“Love seafood too much to just indulge in mudbugs? No problem. The menu offers much more of Louisiana’s finest, such as etoufee, fried beignets, fried ‘gator bites’, soft shell crab, lobster, raw oysters, fried calamari – and much more.”

By: Jennie of The Hungry Muse

Rise and shine, Arlington! Get your thumbs ready, as tomorrow – Friday, March 30th –  marks the grand opening of your very own, brand-spanking-new Louisiana Crawfish joint – Chasin’ Tails.

Brought to you by two ‘pinnacles of the online (poker) game,’ the Dang Brothers (Hac and Di) have taken a break from the ‘high stakes’ to bring Northern Virginia one of the only seafood hot spots that serves fresh Louisiana crawfish, local seafood, and even fried ‘gator bites’. As for the kicker – enjoy a wide assortment of local brews, and some of their very own (original) mixed drinks – such as the ‘Swamp Water’ (which tastes like the juice-version of the ‘pina colada’), and the ‘Voodoo Cocktail’ (perhaps, ‘hard lemonade’s sweeter cousin).

Love seafood too much to just indulge in mudbugs? No problem. The menu offers much more of Louisiana’s finest, such as etoufee, fried beignets, fried ‘gator bites’, soft shell crab, lobster, raw oysters, fried calamari – and much more. They even created their own house-made ‘voodoo’ sauce that tastes just like a tangy-mayo combo with a teensy bit of a kick.

And for the main finale – fresh, boiled crawfish (that our server claimed to have been ‘alive and swimming earlier this morning’), that comes in three different flavors (lemon pepper, garlic butter, and original Cajun), and in four different levels of heat (mild, medium, hot,  and ‘nawlins hot!).

After months of driving back and forth from the wharf in DC to get my crawfish fix this past year, I can definitely appreciate the cut in commute for fresh crawfish somewhere closer to home. Note – the emphasis I had on fresh, because in all honesty – you can find a tray full of tiny little crawfish at any old Chinese buffet – but you won’t find them fresh, and plump like the ones pictured (above) for miles. In fact, you won’t find another seafood bar that serves fresh Louisiana crawfish, local beer, original mixed drinks, and other traditional Cajun dishes with multiple big screens around the room, and its’ very own hand washing station, anywhere in Arlington for that matter. As for all the crawfish-virgins out there – you’ll want to have your first crawfish at a seafood bar that serves them fresh like they do at Chasin’ Tails, so if you don’t have plans tomorrow night – now you do.

You didn’t think they forgot about dessert, did you? Another traditional ‘Cajun’ item on the menu – these little fried bundles of cajun-style donuts were like pillows of sweet-powdered-joy.

Menu Standouts:

• Gator Bites (Lightly battered cubes of gator that tasted like a chicken that thought it was calamari.)

• Fried Catfish (Tender, and juicy – a reminder of how fresh their seafood is)

• Garlic Buttered Crawfish (although I’m partial to garlic and butter…)
• Swamp Water (Never thought I’d enjoy a drink that looked like someone dipped a cocktail glass into a green lagoon and brought it back to me, but this was actually my favorite drink of the night. It tasted like a liquified pina colada – and even has a gummy worm to enjoy on top.)

Next Visit:

• Snow Crab Legs
• Raw Oysters
• Lobster
• Etoufee

Cheers!