Pull up to the purple, green and gold building on Cleveland with its fleur-de-lis, mock balcony and little train car, and you might wonder, where am I? In New Orleans or in Memphis?
Push open the big gold door to Mardi Gras Memphis and the mouth-watering smells will confuse you even more, promising both a cultural and culinary adventure.
So, go ahead. Sit down at a table and look around. Likely, you’ll spot a Henderson family member determined to transport you — at least temporarily — to the shores of Lake Charles for a Louisiana-style home-cooked meal.
“It’s all family operated,” said Penny Henderson, the restaurant’s owner. “My son manages it. I’m here full-time. My daughter works here, and my youngest son works here, as well.”
Simply put, family and food define Mardi Gras Memphis, a Cajun-style restaurant located across the street from the Crosstown Concourse development.
Mardi Gras Memphis, however, came to the neighborhood first and from unexpected beginnings. Three years ago, Henderson was able to turn her everyday hobby into a business after a stint as a senior executive for a behavioral group. She came to Memphis to help turn the business around.
“At the end of the year, I cooked for the team,” Henderson said. “It was a hit, and from there it just kind of happened. There wasn’t a whole lot of Cajun/Creole places in Memphis, and we just decided to give it a shot.”
During the construction of Crosstown Concourse, which now has many restaurants of their own, Mardi Gras fed the building’s developers and construction crews.
“We kind of grew up with that building,” Henderson said. “We’ve always taken care of the construction workers when they were building Crosstown. We had a special price for them and that’s actually the whole story behind the po’boy. It’s to help feed the blue-collar worker. It’s big enough to be able to take some home to their families, as well.”
Along with po’boys, the menu at Mardi Gras Memphis includes traditional gumbo, crawfish etouffée, and originals like Ms. Penny’s Crawfish Corn Chowder.
The authenticity of the Étouffée Stuffed Po’boy starts with the bread — French rolls from Gambino's Bakery in New Orleans. Next, cooks flash fry the rolls to make them extra crispy. Then they are loaded up with Henderson's signature étouffée, prepared from a gorgeous, dark-brown roux, along with traditional spices and crawfish tails.
“We treat people the way people are treated in Louisiana, and that’s everybody’s family,” Henderson said. “You come on in, and we’ll take care of you.”
