Updated: July 25 at 11:49 a.m.
Gulf Coast Cafe confirmed to Community Impact Newspaper on July 24 that the restaurant was permanently closed.Posted July 12 at 3:10 a.m.
Mexican and Cajun cuisines are rarely paired, but to Wanda Garza, owner of Gulf Coast Cafe, they are perfectly compatible.
The fusion of the two cuisines represents Garza and her husband’s heritage—her family is from Northern Mexico, while her husband, Carson Menard, is from Louisiana. Garza said the blending works because the ingredients they use are similar.
For example, Mexican and Cajun cuisines each use sausage, and the cafe’s chicken burger and gumbo are prepared with Menard’s recipe for chicken jalapeno sausage. The fusion also shows in the seasoning: the hamburger includes a blend of Mexican and Cajun spices, and the restaurant offers both Cajun and jalapeno crab cakes.
Garza said her passion for cooking started at an early age. Some of her earliest childhood memories include helping her grandmothers in the kitchen. Menard also brings his grandmother’s influence into the restaurant by using her recipe for crawfish etouffee—a spicy, sauced dish served over rice.
