Crawdaddy's Creole Brought Louisiana to Washington Street
In the old Beezy's space in downtown Ypsilanti, a Creole kitchen is serving gumbo, po'boys, and a spice level that means what it says.
The space at 20 North Washington Street in downtown Ypsilanti used to be Beezy's. Scratch-baked goods, breakfast sandwiches, the kind of morning spot that anchored a block. When Beezy's closed in September, the space opened up and the question was what downtown Ypsilanti needed next. Crawdaddy's Creole answered with gumbo.
There is no other Creole restaurant in Ypsilanti. There is, depending on how loosely you define the category, very little Creole food in Washtenaw County at all. Crawdaddy's fills that gap with a menu built around Louisiana staples: gumbo, po'boys, jambalaya, crawfish when they can get them. The kitchen is not reinventing Creole cooking. It is executing the fundamentals in a town that did not have them.
The Food
The gumbo is the first order. Dark roux, andouille sausage, okra, and enough heat to clear your sinuses if you go with the spicy version. A bowl runs $12, and the portion is serious. It arrives with rice, which is correct, and hot sauce on the side, which is courteous. The roux has the color that comes from patience: deep brown, almost black at the edges, with a nuttiness that announces itself before the spice arrives.
Po'boys come on French bread, dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mayo. The fried shrimp po'boy is the one to order first. The shrimp are crisp, seasoned with a Cajun blend that has real cayenne behind it, and the bread has enough structure to hold the sandwich together through the last bite. A catfish po'boy runs similar, with a cornmeal crust that crunches through cleanly. Po'boys are $13 to $15.
Jambalaya is the kitchen's rice dish, and it arrives loaded: chicken, andouille, shrimp, peppers, onions, celery. The holy trinity in its proper proportion.1The "holy trinity" in Cajun and Creole cooking refers to the combination of onions, celery, and bell pepper, the base aromatic blend analogous to French mirepoix. It is a one-bowl meal, and the rice has absorbed enough of the cooking liquid to carry flavor without turning to mush. Red beans and rice is available as a side or a main, with smoked pork adding depth to the beans.
The Space
The room at 20 North Washington does not look like New Orleans. It looks like a downtown Ypsilanti restaurant, which is fine. Clean, casual, counter-service with tables. What the room lacks in wrought-iron balconies it makes up for in food that does not need the scenery to sell itself. The neighborhood has changed since Beezy's was here, but Washington Street's foot traffic still passes the door, and the smell of roux cooking has a way of pulling people inside.
What Ypsilanti Gets
Ypsilanti's food identity has always been broader than people give it credit for. Bellflower does fine dining on Michigan Avenue. Sidetrack has been running the bar-food standard since 1980. 734 Brewing and Hyperion Coffee hold down the drinks. What the city did not have, until now, was a place to get a proper bowl of gumbo on a cold Wednesday in January.
Crawdaddy's is not trying to be the best restaurant in Ypsilanti. It is trying to cook Creole food that tastes right, at prices that make sense, in a space that the neighborhood already knew how to find. The gumbo does the talking. Order a bowl, add hot sauce, and let Washington Street be New Orleans for an hour.
Crawdaddy's Creole is at 20 N Washington St, Ypsilanti. Open for lunch and dinner. Counter service.