Cajun Crawfish – Santa Ana

For nearly five years, Cajun Crawfish operated as a boil-in-bag cajun shellfish restaurant in Santa Ana, following the same basic business model as numerous competitors: Turn seafood into a somewhat fun, very messy experience by serving bags of boiled clams, shrimp, and crab, which are then cut open, letting guests use their hands to eat while peeling away shells and tails. If you skip the mostly fried appetizers, you just need to decide how much to spend on seafood per person – it’s all sold by the pound – and what sort of flavor (cajun, extra garlic, garlic butter, or unsauced Louisiana style) and spice level you want, then whether to add sausage and corn to your boiling bags.

We know why this concept appeals to owners: Modestly trained employees can simply boil ready-to-go bags rather than requiring stronger cooking skills, and as McDonalds proved, nearly anyone can throw fries, calamari, catfish, and shrimp in a deep-fryer. Similarly little work is required in the dining room: Customers grab their trays with bags of seasoned shellfish, then handle all the rest of the work on their own, except cleaning.