I’ve met Brandon Marks at Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce events when he’s getting people excited about visiting his Big Boi’s Crawfish Hole.

Someone’s birthday finally made me go to his spot, where Jason’s Deli used to be at Central Mall, at the Casa Ole entrance.

Open the door and the aroma greets you. You’re at a crawfish boil. While people peeled and ate all around me, I chose a shrimp salad with Italian dressing and was very pleased. Other folks tried some big old fried shrimp and pork chop.

Everybody else seemed pretty pleased, too.

Here’s what someone said about one of the sides:

“This is the best cabbage I’ve ever eaten out,” is a direct quote from one of my dinner companions.

She said it three different times, so I believe her.

Marks came out of the kitchen and visited our table. He said the crawfish comes in different levels of heat.

“I can make it spicy if you want,” he said.

Meet me at the coffee bar?

Ever feel like eating your coffee?

Two Northeastern Uni-versity undergrads thought it would be a kick to have coffee and breakfast at once.

New Grounds Food and its product, CoffeeBar, just launched two new flavors, Caramel Macchiato and Coconut Mocha, that I tried and enjoyed. It’s a chewy, fulfilling thing that’s an all-natural, coffee-infused energy bar. Those familiar with energy bars can imagine the texture. This one has an extra kick with the coffee flavor. It is organic, gluten-free, non-GMO and vegan.  It is available to ship worldwide via www.newgroundsfood.com

darraghcastillo@icloud.com