Three months old, Catahoula serves up genuine Creole flavors in a bar–style restaurant that still feels homey. The small restaurant sits snugly between quaint Front Street row houses and intimate outdoor seating accompanied by twinkling holiday lights makes for a romantic Old City date. Catahoula pays homage to its New Orleans roots with sky blue fleurs–de–lis drawn on its walls and bar.
The feel–good atmosphere is only complimented by the food itself. We took a stab at the sizeable menu — laden with deep–fried everything — and started with hush puppies ($4.50) and roasted shrimp flatbread ($12). The hush puppies and fried cornbread balls, were accompanied by a Creole tomato and celery blend and green aoli. Both were welcome additions, but the hush puppies were somewhat mealy. The flatbread remained light despite the abundance of toppings. Well–cooked shrimp played second fiddle to the real star of the thin crust pizza — the andouille sausage topped with smoky Gouda and spicy Creole tomato sauce. The odd combination worked surprisingly well.
Because we couldn’t stay away from the battered and fried finds, we dived into two classic New Orleans po' boys: fried oyster ($11) and BBQ pork ($10). Both were served on freshly toasted rolls with shredded lettuce, tomato, (spicy) remoulade and Cajun–spiced French fries. The oyster po' boy was an absolute delight. One bite of the sandwich gives a perfect crunch of batter and steaming hot gooey oysters overflowing with sea salt flavoring. The BBQ pork sandwich had just as much to offer with a sweet tangy sauce reminiscent of Texas ribs. Creole–spiced fries were extremely welcome additions to both plates and were soft on the inside, flavored with an in–house Cajun blend.
With full stomachs we spotted an irresistible dessert menu scrawled onto a chalkboard on the back wall, and decided to splurge on the pear cobbler with SoCo ice cream ($7) and the chocolate pot de crème ($7). Both were worth their weight in sugar. The cobbler was served piping hot with a biscuit crumble and was devoured within seconds. The chocolate pot was a thick bowl of bittersweet chocolate topped with a layer of home–whipped cream. Though a tad too rich, the chocolate served as dessert for the next few nights as well (Catahoula loves doggy bags).
The extensive menu features other New Orleans favorites: jambalaya, black–eyed peas, gumbo and grits. And the bar features notable neighborhood happy hour specials and a damn good Hurricane cocktail — smells like the South!
With a new neighborhood buzz, this restaurant is drawing quite a crowd and stays packed with families looking for some good NoLa cookin'.
Catahoula
775 S. Front St.
(215) 271–9300
Don’t Miss: Oyster Po' boy and Pear Cobbler
Skip This: Hush Puppies
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