Unlike the much lauded and cross-continental I-80, New Orleans is very much a bridge from the past to the present. Today's Groupon gets you a mouthful of the flavorful bridge-land: for $15, you get $30 worth of Cajun cuisine at Howe's Bayou.

The Ferndale eatery features a large menu of authentic Cajun fare sure to evoke memories of dancing your way through the Marigny on steamy summer nights in 2002, the summer of steam that continued into the night. Start with an order of alligator sausage ($8.95) sautéed with veggies in white wine, or imitate dignified Bayou brunches by summoning the crawfish boil ($6.95) to your table and diving into the pound of boiled mudbugs hands first. Traditional po' boys, such as the fried or blackened catfish ($7.95) or the Andouille-crusted oyster po' boy ($8.95), served over southern slaw and accompanied by house-made chips, will satisfy the sandwichly inclined. Jazzy diners can improvise a syncopated serenade to the red beans and rice with Andouille sausage ($10.95) or the jambalaya ($11.95).

Howe's atmosphere, enhanced by dark wood paneling, brightly painted walls, and the constant presence of Fred Lemieux on the corner barstool, lend the eatery a seductive and secretive quality common to so many New Orleans bars. Spend a Saturday evening at the bar swilling an expertly stirred sazerac ($6), or linger over an order of warm peach cobbler ($4.25) while pondering names for your backyard nutria or mapping out your strategy for next year's Mardi Gras coconut quest.

Reviews

Howe's Bayou grabs good reviews from Metromix and the Detroit News. Eighty-three percent of Urbanspooners recommend it, TripAdvisors and Yelpers give it 3.5 stars, and Citysearchers give it 4.5:

• …this cozy Ferndale restaurant is a great place to relax and unwind. Features moderately priced dishes, including perennical [sic] creole favorites like catfish and sweet potato fries, washed down with the ever-potent hurricane. – Donnelle Wheeler, Metromix
• An upbeat Mardi Gras feeling embues the place all year-round. Small batch bourbons are a specialty at the bar, as are several beers that are New Orleans imports. – Molly Abraham, Detroit News
• I love the red beans and rice, and they have the BEST, bar none, bloody marys. – A TripAdvisor Reviewer on Facebook