Roux Dat Cajun Creole

Yes! Roux Dat! The food here is excellent! I always get the fish po boy and it never disappoints. Very nice staff too. Check this place out!

I would give Roux Dat a 4 if it was in New Orleans, however it gets a 5 because it’s in Santa Cruz with nothing like it. Flavors are great, and a great deal. Juse tried the Gumbo, spectacular. You can go all vegetarian, and very good.

Delicious! Interesting flavors and quick service. We ordered the catfish po’boy with Cajun fries, and the «pick 2» with spicy maque choux and veggie jambalaya. 5 stars on the po’boy, 5 stars on the maque choux, 4 on the veggie jambalaya. Hearty portions! We shared with our two kids, and were happily full — especially after enjoying a portion of warm beignets with rum sauce. Highly recommend!

Horrid turnoff at Windmill because of waiting almost 40 min for our food, which turned out I could have made at home. We headed straight here for round 2 and totally turned 360 happy. For a small place it had everything nawleans including great beer. Ridiculously great prices, great food, and great combo options. I had no favorite because everything I had was damn delicious. .so much I had to order another round of hush puppies for the road.

I’ve been here twice. Both times the flavors were off.
1^st time — I tried the jambalaya. SUPER salty. and i love my salt.
2^nd time — flavorless and seafood was overcooked
my parents love this place so they come here quite often. next time i’ll try a sandwich.

This little place is so much more than it apears. I had never had Cajun-​Creole food and was blown away with the flavors of their stews. Their po’ boy oyster sandwich was heavenly — soft bread and crispy oysters and shredded lettuce was another delight. We finished off with the FRESH beignets with rum flavored dipping sauce. Now I know why people go to New Orleans, but we don’t have to. The prices are inexpensive too since it’s order from the counter.

My son wanted to try something new for his birthday so we went looking on Unilocal and found Roux Dat. I have tried many a Cajun themed restaurant in multiple locations across the USA with extremely mixed results. Some have been outstanding and many have been poor interpretations of Cajun cuisine based on poor public perception of what LA cooking is really like. Well Roux Dat came through on the good side of the ledger with flying colors.
It’s a small place with a small kitchen and small staff, which could present problems if they tried to do a full blown LA menu like so many places try to do. They have chosen to focus on two main things, poboys and stews. For a small kitchen this is very smart as the stews can be made ahead and the main fresh cooking activity is limited to the poboys.
We had a variety of the stew items, Crawfish Maque Choux, Jambalaya, and the Gumbo. All had outstanding flavor. My favorite was the Crawfish Maque Choux. We also had the oyster poboy. The oysters were nicely cooked with a crispy exterior and luscious interior. So many times I have had overcooked fried oysters that this was a pleasant surprise.
It’s a basic order at the counter and they bring it out to you kind of place. Not a fancy place. Focus is on the food and it’s very noticeable. We will be back.

Okay, it’s pretty simple: if you advertise yourself as a Cajun restaurant, then proceed to serve me the worst Jambalaya I’ve eaten in my life, then you deserve low ratings. Unilocal,you’ve fooled me with the 4.5 stars!
A delicious jambalaya should NOT be 80% liquid/​sauce, but that’s precisely what I received. Floating pieces of rice, veggies, and sausages in an unpalatable pool of sauce. I mean, it would’ve been forgivable, had the sauce been good. But nope — its inferiority was barely masked by an overabundance of salt, pepper, and spices. There was no real genuine Cajun flavor.
Two stars and two thumbs down.

Simply put this place is amazing! Inside a strip mall was not someplace I would expect to find, not great food, but EXCELLENT food. Also the selection of hot sauces at the table is also amazing. I had one called «Slap Your Mama». It did not disappoint.
I had the chicken and sausage gumbo. The flavor was amazing. I am no creole expert, but I know what I like when I am paying for it. It was so good.
The beignets are amazing, much closer to the real deal then the kind you get served at Disneyland (my only point of reference for these)
The place is small (think ½ the size of your average Starbucks). The staff is friendly. The menu had lots of choices, but since I do not live there it’s going to be awhile before I get back.
If you are looking for something a little different, this is the place. Don’t be put off by the location. There is some great cooking going on in this strip mall and it’s called Roux Dat!

We’ve been meaning to try Roux Dat for a while. Our small family happened to have the day off and was nearby, so we took advantage of the opportunity.
First thing that surprised me were the relatively inexpensive prices. Less than ten bucks for a choice of stew, including jambalaya, etoufee and gumbo. The missus had the crawfish chili cheese etoufee, I had a shrimp chowder/​jambalaya combo, our son had an oyster po-​boy with cajun fries. Everyone was happy! I’ve been to NOLA several times and thought most everything was at least on par with the original. The beignets were nice and piping hot and worth the 4.50, but sorry, not as good as Café Du Monde, but that’s a tall order. :) Staff seemed very friendly and helpful.
Will definitely be visiting Roux Dat again!

Been here twice, once just after they opened and last week. Both times the gumbo and stews seemed overcooked and missing something. Salt, fat and savoriness? Slow cooked stews should taste better after cooking but these were just ok.
Beignets were on the doughy side with way too much powdered sugar. Could not taste the beignets through it.

Holy cow!!! This is the real deal! Other restaurants have tried to do Cajun and others have failed. I never thought one could get something this authentic outside of New Orleans. I had the fried oyster Po’boy and they used real oysters instead of those pre-​frozen breaded ones like every other restaurant. With much trepidation, I ordered the beignets for dessert. I knew it would be impossible to match Café du Monde but I was wrong. Spot on-​hot, light, moist. It’s a little hole-​in-​the-​wall so you order at the counter. The lady who took our order and brought the food was a sweetie; not just phoning it in.
And the prices? Cheap. I’m telling all my friends about it and I’ll definitely go back. I hope they get a lot of business because this is one treasure I don’t want to see go under

Very simple layout of entrée + rice or 2 entrée + rice for a decent price at around $ 10/​person.
We tried out 6 different entrée’s and for most of them, they were delicious.
For the price/​speed/​value, I think it’s great!

Amazing!
I was visiting from Seattle and my friend suggested we go here, he had been once before and loved it.
I had the Chicken and sausage gumbo, and shrimp and corn étouffée. If was amazing! My mouth exploded with Cajun spices.
I highly recommend this place to eat!

Besides the stew and rice dishes from first visit. Came back to try the SANDWICHES… DELISH !! The mufalada (sp?) sandwhich was our first time and it was meat heavy and fresh tasting with olives and traditional add ins. The shredded beef sandwhich was moist, tasty and yummy. It was paired with perfectly seasoned Cajun fries and an addicting cup of red beans and sausage w/​white rice… It’s so good.
See pics…

Corn and shrimp étouffée is delicious, just a tad creamy and sweet — unfortunately with stews the shrimp is overcooked.
gumbo isn’t very spicy at all, which was a relief for me but I know that’s not traditional?
However the beignets were a little disappointing as they were rather doughy and dense and super caked with powder.

Came here for the second time and it was packed! The space is pretty small (only about 7 tables inside, 3 outside), so we ordered something to go.
A bowl of one item is $ 9, a bowl of two is $ 9.50. We got a bowl of the crawfish maque choux and vegetarian jambalaya with brown rice. I’m no expert when it comes to Cajun food, but the maque choux was pretty darn good. It had a ton of corn and black beans along with big pieces of sausage and crawfish. The veggie jambalaya was also super flavorful and well spiced. My one complaint is that the pieces of celery were all different sizes — made the dish look kind of inconsistent.
I’d go back again to try the beignets!

Holy moly why has it taken me this long to come here? For a tiny little place smack dab in the middle of a mediocre strip mall, I was blown away! They have gluten free and vegan friendly traditional creole food. I got the bean and corn Maque Choux (a veggie stew with rice). It had this bread on the side that was to die for. The food was perfectly seasoned and utterly delicious. I couldn’t eat the whole bowl it was so filling. My SO got the spicy fried chicken PoBoy and he said it was awesome. He can’t wait to get it again. Traditional tea with your own level of simple syrup sweetness and mint available. Great service and a nice homey feel. Will for sure come again!

I’m a huge fan. This place is heaven. Awesome food! Friendly staff and fast and courteous service. Love this unassuming hidden place. This time we had:
Jambalaya (shrimp/​chicken/​andouille sausage/​tomatoes/​the trinity/​garlic) $ 9
Chicken & Sausage Gumbo (rich roux/​chicken/​andouille sausage/​tomatoes/​the trinity/​garlic/​file powder) $ 9
Chicken Fricassee (frisk-​ah-​say) (medium roux/​chicken/​mushrooms/​garlic/​tomatoes) $ 9
Crawfish Chili Cheese Étouffée (eh-​too-​fay) cheddar cheese/​black beans/​crawfish/​chili spice/​tomatoes/​onions/​garlic) $ 9
Cajun Spiced bread is so tasty to dip into your dish!
Brown rice option is perfect!
Cajun Spiced Sweet Potato Fries $ 4 OMG good!
Beignets (ben-​yays) $ 4 are French doughnuts to die for!

Zipped up to Capitola to partake in some Cajun Creole cuisine. At Roux Dat you can feast on Cajun classics like etoufee, mufaletta, jumbalaya, gumbo, hush puppies, beignets, sweetened tea and fresh lemonade while listening to lively jazz scores. Personalized and warm service come with every order.
The Shrimp and Corn Etoufee with gulf shrimp, tomatoes, garlic and corn over white or brown rice is a nice hearty homestyle meal infused with warm spices and fresh flavors. It’s served with Cajun-​spiced bread to ensure every bit of savory sauce is lapped up.
Shrimp Po’ Boy comes with loads of cornmeal-​covered shrimp, tomatoes and lettuce on a fresh baked roll and a nice side of their signature Cajun fries dusted with their signature Cajun seasoning (sub in any side of your choice if you don’t want fries). This southern-​staple was my choice for lunch and will probably be my choice for many future Roux Dat meals. Very tasty sandwich! (Note: try not to eat here prior to shopping and trying on clothes at the adjacent Capitola Mall).
Need an accompaniment? Go for the Fried Green Tomatoes and Hush Puppies. They make really good fried tomatoes — at once juicy and crispy with each bite.
The Beignets with housemade caramel sauce are the perfect way to finish off your meal. The beignets here are very tasty; airy and pillowy with a crispy casing.
Keep Roux Dat on your foodie radar if you’re near Capitola. Roux Dat brings savory southern flavors to the seaside city of Capitola.