Fat Tuesday is around the corner, and with it comes a slate stocked with juicy seafood, jumbo cocktails, and shiny beads. Deerhead Sidewalk Cafe starts the party Feb. 11 with a menu that includes seafood gumbo, red beans and rice, shrimp jambalaya, and more that can be washed down with fruit juice-and-rum-filled hurricanes. The following day, the American Legion in Newburgh rolls out a five-day Mardi Gras lineup of gator, oysters, crawfish dip and French bread, po’boys, shrimp boils, and more.
Six Strings on Franklin trades spooky vibes for relaxed tunes on Friday the 13th, with the Jimmy Buffett tribute band Parrots of the Caribbean headlining a bead-heavy Mardi Gras party. Tickets start at $21.50.
Up for sale, Stockwell Inn is marking what could be its final Mardi Gras — always a popular event at the East Side tavern — with a crawfish boil, boudin balls, oysters on the half shell, gator burgers, white chocolate bread pudding, and more through Feb. 17. Fans of Knob Hill Tavern’s annual Cajun Fest can fill up on a huge menu of crawfish étouffée, Creole catfish, and oyster, gator, and shrimp po’boys, plus more dishes through Feb. 17.
Seafood restaurants are taking the opportunity to dial up their usual offerings. Available starting Feb. 13 at Catfish Willy’s are gator fries, cornmeal fried shrimp, blue crab and shrimp dip, Creole shrimp and grits, blackened catfish, and more.
Starting Feb. 13, Donut Bank is bringing back the popular Polish pastry, paczki, plus orders of King cake for five days. The Kempf family business isn’t the only establishment jumping on the paczki parade. Patsy Hartigan’s Irish Pub pays homage to co-owner Joshua Pietrowski’s Polish ancestry on Feb. 17 with a one-day special of a Polish plate, plus the sugary-filled pastry for dessert.
The Frontier Restaurant & Bar in northern Vanderburgh County is packing its Mardi Gras celebration into one day — naturally, Fat Tuesday — with a bash that includes jambalaya and peel-and-eat jumbo Gulf shrimp, plus drink specials.
Need to stretch Fat Tuesday a little longer? Pappa Bear’s Catering is setting up shop outside Myriad Brewing Co. in Newburgh and serving fish or shrimp tacos, Cajun chicken pasta, gumbo, and more Feb. 17-21.
