5 Local Gem Restaurants in Lansing, Michigan that Serve the Best Food Ever

People hear “Louisiana food” and their minds go straight to New Orleans. That’s fair. But if you skip Shreveport, you’re missing a food scene that’s grittier, more personal, and full of the kind of places where the owner still remembers your name from three visits ago. This is a city where the best shrimp po’boy comes from a place that’s been open since 1936, the best wings are hiding inside a gas station, and the best BBQ requires you to find a literal hidden door.

Here are five local gems that prove North Louisiana absolutely holds its own.

1. Herby K’s

A classic hole-in-the-wall that’s been a piece of Shreveport history since 1936. The star of the show is the World Famous Shrimp Buster, a unique take on a shrimp po’boy that Herby K himself invented in 1945. Don’t forget to dip it in the secret sauce. It’s family-friendly, unfussy, and the kind of place that’s survived nearly 90 years because it never stopped being good.

2. Magnolia Pit

Shreveport’s hidden BBQ speakeasy on Jordan Street. If you follow the trail of hickory smoke that seems to be coming from a solid brick wall, you’ve found it. Led by women pitmasters (a rarity in Southern BBQ), Chef Val Benn takes zero shortcuts. The atmosphere inside is electric, the meat is impeccable, and the entire experience of finding the place is half the fun.

3. Marilynn’s Place

Located in a converted gas station on Fern Avenue, Marilynn’s serves Louisiana-style cuisine that has people driving across the city. The red beans and rice, crawfish étouffée, and beignets are all standouts, and Marilynn herself has created a space that feels like home. The setup is unusual, but that’s what makes it unforgettable.

4. Gullo’s Fresh Produce & Bake Shop

Shreveport’s best kept secret for over 50 years. This family-owned restaurant and mercantile on Flournoy Lucas Road offers lunch and dinner six days a week, plus seasonal local vegetables, take-and-bake casseroles, and canned goods. It’s part restaurant, part old-school market, and entirely the kind of place that doesn’t exist anymore in most cities.

5. Strawn’s Too

The best diner in Shreveport-Bossier, full stop. Their hot plate lunches change daily (Monday is meatloaf, Wednesday is fried chicken, Friday is catfish), and the pies have a cult following that borders on religious devotion. This is Southern comfort food done exactly the way your grandmother would have done it, if your grandmother happened to be an extraordinary cook.