7020 Austin Street
Forest Hills, New York 11375718-261-8555
By Angela
For all you Queens folk who feel like a little fun, jazz, and easy dining try Mardi Gras. It is a combination of Latin, Cuban Creole and Southern cuisines. The restaurant has two levels with a large bar area in the back of the restaurant on the main floor, which fills quickly. The entrance is filled with mardi gras signs and tiffany-style lights hang over the tables. The tables downstairs are nicely spaced, but upstairs is very cramped.
At Mardi Gras, the food is appealing but the service is spotty. The waiters are usually friendly, but I have experienced a rude waiter in the past. Also, the service is frequently slow. Sometimes you wonder if your waiter has forgotten you ( fine if you’re hanging out, not if you wanna get out).
The bar is full-service. They have a decent cocktail menu including a wide variety of martinis. Though they will make a drink according to your specifications, they are not always generous with the alcohol. Every Thursday they have a live jazz band and once a month they have belly dancing. They can’t tell you when, instead they suggest you call or check their website. Not very organized, but maybe they are still testing belly dancing.
I have been to Mardi Gras many times and while I find the service unpredictable, I do enjoy the food. The portions are healthy without being ridiculous. The food is better than the average fare available at most hang-out spots. Some of their dishes are actually delicious. One caution, most of their dishes are spicy.
Their appetizers include alligator pops, fritters, spicy jambalaya, crawfish popcorn, coconut chicken, andouille sausage, Cajun crab cakes, gumbo, spicy chicken wings and artichoke with crawfish in a garlic butter cream sauce. The gumbo is sometimes salty, but the jambalaya and the coconut chicken are a good bet. The alligator pops and crawfish popcorn are among my favorites. My daughter swears by them. The artichoke is not bad either.
The po-boys (made with huge pieces of chicken, catfish or large shrimp) are pretty good as is the cebiche (an old world dish from South America also called ceviche). The cebiche is made with calamari, jumbo shrimp and either catfish, tilapia, or corvine. The sauces are also different and range from mild to very spicy.
The sides are decent. The sweet potato fries are good and the curly fires nicely seasoned. But the best side is the jalapeno-cheddar mashed potatoes. They are delicious. The side I would not recommend is the onion rings; they are disappointingly greasy. As for entrees, the most popular ones are the voodoo pasta, the blackened salmon, the jambalaya, the stuffed shrimp and the filet mignon.
Their dessert list includes after dinner coffees and hot chocolates, and bananas foster and bread pudding. Those two desserts are, in a word, yummy. My recommendation is to get lots of appetizers and sides, one or two entrees and then share everything. Oh, and save room for dessert.
Things you should know if you are interested in checking out this spot:
Thursday nights feature a live jazz band
Friday and Saturday nights are packed and the wait can be up to an hour
$$
Monday to Thursday, 4pm until midnight
Friday and Saturday, noon until 1am
Sunday, noon until midnight
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