The first thing I noticed about Crawdaddy's, 6414 W. Greenfield Ave., was how impossibly large the menu was. The second, was that the level of noise in the main dining room was extremely loud, making it difficult for us to hear each other and our waitress.

But my third observation was that the service here was excellent, and while due to a scheduling conflict we ended up dining here two consecutive evenings and with the same server, the service on both nights was equally outstanding, and it looked as though the surrounding tables were also pleased with the level of attention they received.

Crawdaddy's opened its doors in West Allis in the late 1990s before the days of new construction and condo development that is slowly redefining the area, and has never had problems bringing in clientele since the day they opened. With a capacity over 300, the restaurant space is large and bright, and our waitress shared that they hope to have outdoor dining space as well come 2008.

On two midweek dinner visits, both the restaurant and bar area were busy with patrons waiting for tables or already dining. The tables are functional as well as cute; decorated with sheets of paper and a small supply of crayons so patrons and waitress alike can doodle away during their visits.

After Kelly had artfully scrawled her name on our table, she walked us through the Crawdaddy's menu, a daunting three-page laminate filled with fish, seafood, sandwiches, steaks and an impressive specials list with multiple appetizer and entrée selections, as well as a soup of the day.

We sampled crispy catfish fingers ($6.99), andouille stuffed mushrooms ($6.99), gator chili (on special for $3.99) on both nights, and the gumbo ya-ya ($3.99).

Items here tend to be fried, as was the case with both the catfish fingers and the stuffed mushrooms, and both of those items were good, fun, bar type fare with little grease and a balance of spiciness in the sauces. Gator chili was superb on our first visit with rich cumin and tender pieces of alligator meat, but the second visit it arrived tepid and failed to carry the same flavors of the night before.

Gumbo ya-ya was far from authentic and had a rash tomato taste that was closer to a Campbell's condensed tomato soup than a true gumbo. Although the bits of chicken and andouille were tender and flavorful, they were unable to save the base of the soup and I left the majority of it uneaten.