Iconic Shreveport Restaurant Location Gets New Eatery
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Along the Avenue, which stretched for five large city blocks, Shreveport’s marginalized populations could patronize doctors, lawyers, grocers, and barbers by day and could dance, drink, and dine by night. It’s not even just other restaurants, Chapeaux said. After an egg wash and a dunk in the deep fryer, they emerge looking more like corn dogs than fried shrimp. One of the first things Chapeaux did after purchasing the sprawling lakefront restaurant in 2021 was to hang an oversized portrait of Brother, who passed away in 2003, in the restaurant’s foyer.
How To Make New Orleans-Style Tartar Sauce
So, this time, I wanted something different. We found everything from rice, to sausage, to okra, to shrimp. The beautiful scenery made up for the likelihood the restaurant itself won’t win any beauty awards.
- Was he worried that other restaurants would watch the video and attempt to duplicate his family’s recipe and process?
- They’re most famous for Ernest’s Famous Marinated Crab Claws and their flaming bowl of seafood gumbo!
- The food has drawn guests to the restaurant for centuries, but its role as a safe space in a daunting time of racism and segregation is what made it a Shreveport institution.
- Chianti Restaurant is known for its great cocktails and food, including vegetarian dishes, and its atmosphere.
Picnic tables in the enclosed patio is a casual place to enjoy the famous “Shrimp Buster” sandwich, Louisiana dishes, a bucket of beer, and some southern hospitality. Established in 1983 by the Giacalone Brothers, many recipes came from Firenze Restaurant and Olive Street Bistro. The restaurants are listed in alphabetical order and a price key is at the end. Here is a list of 15 restaurants in Shreveport and Bossier City that we have loved for 40 years or more.
Ratings of Orlandeaux’s Café
When he received the news, Chapeaux was a twenty-four-year-old oilfield engineer who had not yet learned the ropes of the family business. Maybe Chapeaux thought back to that horrible day—Tuesday, September 24, 2013—when he suddenly became the sole steward of the family business. Every move he makes at the restaurant is public, and even his most insignificant choices are likely to attract commentary.
As decades passed and awareness of this local delicacy grew, several well-known Freeman & Harris Café chefs departed to open their own competing restaurants. Another account suggests that the recipe was singlehandedly created by longtime Freeman & Harris cook Eddie Hughes. Pete Harris did not cook, so the effort to reverse-engineer Jambalaya Café’s stuffed shrimp—which began appearing in Galveston newspaper ads in the early 1950s—would have been collaborative by necessity. The city’s first Chinese restaurant, Canton Café, was located on the Avenue, as well as the first few locations of a long-running, Jewish-owned chain of liquor stores called Cuban Liquor.
Seafood Gumbo
I love Creole cooking and this was my first time in Louisiana so my food expectations were high. Our restaurant has been called Freeman & Harris Cafe, Pete Harris Cafe, Brother’s Seafood and now, Orlandeaux’s Café. Craving gumbo, stuffed shrimp or a po’boy? But if you’re looking for a family-friendly option with a diverse menu, head to Strawn’s Eat Shop.
I had the shrimp and grits that came with Jiffy cornbread on the side. This time it was take out, but usually dine in. The food is bar none for N Louisiana cuisine. This place was superb and the food was outstanding.
I told my hubby the next time we travel this will definitely will be our stop. Of course I had to bring my gumbo back to Texas because it was so much food. The food was excellent and will make your tongue slap your brains.
He noted, “We are the city’s main and longest source of good food, and we sit out on the city’s main source of water. When I first met owner Damien “Chapeaux” Chapman, I was midway through a deeply comforting bowl of divinely seasoned seafood gumbo. For a while, Chapman tried to have his career and run the restaurant too, but the restaurant was suffering and he knew he had to commit to it full time. He would hear stories of how the south was segregated, but his family’s restaurant, Freeman & Harris, was one of the only restaurants in Shreveport where whites and Blacks could eat together. He remembers as a little boy, he would run through the family’s restaurant.
Food to Try at these Places to Eat – Shreveport, Louisiana
We’ve compiled a list of 15 unique food and drink options from different places to eat that you must try in Shreveport-Bossier City. Shreveport and Bossier City foods did not disappoint! I just love the food in Louisiana – so many great things to eat. From traditional Southern comfort food to spicy Cajun and Creole cuisine, this region offers a wide range of flavors to satisfy any palate. When you visit, make sure to add these 15 foods / drinks to your must-try list! From breakfast to dinner, you can find an amazing lineup of delicious places to eat both Bossier City restaurants and Shreveport restaurants.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with its seafood or southern dishes. Creole, soul food and Southern cuisine recipes have been passed down for five generations at Orlandeaux’s Café, which has been family-owned since it opened in 1921. At the age of 16 while working at Freeman & Harris Cafe, Hughes created the infamous original recipe of the Shreveport style stuffed shrimp and it’s on the menu. The awkward twenty-three-year-old had been orlandeaux’s dropped suddenly, like a basket of stuffed shrimp into hot oil, into the fragile clockwork of a busy restaurant kitchen with a century-long reputation to uphold. In this way, what began as the house specialty of a single Shreveport restaurant proliferated into a citywide food tradition.
Not only will you enjoy the comfort and impeccable service of the staff, but the food also melts in your mouth in decadent flavors worth its price. This restaurant is set with opulent décor, comfy seating, and a spectacular view of the Red River and the Shreveport/Bossier City skyline. Imagine waking up to waffles and pancakes for breakfast or coming home to a hearty meal after an exhausting day; that’s what this restaurant feels like. It’s a warm, family-run business with the nickname “that pie place” for their specialty. If you’re looking for good restaurants in Shreveport to dine in, this restaurant is a fantastic choice. Have a taste of the calm blue waters of Greece and Lebanese food that would send your tastebuds kicking with flavors.











