Louisiana
Best seafood in Louisiana to eat during Lent? Try these 13 restaurants
Red Lobster’s CEO shares how he’s saving the chain from bankruptcy
Red Lobster’s 36-year-old CEO shared on The Breakfast Club podcast in March 2025 to highlight three moves that kicked off the seafood chain’s comeback.
Fortune
Whether it lives in freshwater or saltwater, Louisiana is renowned for its seafood, as the state sits along the Gulf Coast and has an abundance of waterbodies.
Seafood has sustained Louisiana since its beginning, and the state’s most famous food dishes reflect seafood’s significance.
Louisiana cuisine goes deeper than just marine life, though, as blends of multiple cultures have shaped the way food is seasoned and prepared.
13 best seafood restaurants in Louisiana according to TastingTable
If you want to get a real taste of Louisiana, the best way to do so is through famed seafood dishes like gumbo, jambalaya, Atchafalaya, étouffée and more.
There’s no better way to truly understand why Louisiana’s seafood is one-of-a-kind than to dine at some of the best seafood restaurants in the state. Here are the 13 best, according to TastingTable.
1. Parrain’s Seafood Restaurant
Parrain’s Seafood Restaurant in Baton Rouge is a local seafood joint that serves classic Louisiana recipes in a rustic atmosphere. Here, menu items are prepared fresh to order and there are daily special for lunch and dinner. Specialties at this restaurant include dishes like catfish perdu, crawfish étouffée and catfish Atchafalaya.
2. Spahr’s Seafood
Spahr’s Seafood strives to bestow patrons with an authentic Cajun experience, serving traditional recipes using only the freshest local seafood. This restaurant is known for three signature items, “the original” catfish chips, “world famous” bloody marys and seafood gumbo. There are three Spahr’s Seafood locations, they can be found in Des Allemands, Thibodeaux and Galliano.
3. Pêche Seafood Grille
Pêche Seafood Grill, located in New Orleans, serves cuisine inspired by South America, Spain and the Gulf Coast. Focusing on working with local fishermen and farmers, this restaurant creates contemporary dishes, rustic creations cooked on an open hearth, as well as fresh oysters and Gulf fish.
4. Kingfish
Kingfish in New Orleans serves up traditional New Orleans cuisine, but with modern twists. This upscale, casual restaurant pays homage to the late ’20s and ’30s, which was during the reign of former Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long, who was nicknamed “Kingfish.” Notable menu items at Kingfish include the “Every Man a King,” “Governor’s Breakfast,” as well as Kingfish & grits.
5. Trapp’s
Trapp’s in West Monroe serves up Cajun cuisine in a casual setting that offers stellar views of the Ouachita River. From crawfish pies and crawfish étouffée to smothered catfish and seafood platters, Trapp’s has whatever Louisiana seafood dish you could want.
6. Seafood Palace
Seafood Palace, located in Lake Charles, is a laid-back restaurant boasting an extensive menu, with seafood items like alligator, frog legs, fish, crab, shrimp and crawfish. This restaurant features daily specials and you can order your seafood whichever way you like, whether it’s grilled, boiled or fried.
7. Peck’s Seafood Restaurant
Peck’s Seafood Restaurant in Slidell is a casual dining spot that serves only the freshest seafood, salads and sandwiches. This restaurant has an expansive menu featuring a number of creative dishes, such as grouper nuggets, gator puppies and fried shrimp salad.
8. Yakuza House
Yakuza House, located in Metairie, is a casual Japanese restaurant that crafts traditional handrolls and serves various other dishes. This restaurant also offers an Omakase experience, which is where the chef curates a multiple-course tasting menu that consists of only the best dishes and seasonal items.
9. Mansurs on the Boulevard
Mansurs on the Boulevard in Baton Rouge is a white-tablecloth establishment that offers fine creole cuisine. This restaurant is home to award-winning dishes, with menu highlights including the cream of brie and crabmeat soup, chargrilled oysters and lobster tails. Mansurs prides itself on quality and consistency when it comes to exceptional food.
10. Rizzuto’s Ristorante & Chop House
Rizzuto’s Ristorante & Chop House, located in New Orleans, is an upscale eatery featuring a menu built upon generations of the Rizzuto family’s traditional Sicilian recipes. This restaurant uses only the freshest local ingredients and provides a selection of the finest USDA prime steaks and chops.
11. Pat’s of Henderson
Pat’s of Henderson in Lake Charles is a family-owned restaurant that delivers Louisiana Cajun and Creole cuisine with a helping of southern hospitality on the side. Considered the best Cajun seafood restaurant in Lake Charles, this restaurant is dedicated to upholding the rich history and flavors of southern cuisine.
12. Mommie Joe’s
Mommie Joe’s, located in Cut Off, is a casual restaurant that offers views of the bayou along with Cajun cuisine staples like gumbo, softshell crab and seafood platters. This eatery is a beloved spot among locals, as fresh caught seafood and beautiful scenery makes for an excellent dining experience.
13. Middendorf’s Seafood Restaurant
Middendorf’s Seafood Restaurant in Akers is a landmark seafood joint, as the restaurant has been around since 1934. For 90 years, the joint has served its famed house specialty, thin fried catfish. The restaurant’s welcoming atmosphere and mouth-watering food has kept customers steadily coming back.
Presley Bo Tyler is a reporter for the Louisiana Deep South Connect Team for USA Today. Find her on X @PresleyTyler02 and email at PTyler@Gannett.com
Louisiana
Behind the Curtain: How Louisiana’s Parole System and Courts Shape Who Goes Free | The Lens
This week on Behind The Lens, the public gets a rare look inside one of the most powerful and least understood parts of Louisiana’s criminal justice system: the parole process.
In Louisiana, Parole Board hearings are sometimes held in public, offering families, victims, attorneys, advocates, and reporters an opportunity to witness how decisions are made about who is granted freedom and who remains incarcerated. But those hearings reveal more than individual cases. They expose the broader tensions shaping punishment, rehabilitation, public safety, and political pressure across the state.
Reporters Bernard Smith and Gus Bennett join editor Katy Reckdahl to examine how parole decisions are influenced not only by testimony inside the hearing room, but also by a growing wave of legal and political changes moving through Louisiana’s courts and legislature. From rulings connected to the Louisiana Supreme Court to election season politics and criminal justice reforms, the episode explores how policy decisions made at the highest levels can directly affect incarcerated people, victims’ families, prosecutors, and entire communities.
The discussion also breaks down how recent state actions involving sentencing, parole eligibility, election dynamics, and judicial oversight are reshaping Louisiana’s criminal justice landscape in real time. Together, the team examines the human consequences behind those decisions and what they reveal about accountability, power, and transparency inside the system.
Theme music by Podington Bear. Additional music “Fading Prospects” by Podington Bear (soundofpicture.com)
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Louisiana
Special Olympics Mississippi moves state games to Louisiana, holds swimming events in-state
BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) — Special Olympics Mississippi will hold its State Summer Games May 22–24 at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana, with swimming competitions continuing to take place in Mississippi.
Officials with the Special Olympics said the games were moved from Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi to Louisiana because of security concerns.
“When they canceled the state games this year, it made it a little bit rough on some of the athletes, but they continued to train,” Sharon Patterson, Director for Area 3, said.
The swimming competitions will take place in Mississippi because Louisiana does not include swimming in its events. Two swimming events are scheduled for May 9, one in Tupelo and another at the Natatorium in Biloxi.
A torch run began in North Mississippi on Monday and will arrive in Bay St. Louis on Thursday.
“It’s a run, walk, or roll because we have wheelchairs in there as well,” Patterson said.
On Friday, the torch run will move through Pass Christian and travel along Highway 90, with law enforcement officers from each city carrying the torch through their jurisdictions.
The run will conclude at Keesler Federal Park in Biloxi, where the Biloxi Shuckers are sponsoring a celebration featuring the lighting of the cauldron. A special athlete will sing the “Star-Spangled Banner,” lead the pledge and recite the oath.
Special Olympics Mississippi includes nearly 20 areas across the state. Each area holds games to qualify athletes for the state games.
The organization will also send 126 athletes to the USA Games in Minnesota in June. The national competition occurs every four years.
See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team HERE.
Copyright 2026 WLOX. All rights reserved.
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