Papa Roux

Last week, Tim and I went to Papa Roux.  It was my second trip, but his first.

Papa Roux works in an interesting way.  You order at a counter when you arrive, give them your name, then go sit down and wait for them to deliver your meal.  That much is pretty normal.  What's different is that you order your sides at the table.  You get a card that you put in a stand when you want a waiter to stop by, and they take your order. The excellent thing about it is that you can order as many sides as you'd like--they are included in the price of your sandwich!

We placed our orders and went to sit down.  After Tim looked at the list of sides for a moment, we put our card up.  The waiter promptly appeared and we ordered--mushroom etouffee and cornbread for me, red beans and tomato creole for him.  The etouffee was mild, creamy, and almost a bit cheesy (it reminded me a bit of the base for Yats' chili cheese etouffee)--it's on the left side of this picture--yes, the one that's pretty much completely gone (hey, I'm just glad I remembered to take ANY pictures).  The cornbread (bottom of pic) was sweet and very moist with actual pieces of corn in it.  I really liked it.  I'm not a huge fan of beans, but Tim's red beans and rice (top of the pic) was really tasty.  I was less a fan of the tomato creole (right side of pic), which was very sweet and very spicy.  Everything but the cornbread was served over rice. (And, once again, sorry that the food is half-eaten in the picture.)


Our sandwiches arrived maybe ten minutes after we'd ordered them (the sides had come out very quickly and we finished them before the sandwiches). Tim got the sausage po-boy ($9.50).  He shared a bite with me and the rich, smokey andouille went really well with the spicy "Vouxdoux mayo" and very creamy coleslaw that comes standard on all sandwiches.  The sausage was cut up into small pieces for easier eating.


I got the catfish po-boy ($10.50), which I also had last time.  It's described as being hand-breaded and pan-fried on the menu, and man--it is TASTY.  The breading is still nice and crisp, despite the duo of mayos on the sandwich (the Vouxdoux and cole slaw, respectively).  My one complaint about these sandwiches is that, while I do love me some mayo, Papa Roux goes kind of overboard.  I know that half of the joy of eating these is the complete mess they make (in theory, anyway), but I just think I'd enjoy a bit less.  I asked for my Vouxdoux mayo on the side this time and was told that they can't (ahem, won't) do that, but that you can request they go light.  I made that request, but honestly didn't notice any less than the first time I had this.  Next time, I'll see if requesting less coleslaw helps at all.  But despite those drawbacks, this is a really tasty sandwich.

I don't know if this is my favorite Cajun/creole place in the state, but it's pretty darn good, plus it's close to home for us.  I'm sure it will be in our semi-usual rotation.

Website:  Papa Roux