The Cajun Experience

On Friday, May 16, 2014, I had dinner at The Cajun Experience at 125 North Loudoun Street in Winchester, Virginia. It is in the recently restored historic Taylor Hotel in the Old Town Mall, and opened on Wednesday, April 30. It is the city's newest restaurant, and occupies the two lowest levels of the building.

The Cajun Experience is closed on Monday. It opens at 11:00 AM on all other days, and closes at 10:00 PM. The Basin Bar in the basement opens at 4:00 PM and closes at 12:00 PM, except for 1:00 AM on weekends. Carryout service is available, and the phone number is 540-300-2196. Reservations are suggested for dinner, and may be made by telephone or via the Internet at http://www.cajunxp.com/#!winchester-va/cfmn.

Stairways at either end of the front porch lead to the main dining room's entrance at the north end. Outdoor seating is available on the porch. For handicapped access, go around to the back of the building to use an outside ramp to the first floor and the rear entrance. An elevator inside gives access to the Basin Bar in the lower level.

The dining room is large, with rustic wooden tables and chairs. A curved bar in the center has ten stools. Both the floor and high ceiling are a dark brown color, and have hard surfaces. Lighting is by old-fashioned light bulbs hanging down from the ceiling on long cords. The bulbs have zigzag filaments and a tip at the end. The walls are sparsely decorated; neither they nor the ceiling have any acoustic treatment, and the noise level is very high.

When the receptionist learned that I had no reservation, I was not turned away, but seated at a community table for twelve, along the left wall. I was handed two limited menus; one for cocktails and one for food. More elaborate menus with a full range of offerings will be available later. The categories listed on the food menu were Appetizers, Salads, Poor Boys and Burgers, Entr — Anonymous Reviewer