Taytro's Bar and Bistro

343 North Creek Drive
Festus, MO
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Still tethered to my work tasks, I assigned my able co-reviewers, Angel and Adam, to take pictures, make observations, then report back their findings. They were not alone, Tyler, Angel's oldest son, his lovely and charming wife Tonya, and their two year old daughter Kensington, were their guests. They were in town to take the lovable little brat to the zoo.
Yeah, I know, I usually say I don't like kids, but this is family. Kensington was a little shy, but I helped her bond with me a bit better by stealing her teddy bear, twice. This at least led to animosity, which is in my experience, the crucial first step in any lasting relationship.
I've been to this place several times, I didn't need to see it again just to write about it.
When they got home I approached them one at a time for their assessment.
The Place:
Taytro's is one of our favorite joints. It's not large or fancy, but the food is usually pretty darn good. We've been trying to get Tyler there for a while. He's of Cajun descent. Though he's never been to Louisiana, his father and grandfather carried remnants of that culture their entire lives. BTW, Tyler is the young man that created the logo for this blog site. He was kind of tough as a stepkid, but he has grown up to be a very decent, respectable, responsible man, a loving and devoted husband and doting father.
They were seated and waited on by a young lady who Tonya said reminded her of Tara Reid. I made note of that and looked it up later. It turns out that Reid is some sort of celebrity that even I might have seen at some time.  She was in several movies I'd heard of, mostly ones that I never bothered watching.
The Food:

Shrimp Etouffee

Tyler had the Shrimp Etouffee and the fries. "Delicious, but I don't really have anything to compare it too, I've never had etouffee before."
I found that hard to believe.
"I find that hard to believe." I said. "Too bad, it's true." he replied. "I also had the house salad with the poppy seed dressing. I really liked that." He added, verbally italicizing that word just like I wrote it.
Tonya had the Fried Shrimp Po' Boy, one of my favorites. "It was good, not overly shrimpy." She said, with that charming, heart-warming smile of hers.

Pulled Pork

Kensington had the chicken strips and fries. Pressed for a comment, I finally got her to tell me "Not good for you." about the chicken. Her way, according to her mom, to say she doesn't like something. Tonya added that the fries were seasoned and the baby girl didn't seem to like that either.
Adam had the pulled pork sandwich and the house-made chips. They'd put the barbecue sauce on the side this time, add as much or little as you like. He of course, liked it, it's what he always gets there. "The chips were a little too spicy." he added, no too spicy, but more than I usually like."
Angel pushed the envelope, asking for something not even on the menu.
"The menu said to ask about the oysters, so I did. I wanted a fried oyster Po'

Fried Oyster Po' Boy.

Boy."  Tara went to the back to conference with the chef and came back saying yup, they could do that. "The breading was a little heavy, but not too bad."
Tyler added "I tried one of the oysters, it was pretty good, mainly because it was heavily breaded."
He'd said he'd never had an oyster he actually enjoyed before.
I'll take them at their word.

Gator Bites and Fried Ravioli

For appetizers, they'd ordered two, the 'Gator Bites' and since this was near St. Louis, the Fried Ravioli. All agreed that the gator bites were good, a little chewy, but not too much so. They also all agreed on the ravioli. Nothing to write home about. Tonya even added that they tasted 'canned'.This is what you'll find at most places though, only a few in my experience put a lot of effort into this tidbit.

Summary:

Shrimp Po' Boy

Taytro's is a sure thing. It's just good. They don't have a huge menu, but what they do make is mostly above par. I failed to mention the drinks, Tonya and Tyler, to my disappointment had water, Angel had sweet tea, and Adam had a Coke.
"For what it's worth I wasn't very impressed with the water." Tonya said, sensing my disapproval with their non-committal drink choice.
The service was great, Tara kept the drinks filled and the servings timely. "If we lived here we'd certainly go back." Tyler concluded.
Full Disclosure, a confession: I'm probably part of the reason Kensington didn't eat anything. Earlier in the day, while still trying to establish a relationship with her, I applied step two in my secret formula for getting girls to like me. Bribe them with food. We'd shared several peanuts, even after her mom had told me that the little tot didn't like peanuts. I know this works, my own granddaughter, Caprice, remembers us sharing barbecue potato chips back when she wasn't much older. Even Angel remembers where we went on our first date. Burger King, 'cause I know what the ladies like.
Taytro's is good, better than just good.
More to that point, I'm not at all nervous about sending people there.