Frog Legs and Po’boys in, Where Else, the Mission…

Is that an alligator head wearing Mardi Gras beads?

That’s an alligator head wearing Mardi Gras beads.

… is what you might think upon first entering Bayou Creole Kitchen & Rotisserie, a casual new NoLa-style restaurant that’s now soft-open on Valencia and looks like this.

In fact, all of the art errs on the weird-but-fun side (why, yes, that is a picture of Salvador Dali with a skillet hanging off of his mustache for no apparent reason) in this green-and-brown-walled ode to New Orleans from a chef who’s a native of the city himself.

But you’ll soon turn your attention from the artwork to matters of greater import. Like frog legs with brown butter, garlic and tobacco. And blackened catfish po’boys. And a bunch of seafood sourced directly from the Gulf Coast. None of which would be of any use to anyone without a proper bottle of Abita, so maybe get one of those, too.

And if you don’t have time to sit down and make an evening of it, this place also happens to be a strong-to-very-strong takeout option.

This isn’t the year to skimp on Oscar-night frog legs.