Cajun goodness: Broussard's keeps it simple and straightforward

Hunter Clark won't mess with a good thing. His customers at Broussard's would set him straight.

Since he and his wife, Stephanie, bought the restaurant in February 2004, Clark hasn't changed much. He added a few Mardi Gras posters and other decorations, but the rest is just as he found it when Barron and Kathy Broussard owned it in the 1980s and '90s.

"A lot of the recipes came from Kathy's grandmother," Clark said.

The sole Cajun restaurant in the area, Broussard's serves up etouffee, gumbo and alligator tails.

"We have not done a lot to the menu," Clark said. "People have been coming here for 20 years, and they want what they've had for the past 20 years."

Mardi Gras-themed paintings by Craig Thomas cover a few of the walls and a Louisiana swamp scene by Don Greenwood spreads over another. Past the room with the two custom-made neon crawfish lies the kitchen and a chef who never tasted etouffee before he started cooking it.

"Anything that's a batch from a scratch recipe, Darrel [Lashley] makes it," Clark said.

Lashley started as a dishwasher at Broussard's in 2000.

"And here I am now in all my glory," he said. Lashley now cooks up all the Cajun goodness Broussard's serves.

"It's definitely kind of unusual, especially your etouffee," Lashley said.

The key to liking Broussard's, he said, is "No. 1, you better like spicy food."

Clark brings in as much blues as he can to keep up with the reputation, but "we play whatever people like," he said.

Local acts like the Intention and Mike Renick Band play there and Blues Gone Awry plays as the house band three Sundays a month. But it's the food that really keeps people coming.

Broussard's adds garlic and deep fries its croutons, and Clark said "our secret with our fries is nothing more than Cajun seasoning."

Cajun seasoning and Cajun meats.

Bob Tapley was there to eat the Beale Street steak, topped with mushrooms, onions and Cajun seasoning.

"But I like that alligator tail," he said.

BROUSSARD'S

120 N. Main St.

334-7235