A new Cajun and Creole restaurant, Cajian, is set to open in Tuscaloosa, marking the third local concept from restaurateur Pete Zimmer. The restaurant is a counter-service eatery inspired by the popular Cajun chain Yats and is the brainchild of Zimmer and Paige Blankley, a New Orleans-born Cajun food truck operator. With a quick-casual model, customers order at the counter, receive a number, and sit down while their food is brought to them. The menu features four different étouffées made from scratch in-house, two gumbos, Po'boys, and debris fries. Rotating specialty nights will offer jambalayas, crawfish and shrimp boils, fried gator, and other dishes. The restaurant also caters to vegetarians and low-carb diets, offering loaded teas from a Louisiana company in 20 varieties. Alcoholic beverages will be available once the state liquor license is finalized. This new venture from Zimmer, a Culinary Institute of America graduate with 42 years in the industry, adds to his portfolio of restaurants, including Ajian and Daq Shack. While efforts to reach Zimmer for comment were not immediately successful, the opening of Cajian is an exciting development for the Tuscaloosa food scene, offering a unique blend of Cajun and Creole cuisine.
