by Luis Lira

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon when my friend Emilio asked, “Hey, where are you going for lunch?” My other friends, Jonathan and Jason, were right around the corner and said “Boiling Pot!” Emilio had never been there and was hesitant at first, but we convinced him if he liked spicy and flavorful food he would definitely like Boiling Pot.

Sixth Street around noon during the week isn’t as packed as is at night, so we parked fairly close to our destination, 700 East Sixth Street. We were greeted by a breathtaking aroma coming from the kitchen, and the wait staff was very welcoming as they sat us down. Emilio noticed the illustrations on the wall, which ranged from self-portraits of customers, the food, or anything in general. “Where did they get the butcher paper,” asked Emilio. His question was answered when our lovely waitress, Sofia, brought us four pieces of butcher paper. Jonathan smiled at Emilio and said, “They don’t serve their food on plates in here.”

Emilio saw the cup of crayons on the table and quickly began to draw a portrait of Jonathan. To delay Emilio’s artwork, Jonathan began asking us what to order. The Boiling Pot sells their food by weight, such as 1 lb. of crawfish and so on. We decide on their DOT special, 1 lb. of blue crab—which we substituted for ½ lb. of crawfish, 1 lb. of shrimp, 1 lb. of sausage and taters and corn on the cob—for $29.95. Jason ordered an additional pound of crawfish, which was being $10.50 per pound.

Soon, after a few jokes and drawings of each other on the butcher paper, Sofia arrived with some freshly baked bread. We began to taste the bread when she returned with a silver pot filled with food and aroma. She dumped it on our table and said, “Dig in fellas!”

Emilio decided to be cautious and stuck with shrimp and sausage, while Jonathan, Jason, and I began our feast on the crawfish. As soon as I separated the tail from the body, I saw my fingers covered in spice. There are no words to describe the first bite other than breathtaking.  My taste buds tasted a variety of spices mixed in with citrus flavors. After eating a couple of crawfish, my lips begin to numb and perspiration began to develop on my forehead, so I decided to try the shrimp. I was amazed at how large they were and how easy the skin peeled off.  The shrimp’s flavor matched the crawfish, but was not as intense.

Later, I mixed in the sausage, taters, and corn on the cob along with the crawfish to satisfy my appetite for flavor. After the food disappeared I was left with numb lips and a satisfied appetite. Jonathan and Jason expressed the same feelings I did. Emilio enjoyed his first visit to the Boiling Pot and vowed to return soon. When we returned to work everyone asked, “How was the food?”  All four of us responded the same way, “Packed with flavor.”