Zagat Survey:

2007 & 2008 Review

"If you want fresh seafood, go to the swamp" - or rather, to this "serene" restaurant that "sits on the Bayou des Familles", "surrounded by cypress trees", with an "antebellum plantation ambiance"; "nice people" serve "absolutely lovely" Cajun surf 'n' turf classics ("gumbo like my Cajun grandmother made"), and while it's worth it "if you can get seated at a table along the window" ("you may even see an alligator or heron").

2009 Review

"You may see an alligator swimming by" this "lovely" Crown Point Cajun providing "peaceful" "moonlit" views of the bayou and "fresh", "different" seafood ("I'm getting hungry just thinking about it"); the service is "prompt" and "accommodating" to groups, and while "it's a little out of the way", many feel "this is how" to savor the region's cuisine.

Fodor's Review:

No time for a trip to Cajun country? This restaurant, about a half-hour's drive from central New Orleans, is the next best thing (although you'd better ask for directions when reserving a table). Just a few yards from the vast windows are the slow-moving waters of Bayou des Familles, providing a primeval tableau. Dramatically illuminated at night, the huge Acadian-style raised cottage has a kitchen that produces familiar, and locally beloved, seafood in the Creole style -- shrimp rémoulade, crawfish étouffée, turtle soup, redfish meunière, and fried oysters and bacon en brochette. The oyster-and-artichoke soup is one of the best around.

Tom Fitzmorris Review:

Restaurant des Familles is named for its location, a brilliantly selected and utilized patch of ground on an ancient west bank of the Mississippi. At one time in the dim past, a major flow of the river went down what is now the sluggish Bayou des Familles, leaving the land on which the highway to Lafitte and Barataria was built. Large windows and a split-level floor allow a view of the placid bayou outside. Although it's a lagoon full of islets of algae, the visual is so typical of South Louisiana that you'll make a mental note to bring all your visiting friends here to soak it up. The building is handsomely designed inside and out. Although it's a completely casual restaurant, the comfort level is unusually high. For starters, the best item at the moment is Crabmeat Remick, an old classic from the menu at the Pontchartrain Hotel and not enough other places. The dish is made by baking lump crabmeat with a sauce made from mustard, chili sauce, and bacon. It's a great combination, and they do a fine job of it here. Also good is oysters Lafitte, a trio baked on the shells with a sauce of crabmeat and cream that also tasted a bit cheesy to me. They do a pretty good barbecue shrimp. The house variation on the standard is that the sauce is brown and a bit heavy. But the heads are still on, and these are good either as a starter or as an entree. You can get both chicken and seafood gumbos here. Noth are better than the turtle soup. Restaurant des Familles is so pretty you might hesitate to order a fried seafood platter. But that may be the best food this kitchen does. All of the fried items I tasted were greaseless, crisp, and light, with pleasant seasoning balances. The fried soft shell crabs are even better, particularly with the artichoke sauce that's available (ask for it on the side). It's when they get into saucy, complicated dishes that my interest level drops. The worst of the lot are the pastas; the best is the crawfish etouffee, but even that doesn't make my hot list. The simple redfish amandine and the stuffed broiled flounder were nice. I don't know why any restaurant would feel that doing a good job with that sort of thing isn't taking cuisine far enough. The desserts are well made but include too many super-rich choices. The wine list is appropriate in both price and selection for the food. Service is very friendly and reasonably prompt. Restaurant des Familles is a little out of the way, although the trip there from downtown only took me twenty minutes. It's certainly a nice change of scenery: what's outside the windows is positively primordial.