Catfish Pontchartrain
Sometimes I feel too much ink and too many pixels are used on just covering what is new and shiny in the Nashville restaurant scene. “Oh look, another ‘experiential’ restaurant from Detroit!” or “Welcome to Peking Duck 3.0.” While we certainly strive to cover the latest and greatest here at Bites, I don’t want to lose sight of what makes the city attractive to locals, and that includes affordable independent restaurants that probably don’t even take reservations.
To that end, I’m starting up a new irregular series I’m calling “Good Hangs” to showcase spots that might have fallen off your dining radar over time, or that haven’t ever gotten the attention they merit. Places that make you think, “Damn, I haven’t been there in a long time, and I don’t know why. It’s always so good!”
To kick off this series, I offer an amiable Cajun spot in The Gulch and an East Side brewery and barbecue joint.
The Gumbo Bros are technically two LSU grads who came to Nashville to share their love of Louisiana cuisine, but Adam Lathan and James Wishon have brought more than just their food to The Gulch at 502 12th Ave. S. — they’ve brought a whole vibe!
The welcoming bar feels like the perfect place to spend just a little too long chatting with strangers who might become friends while enjoying pours of something I expected to be disgusting but turned out to be addictive. Chica Chida is a peanut butter and agave spirit from Jalisco that has become the house shot at Gumbo Bros. It’s only 64 proof, so as long as you keep count of your glasses, it should be a manageable day-drinking option when ball games are on. (Especially if you drink after every LSU win lately, ouch!)
Long a popular lunch destination, Gumbo Bros is in the midst of growing up a little bit, adding more substantial items to the menu to encourage more dinner business. Their miso salad has already become a copycat recipe in my household, although I can’t exactly replicate their Cajun mustard-miso dressing, and the genius addition of croutons made from Leidenheimer bread from New Orleans is inimitable for mere civilians like me. A prototypical smashburger with homemade comeback sauce has quickly become a popular addition to both the lunch and dinner service, and the blackened shrimp tacos have grown from an app to an entree.
As the weather gets chillier, I’m going to crave the Antoine's-inspired voodoo shrimp pasta with its Creole Alfredo vibe, no matter what my cardiologist advises. A nap-worthy catfish Pontchartrain takes me straight to the Big Easy in my culinary memories, and the smoky dark roux of the gumbo is obviously the result of a lot of stirring by a pro. And, of course, the po’boys are legit, especially because the team orders Leidenheimer bread directly from the source!
Lathan told me he had rejiggered his red-beans-and-rice recipe, and whatever he did, he nailed it! Also worth a try is Gumbo Bros’ version of poutine called debris fries — waffle fries topped with roast beef, debris gravy and cheese.
While it’s tough to get in and out of Gumbo Bros in an hour (because you’ll want to pass some extra time enjoying the ambiance and maybe trying some of that Chica Chida), they do offer a free first hour of parking in the lots behind the building and around the corner next to The Turnip Truck. If you go over, two hours is a little more than $11, which is about the going rate for Nashville these days. I’d say it’s worth it for a good hang!
On the East Side, I’ve had a couple of friends tell me that I was missing out on a great new spot called Stoke Haus Brewing & Barbecue. After a while, I got tired of their badgering and decided to take matters into my own hands and make my way to 948 Main St. to check out what has moved into the former home of Crazy Gnome.
So yes, I was an idiot for waiting this long since their soft opening in early August. They’re closed Monday and Tuesday so the small staff can spend some time with their families, but they open at 11 a.m. the rest of the week.
Stoke Haus is the brainchild of Chad Mueller and Mike Morbitzer, longtime local industry brewery vets. Mueller handles the beer side of the business now, while Morbitzer mans the massive smoker that looks like a fuel tank from a space shuttle landed in the side yard and started smoldering. Weekends are for brisket at Stoke Haus, and you’d best get there early if you want to ensure yourself a few slices of the smoky treat, courtesy of native Texan Morbitzer.
The trimmings from the briskets turn into smoked burgers on Wednesdays and Thursdays, a rare treat in this environment of smashburgers we find ourselves stuck in. It’s rare to find a half-pound patty cooked to temp and even rarer to be able to accompany it with a side of legit German potato salad, a Texas favorite. Patrons can either order their food from the food truck parked in the front lot or advance to the bar and place their food and drink order there. They’ll buzz you when it’s ready.
The bar is such a comfortable hang, I thought they might have to drag me out on my first visit. Jason behind the bar offered samples of a few of their beers, from IPAs, a delightful pale ale that you might call an extra special bitter, a dark English ale that lives in the realm of porters and an intentionally limited lineup of lagers. The Stoke Haus team also makes their own nonalcoholic carbonated beverages, including a delightful soda water they cheekily call “Stoko Chico” (until somebody in legal reads this). “Haus-made sodas” rotate seasonally, but they’re an important part of making Stoke Haus inclusive to families and non-drinkers.
The whole vibe is welcoming, from the Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine van design of the stripes that decorate almost every flat surface to an old-school video console that encourages dads to take their kids to school on Nintendo cartridges from their youth. On Thursdays, they pull down a projector screen for Survivor watch parties, and board games are always available to enjoy with a pour from the taps.
It’s great to see a team of dreamers operating on a shoestring making such a quick impact on their neighborhood, and you’ll feel like a part of the community as soon as you drop in for your first hang!
