Hailing from Trinidad, Sanjay Maharaj landed a job in New York City at Wells Fargo. While there, he met Arnaudville native Kevin Robin, who had moved to New York for his catering business. Robin wanted to move back home and convinced Maharaj to go with him.

Once the former New Yorker arrived in Arnaudville, he asked, “Where’s the Starbucks?” And, that’s when Robin and Maharaj decided to convert a building owned by Robin’s mother into a coffee shop – dubbed Little Big Cup – in October 2012. Not coincidentally, Little Big Cup is right across the street from where Robin started in the catering business – at Russell’s, his grandfather’s grocery store.

The two entrepreneurs built a professional kitchen, thinking that they wanted to serve plate lunches. That all changed when a chef showed up one day and offered to prepare bronzed redfish over saffron couscous. Robin and Maharaj never dreamed that such a dish go over with Arnaudville’s non-pretentious patrons. But the dish sold out, and the owners decided to open a full-service restaurant.

Maharaj describes Little Big Cup’s cuisine as “Cajun with a twist.” The atmosphere is casual and fun, with Robin’s map-of-the-world dominating the main dining room wall. “We wanted to create an atmosphere like you are coming to your grandmother’s house,” Maharaj explains.

The restaurant also houses The Little Big Bar, featuring a smaller version of Robin’s world map and the original door from Russell’s grocery store. All cocktails are made with fresh juices and herbs. Happy hour is offered Wednesday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and features $1 domestic beer, $3 house wines, $5 cocktails and $5 small plates.

On the main menu, popular appetizers include the Praline Chicken and Fried Crawfish Cornbread, and frequently-ordered entrées include the Sautéed Seafood Tower (seared red snapper, crab cakes, shrimp, crawfish tails and oysters with a grilled eggplant medallion over a Creole buttermilk slaw), Surf n Turf and Cajun Kevin Po Boy. The latter item is so unique that it has had 3 million views on the internet. For dessert, Little Big Cup offers white chocolate bread pudding with caramel sauce, cheesecake and fresh berry cake.

On Fridays and Saturdays, Little Big Cup offers an enormous brunch buffet featuring Cajun specialties and prime rib. Be sure to make reservations, as the line regularly goes out the door. It’s no wonder that this spread won “Best Brunch” in Acadiana in the Times, was named as one of the top brunches in the state and praised in onlyinyourstate.com.

On a recent visit, my dining party sampled some customer faves from Little Big Cup. First, we tried the Fried Crawfish Cornbread – house-made cornbread topped with fried crawfish tails and a Bourbon glaze. The huge square – plenty for three or four to share – was a delectable combination of sweet and savory.

Next came the Cajun Kevin Po Boy – three pieces of toasted hollowed-out French Bread stuffed with sautéed Gulf shrimp, lump blue point crab meat, Louisiana crawfish tails and andouille sausage in a mixed pepper, parmesan, butter and cream reduction. This was by far the fanciest – and the tastiest – po boy I’ve ever had, and it was absolutely divine!

If that wasn’t enough, we finished with the Surf n Turf: Crawfish stuffed Rib Eye, a 10-oz. hand-cut steak broiled in butter with crawfish stuffing served over white truffle mashed potatoes topped with a Crawfish Spinach Madeline. Talk about good!

Little Big Cup has been so successful that the owners wanted to give back to the community. The restaurant has hosted fundraisers for Lafayette Animal Aid and cancer research. During the flood of 2016, Maharaj’s friend, Katherine Kelly Lang, an ambassador for Breakaway from Cancer, along with another cast member from The Bold and The Beautiful, came in for a fundraiser at the restaurant. Despite the torrential rains, everyone who bought a ticket showed up. This March, 10 cast members are coming to Arnaudville for the event. To date, over $75,000 has been raised for cancer research.

Now that Maharaj has settled in Arnaudville, he notices a significant change from living in New York.

“People are so friendly here, which was a shock to me,” he reveals. And, that’s what makes Little Big Cup so special.

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