Craving Cajun/Creole food?
Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top Cajun/Creole restaurants around Washington, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of where to satisfy your cravings.
1. Acadiana
Topping the list is Acadiana. This eatery celebrates classic and contemporary Southern Louisiana cuisine, serving high-end versions of complex dishes like roux, rémoulades, bisques and étouffées. A raw bar offers spice-boiled shrimp, crab ravigote and oysters on the half-shell, and you can order redfish, snapper or swordfish seared or blackened.
There's a long bourbon and whiskey menu along with house cocktails.
Located at 901 New York Ave. NW (between North 10th and North K streets) in Mount Vernon Square, it is the most popular Cajun/Creole restaurant in Washington, boasting four stars out of 1,342 reviews on Yelp.
2. Hot N Juicy Crawfish
Next up is Woodley Park's Hot N Juicy Crawfish, situated at 2651 Connecticut Ave. NW (between North Woodley Road and North 24th Street). It's a chain restaurant known for spicy crawfish eaten messily and without utensils. Typically ordered by the pound, you can choose your spiciness level and type of seasoning (including garlic butter, lemon pepper and "juicy Cajun").
In addition to crawfish, the menu features crab, mussels, shrimp and lobster. There are also fried items (calamari, pork skin, sweet potato fries), as well as po'boys.
With four stars out of 1,284 reviews on Yelp, the eatery has proven to be a local favorite.
3. Po Boy Jim
Po Boy Jim, located at 709 H St. NE (between North Seventh and North Eighth streets), is another top choice, with Yelpers giving it four stars out of 599 reviews. This is the original outlet — a second opened in Shaw in July — for the bar and restaurant serving Cajun po'boys, crawfish étouffée and gumbo, plus house specialties like the District, made with sliced sirloin steak, bacon and provolone.
Drinks include draft beer and New Orleans-friendly cocktails like the Peach Mint Julep and the Bayou Storm.
4. Puddin'
Eckington's Puddin' is another go-to, with four stars out of 255 Yelp reviews. This stand has a short menu focused on gumbo, étouffée, shrimp and grits, and red rice and beans. For dessert, there's brown butter bourbon bread pudding.
Puddin' also operates two food trucks around town. Head over to 1309 Fifth St. NE (between North Penn Street and North Neal Place) to try it for yourself.
5. Blues Alley
Finally, over in Georgetown, check out Blues Alley, which has earned four stars out of 250 reviews on Yelp. In addition to live jazz, Blues Alley is a full-service "supper club." On the menu, you'll find Cajun classics, like seafood gumbo, jambalaya, blackened catfish, and shrimp and grits. Vegetarians will appreciate the Creole rice, made with Cajun-spiced tofu.
You can find the restaurant at 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW.
