Inside a new restaurant named Bongo Beaux’s Bourre Palace & Cajun Kitchen in Celina, director of food and beverage Chad Kelley is sitting comfortably at a table, his hands inside the mouth of a taxidermied alligator. He’s talking about the eclectic restaurant’s menu — a crazy and fun smattering of gumbo, po’boys, jambalaya and the like — but it’s hard to take him seriously as he fiddles with the alligator’s teeth.

Actually, it’s hard to take anything here seriously, besides the food. I’m drinking out of a water cup with Christmas wreaths all over it, and it’s the day after Halloween.

“I think this is one of the most fun restaurants we’ve done,” says John “Sparky” Pearson. His Radical Hospitality Group has made a mission out of creating funky restaurants in the far north ‘burbs, like LSA Burger Co. in Denton, Barley & Board in Denton, Bumbershoot Barbecue in Argyle and others.

Bongo Beaux’s has been open since Oct. 31, but it feels like it’s been there for decades. It looks like your favorite bar, the one whose bartender will hang your random keepsake on the walls if you’ve drank enough beer there.

General Manager Matt Elgiar, who’s from Metairie, Louisiana, helped the team create a Cajun menu that respected Louisiana culture yet allowed for some creative left turns. Pearson explains Bongo Beaux’s as “our version of things” rather than a direct Louisiana export.

“When you understand the history, then you can build your own version,” he says.