There’s no place quite like Louisiana’s Cajun country. This is the birthplace of the holy trinity— onions, bell peppers, and celery—a flavor so revered that it borders on the divine. But the state’s culinary story doesn’t end there. Spanish, African, Sicilian, Caribbean, Irish, German, and Indigenous traditions have also fostered one of the most diverse foodways in the country. And checking the box on all of the above is more than worth a destination dining road trip.
You’ll probably feel pulled to begin your gustatory journey in Louisiana’s culinary epicenter: New Orleans. Set the tone for your trip by starting back in time at a restaurant that’s been serving Big Easy residents and visitors since 1905. Founded by France-raised Jean Galatoire, Galatoire’s distinguished itself on Bourbon Street from its humble beginning with fine-dining customs rarely found today. A similar standard of excellence exists at Brennan’s, a French Quarter institution that’s been serving refined Creole dishes since 1946.
The buffet continues down every bayou road and in every Delta town in Louisiana. You should not feel
limited by the constraints of NOLA’s borders. Take the town of Darrow, population two hundred. About an hour from Baton Rouge and New Orleans, it made a name for itself with the Houmas House & Turtle Bar, a dining experience of 1830s elegance set on the grounds of one of the South’s most beautiful plantations. Likewise, the Myrtles Estate, once the home of an indigo- and cotton-growing baron, is now the site of Restaurant 1796, where elevated Southern favorites are served alongside a ten-foot wood hearth.
But you don’t need to go far to find regional specialties. Lasyone’s Meat Pie Restaurant in Natchitoches is
famous for filling flaky crescent-shaped pastry with piquant pork, beef, and crawfish. Visit Little Big Cup in Arnaudville for the kind of po’boys you can only find in the Deep South: decadent hollowed French bread filled with sautéed Gulf shrimp, lump blue crab meat, Louisiana crawfish tails and andouille sausage simmered in a mixed pepper, Parmesan, butter, and cream reduction. The state has no shortage of soulful spaces.
While cruising through Shreveport, you’d be remiss to skip the gumbo and étouffée at Orlandeaux’s Cross Lake Café. And everybody who’s anybody knows that the best place to get boudin and andouille in Lafayette is Acadian Superette. These are the sorts of things you can learn only by diving into the rich roux that is Louisiana cooking, be it with a fried chicken biscuit brunch at Restaurant Cotton in Monroe or with a bayou view at Palmettos on the Bayou in Slidell. In Louisiana, cuisine that’s magnificently wonderful is de rigueur.
Plan your Louisiana road trip at FindYourLouisianaFlavor.com
