Cajun Belle — Restaurant in Johnston

Enterprise next door to the Cajun Belle left me stranded without a car and they refused to get me a ride back to the shop that my car was getting work completed. That left me with no way to get back home or to work. Zack Hollier, the owner of Cajun Belle, saw me outside of his front door and welcomed me into Cajun Belle to stay out of the rain, and so I can figure out my next steps. We talked about the food he makes, showed me how he makes the food for the day, the work his spouse does for a living, and other real life things I didn’t expect to be talking about that day. He even offered me his network connection so I can log into work, while I tried to get my rental car issue resolved. Since I hadn’t eaten breakfast, I purchased some kolches galore, which were absolutely amazing. They were all packed with flavor and everything is reasonably priced. Him showing me how things were made before I tried the food only added to the positive “dining” experience, like a real life Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives episode.

Perhaps this review wasn’t as much about the food as it should be, but Cajun Belle’s owner is a great human being, and is very deserving of excellent ratings for what he does to help people. This place has definitely earned...

First the good. I wanted to like this place SO BAD! The seafood gumbo has great flavor & there's meat in every bite. It was also served very hot. The rice I feel was slightly overcooked. The shrimp po' boy- the bread was amazing, the sauce was phenomenal, the shrimp were overcooked and cold-ish (also only 4 shrimp). My heart was broken when I opened my boudin ball box. There were 2 kinda small boudin balls (which would have been fine) but they were dry (like possibly reheated in a microwave?) And not very hot. The dipping sauce was wonderful tho! I also got a cheesecake kolash and it was really good, I've never had one before. I would like to be clear; I'm not trying to bash a small business and the gentleman at the window was super nice. I'm hoping that I just caught them on an off day, I will try again soon because I feel like if the food had been prepared fresh it would have been...

Oh, goly. I do not know where to begin. First off, I'm upset I have not been here sooner. Secondly, the staff. I did not get his name, but he is good stuff. Did not judge me based on my "Iowa dialect" when trying to pronounce it.

More importantly. The food? It's absolutely amazing. The jambalaya was stellar. I just wish there was a tad more spice, but understand their limits(the state where black pepper is too spicy to some). The kolache was unbelievably amazing. Never had one. It is a better version of "pigs in a blanket." And the sweets? Holy crap. Absolutely melt in mouth amazing.

Lastly. The price/wait. Price? Can't beat it with food nowadays. The wait? No pre-order online. Spent about 3 minutes in the drive-through at 1145. No complaints.

You are truly missing out if you are not eating here. I haven't been this excited over food since the chik fil...