Zydeco near Moore Square Park in downtown Raleigh

I've heard great things about Zydeco. When I found a coupon on restaurant.com for Zydeco, I figured we'd definitely have to give it a whirl! Since it was a Monday and I had no interest in cooking, I decided that Daryl could buy me dinner. But, I had a $25 off coupon, so he was getting off easy. :)

First, let me start with saying that this is a smoke-free restaurant and has a great atmosphere! If you go to their website http://zydecodowntown.com, you'll hear R&B music welcoming you to Zydeco. I'm not a big fan of R&B, but I really like that they wrote a song all about their restaurant. Zydeco is owned by Patriots defensive back, Antwan Harris who is a Raleigh native.

We ordered the Bourbon Street Shrimp to start off the meal. It was basically four large pieces of shrimp wrapped in bacon and fried. You know what they say, everything is better with bacon. :) Actually, it tasted like friend shrimp and bacon. The only thing special about this appetizer, was how "special" I felt after paying $11 for four pieces of shrimp.

On to the dinners....Daryl ordered the Shrimp and Grits ($16). Daryl orders Shrimp and Grits at almost every restaurant we go to because he's always looking for the perfect taste and portion. I believe he found it at Zydeco! The Shrimp and Grits portion is really large as far as Shrimp and Grits go. The tasso ham gravy is spread all around the cheddar grits. There are probably 8-10 pieces of shrimp throughout the dish. Daryl used a spoon to scrape the bowl when he was finished, so I'm thinking he liked it. :)

I ordered the Zydeco Ribs Half Rack ($14) with grandma's famous sauce. The meal came with two sides, so I got the the mac and cheese and the lynonaise potatoes. Grandma's famous sauce was nothing to write home about, but the ribs were very meaty and delicious. The mac and cheese was perfect! I wasn't a fan of the lynonaise potatoes; however, I'm not a big potato eater.

The service was excellent and the atmosphere was very nice. I especially like the skylights in the restaurant where the light poured down over the bar and the larger table in the back of the restaurant.

I'd definitely go back!