One Of Louisiana's Best Foodie Destinations Is An Underrated Region With Unmatched, Fresh Seafood

Experiencing one-of-a-kind eating is why people visit New Orleans. But even if you're on a road trip on the Blues Highway, which showcases the Sweet South's best food, if you keep rolling southeast on Highway 23, in just 10 miles you'll have entered Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. This underrated county has unmatched, fresh seafood like oysters, crawfish étouffée, and shrimp creole that the Big Easy is known for. In fact, Plaquemines also supplies between 25% and 30% of the seafood eaten across America. Locals and intrepid gourmands who embrace the parish as one of the state's best foodie destinations, where you can find boils more succulent than most versions in the cities.

Of course, eating is believing. Starting at Belle Chasse, cruise down the highway straddling the Mississippi River and behold estuaries abundant with fish spanning marshes to Gulf of Mexico. Lining about 65 miles between Belle Chasse and Venice, Louisiana, seafood shacks and farm stands beckon with the peninsula's freshest catches and traditional favorites such as shrimp po'boys and fried soft shell crab.

But more than anything, this trip is an epic narrative of Plaquemines Parish foodways birthed, evolved, and passed down through generations ever since Native Americans foraged clams and oysters in prehistoric times. For more than 200 years, heritages of African American, Italian, Alsatian, Croatian, and more recently, Vietnamese, have marinated the area's cornucopia of scrumptiousness. Think crispy Gulf shrimp served with an umami-laced Vietnamese lime sauce, and Croatian-inspired grilled calamari and sardines. To savor the dishes of Plaquemines Parish is to deep dive into the diversity of its people and the terrain and waters where they live.

This is why you should add Plaquemines Parish to your menu of most mouth-watering food destinations to visit this summer: Your feast kicks off less than 20 minutes outside of New Orleans at Salvo's Seafood, a family-run establishment that humbly began as a bait shop in 1984, still serving quality local fare at equally humble prices. All the greatest hits from fried catfish to four types of crab are served, but Cajun boils brimming with crawdaddies and other shellfish are the centerpiece. Half an hour farther south in the Deep Delta, delight in a different vibe at Woodland Plantation's Spirits Hall restaurant, a gorgeously restored church decorated with chandeliers and gothic stained glass windows set amid wood finishing. Famous for seafood gumbo and fried bread pudding, sweeten a repast of Cajun and Creole specialties with pecan pie and peach cobbler, and the house Woodland Punch. Enjoy complete Southern comfort and hospitality in one of the former antebellum estate's nine singular accommodations, like the antique-filled Greek Revival Big House and rustic Old Cabin, all authentically refurbished.

After the spices, creams, and batters of quintessential Bayou State cuisine, the country's sweetest oranges and lusciously cloying and tangy Creole tomatoes are a welcome palate cleanser — pit stop at the plethora of farmer's markets along Highway 23 to sample Plaquemines' renowned citrus and plump red tomatoes. When you get to the "Gateway to the Gulf" sign, you've reached Venice, the headland's final outpost, but by no means the end of your epicurean explorations. Perch in one of waterfront maritime grills and bars and watch the catch, aka your next meal.

Naturally, fishing is a tributary of Plaquemines Parish life, and many eateries do a "hook and cook" for those bringing in their hauls of the day. Whether you're angling for beginner's luck or are a skillful sport-fisher, the cape is plush with offshore, inshore, and freshwater adventures. The gulf's outstanding spots of Midnight Lump, South Pass, and Western Delta Blocks bustle with feisty species like tuna, wahoo, marlin, swordfish, and multitudes of other stripes. Inland, the marshes abound with redfish and speckled trout, and sprout surprising reels of flounder, sheepshead, and black drum. Freshwater fans head to habitats where largemouth bass, sunfish, and catfish frolic — these ponds, lakes, and canals are also known for giant alligator gar. Charters and veteran guides are available at nine marinas to lead expeditions of your choice, an exceptional way to venture into 2,567 square miles of backwater nooks and crannies. Major fishing rodeos like the Empire South Pass and Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic in spring and summer are just as festively Louisiana as Mardi Gras, another spirited way to experience the Plaquemines seafood culture.

A day trip isn't enough to eat everything Plaquemines, and you should book a cabin over water to spend the night lulled to sleep by gently lapping tides, the perfect digestive after dining on your trophy catches. There's plenty more to do here in-between chow time, so amp up that appetite with kayaking, duck and gator hunting, and touring the historic Fort Jackson Civil War battle site, making this delicious and riveting diversion from all the unmissable things to do in New Orleans.