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Fat Tuesday at Gator Jake's Bar & Grill

Last Tuesday (aka Fat Tuesday) Mike Wrathell and I decided to celebrate Mardi Gras at Gator Jakes, who had advertised a free buffet, $2.00 well drinks and beer, and lots of plastic beads. It is usually pretty crowded in there and noisy as hell, and when we grabbed the only open booth we noticed that they had added small plasma screens to each one. What can be better than the latest news on Brittany and Fed-Ex mixed in with all that drunken revelry?

True to their word, somewhere around the time we had our second Margarita, the buffet was open and filled with the likes of buffalo wings, catfish, dirty rice, gumbo, étouffée, and salad. I have taken to traveling with Tobasco but they actually had some, as opposed to most places that only carry wimpish hot sauce. Everything was quite tasty and mega-carb laden, but it’s a party, so why not indulge?

With the background music going and all that rebel rousing, we couldn’t really watch TV, but at 8:00 p.m. I turned to look at some of the other booths, just to see if they were watching American Idol, which boasted 31 million viewers that night. Sure enough, almost everyone had it on.

It was amusing to see the differences in the crowd, which varied from those of us who only grabbed a string or two of beads off the pool table to those who snatched them by the handfuls, donned hats, and were generally kind nuisances. “Party on” is my motto, if you so desire.

One of the best parts of GJ’s is the amicable staff. Also dolled up with beads for the occasion, they not only gave you service with a smile, they seemed to be enjoying themselves as well. Our server Stephanie was more than happy to pose with Mike and even came back for another pic after she had her face painted.

Unfortunately, the revelry is only for one night, but we thought we would let you know about it in case you want to plan for next year. They also have “Fiesta Nights” throughout the year on Thursdays with drink specials and free taco buffet and Karaoke Wednesdays, so it is a veritable cornicopia of amusing stuff to do when getting sloshed.

About the only thing we didn’t like was the $24.00 bar tab. I guess we missed out on the bargain drinks, but then it was still quite a deal considering we got Creole cooking as opposed to meatballs and weenie wraps.

Gator Jake’s, located at 36863 Van Dyke (at 16 Mile) in Sterling Heights, is open 7 days a week, has take-out available (586-983-3700), and often puts out coupons in local mailings. Although kids are welcome, if you have more than one well-behaved one, we suggest you get a sitter.

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