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| - I haven't reviewed Flavors of Louisiana yet? Really?!
Well, let me tell you, I've been there a lot of times, and they do it RIGHT. There aren't a lot of tables, but I can't remember ever seeing people waiting for a seat despite a constant flow of traffic in and out of the place.
I had their oyster po boy and it was really good. They used a great balance of corn meal to flour (slightly more corn meal, making it crispier and trapping the juiciness inside better). They knew what I meant when I said "make it dressed with hot sauce." The bread almost tasted fried, but it is the best French bread this side of the Mississippi River. The oysters were definitely from the Gulf; it was a fantastic taste of home.
I had my 2 girls with me, and I ordered their daily special; fried catfish smothered in shrimp etoufee. I had them serve it separately, and my older girl loved the etoufee, while my younger loved the catfish.
I also had their red beans and rice, and that held its own. I wasn't crazy about their rendition of chicken and sausage gumbo, as it wasn't dark enough, but the seafood gumbo was very good. They diced up the holy trinity (celery, onion, bell pepper) to appropriate sizes.
A word of warning; the sweet tea is done too sweet for some Southerners and definitely too sweet for most in Phoenix. Get the regular and sweeten it yourself.
They could use more drink options (no alcoholic beverages), and they ran out of 2 dishes plus their bread pudding on my last visit, but if you want truly authentic cajun seafood, this is the place to go. It's one of maybe 10 restaurants of ANY kind in the Valley that could survive in New Orleans, and when you're able to do that with non-local seafood, that's pretty darn impressive.
Be aware that they're closed on Mondays; I've made the trek to Avondale more than once to discover that I picked the wrong day.
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