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The bartender looks at me for half a second longer than I’d like.

“They not in seeeeson,” he says slowly, blankly. It’s April and I’ve just asked for a softshell crab po’boy at the new Mandina’s. Right. I knew that.

With the crowd too thick to wait for a table on this particular Thursday, we’d placed our order at the bar, then bellied up to a nearby pub table to wait. I turned my attention to the scene.

Mandina’s, an 80-year-old Big Easy haunt, is one of the few restaurants that ultimately pulled the trigger on opening an outpost in Baton Rouge after Katrina. Its longtime location on Canal Street, a signature pink clapboard house, suffered serious storm damage and won’t reopen until October. Now the restaurant, famous for flaky po’boys, stuff-your-gut daily specials and platefuls of red-sauced Italian fare, finds itself in an ersatz ski lodge on Old Hammond Highway—the same one that once held upscale French restaurant, Chalet Brandt. Surely this sparks a weird feeling for New Orleanians used to a quirky neighborhood vibe and an equally weird one for Baton Rougeans now chowing on enormous po’boys where they used to sip soup of fishes. Nevertheless, it’s working. Both times I visited, whopping crowds and bustling servers were the order of the day.

Thankfully, the chalet’s interior has been cozied up. It’s amazing the affect of a warm coat of Tuscan yellow and some framed images of New Orleans. The crowd here is an established one. There are professionals, transplants, couples and groups of friends—folks who don’t mind tucking their ties back for a $12 plate of red beans.

As we sat, the popular daily specials ambled by on the shoulders of servers. The menu appears simple enough, but it’s overwhelming in size. I wondered, as smothered chicken with mashed potatoes and sweet peas passed, if I’d taken enough time to choose right.

Quickly and efficiently, our starters arrived. The turtle soup was tasty, but didn’t feature the deep brown tones and richness of our favorite versions ($5/$8). The decadent crab fingers in wine sauce weren’t effervescing with wine as much as they were drenched in butter and breadcrumbs ($10). I thought the muffaletta was savory and succulent; but the grilled ham’s edges were charred to distraction ($10). Still, that memorable muffaletta tang was welcome—a hard-to-find taste in Baton Rouge. Mandina’s uses French bread for its version, along with a distinctive olive salad that featured bits of orange peppers and pickled green beans.

The trout meuniere ($17) was springy and flavorful, but we were mixed on the brown gravy, which was heavier than most. We brought things to a close with the two homemade desserts on the menu: cup custard and bread pudding, both wholesome and smooth ($4 each). The bread pudding, reported the bartender in predictable y’at fashion, “is made from the same French bread that made the po’boys the day before.” I liked its fine texture, eggy background and homey whiffs of nutmeg.

On a recent Friday, we queued up in a quick-moving line for dinner. This time, we sat in the restaurant’s side room. Isolated from the action in the main dining room, its tile floors and casual vibe give it a fish-house feel.

We kicked things off with shrimp remoulade and the Italian salad. Of all the menu items I sampled at Mandina’s, the shrimp remoulade fell into the blow-me-away category ($9.50). Pungent with a touch of Dijon mustard, sweet with spiced-up mayo and overflowing with what must have been two-dozen tender, toothy shrimp, the dish was real and inspired. I liked the Italian salad, too ($8). A simple bowl of greens and pickled goodies is polished off with an earthy, herb vinaigrette.

We sampled the veal cutlet on French, a solid, interesting choice I’d reorder, and the Creole eggplant, a mellow amalgam that included ham, shrimp and crab ($11, $16). It ain’t pretty, but it goes down easy. Finally, the stuffed shrimp, fried and loaded with crab, was well-spiced and fresh ($14). The fries served alongside were unusually good.

The list of daily specials is impressive and includes things such as bruccialone (rolled veal) on Thursdays and chicken breast stuffed with oyster dressing on Tuesdays. On Mondays, you can order red beans three ways: with Italian sausage, veal cutlets or pork chops. Don’t miss anything that involves the flaky French bread—whether it’s a French fry po’boy with brown gravy or half-and-half loaf with deftly fried shrimp and oysters. Now that summer’s here, you won’t embarrass yourself by ordering one fat with soft-shell crab.