Steamboat Bills on the Lake - Lake Charles (LA)

4 /5 CritDicks: A nice change from the land animal meals to this point in the trip. I think everything was/is fried, but to a satisfactory quality. Fried perfectly. This place was explained by the hotel staff as, “every customer seemed satisfied”. Neat décor and very friendly staff ensuring our time there was quality. I think I should’ve tried some other culinary adventures, but I think I would’ve been eating them entirely by myself. No leftovers this evening. Dicks

5 /5 Lauren McGill: We stopped by Steamboat Bills on our way through the Lake Charles area! This was the perfect stop! Everything we ordered was fantastic! I had the Shrimp Etouffe. I have never had it so wasnt sure how I would like it. They offered me a sample ahead of time and it was fantastic so I had to order it!! We also had fried gator and chicken gumbo! It was all wonderful, we will definitely return here if we are in the area again!

5 /5 Otis Stanley: First time at this popular eatry. A bit confusing about the ordering procedure but we figured it out. The crowd was an clue that the food was good. We enjoyed fresh seafood and Cajun treats. My farewell meal before leaving the state did not disappoint.

3 /5 Ashley: We stopped at this location off the freeway due to its high number of reviews. Parking is somewhat limited given the heavy traffic flow, though they had someone outside helping direct cars. Unfortunately, our first experience was disappointing. We were told to go to a specific register and waited several minutes while staff behind the counter appeared to be unoccupied and did not assist us. When I mentioned it to the employee who had directed us, he eventually came over to take our order. Once seated, no one greeted us at our table. We had to request cocktail sauce and tartar sauce ourselves, despite ordering fried shrimp. Tips are entered at the counter before sitting, which was a bit confusing, and we were not checked on again until we were gathering our belongings. Only bottled water is served, and we had to get a second bottle ourselves. Overall, the service felt inattentive, and I would not recommend this location if service is important to you. The food itself was decent. The cocktail sauce had an interesting flavor and their own seasoning. The boudin balls and fried shrimp had a nice crisp, and the crawfish étouffée was creamy and buttery, reminiscent of authentic New Orleans flavors. Dessert is limited to Cheesecake Factory options, which felt like a missed opportunity for a more local or homemade touch. If you’re looking for okay food and don’t mind minimal attention from staff, this location could work. But for a full experience with attentive service, I would look elsewhere.

4 /5 Jason Pierrotti: I visited in December 2025. I had the jumbo fried shrimp, and my partner had gumbo and a salad. I had a crawfish pistolette which was nice. The salad was a bit better than that at a similar restaurant the day before. The servers here were more friendly and very responsive. The pay and order are different when you walk in. I added a tip to my pay, and the cashier gave me the tip back in cash to put on my table. The gumbo was dark, and my first comment was that it was made with jar roux, which I like, rather than a hand-cooked roux. As mentioned before, I did fried food, and my shrimp were excellent. My partner asked if I saw the dessert near the entry when we walked in, and I said, "What?" I went over there and got two slices of cheesecake. They were excellent. I had to check out a second time.