Bozo's - Metairie, LA

Posted By Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle on April 13, 2009 1:11 PM

There are few places in the U.S. where seafood is handled with as much care and understanding as it is in Louisiana. One of the best examples of the local way with seafood, catfish and oysters in particular, is at the simple Metairie family tavern called Bozo's, a few blocks from Lake Pontchartrain's shores.

One of the first things you'll see upon entering is the oyster bar. Ask the gentleman manning that bar about the quality of today's oysters and you'll get an honest answer. Whatever his assessment of the days supply, you can be sure you've never dined on oysters any fresher than these, opened and plated by someone who has clearly done this thousands upon thousands of times before.

Whether or not you choose to sample the oysters, we recommend you begin your meal at this seafood house with one non-seafood item in particular: chicken and andouille gumbo. This gumbo, a specialty of the house, is light in body but big on flavor, filled with slices of the Cajun sausage and chunks of chicken that may still be attached to the bone. Fantastic! The warm and crisp, toasted and pre-buttered bread placed on your table goes great with the gumbo; if you arrive hungry you'll probably be on your second loaf by the time the gumbo arrives, not because the gumbo is long in arriving but because the light-textured local bread is so gosh-darn addictive, like good garlic bread without the garlic.

You can enjoy many of the local specialties at Bozo's, like shrimp remoulade, BBQ shrimp (if you've never had this in NOLA, it's not what you think), and red beans & rice, and you can enjoy those oysters fried if you wish, by themselves, on a loaf, or in various permutations with the other fried seafood (most of which can be ordered broiled too). There's also the Louisiana state dessert, bread pudding, if you have the appetite.

But we most of all recommend the fried catfish, either in a loaf (or half-loaf) or on a platter with homemade potato salad (or French fries) on the side. These are wild Des Allemands catfish, not farmed, and the difference is significant. The boneless fillets come wrapped in a highly seasoned cornmeal crust, and the moist flesh of these fish is some of the sweetest cat you'll ever taste. The frying, done with an expert hand, leaves not a hint of grease.

Bozo's has been around for about 80 years, and it's very much a neighborhood kind of place. While you'll probably encounter few tourists here, outlanders are made to feel welcome. It makes an ideal first meal upon arrival in New Orleans for those coming by air (if the timing's right), as it's about halfway between the airport and the French Quarter.

Overall Rating

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo - Cup

Fried Catfish

Buttered Bread

Broiled Shrimp Sandwich with Lettuce & Tomato

Iced Tea

Potato Salad

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Posted By Michael Stern on March 30, 2010 9:25 AM

Like so many destination restaurants in southern Louisiana, Bozo's does not at first appear to be a compelling destination. It's a bland, low-slung brick building in a nondescript neighborhood. Table tops are easy-wipe laminate; napkins are paper and they come wrapped around a sheaf of silverware. The menu is not huge and contains no seductive adjectives. But everything I have eaten at Bozo's is worth a major detour. Start with impeccable, cool oysters, opened at the bar just moments before arriving at your table. Spoon into supremely flavorful andouille sausage and chicken gumbo, fork up classic shrimp remoulade or get your fingers messy by peeling barbecued shrimp, the last a local term for shrimp that in fact are not barbecued but served in a buttery, garlicky sauce that demands thorough mopping with the fragile toasted French bread supplied for every meal.

Speaking of French bread, Bozo's po' boys are standouts, especially fried oysters, dressed. Even a half-size sandwich is formidable, crowded with oysters that crack when first attacked by teeth, then melt in your mouth. Shrimp and catfish also are available as po' boy fillings -- both superb -- as well as on platters. Other menu notables include red beans and rice with sausage and bread pudding with pecan praline rum sauce.

Service, although casual, is efficient and entirely dependable. All in all, it adds up to a meal that probably seems everyday to the restaurant's cadre of regular customers, but is a special occasion feast for those of us from out of town.

Overall Rating

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo - Cup

Fried Catfish

Buttered Bread

Oysters on the Half Shell - Dozen

Chris' BBQ Shrimp - Small

Bread Pudding

Stuffed Crab

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Posted By TR on November 3, 2010 1:09 PM

My husband and I visited this restaurant Labor Day weekend, Saturday, September 4, 2010. We both ordered combo platters. My food had hair in the oysters and shrimp. There was hair in my food embedded within the cooked batter. I contacted the waiter and I showed him the hair in the food. He had me wait and he took the food to the back to show the owner. The owner comes out in a huff in so many words he called me a liar to my face. He had a really nasty attitude and said rudely as he tossed the plate on the table “What's wrong with the food?, "You saw what?"

I told him about the hair and I showed him the hair in the food. He pretended to not see the hairs, I showed him a second and a third time. The second time he still said he didn't see it and the third time he said he didn't see it as he pulled the hair from the food. (it was embedded in the cooked batter) He goes off towards the back in a huff (He went to the back angrily all the while running his fingers through his own hair as if he didn't know what to do). I could see him through the server window, he threw the plate onto the counter.

He sends the waiter back out about five minutes later saying that I could have anything I wanted. Of course with hair in my food I didn't want anything else and the owner's nasty attitude. We refused to pay for the food. The owner argued and insisted that we pay for at least one of the twenty dollar meals. (even though my husband only ate one shrimp and one oyster and I didn't eat any of it.)

Overall Rating

Iced Tea

Buttered Bread

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