Big Easy Cafe

Whoa! Stephen C. and I met up for an early dinner one day after work. Set up by Rackspace (behind the IHOP) and omg, the food was delish!

Steve let me try the red beans and rice he ordered - not bad but could have been a little bit hotter on the temperature scale. I ended up going with the 1/2 and 1/2 po boy which consisted of 1/2 fried shrimp and 1/2 fried oysters. Our server, Joy - who is also a Filipina! ;) - asked us if we wanted fries with our orders and we bypassed that in order to save room for dessert. When we were done, Joy mentioned the banana and bread pudding but really pushed us to try what she called, "That Cake". As George Takei says, "Oh.MY." It's part pound cake and part cheesecake. She asked us if we wanted it a la mode and when I hesitated, Joy quickly said, "Yeah, you want it a la mode." Uhm. Okay.

That Cake came out warm, with vanilla ice cream, and caramel. Soooo delicious!!!!! I've been craving it ever since!

The employees are all sweet - beautiful smiles all around - and definitely know how to take care of their customers. Now I see why Sarah F. is the duchess around here!

This place is where you go when you feel like a taste of authentic Nawlins cookin'. Red beans n rice, check. Gumbo, check. Jambalaya, check. They have all the spicy staples you crave when your taste buds need a jump start.

I have tried many things on the menu from their crab bisque, to the various Po' Boy sammiches and everything in between including the stellar mac n cheese. I have yet to try something that was not DELICIOUS. This is one of those few places that make comfort food better than yo momma!

The sides here are hardly something that "come with your meal" b/c they truly stand on their own merit. This also includes the desserts. Normally I don't have enough room for the sweet stuff when I come here BUT every once in a while, I'll strategically allot stomach space for something tasty like pie.

Mostly though, I love coming here b/c its one of the few places where I can order ANYTHING from the menu and know that it will be great. I highly recommend you come and find out for yourself though.

Wow, I had given up hope of finding real authentic cajun/creole food in San Antonio. I decided to give the search one more time and decided to let fellow Yelpers assist in my search. I can across the reviews for Big Easy Cafe and the reviews sounded very promising. Today I gave them a try and WOW!

I started with the Blackened Catfish & Shrimp with Diablo Sauce, served over Dirty Rice. The dinner came with a garden salad that was good and I selected the ranch wich is made with buttermilk, better. Everything about the catfish and shrimp were perfect, a nice sauce that brought it all together and a little bite but not enough to hide the flavor. The dirty rice is some of the best I have ever had. The meal comes with two slices of garlic bread. I did not think you could get french bread this good outside of NOLA.

For dessert I had to try the banana pudding. Boy I am so glad that I did. Absolutely the best banana pudding I have ever had. I would love to try their bread pudding and cheesecake too.

Lunch was so good I got me an oyster po boy to go for dinner later. It was excellent as well. Oyster with a nice flavorful batter, cooked nicely so still plump and juicy. And of course the excellent french bread.

Everyone in the staff is very friendly and attentive to a customers needs. They make you feel welcome and at home.

I highly recommend that you give this place a try. I think once you do you will be hooked.

This place us what we foodies refer to as a diamond in the rough. It's a place that doesn't look like much from the outside, but if you pass this place by b/c of the outside, you missed out.

The food - delicious & authentic, the service - friendly & laid back, the environment - nice and simple.

Not a place to bring people you're trying to impress with fancy surroundings or well-dressed waiters, but a place to go with friends and family for good food in a non-pretentious setting.

Good :
+ good & authentic Cajun food, best fried fish I've had in town
+ laid back vibe
+ looks better on the inside

Bad :
- outside facade could use some work
- due to construction, can be difficult to find/reach
- closes "early" Mon-Thurs

Holy Monkey this place is awesome. I went in thinking I was going to take the healthy route, but ended up splitting the seafood platter with someone. WOWEE!!!!

I'm not sure what was best out of the fish, shrimp, or oysters, because they were just phenomenal. The mac and cheese is like nothing you have experienced and I'm not quite sure how to describe it other than say it has a cajun flair. The green beans were great, and were seasoned with sausage. And finally, the potato salad was good, thick, and had a nice dill seasoning.

Thanks, Destiny, for treating newcomers with such friendliness. I'm glad I work in the area, as I'm going to be a regular soon.

First stop in Texas and it was an excellent choice. Thank you Yelp! I ordered the fried catfish and fried shrimp platter which came with French fries and a side of Cole slaw. The fried shrimp and fried catfish was extremely tasty. Best I've ever tasted! Portions were huge, but I managed to gobble everything down because it was too good to go to waste. The sweet waitress offered me a cup of gumbo while I waited for my food to come. It was the most delicious soup I've ever tasted. The flavors jumped in my mouth! I don't know what it's made of but I know they add shrimp tails and some kind of sausage in it to bring out the flavors. I didn't have enough for the bread pudding, but this place is must if I ever get the chance of visiting Texas again. 5 stars for the food, superb customer service, and festive decor!

The food tasted great! My only critique is that the red beans and ric weren't piping hot. The boudin was great - good tastes and consistency. Definitely authentic. Catfish seasoned to perfection! Bread pudding topped it off. Rich sweet and decadent.

An Open Letter to the Big Easy:

Your loyal fans have tried to tell you over the last two years things that would improve your business and grow. I have been here 5 times and have observed the following:

1. Get rid of the piano player, as the instrument is just too loud and annoying for your small place and having him/her is just tacky. Trust me, no one likes the music, but they are just polite.

2. Quit putting parsley scattered on EVERY single thing you serve as a garnishment. It is ridiculous.

3. Your red beans are pasty and suck. I ate red beans my whole life in New Orleans.

4. That gravy and spices on your roast beef poboy is horrendous. Use pan dripping and real bottom roast, instead of that processed meat, packaged gravy, and kitchen bouquet you use for that extremely dark-colored gravy.

5. Your gumbo is off and a poor representation of creole or Cajun gumbo. The gumbo at Jason's deli is terrific; yours isn't. Your jambalaya lacks flavor, character, and texture.

5. Get rid of those Styrofoam cups; the prices you charge, which are 50% higher than comparable food dictates giving a customer at least a hard plastic glass.

6. Lower your prices please. You are way over priced for what you deliver. It is ridiculous that the people of San Antonio who are craving anything New Orleans will pay for items that are overpriced by at least 50%. Even some of my elite Yelpers love this place, and I feel bad if they only knew how good New Orleans cuisine could be.

A Red Beans and Rice Cooking Tutorial:

Start with rendering a ham hock, fat back, some Patton's hot sausage, pickled pork, or andouille sausage first, then,
Pour off some of the grease.
Saute the trinity (bell pepper, celery, onion) in that grease.
Dump in Camelia red beans (washed, soaked for 12 hours and rinsed).
Add water to cover over by one inch
Add bay leaves, salt, pepper, hot sauce, a couple shots of Worcestershire, and garlic.
Bring to boil then simmer for two hours.
Break up 1/4 of the beans to make it creamy
Add parsley and serve.

One last observation: There is another "chef" with Big Easy ties, currently with a successful food truck, who is about to open up his first brick and mortar restaurant (cookhouse), and he is committed to keeping prices low with high quality Louisiana favorites. For the love of all tasty dishes from Louisiana, I, for all San Antonio foodies, wish him success.

First off - I am a foodie - AND I have been married to my lovely Cajun bride (Port Sulphur, LA) for 29 years. During my last trip to New Orleans, I spent the off-hours looking for the ultimate Muffaletta!

PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THIS DUMP. They failed in every possible way and pounded defeat out of the jaws of an easy victory.

My adventure at Big Easy Café began on a Saturday-10/12. I had an hour and a half to grab lunch and was in a "new to me" area of San Antonio.

I asked Apple's SIRI to find a restaurant near me and was delighted to find "Big Easy Café" - real Cajun food from some Katrina-affected Lousianans who put down roots in San Antonio and opened a restaurant. Yay!

I parked in their lot. (Unusual-their restaurant does not have any windows looking out onto the parking lot. You enter through the door "blind"...)

it was not crowded (four seated tables waiting for food, I was #5) and had walls full Mardi Gras decorations. Fleur de Lis, green, purple, and "bling". They had some food on a "buffet table", but it was behind the order counter. Odd.

I waited 10 minutes for the waiter to bring a menu. Instead, he brought two menus (one laminated with Sharpie marks on it correcting a few items), the other a piece of printed paper, also with Sharpie corrections. Odd. But the choices looked good...

I found their "1/2 Sloppy Roast Beef Po'Boy", and started salivating. (New Orleans has a legendary "dirty Po' Boy" with tender Roast Beef, Ham, cheese, and a special "dredge" that is used to flavor the meat and soak into the bun. This could be gooood!)

10 more minutes and the waiter stopped by to take my drink order. I asked if their lemonade was "home made" and fresh - he said yes, of course. (There were at least 5 other folks "working" the front and back positions at the time... He seemed to be the only "take your order" guy.) So - fresh lemonade it was!

And could I have your "1/2 Sloppy Roast Beef Po'Boy" - but instead of French fries, could I get Red Beans and Rice? Or Hushpuppies? (Answer: No, and No.) A bit more haggling and we could trade out the fatty fries for some greenbeans.

Since it was all new to me, I also ordered a portion of Red Beans and Rice, just to see how gooood it was.

The Red Beans and Rice was interesting. I watched while somebody peeked out from the curtain between the food prep area and the dining room, grabbed a scoop of rice from the "buffet table", and ducked back. Moments later, my Red Beans and Rice appeared - with a dollop of lukewarm sticky rice on top of a small portion of beans. (Nice chives sprinkled on top.) The beans were hot, and when mixed up together-it was pretty good. (But the mystery-hand-dipping-rice from the buffet tray still bugged me. I had plenty of time to wait and watch...)

I stopped by the restroom. (Advice - don't.) Very stale, very dirty, with the commode constantly running.

A few more customers came in. Sure enough, the rice was coming from the buffet table, dipped by a mysterious person from a back entry, then sent to the kitchen/prep area, then out to the table. Very odd.

Still looking around, still waiting, I noticed that several of their interior ceiling lights were burned out. Worse, you could see dozens of little dry bug-bodies (roaches!!!) decorating the light fixtures. Not good at all.

Another lady (not my waiter) dropped off my lemonade. No, it was not "home made". No, it was not "fresh squeezed". It was bright/artificial YELLOW made from a powder. (Sigh - so much different than home-made... That's a problem - and a big gap in communications.)

At the 1-hour-10-minute mark, my "1/2 Sloppy Roast Beef Po'Boy" finally arrived (with my negotiated greenbeans). The greenbeans were hot, but lacked flavor. The roastbeef appeared to be overflowing the 7-inch half-bun (yay!) until I noticed that it was held up with two quarters of a greenish tomato. (That was not overflowing roastbeef, it was two quarter-tomatoes stuffed into the split roll to prop up what appeared to be a ladle-full of roast beef medallions. And these were tiny pre-cut "medallions", not the rich, thin-sliced roastbeef of Louisiana Legend.)

The sandwich (remember, this is a $10.00 sandwich) was quite tiny, with a pool of soup-like gravy and tiny little "roast beef medallions". This was not slow-cooked flavorful roastbeef. This appeared to be something out of a reheated TV dinner with a slippery cornstarch gravy drizzled on top. Very very disappointed indeed. No flavor. No spices. No cooked-all-day tender roastbeef. The bun was good. The deceptively-placed tomatoes were pretty un-ripe. And my disappointment was now complete.

I scarfed the sandwich (6 bites) and the greenbeans, washed them down with the "lemonade", and asked for my check.

A final twist - I flinched at the $18.69 price (after tax). I asked the cashier to double-check, this was a HALF-sandwich with a small side of RedBeans. The cashier said I was lucky to get it.

What an experience.

One of my co-workers had been to Big Easy over the previous weekend and suggested that we go there on one of our group lunch outings this week, as we all love good Cajun. He promised authentic, delicious 'Nawlin's food, and he'd lived there so I believed it.

His promise wasn't far off, but there were a host of other problems that prevented my enjoyment of said food.

First, upon being seated the waitress informed our group that the credit card machine was down and that we would have to pay cash. (After consulting with another friend who had been there, he said this had happened to him, too. The norm?) This was inconvenient as no one in our group had sufficient cash, so we were told to go to the Valero "next door" and use their ATM.

Except Randolph Blvd is shut down going toward the Valero, which wasn't really next door after all. So after a 10 minute drive up to the next cross for 35, back to Randolph to the Valero and returning to the restaurant, I find out that my order cannot be filled.

I had ordered dirty rice and a cup of gumbo. Standard fare for a Cajun place, right? They were out of gumbo. So I ordered the crab bisque, instead. Still soup-y, good enough. I preferred the gumbo, but I was hungry and after the drive to the Valero was feeling slightly less choosy. But they were out of the bisque, too.

I settled on jambalaya and dirty rice. Essentially, rice with a side of rice. While both were good, they weren't a hearty meal in and of themselves. And pricey! I was surprised at how expensive everything on the menu was, especially given the locale and their apparent ability to deliver.

It's very unlikely that I will go again. And if, on the off chance someone drags me there against my will, I will DEFINITELY call ahead.