First Impressions : Bourbon Street: Cajun Delights Ahead

The good times are starting to roll in the Valley! Bourbon Street (17970 Ventura Blvd., (818) 345-2830) has come to Encino and it looks like it’s going to be hot.

The management certainly is set for success; at an employees’ meeting that happened to take place while I was finishing lunch, I learned that serious waiters can expect to earn a lot of money, that the restaurant expects to have a full bar before long and that any worker who uses the wrong slip for charge cards will be fined $5.

I also learned that Bourbon Street is pink and pretty, with an outdoor patio that looks like it would be swell in fine weather. And that the food ranges from astonishingly good (a crawfish pie in puff pastry that easily would feed four costs $13.95) to terribly disappointing (watery, greasy gumbo that costs $4.25).

All the old Cajun favorites are here--shrimp remoulade (good), baskets of muffins (fair), alligator (I’m saving this one for a later visit) and, of course, blackened redfish, which the chef does very well. In true Cajun tradition, Bourbon Street offers a lot of satisfying food for rather reasonable prices.