Want to feast before Lent starts and help the homeless, too? Here’s how

Fat Tuesday may still be almost two weeks away, but if you want to feast at Doo-Dah Diner’s 10th Annual Fat Tuesday Cajun Feast, you’ll probably want to make reservations now.

Timirie Shibley, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Patrick, warned that the fundraising dinner usually sells out even though they try to save a few spots for walk-ins.

The dinner will be from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Feb. 21 at the restaurant at 206 E. Kellogg.

The tradition started, Timirie Shibley said, because they “wanted to do a fundraiser for the community.”

Also, she said, “Patrick loves cooking Cajun food.”

She said it turned into an annual event because “it was just so well received.”

For each $40 sold, $5 will go to ICT Street Team, which helps people who are homeless with healthcare.

The meal is $20 for people 75 and older or 10 and under, and children 5 and under are free.

Reservations are by phone at (316) 265-7011.

There’s a wide range of dishes that come with the meal, including a crawfish boil.

“We fly in our crawfish live from New Orleans that morning,” Timirie Shibley said.

Also included in the buffet is gumbo, etouffee, jambalaya, pasta, hush puppies, mustard-dipped catfish, collard greens, red beans and rice, fried okra and three kinds of desserts: bread pudding, king cake and beignets.

Shibley said the catfish is her favorite, “And I don’t even like fish.”

The fish also will be a special some Fridays during Lent.

Patrick Shibley said most of the dishes aren’t available year round because they’re “more in demand that way.”

As his wife put it, “It’s kind of fun just to do it the once a year.”

This story was originally published February 8, 2023 at 5:05 AM.