A new Cajun seafood restaurant brings a taste of New Orleans to downtown Griffith.
Cajun Express has opened at 138 S. Broad St. in Griffith, serving up Southern-style seafood boils.
“My mother is from Louisiana and my father was born in Chicago. They have a wonderful story. My mother loved to cook and taught me seafood recipes,” says owner Xu Chen. “That’s why I chose the beautiful and quiet town of Griffith to open my restaurant so more people can experience Southern-style seafood.”
The menu includes clams, crawfish, shrimp, lobster trail, mussels, snow crab legs, king crab legs, and Dungeness crab, and they also offer combos such as snow crab and shrimp, snow crab, shrimp and sausage, and crawfish, clams and mussels.
“Our signature dish is the Super Seafood Combo, which includes clams, crawfish, mussels, shrimp, snow crab legs and lobster,” he says. “It’s eight pounds in total. It feeds four or five people.”
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They also have lobster, shrimp, beef and chicken teriyaki.
Appetizers include sweet potato fries, Cajun fries, French fries, hush puppies, veggie spring rolls, Cajun wings, fried jumbo wings, buffalo wings, dumplings, fried calamari, and fried oysters.
Cajun Express also offers pops, Mexican pops Jarritos, smoothies, strawberry lemonade and Sunshine Juice, a combination of orange, strawberry and pineapple juice.
While most customers order by phone, Cajun Express also offers dine-in, takeout and delivery through Uber Eats and DoorDash.
“We have a casual dining area where you can feel at home,” he said. “Of course, we demand high standards and we guarantee that all seafood is fresh. Our secret ingredient has always been seafood. Come and join us for a seafood feast. Eat more seafood and lose weight.”
For more information, call 219-513-9227.
coming soon
Fuerte Restaurant, one of Hammond’s most popular Mexican restaurants, will soon be opening a new location.
Fuerte will open a new Mexican restaurant with an ice cream parlor and drive-thru near Hammond City Hall and across from Hammond Central High School. The restaurant will take over the space formerly occupied by Ligia’s Restaurant Cafe and Castillos Philly Steaks at 5851 Calumet Ave. in Hammond.
This is Fuerte’s third location: The family also owns Fuerte Meat Market (3811 Hohman Ave.), a Mexican grocery store with a small restaurant attached just north of downtown, and Restaurant Fuerte (6949 Indianapolis Boulevard) in Hammond’s Woodmar neighborhood, both of which offer $1 tacos and have attracted loyal fans.
Employee Luisa Magallon said the new store is expected to open in three weeks.
“It’s going to be a big grand opening,” she said. “The new location will offer Mexican ice cream and a drive-thru.”
They offer the same menu of tacos, tortas, burritos, and other Mexican dishes. The tacos come in a variety of flavors, including steak, pork, and chicken. On weekends, they add carnitas and soups, including menudo.
The store will sell chicharron snacks, Pepsi vending machines and will also have an ice cream stand with several flavors that will be open year-round. Magallon said he expects to employ about 20 people.
“This will be our third location, and we have a lot of foot traffic,” she said. “We have more space, so we’re adding ice cream.”
The restaurant will be open entirely for takeout, as its Indianapolis Boulevard location has been since the pandemic began. It previously offered dine-in seating but has switched to a carry-out format.
“It’s always busy,” she said. “People are always coming in and out for takeout. It’s mostly takeout, but we also get a lot of walk-in customers.”
coming soon
Frankie’s Philly Steaks will soon be opening a second location in Hammond.
The fast-food restaurant is located at 7530 Calumet Ave., just off the Bowman Expressway, and another location is set to open at 6911 Kennedy Ave. in Hammond’s Hessville neighborhood.
They serve Philly steak, Philly chicken, cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, gyros, wings, chicken tenders, subs, salads, tacos and nachos.
Frankie’s offers many Chicago classics, including the Chicago Dog, Beef Polish, Maxwell Street Polish, Italian Beef Sandwich, Italian Sausage Sandwich and Italian Beef and Sausage Combo. Sandwiches include the Ribeye Steak Sandwich, Reuben on Rye, Corned Beef and Patty Melt. There’s also the Street City Sandwich, with grilled roast beef on rye bread, American cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato and mayonnaise, and the South Side classic Jim Choux, piled high with corned beef, Italian beef and gyro meat.
Seafood options include shrimp, jumbo shrimp, perch, catfish and fish sandwiches.
Frankie’s also serves ice cream shakes as well as desserts such as cheesecake, sliced cake, cookies, banana pudding, peach cobbler, and toffee grape.
We also offer dine-in, take-out and delivery.
Open
Waxi Taxi has opened another local branch in downtown Crown Point.
A waxing service that “removes unwanted hair” has opened in the lower level of the historic Lake County Courthouse at 1 Courthouse Square.
Waxi Taxi also has locations in Chesterton and Michigan City and offers professional waxing services for areas such as eyebrows, lips, chin, sideburns, ears, face, back, chest, underarms, hands, feet and legs.
They only use Gigi Azulen wax and also sell soothing products such as lavender grapeseed oil to soothe the skin after the treatment.
For more information, call 219-241-3847.
coming soon
Phoenix Salon Sweets is coming to Schererville.
Town Manager Jim Gorman said the plan is to rent out suites at 1525 U.S. 41 to independent beauty, spa and barber professionals.
Phoenix Salon Suites is based in Las Vegas with locations across the country and the UK. They have locations throughout Chicagoland, including Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, Tinley Park, Naperville, Downers Grove, Countryside, Oak Brook, Oswego, Schaumburg, Mount Prospect, Deer Park and Libertyville. Their only other locations in Indiana are in Indianapolis at Carmel and Glendale Mall.
The company was founded by Gina Rivera, whose family has been in the beauty industry since 1929 and who also appeared on “Undercover Boss.”
coming soon
Play It Again Sports is currently preparing inventory for the match.
The new Merrillville retailer is currently purchasing used and new sports and athletic equipment to bolster its inventory.
The sporting goods retailer is located at 1876 E 80th Ave., across from Southlake Mall.
We buy and sell hockey, baseball, softball, soccer, football and lacrosse equipment, as well as golf clubs, treadmills, bikes, benches, weights and more.
Play It Again Sports is a subsidiary of Winmark-the Resale Co., a Minneapolis-based retailer focused on resale for everyone. The company also owns resale-focused Plato’s Closet, Once Upon a Child, Music Go Round and Style Encore.
The local franchise was opened by area resident Joe Moloski, a hockey player and parent who noticed the rising costs of youth sports and wanted to make sports more affordable for kids and families so they wouldn’t have to give up on sports because of the cost.
“Northwest Indiana is a growing region with more families and people putting down roots in the area,” Moroski said. “We want Play It Again Sports to be a part of this growing community – an exciting place for families and kids to visit. We look forward to building long-term partnerships and relationships with families, sports leagues, teams and facilities to provide sports equipment to the Northwest Indiana community.”
At our store, you can buy and pay for the exercise equipment and sports gear you choose on the spot, no reservation necessary.
The chain, which has more than 290 stores across North America and an e-commerce site, aims to keep sporting goods recycled rather than dumped in landfills.
For more information, call 219-500-4327 or find us on Facebook, Instagram or www.playitagainsports.com/locations/merrillville-in.
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Guy’s Cycle moved from its location off U.S. 30 to 1231 Sheffield Ave. in Dyer earlier this year.
Our bike repair shop has skilled technicians with over 40 years of experience who perform repairs, maintenance and installations.
Guy’s Cycle also sells parts, apparel and accessories.
For more information, call 708-225-1820 or find the business on Facebook.
Open
Boot Barn has taken over the former Bed Bath & Beyond site across from Southlake Mall in Hobart.
The western wear and workwear retailer is located at 2520 E 79th Ave, near the Walmart Supercenter.
The retail chain was founded in 1978 and has grown to become the nation’s largest western and workwear retailer with over 400 stores in 44 states. They sell cowboy boots, cowboy hats, western wear, work boots, work clothing and outdoor gear.
It targets cowboys, outdoor enthusiasts, farmers, oil and gas workers and others.
Headquartered in Irvine, California, the company sponsors more than 600 rodeos and veteran support activities across the United States.
The Boot Barn is open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 9pm and Sunday from 10am to 7pm.
For more information, call 219-500-9696 or visit bootbarn.com.
Open
Lia’s Bella Cucina serves authentic Italian-American cuisine in Chesterton.
The Italian restaurant opened last year at 401 Broadway Ave. in Chesterton and offers both indoor and outdoor seating.
The cafe’s menu includes antipasto, Sicilian citrus salad, Caprese, Caprese flatbread, bruschetta, caponata, oven-roasted garlic confit, Italian tuna salad, arancini, meatballs, Caesar salad and Italian chopped salad. Paninis are served with chips or gorgonzola coleslaw.
Pasta mains include mostaccioli, lasagna, eggplant Parmesan, and spaghetti and meatballs, while desserts include biscotti, gelato, tiramisu, cannoli, and lemon berry mascarpone cake.
Takeaway and catering also available.
For more information, call 773-904-7266.
Open
The Waiting Room offers nightlife in downtown Valparaiso.
The cocktail bar opened late last year at 56 Indiana St. in Valparaiso and bills itself as Valparaiso’s best listening bar, playing albums like “Rarities 81-89” by the Ramones, “Thickfreakness” by the Black Keys and “Physical” by Led Zeppelin.
They serve the Devil’s Haircut, an old-fashioned cocktail made with Ancho Tequila, Mezcal, agave, lime and bitters. The cocktail is named after a Beck song and joins a long list of music-inspired cocktails, including Fugazi, Psycho Killer, Paloma for Pyros, The Passenger and Voodoo Child.
The Waiting Room offers mocktails such as Capri Sun and Tang, shaken or stirred.
We offer a wide selection of premium spirits including whiskey, vodka, tequila, rum and gin, as well as wine, bottled craft beer and several craft beers on tap from breweries such as BlockHead, Pipeworks, Revolution, Sierra Nevada and 450 North.
The light fare menu includes small plates such as marinated olives, Brussels tartine, pretzels and pimentos, carpaccio, shrimp cocktail, charcuterie, steak buns, French dippers, and a Louderthan Hummus Platter.
The waiting room is open Wednesday to Saturday from 6pm to 12am.
For more information, call 219-286-6044, email info@waitingroomvalpo.com or visit waitingroomvalpo.com.
If you would like your business featured in a future column, please email me at joseph.pete@nwi.com.
