Dat Creole Soul

The food and vibe are amazing. Always can chat with the owner. The fish and shrimp are seasoned well and fried to perfection. The grits are delicious. I do miss the bechamel sauce that used to be served with it.

How frustrating when you call a place to find out if they're open and they tell you they don't do call ahead orders for pick up but they'll be doing food for 30-45 minutes so you drive 25 minutes from your location to try and order to go and when you arrive at 8:45 they tell you that they close at 9...I got here before 9 and drove 25 minutes but still did not get service. As someone who works in food service I find this unacceptable. Don't have hours of operation if you won't be honoring them and more importantly maybe have better customer service... So disappointing, and unfortunately I won't try again because guest service is everything in my book!

I came to try the beignets on this easy like Sunday morning kinda day. The beignets were good but the friendly service even better. Looking over the menu, I asked if they had chicken. And although it was not on the regular Sunday menu, my server brought over 2 nicely crisp chicken wings. Shhhhhhhh don't tell nobody. I did have to ask for silverware but no big deal. My order of fried mushrooms came and beignets shortly after. Fun little Des Moines spot that I plan to visit again

Dat Creole Soul now has a brick and mortar place down in Des Moines, Wa! The owners name is Hampton and he is also a flight attendant for Alaska airlines! He is one tall dude that has brought his Louisiana cooking to our town! We will definitely go back. Located just off Marine view Drive in the lower part of the brown building at 22341 Marine View Drive S, in Des Moines, waI had the shrimp etouffee and hubby had the seafood platter. Hubby is not a lover of catfish but the waitress brought him a little piece to try and he ended up liking it and ordering the meal.

Wow! I lived in New Orleans for 2.5 yrs and have never found a place outside of NOLA that serves Andygator! The alligator bites were A+!!! When in Des Moines I would go back for the Alligator Bites and Andygator! Boom! A must for NOLA flavor!

LOVE LOVE LOVE dat Crawfish Etouffee! Check out the beautiful bar. Comfortable seating. Love the decor. Simply a amazing experience!

I was excited to see their food truck at our neighborhood, we ordered catfish basket, shrimp po'boy and gator bites. Excitement turned to a big disappointment! The food was cold, not even a little warm, but I was ok with it and threw the waffle fries, catfish and gator bites in my air fryer and I go enjoy the po'boy. The po'boy was huge and shrimp was flavorful, however the bread was hard and stale. The food in my air fryer is now ready and I take it out to the fam. My husband was excited for the catfish, he takes a bit and spits it out and said it tasted mushy he breaks it in half and found it was completely uncooked. I checked the piece on my toddler's plate and it was also uncooked. 2 stars for the flavorful shrimp bo'boy, stale bread.Gator bites, bland tough nuggets.Catfish basket, uncooked

Arrived about 7:30PM on a Friday night based on a segment from King 5 evening. The place was full but we got a table because 2 people were just leaving. There was a big group on a huge couch around a large coffee table and a few other groups around high top tables. It definitely had a living room like vibe. As is the case everywhere else, they are looking for staff and the service was friendly but slow. It took a while to place our order but the food came fast but it took a long while to get our check and pay the bill. I had the swamp platter with jalapeño hush puppies. My wife had the same without the fried gator (shrimp, oysters and catfish). Everything was very good but I could have saved $7 and left off the gator. I had not had fried gator before and it tasted just like any other fried fish but it was a bit tough and chewy, like a large piece of calamari or octopus. The shrimp were large and the fried catfish was spicy and perfect. The soul sauce was very good. Other tables had ordered the red beans and rice and that looked delicious. They have an extensive bar but no draft beer. The price of bottled beer and Bogle Chardonnay was reasonable at $7. They served the platters on large plastic plates covered with checkered black and white paper and plastic utensils. The restaurant is small so it can get crowded at times and the table we had was really like a narrow shelf along the front wall, not the most comfortable location. The fried food was very good but not better than another seafood restaurant a few blocks down the street that we have visited many times. We look forward to coming back to try some of the other items that are unique to this restaurant but we think that the competition serves up shrimp, fried fish and oysters that are just as good.

The catfish is the best. Usually prefer shrimp but will always go for catfish here. Crawfish mac & cheese on Thursdays only. Po'boys on Friday only. Both are highly recommended as is the banana pudding, all delicious.! Definitely has a New Orleans vibe and ambiance, if you've ever been you'll agree. Outside seating limited but available. Not quite a dive bar, but not high end either. $5 we'll drinks. 21+ only. Relaxed atmosphere. Staffing is usually 2 people only. Bartender who waits tables/serves and a cook (the owner). Ordering online is a great option!Owner is known to provide meals to the homeless with his food truck. Overall, great food and organization!

A Tiny Creole-style restaurant with a small bar and a limited menu.I was curious about this place. It's in a tiny parking lot on a side street in Des Moines. It's a small storefront and a little challenging to find. During the pandemic, my wife and I stumbled across it, but it was closed. We did get to chat with the chef-owner. He explained he could not afford to keep the doors open full-time due to the lack of clientele during the difficult mask-up period. He indicated that he would start limited hours soon. So, fast forward to today. The restaurant IS open at certain times, and I advise you to double-check the hours as they seem to change.So, anxious to try authentic creole food, I dropped in one afternoon and sat at the small but nice-looking wooden bar. The bartender lady was friendly and got me a bottled beer (no draft here). I scanned the short menu and asked for a recommendation. She recommended the Jambalaya. I found the Jambalaya extremely disappointing. As you can see from my photo, I was served a gigantic mound of Jambalaya rice. It was sticky, tasty, spicy, and filling, but "Where's the beef?". I felt like I was on a treasure hunt, searching for the protein in this giant mound of rice. I found a single slice of sausage and a few chicken pieces throughout. This may be how some families in Louisiana stretch their grocery supplies, but this is NOT what a customer expects at a restaurant. If this was the recommendation, then I am terrified of what the gumbo or some of the other dishes are like.To make matters worse, the bathroom had no light! I turned the switch on and off a few times, and the light would flicker a little, but I could not see a thing. I had to take out my phone to see where to do my business! After I washed my hands, I discovered the paper towel dispenser empty. When I returned to the bar, I found the Chef-owner leaning on the bar, chatting with the bartender and the only other customer there. Of course, I let him know about the state of his bathroom. "The light flickers?" he said., "Um yeah," I responded. He shrugged like this was an acceptable state of affairs. No apology, no action or promise to correct the issues. Just a matter-of-fact demeanor. Like it was MY problem!I can maybe understand an employee acting this way, but the owner? Is he serious about running a restaurant? Perhaps this is a hobby or a tax shelter; who knows? I will never return. I am a Yelp Elite Squad reviewer, and it pains me to have to award anything less than four stars for a struggling neighborhood business, but if the owner doesn't care, why should I?And now the results:Starting from 5, I detract one-half star from edible but disappointing food. One star for an unkept bathroom with no light. One star for a poor attitude. Another half-star for odd hard-to-keep-track of hours. Then adding my overall experience, I'm going to award a generous two stars.I sincerely doubt, and, judging by the owner's attitude, that he even cares; however, I will say this to him. If you are serious about running a restaurant and competing with the likes of Wally's or Anthony's in Des Moines, then I would seriously give your attitude a check, as well as the attention you pay to your bathroom and the content of the meat in your food. Good luck.BTW, if you enjoyed my review or found it useful, funny, or cool, please don't hesitate to click the little button to say so, or better yet, go ahead and friend me. So go on! Press that button, and never miss one of my epic reviews in the Seattle area and beyond. Excelsior!