Best Cajun/Creole food in Buffalo. Start your meal with a cup or bowl of awesome gumbo and move right along to entrees like Creole meatloaf with andouille sausage, penne pasta with a Cajun cream sauce and pecan-crusted catfish. Don’t miss the killer three-cheese macaroni and cheese (seasonal). Sunday brunch includes brie-stuffed French toast. Save room for a dark chocolate soufflé or a king-sized bananas Foster.

For 10 years, Jim Guarino was the successful owner/chef of the Coffee Bean Café, a popular and very comfortable mainstay in the University Heights neighborhood on Main Street catercorner from the University at Buffalo’s South Campus.

Guarino passed on law school to pursue a career as a restaurateur and recently he made a decision to take yet another major turn in his life’s journey. He resolved to close the laidback coffee shop and reopen it as an upscale restaurant and a tribute to his favorite city—New Orleans—and its Creole and Cajun cooking.

The Coffee Bean closed on Jan. 10 and on Feb. 8—Fat Tuesday, appropriately—the establishment at 3260 Main St. re-opened as Shango. The change is dramatic, underscored by the fact that its new name is that of a voodoo deity of thunder and lightning. The handsome interior now features a gray-and-maroon color scheme and walls with a pleasant faux finish to offset dark wooden booths. Lucky are the customers (it wasn’t us on the night of our recent visit) who get to sit in the cozy nook painted to look like striped wallpaper that would even win approval from finicky TV interior designer Doug Wilson.

If our visit was an indication, Guarino doesn’t need voodoo to make a go of it at Shango—although old Coffee Bean customers may be confused and the restaurant is challenged with building a new customer base. Reasonable prices, consistency in quality of food and service, large servings of Cajun specialties and eclectic beer and wine lists are sure to keep the customers coming in a neighborhood not replete with fine-dining experiences. (For those unaware of the fact, Blu Bistro, located a couple of blocks south on Main Street, suddenly closed its doors several weeks ago. But that’s quite another story, according to word on the street).

We began our meal by sharing two appetizers: three avocado spring rolls ($6.50) and an artichoke and spinach dip with brie cheese accompanied by slices of crusty bread ($5.95). The spring rolls, which also were filled with sun-dried tomatoes and roasted corn, were served with a cilantro pesto and a chili pepper garlic sauce. They were very good, the better of the two choices. The dip, however, was pleasant, with the brie adding a new dimension to an old favorite.

Other appetizers include a pulled-pork quesadilla with corn, caramelized onion and Creole BBQ sauce ($6.95), blackened catfish cakes over maque choux (a Cajun “smothered” corn dish cooked with tomatoes, onion and green pepper) with a chili pepper garlic sauce ($6.95) and pan-seared jumbo sea scallops over wild mushroom ragout with a white truffle oil drizzle ($7.95). Also available is a great gumbo with chicken and sausage ($3.95 per cup, $6.50 per bowl). We were given two servings for the road by manager Sue Pietkiewicz and enjoyed them for lunch later in the week.

We discussed ordering one of the more unusual salads, but were advised by our server, Taylor, that the combination of cornmeal fried oysters with baby spinach, goat cheese, roasted corn and a warm andouille dressing topped with truffle potato chips ($8.95) is itself a meal. We reeled in our appetites and enjoyed two side salads: a house mesclun salad with fresh spring greens, vegetables and goat cheese ($3.50) for the guest and fresh spring greens with toasted walnuts, apples, red onion, Gorgonzola cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette ($3.95) for me.

The guest’s dinner selection was an evening special—pork Wellington ($16) featuring pork filet topped with mushroom duxelles wrapped and baked in puff pastry and finished with a Gorgonzola cream choice. It was both impressive and delicious. While the blackened yellowfin tuna steak served over oven-roasted sweet potatoes with horseradish truffle oil vinaigrette and the pecan-crusted catfish served over a creamy corn maque choux with Creole mustard sauce (both $13.95) appealed to me, I opted for the Creole meatloaf ($10.95). It was a great choice. The meatloaf was made with a spicy blend of beef, pork and veal formed around an andouille sausage so that each of the two slices, accompanied by roasted garlic mashed potatoes and Cajun corn and topped with a dark brown, deep-flavored gravy, contained a wedge of sausage. Half of the serving went home for the next night’s dinner.

The creative menu also includes a Creole bouillabaisse, or seafood stew ($15.95), a muffaletta stuffed with prosciutto, salami, provolone cheese and homemade olive salad ($7.50), penne with sautéed crawfish, shrimp and andouille sausage tossed in a Cajun cream sauce ($14.95) and a new take on macaroni and cheese: penne pasta “smothered” with a creamy cheddar, smoked Gouda and goat cheese sauce ($10.95). Yummm.

Be sure to save room for dessert—if that’s possible—because the two we experienced at Shango were exceptional. We enjoyed a chocolate soufflé fresh from the oven topped with fresh strawberries and blueberries, as well as a taste of Shango’s “signature” dessert, bananas Foster. The normal serving of the latter is so large that four women at an adjacent table were able to share one.

Shango seats 64, and dinner and brunch reservations are recommended. A tip from our server: order the French toast stuffed with brie cheese and topped with a banana rum sauce ($8) if you stop by for brunch.