A party organized entirely through Reddit, a still elusive social media site for most, drew dozens of Atlantans amped about the chance to meet fellow Reddit users −and, even moreso, chowing down on New Orleans-style crawfish.
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Sunday's first-ever Atlanta Reddit Crawfish Boil brought quadruple the number of party goers originally expected, said organizer Jaime Skinner, who goes by the alias _banana_phone on Reddit. The idea sparked from Skinner reading discussions on Reddit about the best spots in Atlanta to pick up crawfish. She didn't expect the overwhelming interest from Reddit users when she posted the event on the /r/Atlanta thread.
"We really thought just 20 people would come, not almost 100. We definitely want to get the word out there that we can do stuff like this and have people come together and just share a meal," Skinner said.
Credit: Lauren Booker
Credit: Lauren Booker
She had to place a limit on the number of attendees to 95 to ensure that there was enough space in the venue, Ration and Dram, and for there to be plenty of crawfish for attendees.
After 5 p.m. Sunday, the event opened up to the general public since the organizers ordered 50 pounds extra of crawfish.
Louisiana native Eric Odendahl has been a master of crawfish boils for years, so he volunteered to bring the savory flavors of the dish to eager attendees with the help of fellow Reddit user Dane Gauthier. Odendahl said a New Orleans crawfish boil is a gathering spot for anyone to break bread together.
Credit: Lauren Booker
Credit: Lauren Booker
"We used three different crab boils to go into this. We also put butter into the boil. It's just a lot of cajun OCD and TLC," Odendahl said. "This is a true Louisiana crawfish boil."
Gauthier also knows his way around a crawfish boil and has been cooking the seafood for 17 years. He hopes that the meetup helped Atlantans get a chance to enjoy a real New Orleans style crawfish boil.
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Shay Welch isn't a Reddit user but learned about the event through Facebook. She and her friend Esme Murdock came early to get first dibs on the goodies from the crawfish boil. Both say they will be at the next boil.
"We got here really early, because we're crawfish greedy," Welch said. "We are here for the crawfish."
Credit: Lauren Booker
Credit: Lauren Booker
Richard Han, Reddit user _tadpoole, said this is the second meetup from the social media platform that he's attended.
"This is more people from different walks of life...People have different hobbies that they can bring in," Han said. "I think it's actually the future. Everyone's going online for everything."
If you didn't get a chance to come out to the meetup, keep a lookout on Reddit, because Skinner plans on having another Atlanta Crawfish Boil in the future by the fall or early next year..
"If you like food, if you like people, you just show up," she said. "We want everybody to feel welcome."
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