Lagniappe - A Creole Cajun Joynt

We’ve driven past this corner storefront restaurant a
few times without stopping. Although it’s only been open for a
few months, that’s a three whole months I could have been dining
on some of the finest vittles this city has to offer, and Cajun vittles
at that!

In a city where it’s hard to find a great (even a good) bowl
of gumbo, Lagniappe, is a true gem. No need to qualify or
make excuses for this food—which folks tend to do when they
talk about Chicago Cajun food. This is honest to goodness
mind-boggling food. And I hate to sound over enthusiastic at
the risk of building up expectations, but I don’t care—this place
can handle it.

When we first walked through the door, the skeptic in me
was suggesting that we move on –maybe head up the road to
grab some of Barbara Ann’s to go. Thank god we stayed.

Right now it’s mostly carry out, although there are a few tiny
tables set up.



The menu is classic New Orleans: Gumbo, Jambalaya, Boudin,
Etoufee, Po’Boys, Fried Green Tomatoes, etc. We decided on
a chicken gumbo, a shrimp po’boy, and a Cajun fried chicken
w/ collard greens and dirty rice.

Where to start…

Many that I’ve tasted in restaurant kitchens taste too much of
raw, undercooked flour. This proper gumbo was made with a slow
cooked roux; the vegetables and spices had melted into roux to
form something really special. The heat level was perfect –
not too spicy as to let all of the flavors really shine. Normally
I put a few shots of Tabasco in my gumbo, but not this one.



I had some instant buyers remorse after I heard myself
order the Shrimp Po’Boy. I normally make it a habit never to
order seafood on maiden voyage. But when this plate was
set down in front me—I was blown away by the bounty of
shrimp and the red, yes RED remoulade.

]

The shrimp were sweet and briny. And the size of po’boy made
it impossible to eat right away. First you have to eat about half
of the shrimp on their own or with the remoulade sauce before
you can even think about picking this thing up. I couldn’t tell
you what was in the red remoulade, but whatever it was, it
worked with the shrimp, and was great with the chicken too…



Seriously, it tastes as good as it looks. Juicy tender meat
with a spicy, crisp cracklin’ like skin. Ridiculously good.
And the sides—wow. You get to choose your sides from
an irresistable list: dirty rice, red beans & rice, Cajun
coleslaw, jambalaya or collard greens. We opted for the
collards and the dirty rice. Strips of smoky bacon and
a little vinegar made for some fine collard greens. They
were not the cooked to death version that you get in a lot
of soul food restaurants (which I love). These still had a l
ittle bite left in them. Little yam muffins came with the meal –
think light corn muffins with bits of sweet yam interspersed.
However, the star of the fried chicken ensemble was the
definitely the dirty rice. One bite and you’ll be able to tell
that this is something special, something different.
I mentioned to Pigmon that the rice was the real deal, made
with chicken livers and gizzards. That’s when Mary
(the owner/cook) stepped in to set me straight. She said
that the original dirty rice recipe was made with spleen, and
that’s how she does it too. Spleen, who knew? I could eat
this stuff by the quart, it’s that tasty.

When we asked Mary if she was back there cooking all by
herself, she told us that all of her (culinary school?) interns
had tests, so she was holding down the fort alone. It might
have taken a little while, but all of our fried items were clearly
made to order—anyway, I would have waited twice as long.
Before opening Lagniappe, Mary did a lot of catering, which
she still does—and due to some strange Chicago ordinances
in order to continue her catering operation from her building,
she had to do a carry-out business as well. Lucky for us.

After we ate, Mary took us on a tour of her operation. She
had a nice big kitchen complete with a commercial smoker.
Both pulled pork and smoked turkey are on the menu.
Upstairs, she has a few sunny rooms that she uses for special
events.

At the moment parking is a little hairy because of all
the construction on 79th but think of it as an adventure.

Lagniappe
1525 W. 79th Street
Chicago IL 60620
773-994-6375
Tues-Sat 11-8
Closed Sun-Mon but they will be open for this coming Sunday 4/24 for brunch 11:30-4 "to give people time to come after church"

Trixie-Pea!

Thank you! I'd passed this place one night while with ReneG and BobS. We'd already eaten and had obtained only the take-out menu.

Thanks for the ringing endorsement, I'll have to try it soon.

Regards,

Wow, this is too good to be true. I’ve been watching this place for over a year now (I feared it would never open). When I stopped in to get a menu there wasn’t a whole lot to indicate it was anything special. It’s nice to see there are now some tables, a new addition. Can’t wait to try it.

Cathy2,

The first time I saw it I was with ReneG too--on our way to Chuck's. He mentioned that he had had his eye on it for a while.

I'm not sure why the post is coming up extra wide. I readjusted my pictures and text so that people wouldn't have to keep scrolling from side to side.

trixie-pea

Hi,

I just checked the bottom picture it is 720 pixels wide. If you reoriented it to 600 pixels wide, then you will stop the scrolling.

Yeah, it's always great to learn the mysterious place you drove past is a worthwhile treasure. Again, thank you!

Regards,

I’m so glad that ReneG told us about this place on a driveby. I almost totally gave up on my pursuit of a great Cajun restaurant in Chicago. But I have to give huge accolades to Lagniappe. I have to admit that from the looks of the place, I was expecting absolutely nothing. 20 minutes later, though, I was in heaven. The attention to detail in all aspects of the food borders on incredible. In the gumbo, for instance, the roux was not made in haste like so many others. It gave true richness to the dish. As somebody who believes that a good roux takes at least 3 beers, I know that a lot of care was taken here.
I think the most impressive thing about this stop was that our leftovers tasted even better at home than they did initially. Give it try!

Thanks, Trixie-Pea. Last summer I stopped by a number of times only to find that they hadn't opened. I'll be making a stop soon.

Trixie-Pea,
How are the prices here?

Kim,

Lagniappe is a great value. Most "entree's" are between $6 to $9 dollars--and these are huge portions that come with sides. Our Gumbo was $4.25. And if these prices weren't reasonable enough, Lagniappe participates in the Restaurant.com gift certificate program. They also have daily specials, like "Sweet Wednesday" where you can get dessert (Bread Pudding or Sweet Potato Pie) for a buck.

Not being a dessert fan, I forgot to mention the dessert menu. They have cake in a jar and homemade ice cream...praline pie, peach cobbler, banana pudding...

trixie-pea

Wow, that looks great. I was wondering when some worthwhile food was going to show up near 75th/79th and the Ryan. I mean, really, how the hell is a North Sider supposed to stop for BBQ and not come back loaded down with rotis, jerk, more BBQ, chicken, even pizza, and now Cajun.

While I first spied the place during a reconnaissance mission to Club81-Too, sometime last Fall, I didn't get around to actually visiting Lagniappe until today.*

On the whole, I thought that the food was pretty good. It was hardly representative of my adopted piece of the South, and the Southern foodstuffs that I know anything about, so I will refrain from further commentary. Well, except to say that I thought the gumbo was incredible. I mean, totallly B-R-I-L-L. Layers of flavour, layers of texture, and layers upon layers of smoky, complex heat. I will be making frequent trips--for a good long while--just to feast on that gumbo. Oh, and while I'm there, I'll pick up a big container of the greens. Given the time that it takes me to make something comparable at home, I'll gladly take the greens at Lagniappe. With a couple of days in the fridge--for "maturing" purposes--they'll be damn near perfect.

Trixie-pea's photo of the shrimp po' boy is deceptive. It looks puny. They must serve at least a pound of battered shrimp on that sandwich. And that red, rosemary-flecked remoulade is the part of the sandwich that I liked best. Personally, I could have done without the shrimp. Just give me the toasted bread with a slathering of the remoulade, please.

Sorry. I said more than I had intended. And, what do I know from gumbo and remoulade?

NB I am not sure if my experience was anything like the norm, but I would caution you about a potential wait. We waited nearly forty minutes for an order of gumbo, a po' boy, a couple of sides, and a plate dinner. And, we were one of the only parties in attendance. Folks, staring at four chairs, a bare floor, and four bare walls for forty minutes is an eternity.

EDIT: If our experience yesterday is any basis, my sense is that the kitchen's present talents lie with long-laboured, long-built preps, and not a la minute preps. So, for the time being, my exploration of the menu will follow suit. And, however hasty I may be with this generalization it would seem to stand to some reason, as the restaurant itself is an outgrowth of a catering venture, and one whereby preeminent consideration must be given to those provisions which best hold up to the ravages of time. So, what I am really saying is this: For now, I am not gonna go to Lagniappe when I want to get my fry on.

Regards,
Erik M.

* ReneG told me that it never seemed open, so I'd basically taken it "off radar." So, many thanks for putting it back "on radar" for me, trixie-pea.

WOW.

This is indeed heartening news.

I think I have found a destination for my inaugural Chicago repast with my legion of New Orleans expatriates! Thanks again!!!

(but just wait until I open my own bombastic Creole bistro...... )

Quick review of a Saturday visit:

Shrimp Po Boy, as advertised, is enormous (way bigger than the enormous omlete at BK). We ate the shrimp for awhile, dipping it in the really tasty/complex sauce, then cut it in half and attempted to eat it like a sandwich. Easily the best NOLA-style sandwich I've had in Chicago. Nice, spicy breading, definitely freshly breaded and using fresh shrimp.

Wangs and Waffles - decent version. Good wings, again a spicy breading. The waffles were fluffy, but after the drive home, they'd been quite smooshed. Smuckers to-go syrup on top.

We haven't even gotten to the seafood gumbo we ordered, frankly, the po boy filled two of us up. We force-fed ourselves the 4 wings/waffles.

Parking is terrible right now, and it took quite some time to get our food, but we'll be back. Best we could do in lieu of actually being at jazzfest this year.

Due to the long wait that everyone has been experiencing, I think at this point, your best bet is to call your order in ahead of time. Here is a link to their menu:

Lagniappe's Menu

Glad to hear that folks are enjoying the food as much as I did. The other weekend, I went and tried some of the breakfast dishes that were destined for their upcoming breakfast menu (June).

For those who have a sweet tooth, their french toast souffle was excellent. It was like a (bourbon?) bread pudding that was light in texture, but heavy in sweet-spice. Another standout was a smoked jerk chicken that I mistook for pork. I had never had (or heard of a) "Scottish Egg" before. They looked like a meatball, but were actually hardboiled eggs covered with a spicy sausage blanket and fried. They were rich, but tasty. I think for me, a hearty portion of their grits topped with pulled jerk chicken and a couple fried eggs would be a great breakfast.

trixie-pea

Interesting note on the Scottish eggs, Trixie. That's an old southern dish that's far more indigenous to the Carolinas and Georgia where I grew up than to Louisiana.

I haven't had one in years, I can't understand why a deep fried hard boiled egg coated is sausage would ever go out of culinary style. Maybe the Atkins craze will bring it back with a vengeance.

YourPalWill wrote:Interesting note on the Scottish eggs, Trixie. That's an old southern dish that's far more indigenous to the Carolinas and Georgia where I grew up than to Louisiana.

I haven't had one in years, I can't understand why a deep fried hard boiled egg coated is sausage would ever go out of culinary style. Maybe the Atkins craze will bring it back with a vengeance.

When in doubt, drape your otherwise healthy food in pork product, and deep fry.

I would have liked my Scottish egg even more if it had been softboiled
before being deep-fried, so that when I broke into it, some runny yolk would've provided the much needed sauce for the deep-fried sausage.

trixie-pea wrote:Due to the long wait that everyone has been experiencing, I think at this point, your best bet is to call your order in ahead of time. Here is a link to their menu:

Lagniappe's Menu


trixie-pea

yeah, good advice

what I should have done is gone down to grab an Apple Fritter from Old Fashioned...

HELLO,
THIS IS A GREAT SUGGESTION OF ORDERING AHEAD. WE PREVIOUSLY WERE TAKE OUT ONLY AND MOST OF OUR CUSTOMERS CALL AHEAD FOR THEIR FOOD TO BE PICKED UP. THEREFORE, WHEN PEOPLE COME IN AND DO NOT NECESSARILY SEE ANY OTHER PERSONS, IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE ARE NOT SERVICING OTHER CUSTOMERS OR THAT WE ARE LACKS. IN ADDITION, ON THE DAY THAT THE PERSONS SAID THEY HAD TO WAIT A BIT, TYPICALLY WE DO NOT SERVE PO-BOYS. PO-BOYS ARE TYPICALLY SLATED/RESERVED FOR FRIDAYS, BUT IN THE SPIRIT OF LAGNIAPPE, WE ACCOMODATED ARE NEW PATRONS. ALSO, THE SHRIMP ARE HAND BREADED AND THAT TAKES A BIT. WE ARE MOVING TOWARDS DINE IN, AS THAT HAS BEEN A CONSTANT REQUEST. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF MAKING OUR PATRONS AWARE OF THE NEW CHANGES AND AS WE PROGRESS THINGS SHOULD IRON THEMSELVES OUT. NEVERTHELESS, THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR PATRONAGE.
MARY

trixie-pea wrote:Due to the long wait that everyone has been experiencing, I think at this point, your best bet is to call your order in ahead of time. Here is a link to their menu:

Lagniappe's Menu

Glad to hear that folks are enjoying the food as much as I did. The other weekend, I went and tried some of the breakfast dishes that were destined for their upcoming breakfast menu (June).

For those who have a sweet tooth, their french toast souffle was excellent. It was like a (bourbon?) bread pudding that was light in texture, but heavy in sweet-spice. Another standout was a smoked jerk chicken that I mistook for pork. I had never had (or heard of a) "Scottish Egg" before. They looked like a meatball, but were actually hardboiled eggs covered with a spicy sausage blanket and fried. They were rich, but tasty. I think for me, a hearty portion of their grits topped with pulled jerk chicken and a couple fried eggs would be a great breakfast.

trixie-pea

This is what I love about this site. The odds of my finding Lagniappe on my own were about nil.

But thanks to Trixie-Pea et al., I experienced some of the best gumbo and boudin since I was last in rural southwestern Louisiana. Just the right mix of spice and heat! A triumph. Given the low quality of dishes at Dixie Kitchen (Heaven on Seventh is better), it is nice to place Lagniappe on my culinary map.

The wait for my take-out wasn't too bad, but the fellow there at the same time had to wait about ten minutes for a lemonade: Everything made to order!

Mary, y'all can cook.

trixie-pea wrote:Due to the long wait that everyone has been experiencing, I think at

Another standout was a smoked jerk chicken that I mistook for pork. I had never had (or heard of a) "Scottish Egg" before. They looked like a meatball, but were actually hardboiled eggs covered with a spicy sausage blanket and fried. They were rich, but tasty. I think for me, a hearty portion of their grits topped with pulled jerk chicken and a couple fried eggs would be a great breakfast.

trixie-pea

Finally made it to Lagniappe's this weekend - tried their gumbo, which was
excellent. Got lucky with the wait too, was only about 10 minutes, so didnt
do Old Fashioned's Apple Fritter while waiting for the order (instead went
immediately after - and they were *out* of them! Tragic, that was).

However, as to the above - I know its been pointed out that the "Scottish
Egg" is a dish from the Carolina's? Maybe so, I know I hadnt heard of it
(or about it being from the Carolina's), and they didnt have it at Lagniappe's
this weekend either. However... I *have* heard, for many years now, of
the "Scotch Egg", a fairly well-known breakfast item in Britain (cue laughter
and caustic comments about British cooking). I believe a Scotch Egg is
basically the same thing - not sure if its spicy sausage, but I do
believe its a hard-boiled egg covered with a layer of sausage and fried.
Maybe the Carolina's got it from Britain? (or maybe Scotland in particular -
presumably thats why the English call it a "Scotch Egg" after all

c8w

LTH,

Had a nice group of LTHers yesterday at Lagniappe for lunch yesterday. Unbeknowneth, who nominated Barbara Ann's for a Great Neighborhood Award, and was going to BA's right after Lagniappe as BA's does not open until 2. Evil Ronnie, Flip, Geli, Pigmon, Steve Z and myself.

Frankly I was a little worried about lunch as I called Lagniappe and the phone was temporarily out of service, I had a back-up plan of Tropic Island for jerk chicken, but turns out it was just a bubble in phone service and was back up and running in short order.

We had a nice mix of the day's offerings, Wang and Waffles, which were good, 1/2 fried chicken, which was good, seafood gumbo which was ok and dirty rice, which was good. Hummm, good, ok, not my usual hyperbole when I really like something.

Well, that's because lunch was good/ok, nothing really stellar, the chicken had little, as opposed to what I tired on Saturday at the Evanston Chicken Taste off, spice component and was slightly overcooked, both wangs and 1/2 chicken, and the waffles, while ok, were soggy and slightly laden as opposed to crisp and light. Chicken was still good with crisp skin, but just ok.

Seafood gumbo, while pretty good/ok, was a little on the watery side with an ever-so-slight bitter component from overuse, or adding too soon, file' powder. There was also little seafood in evidence. Once again nothing really wrong with the seafood gumbo, it was ok/good.

Dirty Rice


Creole Candy Sweets


Seafood Gumbo


Upstairs Party Room


Additional pictures may be found here

Dirty rice was better than ok, very flavorful, though a shade on the dry side, and Creole Candy Sweets (potato) looked good, but I shy away from candied dishes and did not taste. I'd comment on fried shrimp I ordered, but I just realized we never got them. No idea if they were on the final bill, which was a reasonable $11 per with drinks, tax and tip.

Frankly I'm more than willing to chalk up yesterdays good/ok lunch to a slightly off day as I have confidence in Trixie-Pea's taste in things culinary and she, along with Pigmon, and others in this thread like c8w, GAF, ab and Erik M very much like Lagniappe.

Overall lunch was really quite interesting and pleasant, though more for the company and conversation than food, though that it always the case at LTH gatherings.

After Lagniappe Pigmon, Steve Z and myself accompanied Unbeknowneth to Barbara Ann's, where we filled in the cracks with terrific, and I do mean terrific, links, tips and a 1/2 slap of ribs. Barbara Ann's was really on yesterday, even the fries were dead-on.

Barbara Ann's


Enjoy,
Gary

Lagniappe
1525 W. 79th Street
Chicago IL 60620
773-994-6375
Tues-Sat 11-8

Barbara Ann's BBQ (and Motel)
7617 S Cottage Grove Av
Chicago, IL
773-723-4780

Tropic Island Jerk Chicken
(773) 224-7768
419 E 79th St (table seating)
Chicago, IL 60619
--1922 E 79th (no table seating)

Gary,

After looking at the picture from BA's I wish I could have joined you. On another note I have now confirmed that it is not wise to take 79th street to the Dan Ryan up to 290 to get back to the burbs. Next time I will just, against my better judgement, trust mapquest.

Flip

G Wiv wrote:Seafood gumbo, while pretty good/ok, was a little on the watery side with an ever-so-slight bitter component from overuse, or adding too soon, file' powder.

fwiw: When I worked off-shore on a jack-up boat south of New Orleans, all the guys taught me that file is a table condiment to thicken and flavor, never a cooking component because it quickly embitters. Basic construction learned there: Flat soup plate, white rice base, gumbo ladled over, sprinkle with file and Tabasco to taste.

Steve Drucker wrote:fwiw: When I worked off-shore on a jack-up boat south of New Orleans, all the guys taught me that file is a table condiment to thicken and flavor, never a cooking component because it quickly embitters.

Steve,

From visits to Louisianan, and cookbooks, that was my understanding as well. Never spent time on a boat off-shore in NO, not even the gambling boats.

Enjoy,
Gary

Flip wrote:Gary,

After looking at the picture from BA's I wish I could have joined you. On another note I have now confirmed that it is not wise to take 79th street to the Dan Ryan up to 290 to get back to the burbs.

Flip,

Barbara Ann's was really smoking yesterday, and the links were especially good.



Heck, if 79th street was that bad, you might been better off stopping at Barbara Ann's with us and then getting on the highway.

Enjoy,
Gary

Gary,

The thing I don't understand is how can you wait 50 minutes for your order in an empty place (ok, there was that couple picking up a to go order) and then be served cold food? Not to mention the absence of seafood in a so called seafood gumbo, which was more like a warm, bitter, murky gruel, with the rice stewed into the mixture and no seafood to be found. I guess the dirty rice was ok, but needed salt. Yams were good. Chicken was left in the fryer too long. And nary a roll or biscuit.

Gary, I'm sorry but you are way too nice. There was little good or even ok at Lagniappe yesterday except the company of fellow LTHers.

I am really evil, arent I?

Evil Ronnie wrote:Gary,

The thing I don't understand is how can you wait 50 minutes for your order in an empty place (ok, there was that couple picking up a to go order) and then be served cold food? Not to mention the absence of seafood in a so called seafood gumbo, which was more like a warm, bitter, murky gruel, with the rice stewed into the mixture and no seafood to be found. I guess the dirty rice was ok, but needed salt. Yams were good. Chicken was left in the fryer too long. And nary a roll or biscuit.

Gary, I'm sorry but you are way too nice. There was little good or even ok at Lagniappe yesterday except the company of fellow LTHers.

I am really evil, arent I?

Evil,

I was going to ask the same question. I was astounded at the temperature of the food, Especially the gumbo. IMHO the dirty rice was overcooked, but still flavorful. Overall, I might give them another chance, but only if I am in the area. 1.5 hr round trip commute was not worth a 50 minute wait for luke warm and overcooked food. More than likely I'll try to visit on a Friday because if I read the menu correctly it's the only day they offer the poboys.

Flip

btw, the sparkling lemonade was terrific.

Unhgappily, I must echo Evil Ronnies review of Lagniappe. Even the cold, sitting in a box for several hours, chicken that I sampled at the Evanston Chicken Taste-off was better than what we were served yesterday. The gumbo was like eating rice, served in dishwater. The dirty rice was OK, though.

I think that we are forgetting something important--the young man who was working there did tell us after the meal that Mary, the owner and chef, was called away unexpectedly due to an illness in the family, and that he was there on his own (until he coerced his VERY young kid brother to come in and help him.) My impression was that he was quite overwhelmed and isn't used to doing all the cooking, etc.

So I think we should cut him (and Langniappe's) a little slack and not write off the experience completely.

I still really enjoyed myself and thought that the dirty rice in particular was delicious. If it's normally even better, then I must go back! I also took some takeaway for my brother, and had a bite of the yam cornbread muffins and they were really, really yummy.

eta: Was the jambalya supposed to be seafood? I thought we just ordered the "jambalaya of the day" and never asked what exactly it was that day...I could be way off base, though.