Zydeco Downtown
Located in downtown Raleigh, Zydeco Downtown is a smoke-free restaurant and jazz lounge that offers Cajun/Creole and Southern dishes. The 6,000 square-foot space features plush lounge-type décor and live jazz, blues and R&B music performances every night. The kitchen serves dishes from the dinner menu from 5 p.m. to midnight, and from the starters-only bar menu from midnight to 2 a.m.
The dinner menu includes items from comfort food like chicken and waffles to the more zesty, like the Cajun seafood platter. Popular New Orleans-style cuisine rounds out the menu, including Cajun jambalaya, shrimp creole, Cajun marinated pork chops, shrimp, or fish and grits. All entrees are full meals with sides, but additional sides are available. Salads and sandwiches round out the full menu.
Restaurant owner Antwan Harris, former NFL player for the New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns, is a Raleigh native. He is a two-time SuperBowl champion player, with the Patriots' wins in 2002 and 2004.
Zydeco Downtown
208 Wolfe St.
Raleigh, NC 27601-1825
(919) 834-7987
zydecodowntown.com
Battistella's New Orleans Kitchen
Chef Brian Battistella is a New Orleans native who trained for years before opening this kitchen. Battistella's menu includes Po' Boy sandwiches in eight varieties, including fried crawfish, grilled andouille sausage, fried or blackened shrimp, fried oysters and more. Cajun and Creole specialties range from a cup of gumbo du jour to a crawfish etouffee. Other dishes include smoked chicken jambalaya, shrimp Creole, shrimp and andouille sausage jambalaya. The kitchen also offers fried and blackened seafood plates and salads. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner Wednesday through Sunday.
Battistella's New Orleans Kitchen
Raleigh Crabtree Inn
3920 Arrow Dr.
Raleigh, NC 27612
battistellaskitchen.com
Big Easy Cajun -- Crabtree
This very casual eatery is located in space 2C of the Crabtree Valley Mall, 30 miles from Smithfield's city center. Its feature entrée is bourbon chicken, flame-grilled and served over steamed rice and with two side dishes. Other entrée offerings include blackened fried catfish, blackened fried shrimp on a Caesar salad and more. Add-ons and substitutions include traditional Cajun favorites like chicken or shrimp jambalaya and chicken or shrimp spicy gumbo soup.
Big Easy Cajun -- Crabtree
Crabtree Valley Mall, Space 2C
4326 Glenwood Ave.
Raleigh, NC
(919) 786-1733
crabtree-valley-mall.com/details.cfm?sid=29
Article Written By P. Christine Smith
P. Christine Smith is an experienced newspaper reporter and writer who has a great deal of experience in general news, crimes and courts, military, agriculture and feature beats. She studied journalism in the early 1980s and is currently enrolled in school, pursuing a B.S. in psychology. She most recently was a regional news, agriculture and health reporter for the "Lubbock Avalanche-Journal."
