Restaurant recommends: Bayou Bar & Grill

A piece of New Orleans found it's way to Fruitland. No alligators crawl around the Bayou Bar & Grill, on County Road 532, but the food screams in cajun. The staples like gumbo, crawfish dishes and Po'Boys fill the menu, but SE Live got the recommended dishes from manager Lou Truska and Bill Wooten, who owns the Bayou with wife Linda Wooten.

Appetizer:

Gator Creator: Though the wings sell like mad, this appetizer gives you a taste of everything. This bayou sampler platter has mozzarella sticks, fried mushrooms, fried cauliflower, crawfish tails and potato skins scooped by hand and baked in the back.

Entree:

Bayou Blackened Ribeye Steak and Shrimp: This combo is why you drove out to the country. A hand-cut Angus ribeye is seasoned with Wooten's blackened spices and paired with a skewer of shrimp.

"I've been using blackened season since I live in Louisiana," Wooten said. "Very seldom does anybody as for sauce or a knife."

Dessert:

Brownie and ice cream: Though the folks at the Bayou add seasonal treats like pumpkin pie or fruit cobblers, Truska said the homemade brownie with ice cream and chocolate syrup remains a constant on the dessert menu. "We've taken the brownie off and we had to put it right back on," Truska said.

Drink:

Soda or Sweet Tea: While Bayou has a full bar, there isn't really a house specialty. Wooten and Truska said the soda -- fountain and bottled -- or sweet tea quench thirst like anything else. They make southern-style sweet tea fresh everyday. "We sell a lost of it," Truska said.

CONTACT INFO: ADDRESS: 6611 County Road 532, Pocahontas PHONE: 573-833-9999

HOURS: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday