Austin Axis Guide to Cajun/Creole Food

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Boiling Pot

700 East Sixth Street

Austin, Texas 78701

Tel: (512) 472-0985

Reader Remarks

Gumbo's

14735 Bratton Lane

Austin, Texas 78728

Tel: (512) 251-1606

Reader Remarks

Heath (12/14/95)

This is now one of our favorite places for either lunch or dinner. Unfortunately, the rest of North Austin has found it as a great lunch spot also, so it's packed then.

The food is fantastic. The gumbo, including crawfish, chicken sausage, shrimp and other varieties are always very rich and very filling, running about $5-6 for a large bowl. The fish specials are served on huge platters, usually with the vegetable of the day and some dirty rice, and have never been disappointing. The pasta dishes are a particular favorite, and almost guarantee two meals. Try the crawfish on fettucini in tarragon sauce.

This is by far one of the best restaurants in Austin.

Tony Petro (4/16/96)

The helpings are indeed huge. A "cup" of gumbo is what I would consider a bowl, and a bowl is a meal. I have never had room for dessert after ordering a cup of gumbo along with a dinner entree (fish entrees come with a salad, I think). They've raised their prices a bit over the last year and are no longer in the Austin Passbook (the reason my wife and I discovered them in the first place). Still, the place is *extremely* crowded on Friday and Saturday nights (there are probably only 20-25 tables, which doesn't help the turnaround rate). I discovered the hard way last year that they're closed on Sundays.

One of my favorite Austin eateries; I only hope they don't get complacent with their success and cease to be the high quality, outstanding value that they are.

Jazz - A Louisiana Kitchen

212 East Sixth Street

Austin, Texas 78701

Tel: (512) 479-0474

Fax: (512) 479-8646

Reader Remarks

Mardi Gras Cafe

2531 West Anderson Lane

Austin, Texas 78757

Tel: (512) 451-2200

Reader Remarks

Heath (12/14/95)

While admitting that Mardi Gras does cost a bit more than what we usually pay for dinner, this place is fantastic.

Lunch specials are very good, with their fried seafood platter running 7-8. The fried seafood here is very light and flaky, not greasy at all. The food is always fresh and tasty. Their bourbon shrimp is another favorite.

Dinner entrees (with dinner sizes and dinner prices) such as Shrimp Nichole, (grilled shrimp smothered in a crab "dressing") are out of this world. Try their crab-artichoke jazz with the great bread that they serve.

For lunch for the next couple of days, order their muffaletta, the best $9.95 sandwich deal anywhere.

Craig Becker (2/1896)

What can I say about a Cajun restaurant that has bread, cocktail sauce, and remoulade on the table, but no Tabasco? My wife and my little girl and I had the Sunday brunch buffet at Mardi Gras this morning, and even though it's a very pretty establishment, the service and food are flawed. For starters, the woman who seated us seemed less than happy that we had a one year old child with us, and there was a non-trivial wait for a high chair. Our waiter was friendly enough, but we didn't see much of him, and when I finally snagged him to ask for a bottle of Tabasco, he brings me an almost empty bottle with about three good shakes left in it. Which, given the food, wasn't nearly enough.

Ah yes, the food: a nice array of salads, including slices of muffuletta sandwich (which proved to be a disappointment), Eggs Benedict and Pecan Waffles (included in the brunch price) could be ordered through the waiter. The hot food at the buffet included eggs, beans, pasta with tomato-mushroom sauce, rice, fish, gumbo, and etouffee; sorry, no oysters or shrimp. But everything was remarkably tasteless...Roberta and I puzzled over this on the way home and concluded that they were using cornstarch or flour to thicken their pecan sauce and etouffee and such, which will indeed thicken a sauce, but it won't result in a very _flavorful_ sauce. The etouffee suffered especially badly from this.

Desserts were a little better: the star was a chocolate cup filled with a cream custard and sliced kiwi and strawberry. The cheesecake and cocoanut-almond cake were good, too. But watch out for the dreadful, thick, tasteless chocolate pudding cake.

To end on a high note: the fellows bussing tables were hauling tail: our water and tea never fell more than an inch below the rim of the glass. On the way out I slipped the busboy a few dollars, partly because our daughter had made a bit of a mess, but mostly because he seemed to be the only person there (chefs included) who was doing a good job.

McGowan's Cajun Kitchen

1101 W. Pecan Street

Pflugerville, Texas 78660

Tel: (512) 990-8206

Reader Remarks

Chris Kiser (12/13/95)

You forgot one...McGowans (Sp?) in Pflugerville. My family and I really enjoy the food there. It is located on 1825 heading East just past the High School.

Old Alligator Grill

3003 South Lamar Blvd.

Austin, Texas 78704

Tel: (512) 444-6117

Reader Remarks

Pappadeaux

6319 North IH-35

Austin, Texas 78752

Tel: (512) 452-9363

Reader Remarks

J. J. Johnson (9/26/96)

Best onion rings in Austin since the Stallion closed (anyone remember that one?). Best kept secret - banana crepe, a fabulous dessert, house specialty, not on menu. Other than the Greek salad, the rest of the food is coronary disaster.

Pearl's Oyster Bar

9033 Research Blvd.

Austin, Texas 78758

Tel: (512) 339-7444

Reader Remarks

Heath (12/14/95)

We were very saddened with the passing of Pearl's and were looking forward to it's grand re-opening. Four of us went their for lunch the day they announced the O.J. verdict (already a bad omen).

Lunch for four with tea, and two appetizers was $55. And we left feeling hungry. The lunch buffet was sorely missed. Two of us had salads with too much dressing and not much of anything good. The other two had seafood and burgers, which we all agreed were not near as good as before the fire.

It seems like Pearl's is trying to re-market itself as a upscale dining establishment. We'll try to remember it was like while eating at Gumbo's.

Special Bonus Section -- Best Cajun/Creole Food Anywhere

Contributors

J. J. Johnson (jjohnson@n-link.com)

Chris Kiser (ckiser@bga.com)

Tony Petro (Tony.Petro@amd.com)

Heath (heathn@netcom.com)

Created and maintained by Brian Combs (combs@awpi.com).

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