Boogaloo is another creation from Mike Johnson, the guy who’s had a hand, to varying degrees, in BARcelona, Mira, Momo’s, Cyrano’s and Roxanne. Boogaloo heads south for its inspiration, hitting notes from Creole, Caribbean (including Cuban) and South American kitchens. The restaurant itself is dark and amusing. The bar seats are swings hung from the ceiling, and one semi-booth involves the trunk of a tail-finned Cadillac. There’s not enough of this sort of stuff to feel gimmicky, just innovative. The crowd early in the evening is a little older, couples (who, us?) going to theater or feeding kids who have wisely expanded beyond the fast-food orbit. Later, things are noisier and younger. If you’re part of the former group, be aware we mean it when we say it’s dark, almost to the point where Ann pulls out her wee flashlight to inspect the menu and the check. 
Given the geographical range of possibilities, it’s no surprise that a tapas-type approach is both feasible and interesting. We think the best may be the jerk-spiced chicken wings, spicy but not inflammatory, large and moist. The black bean soup is a pleasure, rich and intriguing. Crab empanadas are a little tough, a characteristic shared by nearly all deep-fried empanadas, but the filling is reminiscent of good deviled crab, and the two large turnovers, each cut in half, are made even tastier from a citrusy sauce drizzled over them and the handful of greens served on the same plate. A length of spicy but not quite fiery andouille sausage is grilled, topped with a Worcestershire sauce glaze and served over the corn-and-tomato combo called maque choux,an old creole dish whose Boogaloo version is more than acceptable.
Several sandwiches are offered, including a Cuban, whose roast pork is nicely garlicky. Fries are particularly crunchy. The grouper sandwich, though, is far more St. Louis than it is Creole, Caribbean, or South American, the fish tasting more like chicken than fish. Part of the problem is the kitchen’s lack of a plancha so the sandwiches come like American sandwiches rather than the pressed-down, flavors-blended-better variety that is denoted by the adjective Cuban. Fans of New Orleans sandwiches food can find a muffeletta or a poor boy.
Among the dinner entrees, we’ve been happy with the paella-like seafood and rice dish (the addition of salmon takes it out of Spanish contention), and with a double rib pork chop that was moist and perfectly cooked. With it came collard greens and blackeyed peas. The peas’ pebbly quality made them far too al dente for us, but the greens were delicious, slightly sweet-sour in their seasoning. A special one night was frog legs, huge critters that were the size of chicken drumsticks, crisply fried with a tangy sauce on the side, absolutely wonderful. Don’t miss them if they show up again.
Desserts are a problem for us here, simply because we’re often too full to try them. The rum cake is simple, and tasty. Twice, though, we’ve gone for the grilled pineapple, which comes with a rum-laced caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. Once it was sweetly ripe and grilled until the natural sugars had caramelized on the edges; the other time, the fruit lacked sweetness and hadn’t been grilled until it was brown. It’s a good idea, although we’re not sure vanilla ice cream is the best partner—maybe a devilishly dark chocolate or rich coffee?
Servers are young, and the noise level rises quickly, thanks to the pressed tin ceiling. That 
combination (rock music ruins hearing early?) sometimes causes errors in understanding customer requests. (That grouper sandwich? It was supposed to be a mushroom Cuban sandwich.) But have a mojito or a caipirinha and relax. The food is often tasty and certainly can be an intriguing adventure.
Boogaloo
7344 Manchester Rd.
314-645-4803
Lunch Mon.-Fri., Dinner nightly
Credit cards: All major
Wheelchair access: Fair
Smoking: Yes
Entrees: $11-20
