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Dining Divas
Southern Boy Meets Local
Girl and Opens Who Dat’s
By Lisa Kampeter
Fun. That’s what the latest Dining Divas outing was. All around fun. From the car ride to Collinsville to the catching up and cracking up at dinner, our time at Who Dat’s sure was a good one.
The Grafton Diva and I picked up the Formerly Local Diva and the Resident Diva and made the trek together into Illinois. It’s a good thing I didn’t take the advice of one of the ladies as she would have had us go north into Alton when we needed to go east to Collinsville. When we pulled into town, we talked about the Italian Festival and the Horseradish Festivals and wondered if these events still existed. The parking lots we crazy full, and the Surprised Diva was shocked by the number of cars there as she thought Collinsville was a much smaller town.
Who Dat’s is on Main Street, and their specialty is southern cuisine. A New Orleans boy left the south, joined the Coast Guard, and then landed in south St. Louis, eventually meeting a local girl across the river who grew up in a restaurant family. That’s how it all began. Aside from owning this location, they also own Who Dat’s in Columbia, IL, and plan to open one in the Dominican Republic. The Teacher Diva is still trying to figure out how she can go work for them…in the Dominican Republic…once she retires in a few years. When I mentioned that I heard about a couple other locations, including one opening up on the Missouri side, they said they are not connected to them.
With the summer in full swing, the Divas have been enjoying the season. The Travelling Diva had a six week traveling adventure down south with her sister. What a great time they had together! The Newcomer Diva had a float trip and Mexico on her summer agenda, and the Teacher Diva had just finished up summer school and was looking forward to a few weeks of enjoying the sun until she had to go back to the classroom.
The Off-The-Grid Diva talked about her camping adventure with her sisters and their families up north near Mark Twain Lake and Hannibal. Sleeping in tents, 4-wheeling through the mud, and getting comfortable with a makeshift outhouse was too much for several of the Divas. No thank you. Been there, done that.
Our waitress was extremely attentive to us and seemed to constantly be refilling drinks, and although it felt like it took a while to get our food, it was nice to see other employees step in to help her deliver our food. The owner was one of these people, and she was very friendly and shared with us that their recipes for their meals were her mother-in-law’s.
The Shrimp Taco special was delicious. The side of Jambalaya that I had with it had quite the kick, and one Diva was grateful she had a Hurricane for a drink because she could use it “to extinguish the fire in the jambalaya”.
As for sandwiches, the Shrimp Po Boy is an excellent choice as is the Muffaletta sandwich. A few people had the Barbecue Shrimp and really enjoyed the seasoning although one Diva thought it was bland. Another Diva loved the crawfish etouffee and brought a bowl home for her kids, and she plans to bring her family to Who Dat’s to check it out themselves some time. The Picky Diva had the Pork Chop with ranch mashed potatoes. Although she wished her potatoes were warmer, she did enjoy the meal.
Rarely one to pass up dessert, a few Divas tried the Gooey Butter Cake topped with coconut. It’s no wonder theirs is ranked as one of the best in St. Louis. It’s rich and delicious. One Diva made the one she brought home last for days.
The Dancing Diva had stumbled upon Who Dat’s weeks before and partook in the live outdoor entertainment. She made the suggestion for us to try this place out, and we’re glad we did. It was such a fun night, including our celebration of Christmas in July, where we raffled off a Christmas tree trimmed with Tupperware and 4th of July items, as well as enjoyed the generosity of a Santa-Diva husband who gave us all special homemade gifts of hats and headbands.
Apparently, if you go to a New Orleans Saints game, you can hear fans cry out “Who Dat?” as a rallying call. I’m not certain this is where the restaurant name came from; however, being that the owner grew up there, it’s highly likely that’s the case. I’m all for rallying behind this family restaurant. We’ll be checking out Who Dat’s again.
