My spouse and I dined at The Bayou for lunch on a Sunday
afternoon in mid-January 2016. (We have dined at The Bayou several times
previously in the years since it opened in March of 2014.) The Bayou is open
daily for lunch and dinner. The restaurant accepts reservations by telephone or
via the Open Table reservation system. Parking is available in their own large
parking lot just across the street from the restaurant. The proprietors of this restaurant, nicknamed the
“Bayou Boys” also own Grain in Downtown Allentown, as well as a carry-out bottle
shop called Cork and Cage that is located adjacent to Grain.
The Bayou is located off Broad Street near (but not in)
Downtown Bethlehem, in a location that previously housed the Hawthorne House
for years (until 2009 when it experienced a suspicious fire). The building has
been completely renovated, with dining in the old front porch area at low
tables, near the bar at high-top tables, and in the main dining area at low
tables (which are placed a bit too closely for our preference. The U-shaped bar
can probably seat at least 20 people, and provides a nice view of the action. The
restaurant features lots of wood (floors, tables, painted wainscoting) along
with brick walls (above the wainscoting), with some Cajun/Creole wall décor (e.g.,
fleur de lis, Spanish moss). In the main dining area, a large TV is covered by small
sliding wooden barn-type doors when not in use. An outdoor (enclosed) courtyard
provides al fresco dining in the warmer months, and the restaurant also
features a few tables on the sidewalk across from the parking lot for
additional outdoor dining.
The Bayou serves upscale Southern comfort food. On our most
recent visit, we shared the cornbread to start (baked in a buttery skilled and
then served warm with a tomato butter) and the pork belly as appetizers. (The
pork belly included three very generous chunks of meat served atop of vinegary
jicama/carrot slaw.) For “entrees”, we ordered from the sandwich menu, and
chose one burger (topped with bacon, pulled pork, and cole slaw), and one fried
chicken sandwich (thigh meat and pickles between a brioche roll). The
sandwiches/burgers come with a side of French fries, which are delicious (and this
is said by two diners who are not generally “fry” people); however, we
substituted one order of fries for a side of red beans and rice (very tasty). The
chicken sandwich was most delicious, as we had hoped it would be because we
have previously enjoyed the fried chicken entrée here. For dessert, we shared
the banana-golden raisin bread pudding, which was not sweet enough for our
taste, although it was topped with a tiny scoop of coconut ice cream
(delicious) and surrounded by a banana puree and crumbs. On past visits, we
have sampled nearly the entire menu: the flash-fried black-eyed peas, hush
puppies, curried cauliflower, mashed sweet potatoes, charred shrimp, macaroni
and cheese, smoked pork ribs, johnny cakes, braised oxtail, the fried chicken, and
po boys. Their peanut butter dessert is really fantastic – peanut butter mousse
layered with dark chocolate “soil” (cookie crumbs), housemade whipped cream,
and peanut brittle, and served in a glass ball jar accompanied by long spoons
to reach all the goodness; the beignets are also yummy, served with a crème anglaise.
We think that the food is quite tasty, although it is a bit monochromatic in color
when placed on the plate.
Service was very good on our last visit. The only issue that
we encountered was when we tried to pay our bill using a Visa gift card that we
received for Christmas. Although the restaurant accepted our card, they could
only charge a portion of our bill; the waitress told us that we did not have
the $50 on the card as it stated; instead, she told us that we only had $41.67
(which we knew wasn’t true because we had just received the $50 card). After
calling the Visa card company, they told us that the restaurant allowed for an
18% tip on the card, even though we paid the balance (and the full tip) with
another method of payment. No real harm done, except that were left with a Visa
card for only a $8.33 balance.
We will definitely return to The Bayou! In addition to
liking their food, we love their operating hours – open continuously from lunch
through dinner until late night.
November 2019:
