Cajun’s got bite at Alligator Café

P.B. and Lex Berlin - Lakewood People - January 28, 2005

Mardi Gras comes early this year – Feb. 8th – but you don’t have to travel all the way to New Orleans to celebrate Fat Tuesday with a real Cajun meal.

As former Nawlins residents, we’ve tasted the best cooking in the Crescent City, and rest assured that you can experience Mardi Gras just three minutes from home at Alligator Café.

Chef Ivan Pugh blends his unique heritage as a native of Baton Rouge and as a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School (Class of 1988) in his delightfully friendly enterprise at Live Oak and Carrol.

Neighbors in the Munger and Mill Creek historical districts are thrilled with Mr. Pugh’s remodeling of a former fried chicken outlet.

It’s casual style service, order at the counter and, while you’re waiting, gaze at a couple of Ivan’s preserved ‘gator heads. He also displays a collection of unusually named hot sauce condiments: Virgin Sacrifice, Mr. Blister, and Bayou Firebait, to name a few.

Gator’s on the menu in a number of dishes – gumbo, jambalaya, and po’ boy sandwiches – but Ivan’s attention to detail doesn’t stop there.

Every item we sample was chef-quality, right down to the chicken tenders ordered by the kids.

Hand-breaded and cooked to order, they were a favorite with our catsup-faced crew ($3.75 kid’s meal with three large pieces, $5.75 regular four pieces).

Even the “standard” offerings received culinary flourishes such as the Bayor Burger ($6.25) with pickled green tomatoes and remoulade sauce on a bakery roll.

But the real standouts on the menu are not the Cajun specialties. Try not to miss the atchafalaya: two blackened catfish fillets generously smothered in crawfish ettouffee and served over rice ($9.75). Almost enough for two, the heat of the blackening spices on the catfish provided a perfect counterbalance to the mellow tomato-rich sauce with plenty of tender crawfish tails.

The Muffalette ($6.75) will take you right back to Decatur Street in the French Quarter. A rarity outside the parish, you will not be disappointed by their specially-made sesame seed roll.

The jambalaya and the chicken and andoullie gumbo ($5.75 bowl) were both replete with traditional flavors but spiced only to a level for general approval. The fried green tomatoes ($375) were a wonderful crisp-tender accompaniment.

Everyone cheered the bread pudding with whisky sauce ($3.75) for dessert, but the sweet potato pecan pie ($3.25) was just average in comparison.

The Alligator Café also offers drive-through service, delivery service (11 am to 3 pm, Monday thru Friday), beer and wine, and early evening specials: 30-cent oysters and 30-cent wings (minimum order of five), every day 5 – 7 pm