Mardi Gras Cafe & Marketplace

This market café has soul. Its a treat to visit and they always have what I need to make it at home when I get inspired. Pralines were a hit. Great to have this gem nearby.

I am sooo glad I found this place! Different foods that ignite your taste buds. Customer service was excellent and all employees were very polite. My new regular spot, can’t wait to come back!

I’m from Louisiana and was excited to visit this place for the food. I’ve tried the gumbo twice. It’s far from the gumbo my family makes. I’m not interested in the food, but I still buy products from here. I usually stop by once every few months to buy crawfish tails, Zapps Chips, and cane syrup to make popcorn balls.

SO glad we found this place!
Since being stationed here, we had yet to find boiled crawfish anywhere — except served in a bag with sauce???
The crawfish here are a taste of home! Hot, spicy, and SO juicy. Hubs & I devoured them in about 30 seconds.
We also ordered the Catfish PoBoy & a Muffaletta & left feeling like we had just gone home to NOLA.
The owner is a sweet guy from Metairie & they had a freezer stocked with goodies! We left $ 100 later lol but very very happy with all of our purchases!

Me and my co-​workers go here all the time. We love it. Friendly people good food decent prices.

Cool little spot. but very out in the boonies of Spring Valley… So service was good. but here are my reviews for the food
Crab cake po’boy. Not very flavorful. kinda plain
Soft shell crab po’boy .this was pretty good. the flavor in how this was prepared would’ve probably went over well if it was like this for the crab cake.
Alligator sausage. Probably the best flavor of all the food there. Only thing is severely over priced for about an ounce or less of sausage. $ 6 for a 4″-6″ piece of sausage cut into pieces.
Not sure if I’ll give this place another shot. seems too out of the way

This place looks so cool. It’s hidden inside where the storage area is. Has a lot of Louisiana favorites. The sandwiches are ok I personally think that they are a little over priced. I had the shrimp po boy it was good. She gave me a good amount of shrimp. I will be coming back for some gator sausage.

I never really heard of this place ’til my fiancé’s family decided to plan a sundate lunch. It’s a pretty small joint, and I would’ve never gone that far deep into Spring Valley, but it was definitely worth the trip.
Some of our family members have already been here, so they did give us some recommendations. I really wanted to try their alligator sausage but they ran out! I ended up settling for the shrimp po boy. It was good, a bit on the plain side, but they do have several different hot sauces you can pick and choose from. My auntie told me try this scorpion pepper hot sauce, and damn! That hot sauce was FIRE! And I have a pretty high tolerance for spicy, so that hot sauce was NO JOKE! It was great and spicy, but I could not hang!
I thought the po boy was going to be a puny sandwich, but it’s about a foot long! My fiancé got the crab cake po boy, so we split our sandwiches with each other. And I can’t lie, that crab cake po boy was DELICIOUS! Way more flavor than my shrimp po boy.
After our sandwiches, we got a couple rounds of the bread pudding and it was heavenly. There was about 11 – 12 of us and we shared 2 orders of it because we were too stuffed from the sandwiches. Hah!
As for the marketplace, they’ve got a whole lot of new orleans spices and hot sauces. I believe they’ve got over 300 different hot sauce’s on their wall. If you can think of the spices you’re looking for, they probably have it. From Zatarain’s, slap ya mama, crab boils and beignet mix — you looking for it? They’ve got it.
Spread the word, try it out! Don’t knock it ’til you try it!

This lil gem in Spring Valley is AMAZING! Awesome customer service, descent pricing and amazing food!
Shrimp Po Boy — AMAZING
Philly Steak — AMAZING
Crawfish — AMAZING
Gumbo — Delish but AMAZING with their scorpion hot sauce
Fresh bread — AMAZING

My coworkers wanted to come here for dinner to celebrate February birthdays. One of them has been here before and said it was really good so we decided to come here right after work last night.
This café is small and also sells a lot of products from New Orleans… they have Café du Monde coffee, beignet mixes, and a «wall of fire» featuring over 300 hot sauces! My boyfriend and I shared the shrimp creole, crawfish étouffée, and the Cajun sausage sub and were given complimentary bread and butter. We also tried a side order of the alligator sausage and it was delicious! Everything else was pretty good too, but when I added the Ring of Fire hot sauce that was on the table to the creole and étouffée, it made our entrees taste so much better. The owners were very nice and even gave us a new bottle of hot sauce to spice up our food.

OK… My husband is from New Orleans… So, they’re in the neighborhood, and we decided to give them a try. It was AWESOME! The crawfish eutufee was authentic and the portions were «enough». We also tried a half oyster/​half shrimp po’ boy sandwich. It was not much to look at, but the flavors made up for all that. I asked for a taste of their gumbo before I committed to the large order and he had no hesitation at all whatsoever. The gumbo was Bomb! We’re for sure coming back.

I prefer their Gumbo. Very friendly staff. Many options on their menu.

Good New Orleans style gumbo, jambalaya and crawfish. This little café and market was such a nice find. The night we visited, just one very friendly woman ran the store and the kitchen.
It was fun to browse through the wall of fire, and collection of spice, rubs, and salts while we were waiting.

My wife liked her po boy but my sausage and chicken gumbo was really salty. The owner was really nice and the prices were fair. Our dinner came with bread and butter which was a big hit with my toddler.

This place will surprise you.
The owner is a kindly, paesano gentleman who has dedicated himself to hot sauce and Motown. Whatever you order, ask him which hot sauce he recommends to best complement; believe me, he won’t disappoint. And he loves Motown. LOVES IT! Having it play in the background gave him a bounce to his step.
Atmosphere:
Surprisingly clean. I was really impressed by the cleanliness of the restaurant and all the back areas I could see on my way to the restroom. The tables are good for sitting around and chit chatting. Plus it was all really spacious for a hole in the wall restaurant.
Timeliness:
I hate saying this, but feel obligated: it takes awhile. Don’t expect to be in n out in fifteen minutes, that ain’t happenin’! From walking in to getting our food (4 adults) took 1 hour 45 minutes. Being fair, it was a Sunday night and much busier than a normal Sunday night. He felt swamped as he had only himself to cook, bus, work the cash register, serve customers, and prepare to go orders. Walk in with the expectation of waiting an hour, if your food is ready faster it will just be a pleasant surprise
Food:
It’s good. The whole table ordered different entrees, but my favorite was the shrimp po’ boy with a Caribbean, papaya hot sauce.
Location:
Driving up, it looks somewhat industrial plus bars on all the windows. Don’t be alarmed, the place is awesome. Just trust your GPS that you’re in the right parking lot.
Overall, the restaurant is well deserving of a visit, just please walk in with the right mindset.

This place is great for one it doesn’t break the bank just because there’s gator on the menu like other places that will jack the price just because they have something other than beef and chicken. That out of the way the gator sausage is the best grill it don’t boil it and the taste is out of this world. This is how I like to grade a place, today I got the gator sausage sandwich and it was great if you don’t have to put anything on the food and it tastes great that is a great place. No salt pepper ketchup mustard nothing like that on the sandwich and it was fantastic. The guy that runs the place is a fantastic guy too loves to talk and is their to help with what’s good on the menu. You can eat there or take it with you. I live in Hawaii and we don’t get crawfish gator or any of the southern food so any time I’m here I wait till the last day and load my suitcase with gator and crawfish and fly home. Fantastic place try it out.

This place has excellent food! I have personally been to New Orleans and Cajun/​Creole food is my favorite by far. The food tastes exactly like it was made there and brought here. The flavor of everything is delicious. Nothing is flavorless at all.
Customer service is great! Guy is very friendly.
Only reason I gave this place 4 stars… the food takes so long to come out. I mean a long time. I would call ahead if you are hungry or in a hurry.
I would recommend this place!

A great inexpensive place to get a taste of New Orleans. Delicious po boys and crawfish!

Been dying for a wholesome meal and with this cold weather his exceeded my expectations ! Amazing flavor and a whole wall of hot sauce to purchase. Delicious meal for a great price ! Def would recommend for anyone willing to try this style food
*chicken and sausage gumbo, side of bread & red beans n rice

Stumbled upon this place as we were looking for a friend’s house. Its right off Sweetwater Springs Blvd and if you are lucky enough to see it, stop in for a real treat! As other Unilocalers have reported, the Seafood Gumbo and Crawfish Etouffe are amazing. Even better is the bread puddin’! We had lunch and walked out with $ 50 in seasonings that you can’t get elsewhere, including gater meat and Slap Yo Mama Fish Fry Batter. The Motown DVD was playing while we ate and we loved groovin to some of our favorite oldies. This is true cajun cooking and beats anything else in San Diego!

Jambalaya is the best! Staff is so friendly! I wish more people would come to this little family establishment their restaurant is clean and the staff is warm and welcoming not to mention the food is amazing!

By far, the most authentic Louisana food I’ve had in the city! Had the gumbo (seafood) & a po boy & came away impressed.

Amazing!!! Great service and delicious food!!! Why did I wait so long!!! The owner gave my daughter beads to play with and put music on for her to dance to. You don’t get this type of service any more!!! Go try it today!!!

Giving this place 5 stars due to the fact I’m from Louisiana, went in today after a friend told me about this spot. I got a pound of Crawfish and a bowl of Crawfish Étouffée great prices! Took home some hot sauce and Boudin. Only downside is we waited almost and hour for our food. Plus we dinning in.

No need for a trip to New Orleans. It’s probably the hottest night in October and we want HOT and SPICY and something Different! Welp… we came to the right place! Louisiana in East County. We walked in and luckily no one was there so we got to chat with Skip the owner. It was our first time so we asked about the menu. He named his favs and what’s popular. I ended up getting the Soft Shell Crab Po Boy Sandwich and my husband got the Chicken and Sausage Gumbo bowl and bread. There’s a fridge with bottled sweet drinks or a soda fountain. Our son was dancing in his highchair to the tv… Skip was playing an old school performances and Michael Jackson was singing… Classic! There are cute picnic checkered tables set up with hot sauces, paper towel rolls (you know it’s good or messy when these are on a table) and we were surrounded by hot sauces galore and Cajun and creole food mini market. Some of the hot sauce labels are hilarious if you get a chance to glance at them. Skip said it would take 10mins to make both dishes and timing was perfect. He also informed us, he starts out the food as mild as possible and it’s up to the customer to add the heat with any kind of hot sauces we can choose. Good because sometimes I want to simply taste my food without burning my tongue off, frying my taste buds and sweating like the movie «Along Came Polly». Some other people came in to order to go and a few called in an order. It’s quiet in there besides the music videos playing. Skip told us they use to be on Midway in Point Loma tucked in the corner of the boot barn parking lot but they moved here to this location which is way bigger and parking is literally in front of the door. We will be back soon to try the oyster po boy and the seafood gumbo. Everything sounds good. Such a treat to try something different!

Came to try the seafood gumbo, let me just say: AMAZING! Taste was authentic, spicy, filling, delicious lol I can keep going. Nice size shrimps, crawfish, chicken, veggies cooked perfectly rice was cooked perfect. Served with a nice small crusty bread.
The owner very nice and accommodating, checked on us. The décor is pretty, lots of product to buy to take home, a wall of fire: over 300 hot sauces. This was a our first time here and we will be returning for sure. Food was satisfying

It was pretty good, we had the catfish po’ boy and the alligator sausage. It’s a nice little place to dine at an relax. The owner was nice and accommodating. We’ll definitely return.

Omg! This place is around the corner and I’m just now trying it! I’m ashamed of myself. I had the catfish po’ boy and it was as good if not better than in New Orleans! And he put SO MUCH FISH! Every bite had catfish. It was so delicious.
We went with our two kids to get it to go and he was so kind. He even asked if the kids were eating any of the order so he wouldn’t make it too spicy.
We will definitely be back!

True Cajun/​creole food is hard to perfect… it is different… like no other food you have had… This Mardi Gras Café has the best POBOYS and MUFFULETTAS I have had in San Diego…
I FULLY RECOMMEND THEIR MUFFULETTA SANDWICH AND CATFISH PO BOY!
Also ZAPPS Voodooo Chips…
Hot and tasty, still steaming in the wrapper…
My Comparison LEGITIMACY FACTOR:
Four months ago, I spent some time in the true Swamps of Southern Cajun Coast in Louisiana… this place is LEGIT…
I also picked up 2lbs of frozen craw-​fish for 15 bucks. and some true SLAP YO MAMA CAJUN SEASONING…
True Louisiana Cajun food is like nothing else… this place has the tools to make it happen! With a freezer with crawfish, alligator filets, sausages etc for sale and a wall full of Cajun spices/​hot sauces… You will be like Emeril in no time…

The alligator sausage and display of hot sauces are memorable.
It’s a market and restaurant so while you wait for your food you can check out the cool hot sauces and supplies they have.
My friends and I ordered the jambalaya, gumbo, and shrimp poboy. The jambalaya had a strong tomato flavor to it and was too sour for my liking. The gumbo had an overpowering celery taste to it and the shrimp poboy was okay.
We decided to order the alligator sausage last minute and thank goodness we did. It was my first time having it and it was delicious. Grilled to perfection! Very lean and tasty.
The fries are good too.
Service:
It was a little awkward walking in at first because we weren’t sure if we were suppose to seat ourselves because no one greeted us but we did anyway. Then someone came from the back and gave us our menus and took our orders shortly after. The food came out in a timely manner. And the server was very generous.
Ambiance:
No one else was there so it was very quiet in the restaurant.

First off, don’t have much experience with Cajun food. I hope this isn’t the best there is.
Food was like 2 stars. With a party of 10, there was quite a variety of dishes on the table. Their sandwiches were pretty bland. The olives and vinegar were overwhelming. The jambalaya seemed kind of tasteless. I would have hoped it was more than just this rice dish. Everyone agreed that mostly all dishes seemed bland.
Service was ok. We were the only ones in the place & they kind of took forever. People were nice but definitely needed to be more attentive. Customer service could definitely improve.
I thought prices were ok. I mean, the fries were pretty good. I think I tried enough things and based on similar feedback I received from my party I would agree that I wouldn’t return.