Kenny B’s Cajun restaurant getting ready for Mardi Gras in new Bluffton location
With Mardi Gras season officially under way in Louisiana, Kenny B’s French Quarter Cafe is gearing up for the holiday in its new Bluffton location.
The restaurant that serves Cajun and Creole specialties for breakfast, lunch and dinner first opened on Hilton Head’s south end in 1999 and, last year, made the decision to move to a larger space just across the bridges.
Its new home is in Bridge Center, along U.S. 278 across from Moss Creek, and it quietly opened its doors to customers starting Dec. 27.
“I’ll be honest,” said chef and owner Ken Ballard, “it rejuvenated me doing this again. I had good memories from when we first started because that was a dream come true, you know, to finally get your own place.”
The building, once home to Thai Smile Cuisine, was extensively renovated over nearly a year to create a large waiting area for take-out orders and a spacious dining area with a combination of tables and booths and plenty of natural light.
There are reminders of the original location, with framed mementos and posters lining the walls. Ballard even had large canvases printed with photos of the iconic French Quarter mural that went from floor to ceiling at the Hilton Head restaurant.
The larger space also allowed for the creation of a vivid red “Dawghouse” room for fans of the University of Georgia bulldogs. Ballard’s own bulldog Beignet Bouchet (“BAYN-yay BOO-shay”), named for the Louisiana-style pastry fried and dusted with powdered sugar, is well represented among the photos.
All of Ballard’s employees moved to the new location, and he has also added additional staff.
While the space is new, customers can be reassured that the menu hasn’t changed.
Previously, all ordering was done on paper and customers were rung up on an old cash register. The new space now has a modern point-of-sale accounting system that allows pick-up orders to be placed online.
“I’ve had a good mix of my old customers from Hilton Head, a lot of them tourists that were here for the new year holidays came in. That that was the best sign of anything, that I know I will still get my summer people, as I call them,” Ballard said, “and then I’ve gotten a lot more people that live out here that would have never went down to Hilton Head.”
The lunch shift in particular has been busy with locals on their midday breaks from work.
Mardi Gras on Tuesday, Feb. 13, will be a customer appreciation day. Ballard hopes to have his license to serve beer and wine by then, but regardless, he plans lunch specials on po-boys, jambalaya, gumbo and muffalettas. Of course, there will be king cake; at Kenny B’s, those who find a plastic baby in their cake will get a prize.
On a recent day, two separate customers stopped to talk to compliment Ballard on the food and the space over the course of about 15 minutes.
“This is the best food ever,” said one woman who identified herself as from Ohio. “We have nothing like this.”
At a glance
What: Kenny B’s French Quarter Cafe
Address: 1534 Fording Island Road, Building D, in Bluffton’s Bridge Center
Hours: Winter hours are breakfast 8:30 to 11 a.m., lunch 12:30 to 3 p.m. and dinner 4:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday; closed Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday hours will be added starting around Mardi Gras.
Phone: 843-837-7007
Website: eatatkennybs.com
