‘The City that Care Forgot’: Cajun Queen serves up live jazz, N’awlins-style cuisine
What’s it like to spend time at Cajun Queen, which has been serving up live jazz along with N’awlins-style cuisine since 1985 on 7th Street in Charlotte’s Elizabeth neighborhood?
If you don’t know from experience, we’re here to show you the way. You’ve likely driven by the two-story house that was built in 1918 with its upstairs patio on countless occasions. Maybe you’ve wondered what it’s like to dine there at its popular brunch or dinner.
Well, you’re in for a treat, Charlotte. It turns out it doesn’t take a plane ticket for an escape to New Orleans, aka. The Big Easy, “‘The City that Care Forgot,” N’awlins.
Cajun Queen, a fixture in Charlotte’s dining scene, has a hidden upstairs bar (“You’ve got to find it,” says managing partner Tim Freer), popular dishes including Shrimp Étouffée, Dianne and Creole, and its own 7th Street Gator Band playing live music seven nights a week.
7th Street Gator Band and Mr. Roy
“We love playing up here,“ 7th Street Gator Band drummer Andy Anderson told CharlotteFive recently. “The people love to hear the music. We do some things for everybody — good ol’ New Orleans music, some jazz, American Songbook — it’s all good. And Mr. Roy’s in there, too — it’s always a pleasure to see him.”
Mr. Roy is the restaurant’s very own regular — and someone you’ll surely get to know by name if you spend any real time at the restaurant.
I first met Mr. Roy (actual name Roy L. Williams) in 2018, when I spent time over a few weeks at Cajun Queen interviewing Jim Stack, the restaurant’s rocket engineer-turned musician. Jim is not playing there regularly these days, sadly, but you’ll still often find Mr. Roy sitting at the corner of the bar, ready to tickle your ear with conversation.
“I don’t even have to order a drink when I walk in there — they have my drink ready when I sit at the bar,” Roy told us. His drink of choice? Scotch and milk. “Get something in your stomach and your head at the same time.”
Whiskey is known as a digestif, as it stimulates stomach enzymes and breaks down food. There’s also a belief about “lining your stomach” with milk before alcohol in order to lesson alcohol’s effects (this one is a little hazier).
See? You learned something from Mr. Roy already.
When to go to Cajun Queen
Should you visit Cajun Queen for brunch or dinner? The answer is yes.
And the other answer is bread pudding: Even first-time diner Danny Dominguez figured that one out quickly: “Bread pudding, that’s all I got to say,” he told us. “Bread pudding.”
Check out our inside look in the gallery below ⤵️ and the video above ⤴️:
Alex Cason contributed reporting.
Cajun Queen
Location: 1800 E 7th St, Charlotte, NC 28204
Cuisine: Cajun, New Orleans
Instagram: @cqclt
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