October is the third annual Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, delicious features, chef profiles, unique articles on everything food, as well as the winners of our "Best of Dining 2009."

Perched upon the Milwaukee River on North Humboldt Avenue, Bayou Cajun Restaurant and Lounge is blessed with great views, an award-winning design and an amazing patio. Its food and weekend brunches aren't bad either. I like this place, always have.

But, if you've seen the massive hole that is the dismantled Humboldt Bridge you know that it can't be easy to operate a business in this East Side neighborhood. Initial reports said that the project, that started in 2008, would be done in 2009.  This timeline has changed.  And while alternative routes to Bayou are available, the construction has been a major challenge for the restaurant and the other businesses in the area.

To their credit, they've adapted, marketed and continue to forge on as the construction creeps.

I caught up with Bayou co-owner Robert Jenkins recently and asked him a few questions via e-mail.

Jeff Sherman: What's new at Bayou?

Robert Jenkins: What's new? How about our curb appeal? There is a lot of work being done in front of the restaurant with the Humboldt Bridge construction. I can't help but recognize the irony. A new bridge is slowly being built, while the businesses around it are slowly being destroyed.

But, like most business owners faced with adversity, we have made some changes.

Some of our more elaborate dishes have been revamped because of increased vendor costs. Therefore this summer we introduced a new menu. (The) same high quality product with a more casual flair.

The new menu introduces some creative Cajun tapas and more inventive seafood entrees. We are still offering one of the better brunch menus in Milwaukee on Saturday and Sunday mornings and our happy hour includes great food and drink specials.

Bayou has also the introduced "Live Music on Fridays" at 7 p.m. Free live music every Friday has been popular, I had no idea there was such a vibe for live entertainment! We are constantly answering calls and e-mails about who's performing next. This promotion, though, ends at the end of the month.

It was fun to see the patio fill up so quickly on warmer days, even with the construction going on, diners want to experience dining over the Milwaukee River.

Our Cajun fish fry begins in late October and runs every Friday from 5 to 10 p.m.

JS:  The bridge construction has been painful, right? How are you managing?

RJ:  It has been painful. Besides the obvious bad situation of the economy and the shrinking discretionary household dollar ... we have had the main artery of our business flow severed.

The Humboldt Bridge project has removed about 90 percent of our foot and vehicular traffic. There is, though, still access to Bayou Restaurant via Commerce Street.

JS:  Any updates on the (bridge) project? Will it ever end?

RJ: We were told that the first bridge (Commerce Street side) would be completed by December. This summer the City said the entire project won't be completed until April-May of 2010.

Now, delay seems to be the word of the day. Today (Oct. 7) we found out that the bridge construction will not be completed as soon as we had expected. Apparently the construction company had to redesign certain layouts that will delay the project completion to September 2010. ( In the meeting, held on Monday, October 5, Samir Amin stated that the contractor wanted to extend the date to September 2010, but that DPW staff was going to hold him to the June date.)

It certainly is not moving fast enough for us. I understand the importance of doing everything precisely, especially with bridge construction, but it has taken quite a bit of time.

Look at it this way, if Humboldt Avenue is our main artery how much longer can we keep bleeding?

JS:  Anything else brewing in your world? New projects, businesses?

RJ:  Of course. I think the only way to stay ahead is to plan ahead! We have ideas ... but the timing just is not quite right!

We are, of course, booking for holiday parties and events and are excited that people are still excited about dining at Bayou even though it has become more of a "destination" with the construction project.

JS:  What are your general thoughts on the Milwaukee dining scene? Is it oversaturated, growing or just about right?

RJ:  I think that the dining scene is wonderful for diners.

The myriad ethnic choices, flavors, styles and settings -- being a diner in Milwaukee is great!

Did you know Wisconsin ranks 16th in the U.S for new restaurant licenses issued in January 2009 with 69?

However, it is quite tough to own a restaurant in this city; the extremely competitive nature of the restaurant business will not allow for a bad dining experience.

I do wonder how many more restaurants could possibly open in Milwaukee? If it's not another condo ... it's a restaurant!

Where are the customers going to come from? What's happening is that the restaurants that use to be busy every night of the week are now banking on one or two nights a week.

In the hustle to secure a customer base you have to give them something. It's no longer just great food and service, now it's half off or free -- these types of promotions are necessary.

If you don't the other restaurant will. Usually the customer benefits most from this.

There is a constant grind to perfect your niche, to stand apart from all the rest, to be the best. It's very nerve-wracking.

I think the toughest thing I have had to learn is that we can't please everyone all the time. But we are going to die trying!

I want a customer to be so impressed with our brunch that they come back for dinner that night. No restaurant can afford for customer to have a bad experience, there are just too many other options.