Blackened catfish smothered with crawfish étouffée: Mark Davis

Blackened catfish smothered with crawfish étouffée: Mark Davis

On those days when you’re craving flavor and spice and everything nice, Alligator Café should be at the top of your hit list. As you can probably guess from the name, Alligator Café is a Cajun food restaurant with some seriously N’awlins vibes, and lucky for us, it’s right in the heart of Casa Linda Plaza. On any given weekend, crowds from all over Dallas swarm to the White Rock area so they can sink their chompers into Alligator’s crawfish enchiladas, or the blackened catfish smothered with crawfish étouffée. Founder and owner Ivan Pugh has a theory about that: “I always say, ‘Start with the little things, and the big things will take care of themselves.’ It’s all the little things that add up.” We, however, have a theory that Pugh’s impressive return rate might have something to do with his top-secret spice mix. The entire menu is a product of Pugh’s imagination, although he mostly has turned the actual execution over to his cooking staff. However, there’s one thing he’ll never share: “To this day, I still make all my own spices. I don’t trust anyone with my spice recipe. People ask me, ‘Why do you own a restaurant?’ and I say, ‘Because I have the best spice mix in town, and it can’t be duplicated.’”

Sign up for our newsletter!

* indicates required

Alligator Café

9540 Garland
Suite 362
214.821.6900

Ambiance:
Sit-down Cajun food restaurant

Price range:
$7.95 to $20.95

Hours:
Tue-Wed: 11 a.m.–9 p.m.
Thu: 11 a.m.–10 p.m.
Fri-Sat: 11 a.m.–10:30 p.m.
Sun: 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m.

 More dining spots

1 Offshores Nextdoor
This is the way to eat your veggies — fried asparagus. The seared tuna on a bed of greens is a delicious option too. Grilled salmon as well as just about anything you see on that “specials” board is gunna be good. We GUAR-UN-TEE!
9660 Audelia
214.503.1012
offshores-nextdoor.com

2 The Boiling Crab
Did you know mo manje is Creole for “I’m hungry”? (At least that’s what Google says). And when you are, these folks will feed you piles upon piles of spicy boiled crab legs, crawfish (in season) potatoes and corn ‘til you cain’t eat no more. Get crackin’.
10560 Walnut Street
972.272.7086
theboilingcrab.com

3 Shuck N’ Jive
Head to this dive-y and reliable seafood joint whenever you have a hankering for oysters, crab claws, shrimp Creole, fried pickles — that sort of thing — late at night. They serve until 2 a.m.
5315 Greenville
214.369.9471
shucknjive.com