Glenda’s Creole Kitchen

Whenever we go Roadfooding, our fantasy revolves around finding that perfect, out-of-the-way, unassuming lunch spot with a local clientele, good food, and low prices, run by an out-front, hands-on proprietor who knows her customers. Such places are simply not that common. Well, that fantasy was recently fulfilled, by Glenda’s outside of Breaux Bridge, LA.

Glenda Broussard is open for lunch only, seven days a week, and prepares a different, limited menu each afternoon. The day we arrived, the entire menu consisted of the following: stuffed turkey wings, smothered fresh sausages, smothered round steak, meatball stew, smothered cabbage, and white beans.

We sampled all except the steak, and what we loved most about this food was the unflashy nature of it all. The juicy and well-seasoned food is not meant to blow you away with culinary pyrotechnics. This is good home-cooking served in generous portions.

The procedure is as follows: walk up to the front of the restaurant and check out today’s menu, talking over the options with Glenda as she lifts pan covers to show you what’s available. Let Glenda know what you’d like to eat and she will prepare a plate, which you then carry back to your table. Pay when you are done eating.

Some of what you’ll find on other days: stuffed fried chicken, smothered okra with crabmeat and shrimp, black-eyed peas, yams, potato salad, rice dressing… it’s different every day but whatever Glenda makes, rest assured it’s all homemade. The extremely popular stuffed turkey wings can be enjoyed Monday through Thursday. The day we were there, Glenda told us that she was short-handed so there would be no burgers or po-boys available today.

After we sat down with our plates, we watched a steady parade of groups of men in work clothes enter the restaurant. Clearly, the well-seasoned home-cooking at low prices has made this a popular local lunch spot. If we lived locally we, too, would surely be regular lunch customers of Glenda’s.