Cajun Kitchen

My friend from Louisiana recommended the place and I was not disappointed!
Gumbo was excellent. The spice level was perfect for me. I got it as a bowl and I gulped it down. I really enjoyed it with rice.
They also have a small menu for kids. The kids enjoyed their Mac n Cheese. It was mild and creamy. One dish was enough for my toddlers to share.
They don’t have a lot of seating but when we got there Saturday for lunch. There was plenty of seating there and staff there were friendly and quick.

Taste: 5
Value: 4
Service: 5
Went here after a friend who came from the south recommended it. We had the shrimp cajun poorboy, gumbo, and kids mac n’ cheese. The food was all solid. I appreciate that the shrimp poorboy wasn’t deep friend shrimp, and had succulent shrimp that was stir fried. The gumbo was authentic and had deep flavor. The kids also liked the mac n’ cheese. They also have some unique drinks that you can’t get anywhere else. Did you know Abita makes sodas that are non-​alcoholic? I didn’t. Nor did I know there was something called Swamp Pop, which looked pretty good. We had the Abita strawberry seasonal brew, which was tasty.
The servers were really friendly, and let our kids explore the decorations in the restaurant. Mardi gras beads and masks, Alligator heads, and other decorations were open for our kids to play with.

Being from Louisiana, it’s hard to find good Cajun food out here in San Diego. But this place. OH MY GAAAAWD. It’s amazing. I have the fried shrimp poboy, red beans and rice, bread pudding, while a friend had potato salad, pecan pie, and the roast beef poboy. This place is absolutely amazing.

Service was great and the food came out quick but our big problem was the food wasn’t good at all. We tried the fried gator and greens which were a huge disappointment. The other food was less than average. If you really know Cajun food I wouldn’t suggest you go here.

Lawwwwwwwwd! Boudin ball are soooo good! That’s all I want to eat when I go. I also had a shrimp po boy. I ordered the reg. Why did I do that?!? The half would have Ben good enough. Sorry I don’t have the pic. I tasted everyone’s food and it was delish.
I had the pleasure of meeting the cook Mike. He is a nice person. I forgot the young mans name that was our server I think it’s Ryan. I’ve only went on a Sunday. Ohhhhhhh! The homemade potato chips!!! I’ve never tasted fresh cooked chips. Seasoned right.

Came here with family and waited Way too long for our food, over 90 minutes for the appetizers alone! The server was super nice, but this didn’t help our hunger. The hush puppies were the first thing to come out, and they were undercooked and raw in the middle. To make up for it, they gave us some fried shrimp, but I didn’t enjoy any of the fried appetizers, even the fried green tomatoes.
I will say the wine was very good, and the front of house service excellent. I also enjoyed the flavors in my entrée (crawfish étouffée).
I normally wouldn’t leave 2 stars for a place just for taking too long, but no one offered to take anything off of the bill for our ridiculously long wait or undercooked appetizers. Also, I have to mention that after dinner I felt like I had a huge dose of MSG. Looking back the food was very flavored and super salty. I was very thirsty afterwards, couldn’t drink enough water, and had a headache. This happens every time I accidentally ingest MSG. I usually ask at asian food restaurants, but didn’t think to ask here. Just be careful if you have an allergy. Also be prepared to wait if you come here on a weekend night.

Great Etoufee’, Gumbo, bread pudding.
Roux is splendid.
Exemplary customer service. Thank you Ryan!

First time here and it’s good. Very interesting to find true Louisiana creole food comfort style. The inside of the place is nostalgic with deep southern Louisiana style bayou. The food menu is very southern not too many places has poboys. Location is good for tourist to come visit. Sweet tea is the best and the gumbo is to die for.

I search for cajun food in san diego and found this restaurant from Unilocaler’s recommended. I got gombo as a appetizer and clawfish eltrouflle for my main dish. Gombo taste good. Lots of spice taste perfect for the combination of them but the main dish is a little bit disappointed for me. The spice is not intense as gombo does so it is not well balance with the rice. Sweet tea is ok.

Anytime I go to a Cajun/​creole restaurant I always try the étouffée. EXCELLENT! This place will definitely be on my list of must returns. What makes this place a 5 star joint is the friendly service. Great food and good service, you can’t go wrong eating here.

I love Cajun food! Creole Seasoning runs through me. Lol I ordered the Crawfish Etoufee and it was amazing!!! This was better than any Etoufee I’ve had in New Orleans. The next time I’m in San Diego this will be my first stop!

My favorite Cajun dish is Crawfish Étouffée, and Cajun Kitchen nailed it. It had a rich roux with lots of tails. The serving size was very healthy too.
It’s a cool little spot with interesting décor, as well as great service.
My wife had the Blackened Catfish salad, which I had a bit of, and was also really really good.
Also, both our dishes were garnished with some of the best garlic bread I have ever had.

The shrimp po’ boy and potato salad are yummy! So far these are the only two things I’ve tried…

I hadn’t had Cajun food before this, but anyone would be able to tell from one bite that the Cajun shrimp here is something SPECIAL. What is in that sauce??? It’s a spicy (sea)food lover’s dream come true. Seriously. And it comes with rice so the rice gets all the sauce mixed in and everything is one fiery party in your mouth.
We split the Cajun shrimp between the 2 of us and got a medium size gumbo on the side. The shrimp turned out to be plenty already — if we went back we’d probably just get the shrimp. The gumbo was definitely tasty, but man… that Cajun shrimp is just way too good. Hearty, and packing the heat, and plenty of juicy shrimp… mmmm…
To say the least, we’ll be back.

Love this place and the food was amazing. Had crawfish étouffée for lunch. I will be back

It’s our first time here. We decided to order the waitresses recommendations of a cup of gumbo, some fried green tomatoes, crawfish étouffée and Cajun shrimp! I would think that a native New Orlean’er would be quite happy with everything! We found everything to be great the only comment is that we believe that the cajun shrimp was a bit too spicy for even my palate! All in all we had a great experience and will be back!

Great, great, great crawfish etoufee. Super tasty food, great service. Convenient location. I couldn’t believe that I haven’t visited this place sooner until I asked how long they were in business. I think they opened late last year. Portion was not super large, but perfect for my lunch.
I will definitely return on future trips to San Diego.

Ooh yes I’m a fan of the Gumbo and the toast that came with it.
Mike the owner was very nice and came to where I was sitting to explain how he makes his
«étouffée» and the secret ingredients. :)
This is a nice restaurant located in downtown gaslamp with a rustic décor.
Came here for a quick bite and I’m glad that they have ½ lunch portions as oppose to eating a large plate.
Service and food was great and definitely a place to try again.

The interior has a rustic charm and is well decorated. The service was efficient and friendly. There was a special for $ 3 Abita beer (a Louisiana beer; the IPA was good, the Purple Haze would be better during the summer months). The portions were adequate sized.
So what went wrong? Well, the food just didn’t taste good enough. It didn’t taste Cajun at all. The Shrimp Po’Boy was just a shrimp sandwich as the bread and lettuce overwhelmed the meager seasoning and flavor of the shrimp. The jambalaya was also a bit underflavored. And worse, it had the consistency of reheated food from the prior night. The rice was mushy and the sausage was dry and no amount of hot sauce was going to fix those problems.

Wonderful place, cozy atmosphere with delicious food and friendly service! I agree with previous reviewers and think we need more places like this downtown rather than chain restaurants.
We ordered to share between the two of us the fried green tomatoes, crawfish étouffée, crawfish and corn bisque and a cup of jambalaya.
Our favorite was the crawfish étouffée, so much flavor, so much crawfish! Fried green tomatoes crispy and tangy, not overly battered. The crawfish bisque was creamy with lots of crawfish, delicious!
Most importantly everything tasted fresh and homemade, accompanied by friendly service!
We will be back!