Cou-Yon’s owners plan Government Street seafood restaurant

The owners of Cou-Yon’s barbecue are planning to open a fried seafood restaurant on Government Street, in the former Captain D’s building.

Cork’s Cajun Fried Fish and Shrimp will have a simple menu of fried fish platters, fried shrimp platters and po-boys, said Paul Mladenka. The plan is to open the restaurant in October.

“The idea is to keep it hot, fresh and quick” he said. “We’ve mastered the art of getting food out quickly to clients and that’s the name of the game.”

Mladenka and his older brother, Michael, opened Cou-Yon’s in Port Allen 13 years ago. Along with the original location on North Alexander Avenue, they also have a food truck set up at Perkins and Acadian.

For their new restaurant venture, they decided to go all in on seafood.

“South Louisiana is the fried seafood capital of the world, so we feel very strongly that people will react well to this,” he said. “This is a concept very much poised for growth.”

Captain D’s closed its restaurant at 5131 Government St. in early 2020 after less than three years in business. The closure was part of a move in which the chain also shut down restaurants in Denham Springs, Zachary and Hammond that opened around the same time. Mladenka said the building worked well for Cork’s, because of the layout and drive-through window.

He isn’t worried about the fact that the earlier attempt to bring a fast food fried seafood restaurant to the building didn’t work. “If you bring subpar seafood here, you’re not going to get away with it,” Mladenka said.

Between 25 and 30 people will work at Cork’s. The plan is for the business to be open for lunch and dinner.