3 Long Island restaurants for true New Orleans cooking

You can count on Long Islanders to pay attention to Louisiana cooking at least once a year: On Mardi Gras — this year, March 4 — everyone seems to want to let the good times roll. French for "Fat Tuesday," the day before Ash Wednesday was traditionally an occasion for Catholics to get their last helpings of rich food before the privations of Lent.

The last few years have not been kind to Long Island’s Cajun and Creole restaurants. Biscuits & Barbeque in Mineola closed last year and Mara’s Southern Kitchen in Syosset closed in 2022 — though Mara Levi's cooking lives on at Mara’s Homemade, a caterer and producer of sauces, pickles and more that are available at select stores on Long Island. Longer gone but not forgotten are The Bayou in North Bellmore, Storyville in Huntington, the short-lived Top Hat Oyster Bar and French Quarter Kitchen in Bellmore and R.S. Jones in Merrick (now the coffee shop RS Beanery). 

Of course you could satisfy a bit of an itch at one of the Island's many "Cajun" crab boil places, but for a true taste of New Orleans cooking, may we suggest ...

Louisiana Joe's Sandwich Shop

488 Merrick Rd., Oceanside

Since 2015, this modest-looking breakfast-lunch spot has been serving up some of Long Island’s most accomplished Cajun and Creole dishes. The eponymous Joe is chef Joe LoSchiavo, a passionate fan of New Orleans cuisine who was formerly executive chef at B.K. Sweeney’s Uptown Grille and George Martin in Rockville Centre. You can start your day with a gumbo omelet with andouille sausage, lunch on muffuletta (the famous antipasto sandwich), gumbo and jambalaya, po’boys stuffed with shrimp, oysters, roast beef, chicken, turkey and even french fries. More info: 516-442-9838, louisianajoes.com

Big Daddy's

1 Park Lane, Massapequa

Massapequa’s expansive roadhouse truly is Long Island's Big Daddy of Creole cuisine — it's been rollicking since 1993, endearing itself to diners with such twists on tradition as shrimp and habanero-goat-cheese grits and Vieux Carre pork and waffles, smoked, pulled pork and bacon on a waffle that is subsequently smothered in Cheddar and bourbon-maple syrup. On Mardi Gras, Big Daddy’s will have live music, crawfish boils and more specials. More info: 516-799-8877, bigdaddysny.com

Blackbird's Grille

553 Old Montauk Hwy., Sayville

If you squint at Blackbird’s Grille’s roadhouse-style building, set back from the road and situated between Islip Grange Park and Sayville’s string of Sans Souci lakes, you could almost pretend you’re on the bayou. According to owner Ed Black, the restaurant "inherited" its Cajun and Creole specialties. When Black, his brother Wayne and family friend Wes Little bought Sayville’s Sweet Magnolia in 2005, they changed the name, but customers wouldn’t countenance the loss of jambalaya, crawfish, gumbo or po’boys. More info: 631-563-4144, blackbirdsgrille.com