Gary I.
Yelp
Huge space that is more club than restaurant at least on a Friday night at around 9pm where the front entrance is manned by security, and a line forms to get in to enjoy the night's entertainment.
I've book marked French Quarter Créole Bar & Grill for months & opportunity knocked when I was on the 91Frwy passing by Bellflower Blvd. So I approached security and let them know that I wanted to take out.
I was let in right away and directed to an order window where you stand, order, and they hand you a number w/a metal stand designed for those people who have claimed a table. Since Gumbo is already slow cooked food, I got my order in about 5 minutes.
This Gumbo is thickened w/a high flame browned roux (roo). Smoky smelling & tasting from the smoked, fatty, porky, rough ground Andouille (ahn doo wee) sausage as well as from the lightly "burnt" roux.
Chicken wings, skin on, add a chicken fond du cuisine brothiness & bit of fat infused richness. The whole shelled shrimps are not over cooked to a mush so often found in countless other Gumbos. The shrimps still retain a soft yet firm plumpiness.
The roux based brown sauce has a slight sassy kick of chiles, but also smoky pepperiness from possibly black & white ground pepper. Tons of garlic also adds to the long lingering earthy spiciness.
All the slow, low heat simmering creates flavours that meld into each other for a satisfying, meaty complexity. Possibly, Filé, ground leaves of the Sassafras tree may have been added for earthier flavour & extra thickener.
I may like Chef Kim's Soul Food Kitchen's Gumbo better in West Adams because it has a lighter, sprightlier tomato based broth using the same ingredients but prepared in way so that it is not so fatty w/ a decorative snow crab claw. Sort of a nouveau Gumbo. But her eatery went out of business. It may still be possible to contact her to have her cater.
However, the FQCB&G creates a great traditional Gumbo that goes well w/ the strongly, dry, al dente white rice that is included. It would be up there in Nouvelle Orléans/New Orleans as well as in Duson, Breaux Bridge, Rayne, etc.
I'd like to try the other dishes here like the Crawfish Étoufée & also the Happy Hour menu, but for now 4- Yelp stars for good Southern Louisiana Créole.