The 10 Best Jambalaya Joints In Louisiana

Located within the grounds of Vermilionville, Lafayette’s living history museum dedicated to Acadian, Creole and Native American cultures, La Cuisine de Maman is a quaint and cozy restaurant dishing up traditional Cajun and Creole eats six days a week from its historically styled digs. The restaurant’s à la carte menu features a classic chicken and sausage jambalaya, while a buffet is offered on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, allowing guests to mix and match the dish with other home-cooked Southern staples like blackened catfish, seafood gumbo, corn maque choux and hushpuppies.

A charming, cozy restaurant dishing up classic Cajun fare and good old Southern hospitality in equal measure, Merci Beaucoup is a must-do when dining out in historic downtown Natchitoches. Merci Beaucoup’s twist on the classic dish, the Cane River jambalaya, is a mouthwatering recipe mixing black-eyed peas, Cajun stewed tomatoes, seasonings and ground beef served over rice with a side of cornbread and available by the cup or bowl. Wash it down with a glass of refreshing lemonade tea, and finish with Merci Beaucoup’s famous old-fashioned bread pudding dessert with butter-vanilla sauce, whipped cream and nutmeg.

Mother’s Restaurant has been a New Orleans landmark since opening way back in 1938, and though the Amato family took over the reins in the mid-1980s, thankfully the restaurant retains its original, humble charm alongside the legendary po’boys that first made it famous. One thing chef Jerry Amato did change, however, was the menu, which was expanded to offer a whole host of new, traditional New Orleans-style dishes, one of which is the award-winning Jerry’s jambalaya. A Creole-Italian take, the mouthwatering recipe incorporates Creole tomato sauce and plenty of Italian herbs.

Family-owned and operated for over 50 years, Tony’s Seafood Market, the biggest market of its kind in the Gulf South region, is Baton Rouge’s best destination for live and boiled seafood. Amongst its sprawling retail space is a hot foods deli selling, alongside other local classics like seafood gumbo, fried catfish and crawfish étouffée, what some describe as the best jambalaya in the city. While there, pick up a few of the deli’s boudin balls. They are another local favorite and available with shrimp and crab, crawfish or Cajun style.