By Polly Campbell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Where to turn a Monday evening into a Saturday night:

The second Monday of every month, Stenger's/Mr. Pig Too, the little historic restaurant on Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine, turns into a rockin' blues party complete with a down-home crawfish boil.

"Blue Monday" will be Dec. 9 at Stenger's, and you should make your reservation soon because it's a popular event. I had a great time last month.

Sebron

Ricky Nye was playing piano in rocking style, from boogie-woogie to Professor Longhair, giving the bar a juke-joint feel. Most of the seats were taken when we got there at 7 p.m., so we sat at a table with some people we didn't know - it's part of the party feeling.

The food starts off with hors d'oeuvre spreads and crackers, spicy red beans and rice, some barbecued ribs and Mr. Pig's good meaty greens.

You just get a little plate for this part, and have to wait in line for a while - probably a good thing because you don't want to fill up on the starters.

Once everyone's settled in, the main deal comes out. Big steam table trays full of crawfish, shrimp, potatoes, corn and sausages are tipped out onto the paper-covered tables in a steaming, spilling pile.

You dig in, and from then on just peel shrimp and pull crawfish apart, washing them down with beer. The crawfish are cooked in a Louisiana spice boil. The shrimp is firm and the sausages are spicy.

There's usually a special musical guest or two. That evening it was some guys who sang harmonies on a couple of old doo-wop tunes and a Beach Boys song. After much urging, Paul Sebron, aka Mr. Pig, got up and sang a blues tune of his own, between sips of coffee, or something out of a coffee cup, anyway.

He's got a pretty good voice, though he said he had a cold, so I wouldn't want to judge for sure.

There was no dessert, except maybe a few more shrimp; there were more than we could finish.

To make reservations for Blue Monday Dec. 9, call 651-2251. You'll have to arrive by 7 if you want to be sure of a seat. 1720 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine.

E-mail pcampbell@enquirer.com