Best Places To Celebrate Mardi Gras In Tulsa
Laissez les bons temps rouler.
“It’s a great party, & anyone who doesn’t enjoy Mardi Gras is not of this world”
New Orleans holds a special place in my heart! It quickly became one of my favorite destinations after spending quite a bit of time in Louisiana traveling there for work when I was an Account Executive for Aveda.
The Crescent City is truly a magical place.
I really want to visit next year during Mardi Gras!
And this year I really wanted to celebrate Fat Tuesday with the ladies for a little early Birthday fun. And Tulsa has some great places to celebrate Mardi Gras…lucky for me.
One of my favorite places to go is Nola’s Creole and Cocktails from The Watershed Hospitality Group. It opened in April 2018 in one of Tulsa’s greatest business districts: Cherry Street. Located in the basement of an old elementary school, the restaurant stays true to its Prohibition Era roots throughout the establishment: from the delicious food and cocktails, to the historic art and artifacts, even to the building itself.
They are a Cajun-Creole inspired restaurant and craft cocktail bar with a laid-back, speakeasy feel. They truly provide the Greater Tulsa area with authentic Prohibition Era cocktails and world class Cajun-Creole cuisine. They offer a wide array of dishes and drinks that are sure to satisfy everyone looking for an authentic New Orleans style experience. You can completely get that “Big Easy” experience without having to get down to New Orleans.
I really love their NEW ORLEANS' COCKTAILS and really love their ZERO PROOF COCKTAILS !!! I am on a Sober Curious journey this year so I love that I was able to actually enjoy a Hurricane this year. Highly recommend their HOOCHLESS HURRICANE with housemade fassionola and fresh lime juice!!! So good! Did not even miss the rum.
But if you are drinking I highly recommend their SAZERAC, MILK PUNCH, and their VIEUX CARRÉ. They have a very good French 75 too.
Some of my favorite things to eat at Nola’s are the JACKED-UP OYSTERS. You get 6 freshly shucked oysters on the half shell topped with bacon, jalapeño, and pepper jack cheese , baked golden. I also love the SKIFFER CRAB CAKES. You can enjoy 2 famous pan seared jumbo lump crab cakes served over a creamy white wine sauce. They are the best crab cakes in town in my opinion…..almost as good as The Chalkboards. ( still pissed they switched those out to Salmon Cakes on their menu)
I really love the OSCAR STYLE FILET too. It’s an 8 oz. center cut filet, cooked to your liking, and topped with one of Nola’s famous crab cakes. Finished with a creamy white wine sauce and served with cheese grits, and choice of one side. The VOODOO CHICKEN is delish too. Two Cajun-fried chicken breasts topped with shrimp and jumbo lump crab in a mornay sauce.
Another fave is the RO DAY RATATOUILLE. It’s a Creole spin on a traditional French dish: zucchini, yellow squash, onion, and red bell pepper. Layered with our house made Creole sauce and provolone cheese and served with a side of okra. I really enjoy their SATCHMO’S RED BEANS AND RICELY too. Savory and spicy red beans with white rice, prepared with Andouille sausage and tasso ham with choice of shrimp, chicken or crawfish.
Nola’s has superb sauces!! I could eat every single one out of a spoon. The BEURRE BLANC is the chef’s kiss.
And don’t forget about the Beignets. They are a traditional New Orleans style fritter, fried and coated with powdered sugar and served with warm spiced rum sauce. They are addictive!!!
Another fantastic place to celebrate Mardi Gras is Cajun Ed's located in South Tulsa. The timely combination of cooking and seasonings creates the authentic Cajun flavor which until now was found only in South Louisiana. Their goal is to provide their customers with a consistent, high quality product and true Cajun flavor. After just one taste you will understand "Un bon diner Cajun excite l'espirit tandis qu'il adoucit le coeur" or "A good Cajun dinner excites the spirit as it warms the heart."
Cajun Ed's, home of the original deboned stuffed poultry, is owned and operated by true Cajuns. Their Cajun Food market has developed unique seasonings, marinades, stuffing's, and cooking processes to produce wonderfully delicious products. They have all the Cajun Favorites: Boudin, Turduckens , Boneless Stuffed Chicken , Boneless Stuffed Turkey , Shrimp or Crawfish Etouffee, Shrimp and Crab Stuffing , Andouille, Crawfish Pie, a variety of Green Onion Sausages, and much more.
They have catered some of our previous Mardi Gras parties!
And can we just discuss the delicious King Cakes!!! I am absolutely obsessed with their King Cake with strawberry cream cheese filling! I mean: Strawberries and Cream, accented with cinnamon and brown sugar, and glazed with icing and sugar sprinkles…who can resist?
King Cake is a standard for Mardi Gras season in Louisiana! You can flavor it how you like, but the strawberry and cream cheese filled king cake is one of the classics! According to Manny Randazzo, people think the king cake tradition was brought to New Orleans from France in the late 1800’s.
The decorations of traditional king cakes include the colors purple, which symbolizes justice; green, which symbolizes faith; and gold, which symbolizes power, in either icing or sanding sugar!
Another fantastic place that really brings pieces of New Orleans here to us in Downtown Tulsa is Peacemaker Lobster & Crab. PEACEMAKER LOBSTER & CRAB is the passion project of Chef Kevin Nashan. Inspired by his time spent cooking and living in New Orleans and his travels along Maine’s rocky coast, Peacemaker highlights the Acadian tie between Northeastern and Louisiana cuisines. The menu features seafood flown in fresh every day, prepared as creative interpretations of coastal favorites like lobster rolls, Poorboy sandwiches, steamed blue crab, seafood boils, chowders, gumbos and seasonal pies.
Their raw bar features a rotating selection of fresh oysters from the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean, peel and eat shrimp, and a Seafood Tower that will impress! I call it the Jewels Of The Sea! In their spacious bar area, sip on classic cocktails like the Dark & Stormy or Sazerac, along with spiked slushies. Rustic and nostalgic, their space is accented by vintage Americana décor, and the walls are lined with photographs of the fisherman and oystermen who supply the kitchen.
Peacemaker is the premiere oyster spot in town, known for it’s expansive and unmatched raw bar selection in my opinion. Truth be told-they are the ones who got me hooked on oysters with their storytelling.
And the Chowder and Gumbo is just so special along with some other favorites of mine.
I adore the STEAMED CLAMS in white wine, garlic, shallot broth with toasted bread and the MUSSELS with tomato, bacon, shallot broth with toasted bread. I am obsessed with the Smoked Brisket Poorboy and the Sweet Potato Poorboy. It features kale, confit tomato, corn nuts, sour cabbage & garlic chive aioli sand it just SO delicious and different! The Lobster Steamed Buns are another unique item you should try! I really love their Hush Puppies too and the Carrot Cake Whoopie Pie.
For Mardi Gras they do have Crawfsh Boils and a lovely Hurricane Cocktail.
And of course….these 3 places are a perfect choice for Mardi Gras celebrations but they are perfect spots any time of the year!
If you cannot get to New Orleans……these 3 restaurants will truly transport you!I’d love to hear about your Tulsa favorites in the comments and discover a few new ones that remind you of New Orleans, so share away!
