Must-Try Food At Gator By The Bay That Will Make Your Mouth Sizzle

Quick Info about Gator by the Bay
When: May 8-11, 2025
Where: Spanish Landing Park
What: Louisiana Festival with Live Music and Food
Website

Gator by the Bay has been San Diego’s biggest Jazz, Blues, and Zydeco Music Festival for the last 20+ years. It lasts for 4 days and happens every May at Spanish Landing. From parades to cooking demonstrations, 4 stages with live music, paper-hat making, and many other fun things, the food at Gator by the Bay is always one of the biggest highlights for me.

I went to High School in Louisiana and fell in love with Cajun and Creole cuisine. The spices, the sauces, the heat just take me back down memory lane and are my absolute comfort food. I make it at home quite often, but haven’t found a restaurant in San Diego yet that hits all the notes. But at Gator by the Bay, I feel like I am back in New Roads with my friends and host family. So I want to share with you some of my favorite Foods at Gator By the Bay that I HAVE to eat every time (and you should too):

Crawfish

Nothing screams springtime in Louisiana like a Crawfish boil with friends and family. After steeping the crawdaddys in the magic seasoned broth, you dump everything on a newspaper-clad table and dig in. It takes a lot of effort and time to eat, but you stand around in a circle with your friends, talking, laughing, and simply enjoying the day. Sometimes, the meal takes 3-4 hours, but that’s ok.

The crawfish booth at Gator by the Bay is called Crawfish Corner. Its owner, Mitch Olivier from Opelousas, has been catering this event for over twenty years. This year, they brought 10,000 pounds of crawfish from the Bayous with them, and fingers crossed, they don’t run out.

They steep the crawfish in a spicy broth with lemon, garlic, onions, and everything is infused with Cajun spices. Traditional add-ons are andouille sausage, potatoes, corn, and mushrooms. They also have a spiced butter for dipping, but to be honest, the crawfish are so delicious, they don’t need it.

As Mr. Olivier puts it, the secret to a successful crawfish boil is good company, friends, and family. That’s what it’s all about.

Gumbo

Gumbo is probably the most iconic dish from Louisiana. The thick gravy is based on a deep, chocolate-y roux, the holy trinity consisting of onions, green bell peppers, and celery, stewed with various proteins, such as chicken and sausage, shrimps, crawfish, crab, oysters, duck, or sometimes more exotic critters like squirrels and rabbits.

Served over rice and often with a side of potato salad (depending on the region in Louisiana), this steaming bowl of goodness is pure comfort food.

My favorite gumbo at Gator by the Bay was the Chicken and Sausage Gumbo at Crawfish Corner. It hit all the right notes and was super flavorful, full of meat, and at $10, reasonably priced.

Crawfish Etouffee

There is another booth that sells gumbo, etouffee, and red beans and rice, and when I tried these dishes last year, I was not impressed.

Crawfish Etouffee is the perfect dish for those of you who want to try crawfish, but don’t want to get their hands dirty or are too impatient or hungry for boiled crawfish. The peeled crawfish tails are cooked in a Cajun gravy, similar to a gumbo, but lighter in color.

The roux is only slightly toasted to a caramel color before adding the aromatics, again consisting of the holy trinity of onions, celery, and bell peppers plus garlic. The crawfish tails are usually bought cooked and frozen, so you simply add them at the end to heat through.

When I asked Mr. Olivier if he could still stomach eating crawfish after boiling thousands of pounds of them day after day, he said that he’d never get tired of crawfish, but his favorite way of eating them is Crawfish Etouffee.

So of course, I had to try the Crawfish Etouffee at Crawfish Corner and it was delicious. Rich and velvety, full of crawfish tails and seasoned perfectly. While my heart always belongs to the traditional crawfish boil, this was super delicious. My husband Greg also really enjoyed it. He is definitely not much of a crawfish peeler, but does enjoy the taste of Crawfish. So this was a win-win for him.

Beignets

I usually don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but Beignets are definitely my weak spot. The fried fluffy donut squares just melt in your mouth and you can’t stop eating them. Sooooo good.

The Beignet booth at Gator by the Bay has all kinds of toppings, from chocolate drizzle, sprinkles, oreos, strawberries, ice cream and more. I prefer the traditional with just a light dusting of powdered sugar.

Pro Tips:
1. Don’t wear black.
2. Don’t inhale/exhale sharply as you bite into the beignets. Prepare to get sticky afterwards.

Boudin

This is probably the most unfamiliar and unique food on this list. Many of the previous dishes are somewhat accessible in San Diego, either in restaurants or by homecooking, but unfortunately you can’t buy boudin anywhere. So what is boudin? It is a mixture of meat, liver, rice and spices mixed together and stuffed into a casing. Then it is steamed. The result is a savory, delicious soft mixture. I know it doesn’t sound too yummy, but trust me, it is delicious!!!

There is also boudin noir, which is similar to black pudding or blood sausage in Europe, adding pork blood into the mixture, but that is nowadays even hard to find in Louisiana. Greg and I once went on a Boudin hunt in Lafayette, eating our way through various places selling boudin, but were unable to find boudin noir.

So how do you eat this sausage shaped gloop? The traditional way is to actually suck it out of the casing. Yes, you heard me right. It’s ok, trust me. Just don’t look anyone in the eye, while doing it

Fried Food

Louisiana is home to the best fried food in the country. Fried chicken, catfish, shrimp, oysters, gator, you name it, they put it in batter and serve it to you piping hot, crunchy, and delicious.

There is a booth at Gator by the bay that has all these goodies on offer. I recommend going there during the busy times, so you know your order is freshly fried. I went during a slow moment and I ordered the oyster poboy and unfortunately, the batter was a bit soggy.

BBQ

While Louisiana BBQ might not be as famous as Texas, Kansas, or North Carolina BBQ, it is definitely worth trying.

The meat is usually seasoned more heavily, often using Cajun or Creole spice mixes. Seafood is very popular and includes blackened fish or shrimp. The BBQ sauces tend to be spicy and a little tangy, but not as sweet as the KC BBQ sauces.

My husband had the pulled pork sandwich with the sauce on the side and it was delicious. Often, the pulled pork is only seasoned with the BBQ sauce and has little flavor on its own. But this one was a flavor bomb without the sauce. So delicious.

Gator by the Bay is always a fun event and the food takes it to the next level. I can’t wait to go back next year!!!

Last Updated on May 14, 2025 by Maria Haase

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