Bo Directs Us to Don’s Seafood & Steakhouse

We crossed over into Louisiana and our first thought was “Bo Bertholot.” For those who don’t know Bo…I’m sorry. He’s a dyed-in-the-wool-Cajun who is currently living in Southeast Missouri…which means he sticks out like a crawdad on a sushi bar.

We had to call Bo and ask where we should eat. But, really, think about the question. Hey, we are in your state…where should we eat? But Bo was up for the challenge. His answer? Drive on up to Lafayette and find Don’s Seafood and Steakhouse.

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WOW, BO!!!!! YOU ROCK!

We had the best meal: Soft-shell crab, seafood gumbo, fried crawfish, crawfish etouffe, stuffed crab, and crab cakes. Ben enjoyed the spicy stylings of cajun country and even Jack got courageous and tried the gumbo, “At first it takes bad, but then when you finish the bite…it tastes good!”

Unfortunately, we were out-of-season for fresh crawfish. But that’s okay…just one more reason to make it back to Louisiana again.

What a great meal!!!!

Now I’m sleepy. Where’s the closest Wal-Mart?

St Louis: Bar Italia (4/5 stars)

Bar Italia is absolutly wonderful. My suggestion is to walk in, order an espresso martini and tell the waiter to “serve you whatever the special is tonight!” You can’t go wrong…I promise.

I recently took three colleagues to the restuarant and each were more than impressed with their meal. I even convinced them to try their calamari salad…rave reviews!

Chicago: Harry Carey's Restaurant (4/5 stars)

I had to travel to Chicago for the day. SuperCom ended at 3pm and my flight wasn’t until 8:25 that evening. I strolled down the Magnificent Mile (bought some golf-shorts at Eddie Baur’s), went to see the OmniMax presentation “The Mystery of the Nile,” and then it was time to eat.

When in Chicago, you have to go by the Harry Carey’ Restaurant. Everyone in sports knows the name Harry Carey. But his restaurant is absolutely fabulous: packed with great history, wonderful photos, and the wonderful food.

Meal
Fried Calamari
Wedge Salad
Pan-Crusted Beef Tenderloins over garlic mashed potatoes
Tiramisu & Cappuccino

The calamari was as fresh as if being on the coast. Served with a very nice cocktail sauce, but also included was a plate with lemon wedges and a bottle of Tabasco. Excellent.

Iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and blue cheese with a thin blue cheese dressing. Often blue cheese dressing is too thick, but this was perfect and a very refreshing salad.

I should have ordered a steak from the tray they bring to your table, I will do that next time for sure. But I usually like to try the chef’s special when at a restaurant for the first time. My choice was very good and I enjoyed it thoroughly, a side of pasta noodles in a red sauce is included with each meal…not sure why because the flavor was lacking.

The tiramisu was good, but I didn’t taste enough rum. Tops in the category of tiramisu are still:
1. LaRusso’s in St Louis
2. Brian’s home in Poplar Bluff

The total experience is worth it. The wait-staff is very friendly and full of charm. The food deserved a strong 3+ stars, but All-in-all with the atmosphere, it’s a solid four.

The Great Strawberry Shake-off

My boys are all about Strawberry shakes and the other day we were headed to a local restaurant to get one when I asked, “Who has the best shake in Poplar Bluff?” Ben decided we needed to taste them all to find out and, thus, we created the Great Strawberry Shake-off.

We’ve created a web site for you to stay in touch with the results, plus I’ll post the winners of each round here.