Local eateries ready to tantalize taste buds

What are you hungry for?

Italian? 

Asian?

Seafood?

No matter what type of cuisine your taste buds desire, there’s a good chance they can be satisfied if you visit one of Shreveport- Bossier’s locally-owned restaurants.

With 318 Restaurant Week  – sponsored by the Shreveport- Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau – you can enjoy a meal for less than you might typically spend.

May 7-13, you have the opportunity to dine at some 50 restaurants that will offer a $10 breakfast, $10 lunch and/or $20 dinner special. You can see which restaurants participate by downloading the 318 Restaurant Week app.

“If you get somebody in with a deal, they’re likely to purchase more things while they’re there because they will see the menu and all the other things the restaurant has to offer,” said Katharyn DeVille, the bureau’s vice president of marketing and communications.

“Locally-owned restaurants are the heartbeat of who we are,” DeVille said. “Food is Louisiana’s love language, and Shreveport-Bossier is no different. We want to be able to get behind these people who pour their passion into serving people amazing food, and let people know they should go out and enjoy it and then become repeat customers.”

318 Restaurant Week began in 2016. This year, the Bureau will spend approximately $30,000 in cash and trade to promote the event locally and regionally.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to get behind our local restaurants, restauranteurs and chefs, to show off all the wonderful things they offer – not only to the local people but to visitors who come to this area,” DeVille said. “We are a foodie destination, and we want everyone to know that. There are so many wonderful places to eat here that even locals don’t know about. It’s a great opportunity to get people to come in and sample something new at a discount and potentially become a loyal customer who comes back time after time.”

In addition to enjoying a good meal for a good price, you can win a $50 gift card to one of the participating restaurants. Just use the app when you “check in” at one of the restaurants, and you will be entered in the drawing.

“What’s also great about this area is the number of chefs we have that create amazing dishes that you can find in any big city, but they are right here in Shreveport-Bossier,” DeVille said.

The bureau will also use gift cards to promote our restaurants to those outside of Shreveport-Bossier.

“We entertain a lot of travel writers,” DeVille said. “When travel writers come in town, we take them on a huge itinerary, showing them the local scene, the history – all we have to offer. Food is a big focal point, so being able to provide those writers with a gift card, where they can go and have a nice meal at one of our restaurants, is a nice way to help restaurants be seen and heard, and sometimes get national promotion.”

BeauJax Crafthouse, in Bossier City’s East Bank District, has been a 318 Restaurant participant in the past.

“A lot of times, we’ve done in-house specials,” said Chef Peanut. “For example, I have run a mac and cheese special that, throughout the week, people could come in and try. Maybe they had not been to our place before, so they got a small discount.”

But this year, BeauJax and Chef Peanut are doing something different. Really different.

“We said, ‘Let’s make it a highlight, where people can come down and see what we’ve built in the East Bank.’”

That highlight is called the Wild Game Experience. For $65 a person, you can enjoy various wild game at Chef’s Table by BeauJax.

“You’ve got your swamp, where we’re doing alligator,” said Chef Peanut. “We’re going to do your duck. We’re going to do a redfish straight out of the Gulf. Everything is going to be cooked whole. Obviously, with the ducks, we’ll take the breasts off and break it down and put it in the gumbo. The alligator will be cooked whole. The wild pig is going to be cooked whole.”

Redfish won’t be the only seafood in which you can indulge.

“We’re going to have an oyster station, which will have all kinds of seafood, including shrimp, oysters, stuffed crabs,” Chef Peanut said. “Imagine just a big, concentrated table with nothing but good seafood. We’ll have another station with nothing but sausages. There will probably be some alligator sausage, some regular pork sausage, some boudin.”

The food will be served at different stations, as opposed to buffet-style. You can dine either inside or (weather permitting) on the patio. There will also be a cash bar.

318 Restaurant Week starts Sunday, May 7, from noon-4 p.m., with a Second Line Brunch Kickoff at Orlandeaux’s Café on South Lakeshore Drive in Shreveport. There is no cost to attend, as you only pay for the food you eat.

To learn more about 318 Restaurant Week, you may visit www.shreveport-bossier.org.