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On our way to Beaumont, Texas we stopped at the Louisiana Welcome Center for the usual rest break. While there, I thought to ask the attendant about Cajun restaurants close to I-10 where we could stop for lunch. She gave me a number of brochures and finally came to one on Crawfish Town. She said that she had eaten there herself and that it was very good. This turned out to be very fortuitous advice because my brief comment on Crawfish Town would be simply OMG!
Crawfish Town USA is located at Exit 115 on I-10 ½ miles north of the expressway on LA Hwy. 347. The restaurant is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. The exit is the first exit after leaving the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge heading west. The bridge across the basin and swamps is 20 miles long.
The food was so good on our initial visit that we made the decision to stop for lunch on our return trip as well as to revisit a couple of favorites and try additional menu items. Also Crawfish Town is a local establishment with top local chefs preparing the food.
On our first visit we had their excellent seafood gumbo, served in the proper Cajun way of having separate bowls of gumbo and rice. The gumbo ranked among the best I have ever tasted. I also ordered a crawfish pie, which although small was incredibly delicious and only $2.99 additional. The entrée was a plate of Crawfish Etouffee and fried shrimp. The Etoufee was very good, but the fried shrimp was among the best I have eaten, and I have eaten my share of fried shrimp over the years. Susie’s momma had a catfish sandwich which was very tasty.
On our second visit on our way back home we also stopped at lunch time. This time I had oysters on the half shell for an appetizer, two of the marvelous crawfish pies, and a full order of the excellent fried shrimp. The amazing thing was that even the side orders were excellent. The French fries were some of the best I have had and the dinner included a scoop of seafood jambalaya that was also outstanding. My better half had a plate of Jacked Up Chicken which is a boneless chicken breast smothered with jack cheese and then covered with Andouille cream sauce. If you don’t care for a lot of seafood, this is an excellent choice. Of course I sampled it, even though I was almost full.
After eating the second time I asked to speak to a manager to compliment them on the food and let them know they would be featured on the Boomer Travel Patrol. The manager who came out was the Executive Chef, Dustie Latiolais, who is pictured with this article. I told him that what amazed me was the attention to detail – even the yeast roll that came with the meal was one of the best I had had in a restaurant. He told me that their goal is to provide close to home-cooked Cajun cuisine – so that the only place you could get better was in your own Cajun kitchen. He has succeeded in accomplishing this goal.
The only fault that I found was that the service, mainly on the first visit, could have been a bit better. I like having a server who keeps the iced tea full without having to motion for it when the glass is empty.
The Cajun cuisine around the Atchafalaya and Lafayette is the best in the country – even surpassing New Orleans in many areas. I look forward to having the opportunity to revisit Crawfish Town USA in the future – definitely on my short list of great places to eat with world class food.
Website: http://www.crawfishtownusa.com
Rating: 
November 14, 2022
