Eating Up Summer

We're barely into May, but two local restaurants are channeling Southern summers with buckets of warm-weather foods that are perfect for savoring outside. After the jump, find out where to get mud bugs, fried oysters, shrimp corn dogs and buckets of cold beer.

Acadiana brings the flavors of the New Orleans Jazzfest to D.C. with Louisiana crawfish boils every Friday through June 20. Served on the patio, buckets of boiled Zatarain's-spiced crawfish arrive with potatoes and corn on the cob. The crawfish are priced at $13 per pound. For those who don't love "mud bugs," shrimp are also available at $17 per pound. For an even more authentic experience, the restaurant has buckets of four of Louisiana's Abita Light beers for $12. The special is served from 3:30-6:30 p.m. each Friday on a first-come, first-served basis.

At waterfront restaurant Indigo Landing, hang out on the deck and channel lazy summer days with buckets of sharable summer snacks. Also available in the lounge, the buckets are filled with fried and grilled delicacies that range in price from $7-$12. The bucket choices include fried oysters, fried pickles, frogmore shrimp, grilled and chilled mussels, shrimp corn dogs and hush puppies. Buckets of beer are available, though I am tempted by the list of new summer cocktails like the Kiawah, a mix of banana, mango, pineapple and dark rum. Oyster happy hour is another reason to visit the Landing from 5-7 p.m. Monday through Friday. On the menu: roasted oysters, oyster sliders, a sausage oyster roll and oysters on the half shell ($5 for 3 oysters, $8 for 6 and $12 for $12).

--Erin