Po’Boy Spot Debuting Just in Time for Fat Tuesday

Jeremy Bentham Smith and CJ Davidson met over two decades ago while attending Florida State University in Tallahassee, where they pledged the same fraternity and both played saxophone. Many years and a few moves later, the two reunited in Colorado, and now, they’ve teamed up to bring a taste of the South to Edgewater Public Market with Poboys Creole Cafe, their first venture as owners. After a soft opening this weekend, it will officially debut on Fat Tuesday, which falls on February 17 this year (yes, they will be giving out beads).

The business is taking over the stall left vacant by Tessa Deli, which had a short run in the food hall before refocusing on its East Colfax brick-and-mortar.

Both Bentham Smith and Davidson have worked in a variety of hospitality roles, both together and separately, but Davidson’s first kitchen job was at a Tallahassee spot called Poboys Creole Cafe. It’s been closed for years, and this new business is “a tribute, more or less,” Bentham Smith says, but with a twist. “Where the Bayou meets the Front Range” is its motto, and it’s incorporating as many locally-sourced products as it can into its menu — in the future, look for a po’boy of the month featuring local trout.

The idea quickly became reality for the longtime friends. After Bentham Smith’s parents passed away, he was left with an inheritance and the motivation to stop working for other people and build something of his own. In just five months, the duo created the concept and secured the food hall space.

As the name implies, the menu is centered on a Louisiana staple: po’boy sandwiches ($14-$17). No matter which option you order, one key component stays the same: the bread. Bentham Smith was visiting another local favorite for this New Orleans staple, food truck (actually, trolley) Toby’s Po’boys, when he tasted exactly what he had been searching for. Like Toby’s, Poboys Creole Cafe is sourcing its rolls from Vinh Xuong Bakery, the popular banh mi spot off West Alameda Avenue. “Po’boys and banh mi are very similar,” in that the ideal bread has a crusty exterior with a soft and fluffy interior, Bentham Smith notes.

Each po’boy comes dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickles and remoulade. Options include fried crawfish, fried or blackened shrimp, and a vegetarian-friendly fried eggplant in a tomato-based Creole sauce (which is also available as an entree over rice). The andouille po’boy includes sausage made with a proprietary recipe that’s produced locally by Clyde’s Sausage. Bentham Smith is particularly proud of the Debris po’boy, loaded with fall-apart tender roast beef in gravy that’s cooked for hours. “By the end, it’s just melty and delicious,” he says.

A fried or grilled gator option rounds out the po’boy lineup, though the team says it’s still trying to find the right Florida purveyor for that product. All of the po’boy options can be ordered as baskets as well.

The menu also includes entrees such as crawfish étouffée ($19), a hearty, stew-like meal served with rice; gumbo ($17) loaded with veggies, duck breast and andouille sausage that’s also served over rice; the Crawdaddy Burger ($18) topped with fried crawfish; and jambalaya ($18).

And of course, as at any respectable Southern spot, sweet tea is among the beverage options.

Ahead of its opening, the team is feeling a mix of stress and excitement. “I’ve got a million things running through my mind,” Davidson admits. But there’s already a lot of excitement among food hall guests eager to get a taste of this addition, which is set to bring Louisiana-inspired cuisine to an area of the city lacking other options.

Poboys Creole Cafe is located inside Edgewater Public Market at 5505 West 20th Avenue. For more information and updates, follow it on Instagram @poboyscolorado.