Jazzy Pete’s serving up seafood in former DTB spot on Oak

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Jazzy Pete’s customers dine Monday (July 5) beneath the former DTB awning.

In August 2020, three years after its lauded debut, restaurant DTB, short for Down the Bayou, closed its doors on Oak Street. In November, seafood restaurant Jazzy Pete’s found its Uptown home at the former DTB location.

The highly regarded “coastal Cajun” restaurant DTB, founded by chef Carl Schaubhut and Jacob Naquin, closed a year after Schaubhut’s death due to cancer. Although an official reason for DTB’s closure was never given, the restaurant, like most others, suffered business loss and uncertainty during the pandemic.

Oak Street is the second location of Jazzy Pete’s, owned by Peter Nguyen. The first has been a popular dining spot in Slidell for 16 years.

“Peter is a family man who built his career from the ground up,” said Jazzy Pete’s bar manager Leah Vickman. “He started off as a bus boy and worked his way up and opened the Slidell location. He’s very family-oriented and a lot of the staff members, at both of the Jazzy Pete’s locations, are related.”

Vickman, no stranger to the area, said that the restaurant fits in well on Oak Street.

“I used to work at DTB,” she explained. “And I was bartending downtown when I got the call asking me if I wanted to come back to Oak Street. I just jumped at the chance.”

Vickman described the businesses on Oak Street as a tight community. The relationship with Oak St. Brewery, one door over in the same building, is especially important.

“The brewery has our menu and we are happy to deliver food over there to whoever is looking for something to eat,” Vickman said. “[Owner] Kevin [Greenaae] is a great guy, and we’re always popping in and out of each other’s businesses.”

courtesy of Jazzy Pete's

Seafood gumbo at Jazzy Pete’s

The restaurant’s specialties include Shrimp Curry ($12), jumbo head-on shrimp simmered in a basil curry sauce; BBQ Shrimp ($12), jumbo head-on shrimp, cooked BBQ Pete’s style; Shrimp Boot Po-Boy ($14), fried shrimp and fried green tomatoes with pickles, greens and Remoulade aioli; Cochon de Lait Po-Boy ($14), grilled ham, pulled pork, bacon and shaved andouille with pickles, coleslaw and Creole mustard aioli; seafood gumbo ($14); and Pete’s Famous Onion Rings ($8).

Jazzy Pete’s keeps it local and uses Dong Phuong Bakery bread for its po-boys. It also sells Dong Phuong’s famous king cakes during Carnival season.

Vickman said that the reception to the restaurant has been good, and they are settling into the Carrollton area nicely.

“We’ve had some customers come in who used to go to DTB, so that’s been nice,” she said. “We really like being here on Oak. It’s a whole community and we take care of each other.”

Jazzy Pete’s is open Monday through Thursday, 4 to 8 p.m.; Friday, 4 to 9 p.m.; and Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. It is closed Sunday.