The Cajun Stop

There aren't many Cajun places to eat in this area, and I do like a good gumbo and/or po'boy.  I looked up the menu then stopped by on my way to do grocery shopping.

First off, don't visit thecajunstop.com.  My ISP reports the site as suspicious.

I was greeted and served with reasonable politeness.  The food took some time to get to me, for which they apologized, but I wasn't overly put out by the wait.

The place offers a wide variety of po'boys and other dishes, including hamburgers and steaks.  I am not a big fan of fried seafood, so I was intrigued by their description of the "extra sloppy roast beef" po'boy.  I ordered a regular, with onion rings, a cup of seafood gumbo, and a drink.

The sandwich was huge, it actually would have easily fed two and maybe four people.  I should have ordered the small.  Overall they have generous portions.  But it was not an "extra sloppy".  No gravy or juice that I could detect, though the meat was tender and reasonably tasty.  Just roast beef with mayo and pickles.  The bread was very good, crusty and chewy and fresh-tasting.  Overall it was OK. 

The onion rings were a mess--obviously the fry cook didn't know how to make onion rings.  If you put too many in the basket and they crowd each other, they stick together in wads.  The onion pile on my plate had some parts that were near burnt, some parts underdone, and nothing that resembled a ring.  On the other hand--I like my fried food well done, and the batter was actually pretty tasty.  I finished most of my onion mess.

The seafood gumbo was--not a gumbo.  When I think of gumbo, I think of a thick soup--common thickeners are okra, file, or roux.  This had none of those.  It was shrimp and rice soup with some celery.  It wasn't bad shrimp and rice soup, the shrimp was cooked well and the broth had a decent peppery flavor, but it definitely didn't resemble a gumbo at all.

As for ambiance, there's not much.  The drink machine was broken when I ate there, so our drinks were from the cooler.  This place used to be The Tamale Pot, and the decor has not changed except for a few framed articles on the walls and a kind of tired attempt at Christmas decorations.  They have some kind of upscale dishes on the menu, but it's not the sort of place you would linger at.  Better for take-out.  Value for the dollar is pretty low--the meal cost $23 before tip, though it would have fed two so that's an option.

It looks like the owner is trying to franchise the place.  She will have to pay a lot more attention to quality control.  The food was edible and not terrible, but it was not authentic at all.  I might eat a hamburger there, but not Cajun food.  If you want great gumbo in this area, Big Cab's is your choice.

My Yelp Review