Looking for some great Cajun and Other Louisiana Food?

Storyand photos
by Kathleen Walls

Head for Louisiana, and not just New Orleans. Sure, you'll get great food there, but you's be surprised how much variety you'll find in lesser-known places. There's a mix of Cajun and lots of other cultures, so no matter when you go you will dine on something delicious. It isn't only the food that is different in Louisiana. They have parishes instead of counties.

Jefferson Parish

If you're flying into New Orleans' airport, Drago's Seafood Restaurant in Metairie is close by and serves some tasty dishes. There's an interesting story about how Drago's began. Klara Cvitanovich and her husband, Drago, opened Drago's in 1969. She was born and grew up in early childhood in Yugoslavia and lived through WWII there. She later immigrated to the United States. Originally, she was in New York and came to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, met Drago there, they married, and opened Drago's. Their Boudin Balls, Fried Gator Bites, Gator Tacos, Charbroiled Oysters, and Gumbo are all fantastic. For dessert, have the beignets.

Cajun Vista Lodge is another unique Jefferson Parish spot. It's a popular fishing lodge that was once an old schoolhouse and now is an inn with 10 rooms. Bourgeois Fishing Charters departs from its dock on Barataria's waterways and takes you out to can catch your own fish for a meal. Back at the lodge, they'll cook your catch. We enjoyed lunch there but not of our own catch. Their shrimp etouffee is rich and filled with delicious shrimp over rice.

St Charles Parish

One venture you do not want to miss is Spuddy's Cajun Cooking Experience in Vacherie, which began in 2018. Spuddy Faucheux, a local Cajun, started into food with no professional culinary experience when he bought Folse Seafood and Meat Market on December 7, 1993, and turned it into a dine-in restaurant, the first in Vacherie since the 1980s. He began catering and smoking andouille and smoked sausage all natural with no additives. He added the Cajun Cooking Experience in 2018. Today, he is an expert in Cajun cooking. You get more than just a cooking lesson. You get a glimpse of Cajun life from a Cajun who lived the life.

One of Spuddy's main products is andouille sausage where he diverges from his Cajun ancestors' ways and uses the German influence that brought their own sausage to St. Charles Parish, known as "The German Coast." He explains why "The Germans made the andouille with small chunks of lean pork. When seasoned, packed into a casing, and smoked, the Andouille tasted like ham. The French style is with the innards of the hog." His recipe. "It's chopped pork, not ground. I mix mine with a little salt and pepper and cure … When you pack it in a casing, and smoke it, it will taste like ham."

Our group made several dishes, gumbo, shrimp Creole, jambalaya, okra with beef and pork and shrimp, and his special version of green peas, under his supervision in his kitchen. He told us, "Never buy canned peas."

When you're touring Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, stop and have a meal at Oak Alley Restaurant. I had a very filling Plantation Breakfast there, with two eggs, bacon, biscuit and cheese grits. They also serve lunch.

St. John the Baptist Parish

Another place to see Cajun food in the making is at Wayne Jacob's Smokehouse and Restaurant in LaPlace. It was begun by Nolan Jacobs in 1950. Jarred Zeringue who bought it in 2016, maintains the Cajun tradition. You don't do any cooking her but you can see the smokehouse where the sausage is smoked. Be sure to try some of his tasso, boudin balls, fried andouille chips and sausage.

Ascension Parish

We met Kevin Kelly, owner of Houmas House as we dined at Dixie Cafe Restaurant, one of several dining options at Houmas House. Dixie Café is their casual dining option with a buffet lunch filled with Cajun food including gumbo, crawfish Alfredo pasta, red beans and rice, and fabulous chocolate bread pudding.

Latil's Landing Restaurant and The Carriage House Restaurant are the more formal dining choices at the complex with the Turtle Bar an option for a relaxing cocktail. Do not miss the 700-year-old oak by the Turtle Bar when you tour the plantation and gardens there.

 If you need a refreshing drink on your travels in Gonzales, stop at Sugarfield Spirits. Thomas Saltau, the owner, showed us how he makes rum from Louisiana's biggest crop, sugarcane. Thomas told us there's about 500,000 acres of sugarcane produced in Louisiana, mostly in this area. He also makes gin, vodka and a lot of fruit liqueurs. He showed us his distilling area and led us into the bar to taste some of his products, including apple cider.

St. Mary Parish

Mister Lester's Steakhouse is on Chitimacha Native American land, so the food is a mix of many cultures. You will find local crawfish, but also Pepper Crusted Ribeye and lobster tails.

There's a story behind its name. It's the upscale restaurant at Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel. The tribe has a tradition of honoring their elders, and Lester Darden was the oldest tribal member at the time that the casino opened, therefore, "Mr. Lester's" was chosen as the name for the new steakhouse. Mr. Lester's décor is quite elegance. I loved their Lemon Garlic Broiled Shrimp. The shrimp are huge and perfectly seasoned. Desserts are an impossible choice. They range from white chocolate praline towers with a raspberry moat, salted caramel creme brulee, traditional Louisiana bread pudding, and a French silk chocolate mousse pie.

Lamplighter Coffee House & Bistro in Historic Franklin had more than coffee. It has lots of short-order food. My chicken salad sandwich was filled with tasty chicken and so stuffed I couldn't eat it all. Owner, Diane Wiltz, and her husband, Gary, renovated run-down historic buildings on Franklin's Main Street and turned them into thriving businesses. The bistro is one of those buildings.

The Lamp Station Ice Cream Shoppe right next door is a 1950s-style ice cream parlor serving ice cream and some short-order food.

MD'Z Plaze sells shrimp, crab, and other fresh seafood for you to take home and cook your way. It also serves it cooked in its restaurant on Franklin's Main St.

Atchafalaya Cafe in Morgan City was voted #1 shrimp dish on the "Shrimply Delicious Food Trail." It has some of the best locally sourced seafood on the Cajun Coast. The fried Gulf oysters looked delicious. Their Roast Beef Po' Boy with a side of fried okra was no slouch either. Their sides are so generous they overflow your plate.

Terrebonne Parish

In Houma, Boudreau & Thibodeau's Cajun Cookin’ is the ultimate Cajun experience. Besides the authentic Cajun food, you get your fill of the "Boudreaux and Thibodeau's Jokes." There's also a very realistic bunch of alligators. Try their Jambalaya, Crawfish Pie, File' Gumbo, the dish not the Hank Williams' song, but the song is very Cajun too.

Downtown Jeaux is a great starter spot for breakfast or lunch if you want to tour downtown Houma. It's centrally located in the area where the movie, Where the Crawdads Sing, was filmed. In case you haven't notices in Cajun, "eaux" is pronounced "o." Their biscuits and gravy is great, but be sure to try the beignets.

A-Bear Café began in 1963 by Albert Hebert and is still a family restaurant. It is a must-stop spot not only for the delicious Cajun food but for the music as well. Most Friday nights and some other days, Strait Hag is playing. Whether he sings a Conway Twitty, George Jones, Merle Haggard, George Strait, or any of the other classic county songs, he sounds just like the original.

The food is authentic Cajun, from boudin balls to crawfish. My stuffed shrimp were perfectly seasoned and huge. Lots of crispy French fries to go with them.

Special tip: If you're in Houma when the Rougarou Festival is happening in October, don't miss their row of authentic Cajun food.

Lafayette Parish

The Lafayette area has lots of dining options, including some I wrote about recently. See some of my favorites Lafayette dining near the bottom of this story.

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