Your Guide to All Things Food and Drink at Bayou Boogaloo

Bayou Boogaloo, the free, annual festival that winds along Bayou St. John, returns this weekend with an impressive line-up of food, drinks, live music, a “Paddle Battle” boat race, art vendors, and a bike pub crawl.

Here, now, a guide to all things food and drink at the Bayou Boogaloo. To be brief, it comes down to a lot of incredible food and drink vendors plus a bike pub crawl.

Good to Know

No outside food or drink. Support the free festival by supporting its food and drink vendors.

Leave your coolers at home.

The Food Menu

4 of Us: Alligator wrap and crab sauce with fries; crawfish wrap and crab sauce with fries; fried fish po-boy with fries; shrimp po-boy with fries

Ajun Cajun: yakiniku po-boy (garlic ribeye beef); shrimp yakisoba (fried noodles); crab stick and cucumber salad; seaweed and cucumber salad

Any O’Cajun: crawfish beignets with spicy “son-in-law” sauce; crawfish mac and cheese; smoked chicken and sausage jambalaya

Big Will and the Warden, LLC: funnel cake; alligator sausage on a stick with Hawaiian roll; Philly cheese steak po-boy and fries; bacon-wrapped shrimp with french fries, remoulade, and cocktail sauce

Bobby Heberts Cajun Cannon: blackened catfish po-boy topped with remoulade and coleslaw; Cajun nachos with cheddar cheese and crawfish mushroom cream sauce; crab balls with crawfish mushroom cream sauce

Boswell’s Jamaican Grill: beef or veggie patties; festival (sweet bread), callaloo, and plantains (vegetarian); jerk chicken or jerk pork with festival, callalloo, and plantains

Boucherie: meat pie; lemongrass pulled pork po-boy with sambal aioli and pickled green tomatoes; 12-hour roast beef po-boy with horseradish cream and pickled red onions

Bratz Y’all!: beef or pork and veal bratwurst topped with housemade sauerkraut, caramelized onions, and mustard; slow-roasted pork topped with homemade sauerkraut, caramelized onions and mustard; bacon-wrapped pork sausage stuffed with white cheddar and topped with chili-apricot sauce and crispy onions; NOLA Schnitzel topped with crawfish remoulade slaw

Canal Street Bistro: chile Colorado beef taco (beef stewed in red chiles on corn tortilla with cilantro and onions); Cuban sandwich (Cuban style roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, yellow mustard, pickles pressed on French bread); chicken boudin balls with homemade pepper jelly

Clesi’s Restaurant and Catering: boudin links; crawfish bread; boiled crawfish; jambalaya cheese fries (chicken and sausage jambalaya over french fries with cheddar and pepper jack cheese)

Crêpes à la Cart: tomato, basil, and mozzarella crepe (Vegetarian); bacon and cheese crepe; bananas and Nutella crepe; bacon and Nutella crepe

Felipes Mexican Taqueria: taco with choice of grilled chicken, pork al pastor, grilled vegetables or refried beans on soft corn tortillas with cilantro, onions, cotija cheese; and guacamolillo sauce; quesadilla with choice of grilled chicken, pork al pastor, or grilled vegetables and rolled up with melted cheese, pico de gallo, and sour cream; super nachos with choice of grilled chicken, pork al pastor, or grilled vegetables over white corn tortillas chips loaded with refried beans queso dip, pico de gallo, sour cream, cilantro, onions, and pickled jalapeños

Food Drunk: Drunken Pig Cone (18 hour apple hickory smoked pig, braised in Pabst Blue Ribbon, habanero-serrano slaw, and Makers Mark barbecue served in a waffle cone); spicy, chilled boiled shrimp (Louisiana Gulf shrimp chilled and served over a salad of fire-roasted Creole tomatoes, corn, black beans, red onions, cilantro, poblano peppers, and a fresh lime crema); The Rib (apple and hickory slow smoked St. Louis style ribs, Makers Mark barbecue sauce); crab and crawfish mac and cheese

Gonzo’s Smokehouse and BBQ: apple and hickory wood smoked corn grits topped with smoked gouda cheese; apple and hickory wood smoked sweet potato casserole topped with candied pecan crust; pork belly bites; 12-hour hickory smoked beef brisket sandwich served with choice of sweet potato or grits.

J’s Seafood Dock: chargrilled oysters topped with garlic and parmesan cheese; oysters Creole (fried oysters served on top of spinach and artichoke dip drizzled with remoulade sauce); shrimp and grits (sauteed shrimp over jalapeño remoulade sauce); barbecue shrimp po-boy

Loretta’s Authentic Pralines: Pralines (original, chocolate, rum, or coconut); praline shoesoles; pies (sweet potato or pecan); praline beignet (one per order); crabmeat beignet (one per order)

Mid City Pizza: cheese pizza slice; vegan pizza slice; pepperoni pizza slice; red beans and rice with sausage

Monas Cafe: falafel pita sandwich; gyro sandwich; chicken shawarma sandwich

Saltwater Grill: grilled alligator sausage; crab cake salad with remoulade dressing; fried green tomato and shrimp remoulade po-boy; crawfish and spinach boat

The Praline Connection Restaurant: fried chicken wings with greens; fried chicken wings with red beans and rice; fried chicken wings with beignets; vegetarian plate (red beans and rice with greens)

Tru Vietnamese Cafe: shrimp, pork, or fried tofu spring rolls (rice paper wrapped with vermicelli, lettuce, veggies, and peanut sauce); fried egg rolls with dipping sauce; vermicelli bowl (grilled pork, shrimp, or tofu served with rice noodle, lettuce, carrots, and cucumber dipping sauce)

Z’Kaya: chicken yakitori; crawfish lumpia (local crawfish spring roll with mango-kimchi chile sauce); crispy brussel sprouts (lemongrass gastrique, coconut creme, sesame seeds)

The Cold Stuff

Fest Cola Pecan Root Beer with Quintin’s Natural Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Louisiana Lemonade: lemonade and limeade

Meltdown: lemon ginger ice pop; strawberry lime ice pop; pineapple cilantro ice pop; salted caramel ice pop

Nola Snow Snoballs: Snoballs (Choice of regular, cream, mixed, sugar-free, or with condensed milk

Quintin’s Ice Cream: ice cream cups or cones (vanilla bean, cafe au lait, double chocolate, roasted strawberry Creole, swamp mint chip, or salty caramel), sorbet cups or cones (blackberry or Mango Tango); vanilla bean ice cream sandwich with chocolate chip cookie

Bayou Brew Wellness Beverages: Living Water (cucumber, lime, mint, aloe, kale, and spirulina); Crescent Breeze green tea (pineapple, grapefruit, and goji berry); Bayou Palmer (Crescent Breeze with Three Olives vodka or Tincup whiskey); spiked Living Water

Cool Brew Coffee: hot coffee; frozen coffee; iced coffee

Cool Fruit Sensations: lemonade with fresh strawberry, blueberry, watermelon, or pineapple

The Pub Crawl (May 20)

The route is short and the pace is slow. Plan on a day that starts around 8:45 am and ends a little after 1 pm. Bikers are asked for a $20 donation for the ride. Free food, music, and local history. Both alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks are available at each stop for purchase.

9 am: The pub crawl starts at the Homedale Inn (618 Homedale St.), a dog-friendly, neighborhood bar in Lakeview, but doors open at 8:30 am for those who want to get a jump start or need to fill out paperwork. Pub crawl officials will be set up at a picnic table on the back patio.

9:50 am: Rosedale Restaurant (801 Rosedale Dr.) is an out-of-the-way restaurant located operated by Chef Susan Spicer in a building that once served as the 3rd district police station. Variety of local beers on draft, as well as wine and cocktails.

10:40 am: The next stop is Second Line Brewing (433 N. Bernadotte St), a Mid-City microbrewery with a beer garden. Craft beers are available on premises, and a 64-oz Growler can be purchased for on-the-go drinkers.

11:40 am: A 15 minute ride will get bikers to the newly-opened Seven Three Distilling Company (301 N. Claiborne Ave) We’ll have about a 15 minute ride to get to our next stop on the other side of Bayou St John. Unique vodka, gin, rum, and whiskey made from locally sourced ingredients.

12:30 pm: The final stop is the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club (732 N. Broad St.) has been “the crowd favorite for each of the previous eight years.”