Don Garrot, co-owner of Don’s Bayou Cajun Cookin’, was hesitant to talk about the new restaurant this morning. People are already flocking to the place and he’s concerned that he won’t be able to keep up with demand if more people hear about it.
“I need to get some bigger pots,” said Garrot this morning during a discussion that also touched on 180-year-old recipes and gigging frogs in the bayous of Louisiana. He says he learned about Cajun cooking while growing up around Baton Rouge. He opened just three weeks ago, and word of mouth is already bringing in enough people to sell out some menu items on busy days.
Expect homemade turtle stew, fried alligator nuggets (yes, real alligator), crawfish étouffée, fried catfish, jambalaya, chicken and seafood gumbos, barbecued pork and beef, frog legs, jalapeno cornbread, slaws, salads, red beans and rice, po’ boy sandwiches and “momma’s cherry pecan cake.” Everything is homemade and many ingredients are flown in from Louisiana, says Garrot.
The place — which is located in a former plant nursery at 8991 E. Tanque Verde Road — seats about 18 people. Outdoor seating is also available. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday. Take out is available. Call 749-4410 for more information.
(Special thanks to Tucson Weekly reader Ken Sandock for the tip.)
This article appears in Mar 11-17, 2010.
Ate there today after passing it on the way back from a hike. The food tastes good but is very overpriced. I can cook a catfish sandwich that is better for less than $10 (w/ not that many greasy undercooked homemade fries). Seafood gumbo was $14 for reasonable serving, but had literally almost zero seafood. Just tiny shrimp and a piece of crab that had no meat. Was flavorful, but it is hard to justify paying $14 for substance-less soup in a styrofoam container. Which is what everything is served in even if you eat there, drinks included. Seems lame to spend $25 for 2 and have everything in styrofoam and the serving sizes to be barely enough. I grew up in the south and have eaten in Louisiana lots of times. If they wanna say their food is cajun they need to step it up because they ain’t bringing it yet.
I also ate here and agree with the other review, tasted good but was overpriced. Po’boys not authentic at all. Maybe they are still figuring things out, since it says it’s new, but overall I wouldn’t try it again.
The food is different and great tasting. We had the catfish, shrimp, crawfish etouffee, and pecan pie. The pie is to die for. The service was wonderful. The staff is friendly (suggestioon? lose the short olde man). We’ll definitely go back a lot.
Good food, but a little overpriced. Maybe they should invest in comment cards?
Best Cajun food in town. Everybody I take there loves it. This is great food, if people want nice looking dishes, then they should go to an overprized restaurant which serves mediocre food on huge plates and charges a premium for serving ware…Please, it is the food! Gumbo and Jambalaya are excellent, the cajun potato salad and coleslaw amazing, the weekend’s fresh boiled crawfish with corn and potatos: can’t get better than this. Music on the weekends, Best Hurricanes and Whisky Sours…by the way, can’t go wrong with the Red Beans and Rice, ca c’est bon!
Food is horribly overpriced. Everything is served in some sort of styrofoam packaging.
I got jambalaya which was ice cold in a couple of places. All I got was “sorry bout that”.
My wife got red beans and rice. The only thing you would taste was vinegar, yuck!
None of the food is authentic to cajun cooking. While we stood there and looked at the chalkboard menu, the lady taking orders just stared at us. She never as how we were doing or if we had any questions. Another over priced eatery in a sea of overpriced eateries. I will avaoid this place like the plague.
A Friend and I waited (after calling ahead days before) to experience Frog Legs remembered from years ago, and arrived early on Friday to beat the rush. We didnt have to worry, there was no one there at 4:30 and I doubt there will be anyone there at 7:30 if word gets around.
I’m a great fan of Cajun, having been in the oil refinery business on the Gulf for 34 years. Been to the “Big Easy” many times and sampled food from Chocolate Bayou to Baton Rouge. I DO NOT RECOMMEND this place because of the prices, service, and quality of food.
First of all, I would love to see a wonderful cajun place in Tucson, but it has to be a value to draw people in, both the customers who appreciate the food and the ones who have to be convinced. Dons will not fit that bill.
Here is our menu, as ordered for the meal (keeping in mind that everything is served on styrofoam or in plastic cups). We both had Frog Legs (undercooked), cornbread (teflon food), and potatoe salad in 6 oz cups. We split a 12 oz crawfish etoufe (sorry about my spelling) and the crawfish was like fingernail clippings (but plentiful-my favorite part of the meal). We also had Gator bites (you could have had the entire thing served in a shot glass) that was over cooked and greasy. Add two 12 oz beers. How much?
$50 before tip, which I did not leave. Why?
My buddy ordered his main course before any of the additives. They asked what I wanted and I said the same as him, and then added the gator, etc. They brought out one meal and said that was what we understood. Lets refer back to the fact that we were the only ones there!
We sat outside in an overgrown ex=nursery area.
Not for me. Take your chances, and if you know of a Cajun place on the east side of Tucson, let me know.
okay folks who commented above get over the price already. This stuff is flown in from Louisiana a place you might have heard has had some hard times lately and resources are therefore scarce and expensive. My family and I are huge foodies and where big fans of both Nonies and the french quarter restaurants now since defunct. The food was great had just about half the menu. 1. alligator fried to perfection with a great cajun spiced light batter. 2. crawfish étouffée maybe a little more cajun inspired than creole, not rich and buttery as Nonie’s was but great peasant food. 3. frog legs were huge and perfectly prepared 4. blue crab was so fresh tasting and the boil it was prepared it was outstanding , can hardly wait for feb. and their crawfish boil! 5. 180 year old recipe for pecan pie, my brother-in-law said it rivaled his army buddies grandmother’s recipe who was from texarkana arkansas. Yes they may have some work to do, but they have loads of potential. As far as the plates being Styrofoam, the seating is outdoors, would you want to serve good china outside just to see its demise?
Absolutely the best New Orleans/Louisiana style food in this dessert region! I grew up in New Orleans and have lived in Tucson for 12 years now and return to the NOLA every year and gotta say its by far the best cajun food within 500 miles of here!As far as price you get what you pay for, if you want cheap eat Mc Ds sucka. Oh ya there is a happy hour where gumbo and a few things are half price around 2pm ….Dons rules!! Heading down there today….gonna get me some
I like the person who said comment cards would be a good idea. You could leave your name and comments and maybe they will change the name to yours and make the food the way you see fit,right??you clearly never been down to the New Orleans area its not the big sissy its the big easy. Most people in Tucson are to sensitive. And those other 3 cajun food spots here sucked weather you like it or not its the closest thing to Louisiana we got, if we don’t support local diversity in food like this it will just be another taco shop or worse Mc ds 🙁
I like gater I’ve have been to New Orleans and thought the food mirror the food there. for the outside seating most places in LA is outside French Quarters has a lot of holes in the wall places and the food is great Don’s is giving the Cajun feel minus the humidity maybe that’s what the negative people are missing sweat drops in their food….just a thought
My daughter and I went today because we wanted something different. We did get that something the sampler plate gator bites, shrimp. catfish, and oysters with two sides the French fries and cornbread. I added rice at 4.50 so we expected to split this meal. Ha When the plate arrived everything was not just overcooked but burnt. The rice was old and less than 1/2 a cup and the cornbread was such a small piece that this could not be shared so for 35.00 this was the worst meal I have had in a long time so the above posts that say get over the price is a laugh the food sucked too!