11 February 13 - 19, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Who Dat? Dallas’ best Cajun restaurants. BY TERRANCE PORTER AND LAUREN DREWES DANIELS T he Philadelphia Eagles and Kan- sas City Chiefs were in New Or- leans for the Superbowl this Sunday and, hopefully, many of their fans appreciated the finer points of Cajun cuisine in the Big Easy, and not just hurricanes from Pat O’Brien’s. Cajun food is steeped in historical and cul- tural distinction. The cuisine can be traced back to about 14,000 French Canadians de- ported from northeastern Canada for refus- ing to submit to the British king. Some of these exiles made their way to southern Loui- siana, where they acclimated dishes to the bounty the gulf state provided while also mixing and mingling with Native Americans, Black Creoles, Germans, Spaniards and Ital- ians, according to this history provided by Global Foodways. When Hurricane Katrina ravaged South- ern Louisana in 2005, displacing residents, the cuisine spread more rapidly to new com- munities, including North Texas. Much of the best Cajun food today can be found at food trucks, but there are also restaurants, some high-class others with live music, and all of them laissez les bons temps rouler. Bayou Cat Seafood 2505 E. Arkansas Lane, No. 131, Arlington Do not — repeat DO NOT — be intimidated by the long line when you walk inside. It’s there to impress and to also demonstrate how efficiently the staff works completing orders. Bayou Cat specializes in fried catfish, oyster baskets, hot sausage poboys and Louisiana meat pies. You can also get traditional Louisi- ana-style boiled catfish. Randazzo and Dong Phuong mini king cakes, Big Shot sodas and other small treats you can only get in New Or- leans can be found here, along with some of the best Cajun food in North Texas. Bucky Moonshine’s 2912 Elm St., Deep Ellum The Bucky’s without the furry mascot is a Deep Ellum mainstay we pray never goes away. Bucky’s has big energy, like that found in the French Quarter, along with the best gumbo in the city from chef Ivan “Bucky” Pugh — we can’t leave the restaurant with- out a bowl, even when there for brunch, which includes bottomless mimosas and a DJ. From muffalettas to boudin balls, catfish Pontchartrain and Atchafalaya, they have all the staples, plus some dishes with local flair, like crawfish enchiladas. Kajun Konnection Local Tap and Table, 3333 Harry Hines Blvd. Izinka, 1701 Botham Jean Blvd. Chef Jamo Hammothe is responsible for Ka- jun Konnection, which works out of two lo- cations: Local Tap and Table, a bar and grill, and Izinka, an upscale restaurant lounge. Whether you are looking for a watch party or a dinner date, he has the chargrilled or fried oysters, boudin balls and Kajun Fettuc- cine Alfredo you’ll want. Also, get one of their king cakes while available. Restaurant Beatrice 1111 N. Beckley Ave. This restaurant near the Bishop Arts District truly deserves (and gets) recognition for its innovative Cajun dishes. While Cajun food is usually a party-like affair, no one ever said it can’t be upscale, and at Restaurant Bea- trice the refined dining experience is per- fect. Don’t miss the seasonal Mardi Gras menu with deeper cuts of Cajun and Creole dishes; be sure to try the jambalaya or house-made andouille sausage. When the weather is right, the communal-style sea- food boils on the patio aren’t to be missed. Vegan Food House 832 W. 7th St., Bishop Arts Yes, you can have meatless Cajun food. The fried oyster mushroom po’boys at Vegan Food House are just as flavorful as a hot sau- sage po’boy. The greens gumbo does have spice in case you have doubts. Visit them in Bishop Arts for boudin without dirty rice and lion’s mane Buffalo bites. You can’t miss the space along West 7th Street — it’s the peacock-teal house. E5 New Orleans Seafood & BBQ 8208 Park Lane, North Dallas From peddling boiled seafood out of an apart- ment complex to a food truck located on Park Lane, E5 Seafood has developed a cult-like following over the past five years. The busi- ness has grown into a one-stop shop for ev- erything you might be craving: turkey necks, pig feet or its trademark E5 NoLa Red Beans and Rice. Follow them on Instagram for de- tails on their massive crawfish hauls. Spicy Tails 2 Geaux Follow online for location To find this food truck follow the aroma of its custom boil seasoning (or follow them on Instagram). Either way, the fried side of the menu has unique offerings like fried alliga- tor bites, Shreveport-style stuffed shrimp and deep-fried seafood poppers (a mix of shrimp, crab and crawfish). Don’t forget to ask for extra tartar sauce. Jaykusteaux Custom Cuisine 2897 W. Pioneer Parkway, Dalworthington Gardens (Arlington) This food truck is one of about four in a parking lot in Dalworthington Gardens, which is inside Arlington. (Yes, they have bored cops. Be warned.) Get past that, though, and you’ll be dazzled by the grilled shrimp and chicken over mounds of creamy Cajun pasta at Jaykusteaux. The wait can be long (two hours on a recent Friday night) as the secret about this spot is now out. Just be patient; it’s worth it. But don’t speed. Boudamnn Follow Online for location Boudamnn has mastered the art of boudin, even though they’re not Louisiana natives. The pork, vegetable and seasoned rice mix- ture is used without pork casing in a variety of menu options: egg rolls, grilled cheese sandwiches, tortilla wraps with chicken strips, and red beans with rice. Southern Classic Daiquiri Factory 6751 Bridge St., Fort Worth 3030 Ross Ave., Dallas Based on the decor, you’ll see that Southern Classic Daiquiri Factory celebrates all of Louisiana, not just the half below Baton Rouge. The menu showcases the best of the boot-shaped state with Natchitoches meat pies and crawfish pies, catfish Atchafalaya, Bourbon Street pasta and various frozen drinks named after cultural significance. ▼ SOCIAL MEDIA PERFECTLY MEH IS 3.5 REALLY THE GOLD STANDARD FOR CHINESE FOOD? BY AAREN PRODY A t its best, Yelp is an indispensable guide where food reviewers, regu- lars, and average Joes come to- gether to give fellow diners a glimpse into an establishment’s best and worst. At its worst, it’s a minefield of extremes where scathing one-star reviews have photo evidence supplied for subpar employees and others justify tanking a restaurant’s average rating because “they don’t have any Splenda only the very bad tasting sweet n low.” But what’s worse? One star for Sweet N’ Low or a fluffed-up five-star from a close relative? The truth, as always, lies some- where in between. Yelp can be a necessary evil for modern dining, but for authentic Chinese cuisine in particular, it’s a lifeline. In 2022, Freddie Wong (@rocketjump on TikTok), posted a seemingly controversial video about his golden rule for dining at au- thentic Chinese restaurants: They must be rated 3.5 stars on Yelp. He starts the video by saying that this rule only applies to major metropolitan areas, and then goes on to say that the rating system is firm. “Exactly 3.5. Not 3. Not 4. 3.5 Ssars is the sweet spot for authentic Chinese food,” he says in the video, but not without proof. “P.F. Changs, 2.5-stars — bad. Obviously. Obviously bad,” he says, then goes on to drag Din Tai Fung, a famous Taiwanese dumpling house. “Four stars. Too many stars. Too many white people like it. The service is too good and the food is not as good as it could be.” Instead, he insists the food at Shanghai Dumpling House and Happy Duck House, both rated 3.5 stars, are going to have worse service, but significantly better food. Why is this the case? “Here’s my theory,” Wong explains. “Cul- tural expectations for service are different in Asia. They’re just not as proactive. They’re not gonna come up to you. They’re not gonna actively give you refills. You need to flag down the waiters.” So while Yelpers ding all these restau- rants for bad service, the food score makes up for it. “So you end up with 3.5 stars. It’s the sweet spot, trust me,” Wong concludes in the video. All the restaurants he listed were in a dif- ferent metro area than Dallas, so we decided we wanted to test this theory in our own stomping grounds. First, we needed to lay ground rules: 1. The restaurant has to be a firm 3.5-star rating. Not 3.4 or 3.6. 2. No chain restaurants. 3. Based only on Yelp reviews. Finding the right rating was tedious since the only filtering options on Yelp are “Rec- ommended,” “Highest Rated,” and Courtest of Bucky’s Moonshine A po-boy and gumbo from Bucky’s Moonshine in Deep Ellum | CITY OF ATE | ▼ Dish Aaren Prody >> p12 Taste of Chengdu’s pork ribs
