I Visited These Louisiana-Inspired Restaurants for Some LA in L.A.

Back when I originally shared the idea of my personal lifestyle blog, Around L.A. with T.K., at my girl Alasia’s place during a “productivity meetup” of sorts, I wrote in my notebook that my very first post would be about Louisiana cuisine in Los Angeles.

It only makes sense. I’m from Louisiana and I live in Los Angeles. Who better to tell you about Louisiana cuisine in Los Angeles?!

That had to be in 2018. I’ve included Louisiana-inspired restaurants in other blog posts, like Stevie’s Creole Cafe in my Six Spots for a Southern Sunday Brunch in L.A., but I’d yet to give Louisiana-inspired restaurants in Los Angeles their own post. Why? Well, procrastination is the short answer.

I’m trying to think exactly when that was that I originally shared the #aroundLAwithTK idea with my girls, and I could ask them or go look thru my archive, but I put my phone on DND to help me stop procrastinating once again. What I do know is that I published my first post on this Los Angeles lifestyle blog towards the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., when the world shut down, in the first half of 2020. I was furloughed from my full-time, luxury retail job in Beverly Hills, I had nowhere to go, and nothing to do, other than try to stay sane. What better time to start the personal blog you’d BEEN thinking about starting?!

Though I wrote my first blog post in May 2020, I was not consistent at all. I mean… at all. I was basically making a donation to Squarespace, because I for darn sure wasn’t using the domain and website I was paying for. Why is it so difficult to be consistent? Why is it so easy to procrastinate? I have asked Google these questions time and time again. Oh no, my favorite is, “how to stop procrastinating” or “how to be more productive”.

Well, a light must’ve finally flickered on for my birthday that just passed. I’ve kinda sorta almost become consistent.. a little bit. Look, growth is growth. This last month and a half, I’ve put more content out than I did in the past year and a half. And, as I exclaimed in an update on my writing life at the beginning of last month, I’ve reached more website views than I ever have before!

So, back to what almost started this personal lifestyle blog…

Louisiana-Inspired Restaurants in Los Angeles

Little Jewel of New Orleans

207 Ord St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Visited this spot within months of moving to Los Angeles from Louisiana. My roommate at the time, who’s also from Louisiana took us there, heard about it from another friend from Louisiana. If I remember correctly and it hasn’t changed, it’s a married couple that owns this spot. The wife is Asian and the husband is Sicilian, so you’d be supporting a BIPOC-owned business in Los Angeles. In addition to being a lunch-counter-style spot, it’s also a market. I picked up some Slap Ya Mama seasoning while I was there, which is a from a small business based in Louisiana that’s hard to find on the West Coast.

Harold & Belle’s

2920 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90018

Third-generation owners of Harold & Belle’s, a Louisiana Creole cuisine restaurant in LA, pose in front of their entry sign that boasts “New Orleans in Los Angeles”

I shot a whole video riding my bicycle to this spot and enjoying the food inside. It must’ve been in one of my old iPhones that I never backed up to iCloud, because I have no idea where it is, and I’d never shared it from my camera roll. Shame. Well, I’m sharing now. I like this spot because it’s more of an upscale dinner spot, while majority of the others are casual lunch counters.

Orleans & York

Los Angeles, CA 90008

Baby, the shrimp po’boy I had from here was succulent! I was on a bike ride home from Leimert Park’s rather popular Degnan Blvd lined with Black-owned vendors when I decided to stop by. I’m glad I did. Prices are L.A., of course, but the people have to pay the rent. Though I miss the $5.99 po’boys I can run in the gas station and get in New Orleans, I understand it can’t be that way in Los Angeles. I’d go back to Orleans & York again, it’s worth it. (Don’t tell anyone, but I even like their shrimp po’boy more than Harold & Belle’s shrimp po’boy.)

Bayou Grille

1400 N La Brea Ave, Inglewood, CA 90302

I’d been having this one on my list, and finally made my way around to trying this Black-owned, Louisiana-inspired restaurant when I had to go to Inglewood to pick up my NFL credentials for SuperBowl LVI that’ll be hosted in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium. My Blasian girlfriend and I, the same one that I got kicked out of BlaqHaus NoHo with, went to Bayou Grille together. I had a shrimp plate and she had a catfish nugget plate, and they were both good. And the best part is, our total with drinks came to $30! A filling lunch for TWO in L.A.?! Baby, between that price and the pictures on the walls, if I stretched my imagination, I could’ve been back home in Louisiana.

Related: A Visit to a Black-Owned Restaurant in Los Angeles That Did NOT Go Well (CLICK HERE)

at Louisiana-inspired restaurant, Bayou Grille in Inglewood, CA, my girlfriend and I enjoyed their lunch special | photo: @aroundLAwithTK

La Louisianne

5812 Overhill Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90043

I crack a smile and hold back a little giggle as I think about my visits to La Louisianne. The food is good and the ambiance is… cat daddy. That’s the first phrase that comes to mind when thinking of my experiences at La Louisianne. Oh, random fun fact: my alma mater’s magazine is named La Louisiane; maybe that’s why this restaurant immediately caught my attention as I drove by. It’s across the street from another Black-owned restaurant, Simply Wholesome, which is actually very popular, as it’s been mentioned in interviews by the late Nipsey Hussle and other famous LA natives. La Louisianne has live music from some era before my time and middle-aged Black men in pimp suits. I describe it playfully, but I’m serious. For Los Angeles, it’s very unique and charming.

Stevie’s Creole Cafe

5545 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90019

Of course I have to include my old faithful. As I told you in the opening of this article, I listed Stevie’s in my suggestions for Southern Sunday brunch, but that was about brunch and Southern cuisine in general. Right now, we’re talking about Louisiana cuisine specifically, and look at their name, Stevie’s Creole Cafe; I can’t leave them off. My favorite dish for lunch from Stevie’s has to be their creole pasta. Mm, I’m in a coffee shop as I type this, but I may have to close this computer and head over there, just thinking about it. Visiting there will hold me over until I go home to Louisiana for Mardi Gras at the end of the month. The pasta dishes are a generous serving size, so when I’m being good, I eat half one day and the other half the next. If you look at it that way, you’re basically getting two meals for the price of one!

Related: Instagram post from Stevie’s official account recognizing Around LA with TK (click here)

I may have left some folks off, but these 6 family-owned restaurants in Los Angeles were the first to come to my mind as I think about Louisiana food in Los Angeles.

Louisiana-inspired restaurant, Stevie’s Creole Cafe, makes a tasty enough rendition of “creole pasta” to make you think these LA natives could’ve been from Louisiana! | photo: @steviesonpico

I have the authority to speak on these.

I’ve been.

More importantly, I’m your friend. I’m your cousin. I’m your girl. You know me. (Yes, this applies to you as well, even if you’ve never seen me in-person a single day in our natural-born woman lives.) This is where the “personal” comes in in this personal lifestyle blog. I’m your personal guide aroundLA. I’m your trusted source. I’m not some white girl with blonde hair on VegOut Los Angeles trying to tell you about Black-owned restaurants, that she’s probably never frequented, to get some clicks and seem equitable for Black History Month — this is a rant for another day; I’ll save it for my Los Angeles opinion column. I digress.

I’m Black and I grew up on Black food. I’m Creole. I know this culture, personally. And you know me. And I know you. So, this is where you need to be, on a lifestyle blog for us by us. … And if you’re not Black, but you enjoy indulging in Black food and culture, this is where you need to be too. Why would you try to go learn about Black sh*t from a White girl when there’s a Black girl right here with it for you?? Come on. Don’t do that. Okay, it’s Black History Month and I’m on one… I’ll let y’all go.

Go share this personal lifestyle blog with a friend! Yo’ Black friend! Yo’ White friend! Yo’ Alien friend. Let’s goooooooo!

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