The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by Robert Scheer

The French Quarter restaurant and bar takes its Cajun food seriously.

French Quarter harbors a slice of New Orleans

Sunnyvale's Murphy Avenue sports a little bit of Bourbon Street

By Andrew X. Pham

Funk and groove and Louisiana roadside cafe grub--that's the French Quarter in short. Part cabaret restaurant, part blues nightclub and all-around cool hangout, the French Quarter jumps to a beat popular with a selective slice of Silicon Valley denizens. From the sidewalk of downtown Sunnyvale it looks faintly mysterious behind lacy curtains, but beyond the door is a slick club throbbing with jazz, blues and R&B. Disco balls whirl and cast diamond lights above two miniature dance floors while patrons belly up to the horseshoe bar, sipping beers and puffing on cigarettes. It is a hive of white tuxedos, African print shirts, sequined gowns, Hawaiian shirts and wing-tipped shoes.

For those with an eye for value, the French Quarter offers dinner and dancing for about the price of a movie. The $8 cover charge is waived for diners who arrive before 9 p.m. Nothing over $10 graces the short menu, and most items average around $8. Food is served by black-tie-clad waiters in a decidedly fetching restaurant setting, funky enough to stir up images of the real French Quarter of New Orleans.

The cabaret's groovy air put us in a festive mood as we chowed down gumbo ($7.95) under a neon "Gumbo" sign, picking sweet meat from crab claws and forking up chunks of juicy links. This gumbo, thick with shredded chicken, was salty and rich with drippings; the brown base clung to the shrimp, chicken, sausage and crab like a heavy dipping sauce. A side of white rice helped us put away every spoonful of the gumbo.

The cooks, wielding big ladles, didn't skimp on portions. The rib-eye steak was huge, as were all the side dishes, which came in eight-ounce terrines. That's one sure thing at the French Quarter: Dinner customers don't step onto the dance floor feeling hungry. Three sides accompany each dinner, including choices of collard greens, baked beans and rice, hush puppies (cornmeal fritters), cupcake corn bread, candied yams, a garden salad or French fries. Other goodies that the regular crowd favored were shrimp and jambalaya.

The blackened catfish ($8.95) was truly black, drippy with frying oil and marvelously fatty, the seared-on spices cutting the musky fish fat nicely. The filet was butter soft and would have been quite good had it been delivered hot from the frying pan. The staff said they were shorthanded. No matter--we washed it down with some bourbon and joined the jolly folks on the dance floor.

The French Quarter is a classy bargain for soulful Cajun food lovers with a penchant for dancing the night away.

The French Quarter, located at 195 S. Murphy Ave., Sunnyvale (408/773-8700), is open for dinner Wed.-Sat., 7-10pm.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, November 19, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.