The Big Easy

 

Located at 222 Fayetteville Street in Downtown Raleigh, The Big Easy offers Cajun and Creole cuisine from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. There is a full bar with craft cocktails and daily drink specials as well as live music on Saturdays. Catering and private dining are available.

 

I’m always on the lookout for Louisiana cooking and was glad to have found it in Raleigh. It isn’t the best representation thereof you’re likely to have come across, but it still made for a very enjoyable lunch.

 

Housed next to the City of Raleigh Museum, The Big Easy offers a comfortable atmosphere with low lighting and vintage photos on the walls. There is a large bar area but plenty of tables as well.

 

The menu here is true to the establishment’s concept, offering up everything from jambalayas and gumbos and etouffees to muffuletas and po boys and more. It all sounded good, but with some more walking around in our near future, my wife and I bypassed the heavier entrees in favor of two sandwiches (fried green tomato & pimento and a half shrimp, half oyster po boy) and an app (fried alligator bites).

The Big Easy’s food rates as good, not great. The po boy was generously stuffed with well-breaded seafood and featured a flavorful creole mayo. A side of slaw was nice and creamy, but it was outclassed by the other side, a wonderfully smoky red beans and rice. The tomato and pimento came on toast that held everything together well and offered a very satisfying crunch albeit at the expense of being a bit dry. The alligator bites, while not tough or unpleasant, were somewhat chewy (the dipping sauce was quite good though).

 

Given the Downtown Raleigh location, The Big Easy’s pricing wasn’t as high as expected. The alligator bites ($12.95) weren’t cheap, but they are also not something you can find easily elsewhere. The po boy was only $1 more while the tomato & pimento ran $10.95, both with sides included. We weren’t waiting long for food to come out, and Monique was a friendly and knowledgeable server.

 

They might not do the single best version of anything here, but if you’re looking for a large selection of mostly satisfying Cajun/Creole fare in Raleigh, look no further. The promise of bananas foster bread pudding alone merits a return.

Razzoo's Cajun Cafe

Located at 8011 Concord Mills Boulevard in Concord, Razzoo’s Cajun Café serves Cajun cuisine for lunch and dinner seven days a week. There is a full bar, and lunch specials are available on weekdays.

This Concord Mills establishment is the lone North Carolina outpost of a Dallas-area chain specializing in Louisiana cuisine. How’s that for geographic confusion? Whatever its origins, Razzoo’s is kitschy beyond belief. Everything from the brightly-colored menus to the ceiling-hung instruments and fishing gear to the music to the very name itself seems like an attempt to be “fun” that instead ends in “Umm….”

Fortunately, the complaints end there. The menu rounds up the familiar candidates (gumbo, po boys, fried or blackened seafood, etc.), and adds gator, ribs, and raw oysters for some additional variety. For our first visit, my wife and I went with a jalapeno catfish and a Cajun combo skillet respectively. The food greatly exceeded expectations. The catfish was nicely breaded, and there wasn’t a thing in my combo skillet (shrimp creole, crawfish etoufee, red beans and rice, and andouille sausage) that was a disappointment. The sausage in particular had a welcome spicy kick and a firm bite.

Though our server was a bit difficult to hear at times (blame the music, maybe), she did a good job of letting us know what was popular and got our food out quickly. Pricing left no regrets. The catfish (which came with bread and a side of corn) ran $10 while my very generously portioned skillet ran a mere $13.

Razzoo’s isn’t likely to impress Louisiana-bred purists, but for a chain offering in North Carolina, it’s a lot better than one would expect it to be.

7.75/10

Blue Denim

Located at 217 South Elm Street in downtown Greensboro, Blue Denim offers Cajun and Creole cuisine for lunch and dinner. Beer and wine are available, and there is occasional live music.

Since Devall’s closed and New Orleans ceased to be a good value, the cuisine of Louisiana has been sorely underrepresented in the Triad. Enter Jody Morphis, former chef/owner of Fincastles next door, who previously found success putting out an annual Mardi Gras menu. His latest venture, Blue Denim, offers satisfying, sometimes idiosyncratic takes on Louisiana classics.

Like many Elm Street eateries, Blue Denim is narrow but deep, not by any means large, but more capacious than the storefront suggests. The décor is a high-low mix. There are worn brick walls and butcher paper atop the tables but also some classy artwork and neat blue trim. The resulting look may not scream Bourbon Street, but it does stand out.

Our initial visit occurred a few days before Mardi Gras, so we got a chance to sample the annual recurring menu. Familiar gumbos and po boys hobnobbed with less expected fare like Chinese ribs and a sweet potato veggie burger. My fiancée and I settled on a starter of boudin balls followed by chicken and andouille gumbo and crawfish etouffee. All of the food delivered on both flavor and texture. The boudin played well with the accompanying spicy mustard, the gumbo’s dark roux was smooth and smoky, and the etouffee was creamy with a good amount of crawfish. None of the dishes was particularly spicy, but an accompanying house made hot sauce (with sweet carrot accents) filled in some missing heat.

Both service and pricing are favorable but not without blemish. Our server was attentive, and our food came out relatively quickly. The gumbo was initially served lukewarm though, an error that was quickly remedied. Given the respectable portion sizes, $14 for etouffee and $12 for gumbo seemed reasonable for entrée-sized bowls. The $8 charged for two boudin balls, however, was a stretch.

For a new-ish restaurant, Blue Denim is off to a reasonably auspicious start. Its concept and location are easy draws, but rather than rest on its laurels, it puts out satisfying and inspired food. If the rest of the menu was as well-executed as our initial visit suggests, a return is in the future.

8/10