Geographically and culturally, the bayous of Louisiana and the Sonoran Desert couldn’t get much more different. As far as the food goes, the only thing in common is a love of heat.
Don’s Bayou Cajun Cookin’ brings some of that Louisiana-style heat to Tucson—and for the most part, this desert-dweller thought the eats were pretty darn good.
“Bayou” is in the name, so it’s no surprise that there’s nothing fancy about the place. Indoors, four tables are placed so close that one is practically forced to chat with the folks at the next table—so if you don’t like that kind of vibe, dine on the small patio, or grab your meal to go. On each table is a roll of paper towels, salt and pepper shakers and a portable lantern. The lanterns are decked out with photocopied sketches of bayou life.
The menu is written on a chalkboard and can change daily. Usually, there’s crawfish etouffee ($9 and $14), turtle stew ($8 and $14), gumbo (ranging from $6 to $14, depending on the protein) and jambalaya ($7 and $10).
Décor is minimal and down-home; music comes from a small portable tape deck. The night we were there, we enjoyed one of our faves, Leon Redbone. You order at the counter, and sometimes, Don himself serves your meal. Most of the dishes are served on disposable plates or containers. But you don’t go to a place like Don’s for the décor or uptown service. You go for the food—good, homemade food.
The crawfish boil ($13) sounded too good to pass up. We were told that there would be a good 15-minute wait for the crawfish due to the prep and cooking methods involved. No matter; we’d driven all the way across town and were in no hurry. We also ordered the gator bites ($4.50), red beans and rice ($6 and $10), and the frog-leg dinner ($12). If crawfish doesn’t appeal, there’s also a shrimp boil ($13).
Eating crawdads is a fun, messy thing, and the meal didn’t disappoint. Don gave a demo on the proper method of shelling and eating the crawdads—complete with instructions to suck on the head, in order to get those juices found in the nooks and crannies. The pile of bright-red crustaceans was enormous; some were as small as my pinkie, with others as big as jumbo shrimp. Several red potatoes, a corncob and garlic cloves were laid out as well. The mudbugs were seasoned with a house mix hot enough to leave traces of heat on lips and fingertips. The sweet, tender corn offered a mellow respite.
Word is that everything offered, save the boudin sausage ($4), is housemade, including a wonderful cornmeal coating that appears on plenty of the items. It has a reddish hue and is flecked with all kinds of seasonings. Virtually grease-free, it fried up all crunchy and crispy, with a hot little finish. The gator bites were coated with the stuff—and this is real gator, folks. I’d compare it to lake perch in texture. A ketchup-based hot sauce sits on the plate for dipping. I would definitely order this dish again.
As for the red beans and rice, I had to dig deep through tender red beans, sausage, veggies and spices to get to the fluffy rice. The large size is hearty enough to be a meal—especially with a side of the cornbread ($1).
It’s been eons since I’ve had frog legs, and these didn’t disappoint. Under all that coating was sweet, juicy meat that tasted nothing like chicken. Sadly, there were only three legs. They were enormous and very good, but another one or two would’ve justified the price.
This dish comes with two sides among coleslaw, fries, cornbread and Cajun potato salad. The cornbread was a bit on the dry side, but still full of flavor. The spicy potato salad had tender potatoes mixed with hard-boiled eggs, celery and all sorts of other goodies; it was the best of the four sides. The slaw was heavily dressed with vinegar and a bit wilted. The fries were made from a huge potato that had been sliced paper thin. They were fried golden brown and peppery, but were a tad greasy.
Another dinner that was most enjoyable was something you probably can’t get these days: the oyster dinner. (Since our visit, Don has had trouble getting Gulf oysters due to the environmental calamity.) The oysters weren’t very large, but the contrast between the crunchy outer coating and the moist oysters was wonderful. It had the same hot sauce that came with the frog legs, but there was considerably more horseradish mixed in.
The only item we sampled that didn’t impress was the shrimp po’ boy ($10). There could’ve been more of the sweet shrimp, and the house red sauce seemed a bit out of place.
The only thing missing was a cold beer. Don’s liquor license is currently at the mercy of the state; for now, you can bring your own for a “corkage” fee. Eventually, Don’s will offer beer, wine and those killer hurricanes, which will go well with the live music on certain weekend nights.
Two desserts ($4.50) sit on the countertop under glass domes. One is a rich tasty pecan pie; it was not too sweet, with a tender crust. It practically screams “homemade.” The cherry pecan pie is a single-layer cake with a bright-pink confetti-flecked frosting. The inside is also pink with bits of cherry and pecan throughout. This is a bit sweet, but offers a nice finish after all of the heat found in the entrées.
Admittedly, the food is a bit pricey, but there is promise here. Stop by Don’s Bayou for an interesting a dinner or a to-go picnic lunch.
This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2010.
If the writer had eaten froglegs before, she would have known that Don’s are a bargain in comparison to the $24.95 charged anywhere else. But still: she tried them and even tried a “foreign” cuisine, Cajun, a spicy mixture of Caribbean, French, Spanish and African influences. Yes, that is right, it is spicy which is why we like it…another hint, coleslaw is not American coleslaw but Cajun coleslaw which means it has no mayonnaise and is marinated to soften it. The superb desserts are $2.50 not $4.50 as stated.
I am a frequent customer of Don’s since he opened. I also love Heaven on 7 in Chicago and Mr. B’s in New Orleans for great Cajun food but Don’s is closer and gourmet food at rock bottom prices for people who really like good food…I leave it at that….
what do you mean by “foreign?”
Cajun is foreign to you otherwise you would have known about it, that it is supposed to be spicy, that the coleslaw was not wilted but perfect as one makes it in New Orleans.
You should retract the obvious mistakes about the wrong dessert prices. When readers point out mistakes to you, it would be the right thing to say, yes, ok, my mistake and here is the corrected version. That is professional journalism. I have read other reviews by you which were just as sloppy and instead of correcting them, you tried to be sarcastic, i.e. the crepe suzette at Amber. I looked at all your reviews before I wrote because I wanted to know whether this was a one time sloppy review or not.
What do I expect in a review written by a person who writes reviews on a continous basis? The facts should be correct, the writer should have taken it upon herself to learn more about the cuisine she is describing…a little more knowledge and savoir faire…know what you write about, and know before you judge whether coleslaw is wilted or maybe supposed to be that way and Cajun cuisine is supposed to be spicy. Instead of being diplomatic by putting “foreign” into my comment, I could have been clear and said: the writer doesn’t know what she is writing about…but I didn’t want to point the finger so to speak. You put your review out there, so you should be able to stand behind it. Nothing personal, just the facts of a sloppy review.
Of course I know Cajun cooking is spicy. I don’t get how you read otherwise. I think you’ve just copped an attitude. We enjoyed the food and the whole place. Lighten up.
I agree with “realcooking” – I’ve written the same exact comments on other occasions about this column’s ignorance of the ethnic foods they’ve reviewed – especially Chinese and Vietnamese. I guess if you don’t know anything about the food – your answer has to be “Lighten up”. The attitude copper here is the restaurant critic.
I’ve been to Don’s twice a week since opening. The food has always been way above par. I lived in New Orleans for seven years and the food was even less authentic than Don’s. I’ve had the splendid opportunity to experience everything on the menu, some many more times than once. I have a hard time believing that Ms. Connelly would find less “pricey” quality Cajun food anywhere. Go online and check out the prices in Baton Rouge and New Orleans where less food is served and does not have to be sent overnight by FedEx and let me know if you see anymore reasonable prices. I’ve done my research. Perhaps you should do yours.
Speaking of Chinese food, have you read “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles” by Jennifer 8 Lee? An interesting, if not somewhat long, take on Chinese food in America.
Visited Don’s for the first (and not last) time today. My husband and I had the seafood gumbo and the crawfish etouffee, and the gentleman who waited on us was kind enough to divide our two regular-sized portions into two smaller bowls of each type so that we could conveniently share. Each was delicious…. the gumbo the best I’ve had! The only thing that would have made it better for me would have been a chunk of warm French bread as an accompaniment….all the better for sopping up the last of that wonderful spicy leftover soup liquid! We also each had a bottle of the Dixie Lager which went wonderfully with the spices in the entrees. Finally we finished off our lunch with a piece of the cherry pecan cake. A little sweet but very good and was a good finish for a spicy meal. We would highly recommend Don’s Bayou!
Question to “Realcooking.” How was the gumbo, was it good with the dark roux made correctly and not hot with pepper so you can add your own as you want it?
Do they have crawfish pie?
Madame Duvall
Update to my earlier review from 2010:
My husband and I are fairly regular customers at Don’s Bayou because we love the good food and pleasant chats with the owners, Don and Teresa. They’re such nice people and make us feel welcome as soon as we come in the door. Lately we’ve been going in on weekend mornings before noon when they serve large mugs of rich coffee (freshly brewed by the cup) and beignets (kind of like a doughnut: a square of fried dough eaten hot and sprinkled with powdered sugar). I know they’re adding freshly-cut fruit to their weekend morning menu, too. We haven’t tried it yet but intend to do so. The weather has been so beautiful, so we’ve been enjoying this weekend treat on the patio overlooking the garden area and the Catalinas.
None of their food, much of it deep-fried, is particularly good for the waistline, to which we can personally attest because we can’t resist! One of our favorite entree items is the shrimp po’boy. It’s plenty spicy with either remoulade or shrimp cocktail sauce , and oh so good! We also love the really thinly sliced, vinegary cabbage coleslaw. The food tends to be expensive, but really fresh seafood IS expensive, even on the coast. The fresh crayfish boil is wonderful and wonderfully messy. It’s not always available, so we “liked” Don’s on Facebook so we’ll be alerted when the high quality crayfish have shipped in. There’s a beer on tap that we really like called Andy-Gator. It has a higher alcohol content than normal, and is what we were looking for in a good brew to go with our spicy meals.The only thing we didn’t care for were the fries, but who needs them?
This place deserves to be supported by happy, well-fed customers!