband and I had plenty to take home. The staff was friendly and answered all the questions we had. Will return as Cajun is a family favorite.

We had absolutely amazing service for my son's birthday. He wanted a nice dinner and they put a candle in his steak which was awesome. The food was absolutely delicious there and next day as leftovers. I did not expect a place straight out of Louisiana right here in Kentucky!

Food was okay. Wouldn't recommend if you have children. Service was a little rough in terms of attitude.

This place was amazing. The food was excellent, the service was great, and the ambience was down home. If you like the Louisiana style food and feel this place can't be missed. We will be back !

Knotty pine is such a fun way to get food we normally can't find in our area. Between the alligator, crayfish and gumbo you really can't go wrong. The staff is always super nice, they take great care of their guest! And when you walk in you are transported to Louisiana. The art on the walls and all the decor is just great. Perfect date night spot if you're looking to try some different things and good for the family too!

This was very good! We had the oyster bienville and it was ok and pretty small for the price. Everything else was fantastic. Creole sauce had a bite with the scallops. Gumbo was great. Fried sea bass was exceptional. I loved the grits and collard greens. We shared the opera cake and it was fine. It was a moist piece of cake with an intersting texture of very sweet frosting.

We enjoy going here. Food is great! Service is good. We have only gone with a reservation. Only downside is the tables are tight together and we seem to sit at the table that the traffic needs to squeeze through.

Amazing service, great food we will recommend this place! And are primed to return and try more! The homestyle food is refreshing and has the down home feeling that is sometimes lacking in some other places'

We had a great meal at Knotty Pine on the Bayou. The portions are huge, the service was good, and everything was served hot. The sidewinder fries with Cajun gumbo as an appetizer is literally enough to feed 4 to 6 people, it comes out on a platter. The restaurant does get very loud on the weekends if that is something that you do not care for. We will definitely return!

Prices are equivalent to high end fine dining. You feel like you are in a rundown cabin. We felt like we were on the porch of a cabin. Plastic glasses, plastic tablecloth, tiny slivers of a baguette bread and butter in a peel and serve like Waffle House. Prices like high end fine dining. Waitress was really sweet but absolutely no ambiance whatsoever.

The food and the service are impeccable!! Nothing can replace their crawfish and Karmas Opera Crème Cake!!

A+. Food was excellent!!! Service was excellent. I highly recommend the Knotty Pine. Ambiance is great and fun.

The food was just ok. The best thing was the key lime and opera creme cake desserts. The service was good, very tentative with making sure we had everything and removed plates.

Food excellent.. little pricey.. but it's flown in from Louisiana.. t-shirt and shorts kinda place.. had a good time..

We haven't been there for a while due to a couple bad experiences with overcooked fish. The service is always friendly. Maybe we'll try it again, our friends want to try the southern style food. We had ordered frog legs just for fun and the crawfish. A little pricey to get rubbery fish though

Lots to choose from in menu items. Great gumbo and oysters. Good service and friendly staff.

I enjoy seeking out non- chain restaurants with comfortable environments and great food. Knotty Pine on the Bayou did not disappoint me. It was my first experience with frog legs and they were good. Everyone's meals were good. I had the Bayou Sampler and it was very good. Knotty Pine on the Bayou is over an hour from my house, otherwise it would become a regular 'Go to' location for me. It did lose 1-Star because they were out of a couple of the beers we ordered.

Nice place to eat with family and friends. I had the catfish and it was delicious. Our waitress did an outstanding job and if you in the area definitely stop by.

Best seafood in town, I usually get the blackened halibut. With a side of delicious gumbo. And salad with their homemade mustard onion dressing, They have great mixed drinks as well. My hubby always gets the Cajun sampler, it has chicken, steak, and shrimp and it is excellent. You need to try this spot it is a keeper. Best gumbo, I've tried Papa's and it doesn't hold a candle to this. Try it!!!

I've been wanting to come here for sometime based on the great reviews on Chowdown Cincinnati Facebook Group. No better time then this past Saturday. It's about a 45 minute drive for me but 100% worth it and totally met my expectations. It's a great place but from the outside doesn't look so great and parking is tricky but they do have a parking lot directly next to them. I started with a cup of crawfish ettoufe as an appetizer. Then I had the blacked scallops with a side of pasta with creole sauce and a salad. The service was awesome and the food top notch. It's so awesome to bring a little bit of NOLA Cajun Creole to the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area. Definitely give them a try. It's worth whatever drive you have to make.

I made a reservation for Knotty Pine on the Bayou one month in advance at the request of my son, to celebrate the hard-earned accomplishment of his Master's Degree. He had eaten there several times before, and enjoyed it enough to recommend going there for his special day. I even called back to confirm the reservation and the reason for the importance of our celebration. After the graduation, our party of 10 proceeded to the restaurant. When we got there, they said they did not have our reservation, despite me showing them the record log on my phone. Instead of trying to help us find a solution, the manager on duty did nothing to even try to help. He was content with ruining our dinner plans for such a special day. We wound up leaving and having dinner at another restaurant that was never in the plan. Several days later, I called the manager back to further express my disappointment in everything that went down, and he was unapologetic, and said that there was nothing he could do about it. He said he could take my number and have the owner call me. Six weeks later, and unsurprisingly, I never received a call. The level of customer care is obvious. I'll take my business and my money elsewhere.

Service was very friendly. The food fell short is was SALTY I don't mean an extra shake of the salt shaker I mean an extra blood pressure pill salty.

I love their food, and the service is up to par. It's a special place- a hidden gem- really.

Never disappoints!!! It was our 18th wedding anniversary, went here on our 1st date:) service , food, atmosphere all great. We love coming back time and time again. Highly recommend.

Great food and service. My favorite is the bbq shrimp. Lots of spice and flavor. Comfortable setting as well.

So I probably should have gotten them fried. (Frog legs) Everything else great. Husband got the fillet and lobster tail / surf n turf $59 was the market rate aug 2023. Service and atmosphere perfect. I'd be willing to go back and try something different.

Food and ambiance were great. Chilean Sea Bass must have! Service was great, knowledgeable and hospitable.

It was pretty good Cajun food! Everything had good spice & the service was quick. It was for sure a unique place! Definitely worth a try!

Went to Knotty Pine on the Bayou yesterday. There were four of us and we had a reservation for 5 p.m. we got there at 5 p.m. and were greeted when we came in the door. They seated us past the bar to the end of the restaurant. The restaurant has a very rustic old feel. Our waiter came to the table to take our drink order. Two of us ordered a hurricane, one of us ordered a Long Island iced tea, and the last person ordered a beer. He left to get our drinks and when he returned with them, he took our appetizer order and told us what the specials of the day were. We ordered our appetizers. I ordered the cajun shrimp boil. The waiter stop to tell me that the shrimp came head on to make sure I didn't have an issue with it. I did not. The other appetizers ordered at the table were deep fried frog legs and two orders of crab cakes. My cajun shrimp boil was served with a special sauce on the side which seemed to be mayo and hot sauce. When the waiter brought our appetizers he also took our order for dinner. I ended up ordering the special of the day, which was a Chilean sea bass. The waiter said you could have it one of three ways, grilled, blackened, And lightly breaded on each side and pan fried. I asked which way that he thought was the best and he told me the pan-fried option so that is what I ordered. In addition to that I also ordered the lobster bisque in a cup. Two people at the table ordered the Cajun sampler and the last person at the table ordered a variety of bowls such as etouffee and gumbo. At the end of the dinner I also ordered dessert which was the opera cream cake and a cup of coffee with cream. There are a few things I will say about this restaurant and one is it is very noisy oh, it must be all of the wood on the floor and all the walls and the bars in the middle so I definitely would not call this romantic. Although it is very dark in there. The friends that we went with go there fairly often and really like the place. I really did like everything that they served. I would not call the lobster bisque a "bisque" as it was way too chunky with seafood to be a bisque. But given that it wasn't that way I still liked it very much. The Chilean sea bass was excellent I would order that again as it was perfectly cooked. I also felt that I had a salad along with the Chilean sea bass and greens. The collard greens were okay nothing spectacular. The salad was good but the standout was their onion and mustard dressing that was house-made. Everyone else seemed to enjoy the meal that they got. The last thing that I got was the opera cream cake and it was a chocolate cake with a white icing and a raspberry coulis over all of it. It was a super moist chocolate cake with icing and a very raspberry topping. I liked this as well. It is a little bit pricey to go here but given the fact that thwy cooked everything well we will probably go back!

This is real food. I had the blackened ribeye and the standard is set at Knotty Pine On The Bayou. It's cooked on cast iron and they do a remarkable job on it. Red skinned potatoes are great, bread is killer and I love how they do the bleu cheese dressing. Service is great too. You can't go wrong. I've gone three times in the last four days and when I come back here I will always return. I had the shrimp blackened and they were also fantastic.

Everything about Knotty Pine is amazing. The food is fantastic, eight of us got different things and it was all so delicious. The decor and ambiance is great and the service is even better. The view of the Licking River from the back balcony is beautiful. It feels and looks and tastes like a little mom and pop shop you'd find off of some back road in New Orleans.

We have been to this restaurant several times and have never had a bad meal. The service is unbelievable. Servers are always looking to clear dishes, refill drinks, etc. The waiters/waitresses are awesome, but there are additional servers who help clear dishes. My husband's favorite dishes are the gumbo and Sea Bass. My favorite is lobster bisque and Grilled Shrimp.

If you love everything Cajun this is for you. Just not Cajun in potatoes, green beans... too much! A bit over priced in my opinion!

Totally disappointed. Was so looking forward to a good meal after a long hard work week, but unfortunately the dinner came up short. Totally bummed as I really like this little place. Just haven't been in a while. Sat down at 6:30 and ordered two bourbon drinks. Great pours! Ordered Fried oysters for our apps to have with our drinks. Drink one done and no Oysters. 15 minutes later we were told they have no more oysters. Hmmmm. Stinks, as the oysters were the main reason we came. We went ahead and ordered our entrees. Fried Catch filets - note the word filets, and streamed shrimp . Food came pretty quickly, however, I only received one piece of catfish.? Note the word "Filets" - plural. And for $21.00. My One piece of catfish and the steamed shrimp were really good as were the greens. Total bill with tip close to $100.00 for 1-piece catfish Dinner, shrimp dinner and 3 bourbon drinks. Overall Disappointed. Perhaps it was just an off night.

Food was great we had the alligator creole as our starter. And for the main course she had crab cakes and I went with pan seared sea bass. Stellar food. Service was ass but that's because the place is packed wall to wall and it's so loud in there with everyone talking I felt like I was actively losing my hearing. Gave the Cajun/Louisiana feel with the decor and building.

Enjoyed a great evening at Knotty Pine! While I haven't taken the time to leave them a review before now, we enjoy an occasional visit to this place. We started off with fried frog legs and a small bowl of lobster bisque and loved them both so much that we ordered seconds with our main entrees! The frog legs were fall off the bone and tasty and the lobster bisque was very delicious and creamy! Had the frog legs main entree, Etouffee and crab cakes for our main dishes. Etouffee was spicy but delicious and had generous portions of meat. Both the lobster bisque and Etouffee were over small portions of rice but had generous portions of meat and stew/soup. Had the opera cream cake for dessert and it was delicious! The cocktails were fantastic and tasty as well! Our waitress and her assistant were top notch...very friendly and attentive to our needs. The atmosphere was laid back and quieter than other visitors. It was a tad chilly in the dining room and the parking lot needs a little improvement. Would highly recommend this establishment if you're looking for great Cajun food!

Alligator and collard greens were amazing! Very tender and chewy. Glad to enjoy this for the first time in my life. Service here was excellent! They really make sure to take care of you. They're a little off the beaten path but you are going to get some real good treatment here. Nice boisterous indoor atmosphere. I would definitely give this place a try for some good Cajun food!

Always a Great time.... One of our favorite restaurants!!! The food is amazing, and the service is excellent... and they always treat you like family!!! One of the few restaurants I can blindly order the special... I Know it will be Epic!!!

I swear I got food poisoning there! The place is not what ppl make it out to be. The server was good

My brilliant husband had the idea to get Cajun food at Knotty Pine on the Bayou . Everything was delicious. We split a bunch of stuff because we couldn't decide! Sauteed shrimp, oysters bienville, gumbo, collard greens, and salads with bleu cheese. My husband had an Abita Wrought Iron IPA and I had a Sazerac, which was so very good. If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend! Not to be left out, the service was attentive, friendly, and helpful! *Photo of the Sazerac has an empty glass because it was sooooo good!

Great little chunka mood,food, and space! Hope to go again. It's very noisy and very small and can get steamy in that rustic shanty of delicious bayou cuisine!

This was the best food I have had in a very long time. The service was excellent. We didn't know we had to have reservations but they seated us at the bar and the bartender was great. I will definitely be back and bring others with me. Absolutely good food!

Not good food. Service ok. Prices are exorbitant. They were out of halibut, so I ate the Seabass, which was OK, but they priced it the same as halibut. The atmosphere is like being in a bar I had to ask for a wooden chair instead of the wicker will not go again.

Wow! We pulled into the area late and did a quick search for dinner. Luckily they weren't too busy on a Tuesday night so we were able to grab a seat at the bar. Staff was very friendly, food was amazing. . . transported me back to New Orleans.! Portion sizes made sure we would have leftovers. Decor also matched and made me think of my last trip. A must stop!

Food was excellent! I had frog legs this time but whatever I've ordered it's been delicious. The reason I'm giving 4 stars this time is because of the bus help. I had to hold on to my salad plate do she didn't remove it. My dinner plate was snatched from me while I had my fork on the last bite. She never made eye contact or said something along the lines of can I get this out of your way...It was not late, there were open tables and the 4 of us had only been there 45 minutes. She obviously was being forced to work and didn't want to be there. Please just chill dining is supposed to be a relaxing experience.

My husband ordered the mixed platter. With the exception of the beans and rice, it was terrible. I ordered halibut and it was great. I'm not sure what the hype is about the opera cream cake. It's just ok. Service was very attentive. Atmosphere is fun, casual. We probably won't be back.

only stopped because it was close to our hotel room being from out of town. Went on a tuesday and had fresh crawfish. They were good but being from the midwest probably not our thing but hlad we got to try them. We both had filets blackened with red potatoes and green beans. It was one of the best steaks I have ever had . Everyone was very nice in helping us learn how to eat crawfish and give us great service. Sure wish it was closer to Des Moines because it would quickly become one of my favorite restaurants!