Golden bayou
Seafood · Ithaca
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About Golden bayou
Located in Ithaca, Golden Bayou offers a variety of dining options, including delivery, takeout, and dine-in service. We pride ourselves on fast service, perfect for lunch, dinner, or a solo meal. We are committed to accessibility, providing a wheelchair accessible entrance, parking lot, restroom, a...
Located in Ithaca, Golden Bayou offers a variety of dining options, including delivery, takeout, and dine-in service. We pride ourselves on fast service, perfect for lunch, dinner, or a solo meal. We are committed to accessibility, providing a wheelchair accessible entrance, parking lot, restroom, and seating. Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11AM-9:30PM, we are closed on Wednesdays. Golden Bayou also offers alcoholic beverages. With a 4.0-star rating based on 134 reviews, we strive to provide a satisfying experience for every guest.
What Customers Say About Golden bayou
Golden Bayou receives mixed reviews. Many customers praise the authentic Chinese dishes and seafood boil, highlighting the freshness and flavor. However, some diners have experienced inconsistent food quality, rude service from the owner, and cleanliness issues.
Popular Dishes
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Tip: Avoid the Americanized dishes on the first couple pages of the menu and work your way back to authentic dishes.
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Frequently asked questions about Golden bayou
Golden bayou Ithaca Reviews
Lightning fast and attentive service, excellent food
Food is excellent!Services is perfect!
Exceptional food and service in Ithaca.
Pork belly is pretty good
Cool spot
Delicious Seafood boil!!!!
Yummy grubbb
Nice experience
Been twice always good there was a problem with my food but they fixed it no questions asked and was great
Very Good place to Dine price very reasonable food was made to likened.
Amazing food and owners are sweet have a great dinner with friends
The seafood boil was absolutely delicious. Will come again.
Great service and amazing food will definitely be back again.
Delicious took the family Chinese food and seafood boil something for everyone.
Super friendly staff! The food was delicious!
Great restaurant! I really enjoyed the food there!!!
Everyone was very nice and the food was great :)
Very clean, organized place with great food.
Good authentic chinese food and cajun seafood. would come again.
Steamed chicken and veggies excellent for weight watchers
great seafood served with great service. Ithaca needed this.
Delicious food, very friendly environment, and quick service all for a very good price! I go every lunch break and it's always ready in a timely fashion and tastes amazing! Will be coming regularly! 5 Stars.
Cherry and co are so wonderful. They always remember you and make you feel like visiting a friend. The food is very yummy and the space actually accommodates big groups.
Very good food and best of all cheap .It is not a buffet .the service is good enough the atmosphere is good but the exalent food and cheap price garintees my return .10$ lunch with a soda heck yeah.
This place has pretty good Chinese fare. We really like to order the lunch special chow mei fun which is a great deal. The dim sum here on the weekends is spot on as well.
Really good food, for a good price too. Their seafood was really tasty, and i tried dim sum for the first time, definitely was not dissapointed. Highly recommend!
Me and my taiwanese partner come here all the time. We love the food and the staff is always great. Would recommend if you want some authentic taiwanese food.
Fast and delicious. The inside has been redone since the old Chinese buffet and it is really nice. Clean and friendly staff.
The restaurant is very good and the service is very good too also the food is very delicious. My friend and I very like it! I will come back next time.😋
The food here is amazing! Highly recommend! The best egg rolls in Ithaca!
Best seafood in town!
Best prices and amazing food and portion size, I highly recommend this place to anyone, everyone in my shop is gonna go to them now for food
Very nice and friendly servers that recommended authentic dishes based on our preferences!
had the seafood boil combo for 2. crawfish and shrimp with their heads on. Was delicious, will be back!
Very tasty food. High quality. Glad to find a fine Chinese restaurant in Ithaca.
We love this place. More importantly, friends of ours from China won't go anywhere else. The key is to avoid the Americanized dishes on the first couple pages of the menu and work your way back to authentic dishes. That is the prize
Unlike many other Americanized Chinese restaurants, this one serves authentic, delicious Chinese food. The Name "Bayou" (associated with fresh water in the South, thus seafood) might be misleading. This is one of the best Chinese restaurants in the US I've ever being to. The site used to be a Chinese Buffet. Old customers looking for low-price all-you-can-eat bulk (somewhat Chinese) food might be disappointed, but I enjoyed the quality dishes & elegant ambience. It will be my first choice while in town.
Super friendly staff! The food was absolutely delicious! I ordered the seafood soup, it was so good. Will definitely be coming back again. The atmosphere was cozy and classy, the dinning room was beautiful. I absolutely loved my experience here and will be back asap!
My fiance went here to celebrate a milestone for ourselves with some seafood. We got a seafood boil and it was phenomenal. It was fresh, cooked to perfection, the house sauce is delicious, and the stuff was warm and friendly. Our waitress was amazing and tentative, food came out in a timely manner, and hot off the pot! The seafood was to die for. Being in New York is hard to find places that do seafood boils, especially ithaca, but this place brings that decadence in a boil you'd want! Highly recommend the seafood boils. Price was cheaper than I was expecting the seafood to be as well, so that's a plus.
I've gotten my lunch here several times now and it's been an amazing experience everytime. The food is always hot and fresh. The service is wonderful, incredibly nice people, food is always ready quickly. It's my new favorite place to go, especially with the great pricing. I couldn't recommend it more.
I was surprised to find a good, pretty authentic Chinese restaurant up here in Ithaca! The Taiwanese beef noodle soup was really good, the beef tasted just right (the noodles were okay). The dim sum was pretty good, not as good as places that specialize in it, but definitely acceptable. This would be pretty average in Flushing or Chinatown, but for Ithaca? Fantastic.
Incredible, diverse menu, excellent food, dutiful staff.
Very nice experience overall, good food, accommodating service. Much more authentic cuisine than the regular neighborhood take out place. We all really enjoyed the Taiwan braised pork over rice and dim sum, can't wait to try other dishes.
The food here is amazing!!! My partner and I got the cheese wontons, chicken lo mein, barbecued pork buns, and a seafood boil with crab legs, shrimp, corn, potatoes, and sausage. Everything was cooked well and tasted delicious! The staff was very nice and got our food out fairly quickly for how much we ordered 😂 We will definitely be going there again!!!
Was surprised by the deliciousness of this food! I think it’s a great new addition to Ithaca and they have a diverse variety of Chinese dishes as well as yummy seafood boil. Looks like a fun place for a celebration with friends.
Ithaca finally has another excellent seafood boil restaurant. We got the crawfish, shrimp, and muscles in garlic butter sauce, and it’s likely the best I’ve had in upstate NY. Highly highly recommended. I’ll certainly be back.
Food was excellent, and looked exactly like is shown in the pictures. I got the Braised Beef Noodle Soup, and my wife got the General Tso's chicken. Probably the best Chinese I have ever had! Service was quick, staff was welcoming. Looking forward to going back soon!
We all had lo mein and it was very good! Restaurant was very clean. Our service was good. Very nice atmosphere., too!
Really neat place! Fun. Friendly owners and staff. Clean. Great food. Down home Cajun and Asian food. Had a great time.
Very good food ! Really nice change up to the typical dinner out ! Just be careful if your sensitive to heat the levels get really warm really fast I recommend medium !
The food here is amazing!!! My partner and I got the cheese wontons, chicken lo mein, barbecued pork buns, and a seafood boil with crab legs, shrimp, corn, potatoes, and sausage. Everything was cooked well and tasted delicious! The staff was very nice and got our food out fairly quickly for how much we ordered 😂 We will definitely be going there again!!!
Was surprised by the deliciousness of this food! I think it’s a great new addition to Ithaca and they have a diverse variety of Chinese dishes as well as yummy seafood boil. Looks like a fun place for a celebration with friends.
Ithaca finally has another excellent seafood boil restaurant. We got the crawfish, shrimp, and muscles in garlic butter sauce, and it’s likely the best I’ve had in upstate NY. Highly highly recommended. I’ll certainly be back.
Food was excellent, and looked exactly like is shown in the pictures. I got the Braised Beef Noodle Soup, and my wife got the General Tso's chicken. Probably the best Chinese I have ever had! Service was quick, staff was welcoming. Looking forward to going back soon!
We all had lo mein and it was very good! Restaurant was very clean. Our service was good. Very nice atmosphere., too!
Really neat place! Fun. Friendly owners and staff. Clean. Great food. Down home Cajun and Asian food. Had a great time.
Very good food ! Really nice change up to the typical dinner out ! Just be careful if your sensitive to heat the levels get really warm really fast I recommend medium !
I have been a long-time customer since they opened. We always go there for lunch and to go. They keep quality and consistency until present for services, food quality, and atmosphere. We always took family members and relatives to this restaurant. One time, my husband wanted to reorder the Cahun for lunch, and they gave a discount, too. That's nice. Also, one time, a long time ago, I forgot cash, and they allowed me to go out of the restaurant without paying to get cash for about 30 minutes. That's really nice heart. Highly recommended.
Best seafood boil in town not the mention hospitality.
Best egg roll ever!! The wrap was just the right thickness to be perfectly crunchy and not chewy! The Sesame Chicken was amazing w delicious flavor and crispy outside. The beef in the Beef and Broccoli was so tender and both the beef and broccoli cooked to perfect texture. Two very satisfied lunch eaters right here! Plus I got a good fortune in my cookie 🔮🥠
Went there for our 7th year anniversary and it was amazing. I had the Shrimp mei fun while my husband had the General Tsau combo platter and we both enjoyed it. We also split some steamed bun and the sesame seed buns as a side and desert and loved them. The waitress was super nice and was very good at answering all of my dumb questions. I highly recommend this place to everyone.
Best experience the seafood boil was a 10/10. The chef knows what he’s doing.
Went there for our 7th year anniversary and it was amazing. I had the Shrimp mei fun while my husband had the General Tsau combo platter and we both enjoyed it. We also split some steamed bun and the sesame seed buns as a side and desert and loved them. The waitress was super nice and was very good at answering all of my dumb questions. I highly recommend this place to everyone.
We love this place. More importantly, friends of ours from China won't go anywhere else. The key is to avoid the Americanized dishes on the first couple pages of the menu and work your way back to authentic dishes. That is the prize
I have been a long-time customer since they opened. We always go there for lunch and to go. They keep quality and consistency until present for services, food quality, and atmosphere. We always took family members and relatives to this restaurant. One time, my husband wanted to reorder the Cahun for lunch, and they gave a discount, too. That's nice. Also, one time, a long time ago, I forgot cash, and they allowed me to go out of the restaurant without paying to get cash for about 30 minutes. That's really nice heart. Highly recommended.
Best egg roll ever!! The wrap was just the right thickness to be perfectly crunchy and not chewy! The Sesame Chicken was amazing w delicious flavor and crispy outside. The beef in the Beef and Broccoli was so tender and both the beef and broccoli cooked to perfect texture. Two very satisfied lunch eaters right here! Plus I got a good fortune in my cookie 🔮🥠
Good food
Decent "crab shack" seafood considering they're so far inland.
If I could give 4 1/2 stars I would. It's everything you could ask for in a restaurant. Clean kind and food is absolutely delicious. Only loses 1/2 star because it is rather pricey. Meals go from $10 to almost $100. There are specials almost every day. Will definitely be going back.
Good authentic Chinese food, good price,great service!
Good authentic Chinese food, good price,great service!
Excellent fish dry pot. Right amount of chilies and Szechuan peppercorns, fish was tender, breading was pleasantly crunchy + chewy, very good vegetables. Batter was just a little too salty. Prices are fine, seem to be a few dollars higher than similar places in town. Fish dry pot was $20 before tax, and I think it's more like $18 at other places. Lunch special has American-style dishes like lo mein and stuff. That's fine, but would be better IMO if they also did a couple Szechuan or Cantonese dishes for lunch special as well. Clean, lots of space, staff were friendly. To be honest I always thought this place was a Cajun fast-food restaurant chain. Then I stopped in randomly and was like "wait they do Szechuan food here??" lol
Excellent fish dry pot. Right amount of chilies and Szechuan peppercorns, fish was tender, breading was pleasantly crunchy + chewy, very good vegetables. Batter was just a little too salty. Prices are fine, seem to be a few dollars higher than similar places in town. Fish dry pot was $20 before tax, and I think it's more like $18 at other places. Lunch special has American-style dishes like lo mein and stuff. That's fine, but would be better IMO if they also did a couple Szechuan or Cantonese dishes for lunch special as well. Clean, lots of space, staff were friendly. To be honest I always thought this place was a Cajun fast-food restaurant chain. Then I stopped in randomly and was like "wait they do Szechuan food here??" lol
Authentic Chinese options. I got the salt and pepper squid and it could have used some sauce options.
Food was delicious, and waitresses were punctual.
Expensive. Lobster roll was small. Chinese food was good. Food was fresh tasting. But too expensive!
So I wasn’t able to do it on DoorDash, but I will put it on here. I ordered one egg roll five steamed dumplings and chicken lo mein. Everything was good except the chicken lo mein. I always get it at my local Chinese restaurant. They give me very decent amount of chicken in the lo mein this Place I’ve never ordered from them before and I was excited to try. I only got three big pieces of chicken in my chicken lo mein. I basically just paid for noodles really overpriced noodles. Other than that, the chicken lo mein taste great.
Me and significant other went there on the way home. Very friendly staff. Tried fried dumplings for the first time. Loveedddd them!!! Tried Beef Tripe for the first time, not a huge fan. Overall would go again to try more new foods.
Ordered sweet and sour chicken and got just plain breaded chicken, what is this, how do you forget the sweet and sour when it’s in the name?!?! Added duck sauce to it that I had in my fridge for at least some flavor (and no there was not a cup of the sauce in the bag either)
Went there having not been there in a while and didn't kno they stopped doing HotPot... BIG bummer... so I got a little Chinese Fare.... meh. That chicken on the stick is sinful.. Szechuan shrimp had no flava. I even asked for it to be EXXTRA spicy.. I even heard my girl tell the cook in the back. It was not. I wasn't pleased. However I did go and get a boil for my birthday.. snowcrab/shrimp/mussels mixed sauce... it was pretty tasty! Although my sauce is better😉
Ordered sweet and sour chicken and got just plain breaded chicken, what is this, how do you forget the sweet and sour when it’s in the name?!?! Added duck sauce to it that I had in my fridge for at least some flavor (and no there was not a cup of the sauce in the bag either)
Went there having not been there in a while and didn't kno they stopped doing HotPot... BIG bummer... so I got a little Chinese Fare.... meh. That chicken on the stick is sinful.. Szechuan shrimp had no flava. I even asked for it to be EXXTRA spicy.. I even heard my girl tell the cook in the back. It was not. I wasn't pleased. However I did go and get a boil for my birthday.. snowcrab/shrimp/mussels mixed sauce... it was pretty tasty! Although my sauce is better😉
The food is okay, but it’s overpriced given the portion size
Just wasn't any cajun craw fish I've ever had. Was hoping for craw fish to come out of a cajun boil where the heads twist off and the meat slides out with the juices, but got a thick sauce with shell crackers...more Asian style sauce. Just didn't do it for me.
Very small food portion. Salt pepper ribs actually come without salt and taste literally bland.
When I dined in here the food was alright. I only had the American Chinese fare and it was definitely below average for all the stellar options in the area, but it was also somehow more expensive than virtually all those other locations while also being a smaller portion and not including the white rice that most of the other establishments include with all entrees. The place was pretty empty despite it being dinner time. A different time, I was part of a group who rented their space. They refused to disclose pricing up-front in any terms other than a vague range of estimates, then charged drastically above even the high estimate. They also attempted to make us leave earlier than our previously agreed upon time to vacate the location.
feel like their service immediately gets bad as they are having more and more customers. ordered 8 items today but had a very bad experience, thus will never come back again. The first time I visited them they were very friendly. But now their attitude totally changed: no longer nice or friendly; very impatient especially when my payment can’t be successfully processed. One staff even said rude things like “don’t get on my way if you are not paying”, which makes me very uncomfortable. The food is in general overpriced compare to other Chinese restaurants here. (I.E., Beef with radish is very greasy. Some crispy dishes such as Fried shrimps turned very soggy, even if it’s just after 15 or 20 minutes. ) A restaurant relies on customers to survive. So hope this one can survive well with such etiquette. Anyway very disappointed and won’t go again.
They used dry noodles from the grocery stores to make soup noodle, very cheap. And tasted yucky. The pork ribs tasted not fresh at all. The chicken lo Mei was totally black with too much soy sauce. Awful!!! Do not go there!
Owner is rude
It's not Cajun in anyway! Just an expensive Chinese restaurant that does not have a lot of things you would typically find. Not impressed at all. Won't be recommended
Food was absolutely terrible spent 80 bucks for the worst meal of mine and my daughter's life
Worst food quality but high price.
Very underwhelming, very little for the price don’t go here
This is absolutely the WORST place I have ever been to. Not only were the portions super small they definitely weren’t worth the price we paid. Then they decided to wait to tell us we had to pay with cash because their card machine was broken until we finished eating. Isn’t that something you should tell your customers upon arrival? So my boyfriend was stranded there while I had to go get cash because They asked if I could write down my card info for when it starts working like no? I don’t even think this place deserves the 1 star I gave it. Then I asked for them to take something off my Bill for the inconvenience and I was told no.
The price is so high considering how many things in the seafood bag! For a 29$ Lobster combo, there are only one lobster tail, half corn, and 1 potato. That’s insane!!! The 7$ sausage give you only a few slice of sausage too. I called the restaurant saying that there price is abnormally high. They keep telling me that the COVID situation is bad. However, can you imagine that eating in a restaurant and paying 47$ just for one lobster tail and a few corn ears? They shut the phone while I am still talking. This is so rude. I will never order this again.
The worst restaurant ever. The owner is very unprofessional and rude to paying customers. I don't recommend. Save your money.
Should've stayed the Chinese buffet! Used to love it, seems like they use the same dishes, just throw it in a pot and charge 3 times what they used to! Not horrible, but mediocre at best and overpriced.
Most disorganized service I have ever seen. Standing at the front for 10 minutes but none of the staff was serving customers. Finally we were told that they would clean a table for us but 30 minutes later when we checked again, it was ridiculous that they told that that table was not for us. I would never come to this place and I do not recommend anyone coming to this place.
Absolute worst sea food boil I have ever had and service will never come back. Our 1st waiter couldn’t even speak English I was trying to order a sea food boil she couldn’t even understand me I was trying to ask questions and all I heard was “potato” other lady that was working knew she was horrible and stopped her finally and came over and took our order. Mind you we order Coke’s they come out in a can with a cup with ice. Then the food comes out not seasoned got the special with every seasoning and tasted like nothing the server never came over and asked if everything was ok I had to ask for another refill “a can” that I was charged $2.50 for. Also it was muggy and hot in there barely any ac just all around horrible would not recommend take the drive and go to a better sea food boil restaurant trust me not worth a penny and prices are outrageous!!! This place will be shut down soon I’m sure of it being ran like that!
This place is the worst. They waited until we were the last customers to come argue with us about a meal we didn’t like instead of offering something to fix the issue. The owner is so rude and not friendly. I usually don’t mind the high prices if the service is good but this place is NOT WORTH YOUR MONEY AND TIME!!! I would give a ZERO if I could.
Although this place has been my favorite place to get seafood boil, it has become very stingy with their food. I got a a boil combo B bag with sausage add-on for 5.99 extra and only got 3 freaking pieces of sausage. And it was so thin. It was so off putting for the rest of the boil.
Although this place has been my favorite place to get seafood boil, it has become very stingy with their food. I got a a boil combo B bag with sausage add-on for 5.99 extra and only got 3 freaking pieces of sausage. And it was so thin. It was so off putting for the rest of the boil.
Never going back. the restaurant wasn’t very clean. The floors were sticky, and our table still had remnants of the last guests’ meal. Not exactly appetizing for expensive prices. There are plenty of better Chinese spots around — I won’t be coming back here. Disappointing experience overall.
The food tasted bland and not worth the price. The servicer was nice but the owner was rude and kept giving us horrible looks. Avoid this place unless you're filing a documentary on how to not run a restaurant. The food quality is what you can get at a Chinese buffet. There are money other restaurants in ithaca you can enjoy.
Food was absolutely awful. Ordered a fish fillet dish and tell me why it was crispy? Absolutely not edible. Proceeded to order another dish and textures of vegetables are very bad. Not a single smile from the server either from the moment we walked in. She looked like she was forced to work here. Will never be back.
Never going back. the restaurant wasn’t very clean. The floors were sticky, and our table still had remnants of the last guests’ meal. Not exactly appetizing for expensive prices. There are plenty of better Chinese spots around — I won’t be coming back here. Disappointing experience overall.
The food tasted bland and not worth the price. The servicer was nice but the owner was rude and kept giving us horrible looks. Avoid this place unless you're filing a documentary on how to not run a restaurant. The food quality is what you can get at a Chinese buffet. There are money other restaurants in ithaca you can enjoy.
This place is the worst. They waited until we were the last customers to come argue with us about a meal we didn’t like instead of offering something to fix the issue. The owner is so rude and not friendly. I usually don’t mind the high prices if the service is good but this place is NOT WORTH YOUR MONEY AND TIME!!! I would give a ZERO if I could.
Food was absolutely awful. Ordered a fish fillet dish and tell me why it was crispy? Absolutely not edible. Proceeded to order another dish and textures of vegetables are very bad. Not a single smile from the server either from the moment we walked in. She looked like she was forced to work here. Will never be back.
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401 Elmira Rd STE 11, Ithaca, NY 14850
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401 Elmira Rd STE 11, Ithaca, NY 14850
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